Aphis

The Aphis are are subclade of the Halfwing, closely related to the Photosynthetic beings. They are thought to be some of the oldest self-sustaining peoples due to their ability to clone and selectively breed. However, their fast life cycles also put them at odds with their neighbours.

Who are they and what do they look like?

• Communal (aphid) Halfwings only live till about 60, sometimes a little longer if they are hybrids but 50 is considered a long life.
• They do not get saggy skin because of the chiten in their organs, but they definitely start looking frightening and ghastly when close to death, mostly because of their death rattles and plaque psoriasis or fungal bacteria which tends to get them
• They also paint their skin and wear a lot of reflective material
• Their reproductive cycle involves a period of years (typically 9) where they build Galls (often in trees which are healthy and lived in by other communities), where they will clone themselves several times until they have their own army/brood
• They paint themselves the colours of flowers, with a lot of green and ultraviolet paint to attract the sunlight
• They don't wear a lot of clothes because their skin is strong, and they only sexually reproduce every nine years and have extremely low social skills outside of their own people.
• They are often infected by parasites like nemetoda and jackhorns, and cordyceps

What are their senses or perceptions?

• Some are able to fly for short distances but they need to have a genetic condition called "hollow bones" that is often inherited as a recessive gene from Nycteria suffers
• These tend to appear when the colony is either doing really well or really badly and is seen as a sign from the Gods. They are known as the "Alatae"
• Matriarchal society who can use asexual reproduction and relies on mutations to thrive, needing a lot of asrategy but very densely populated citadels where people of very slightly different heights or builds are judged - high use of phrenology, organized armies and warbands, but have the mentality of warriors not soldiers, which can make them ultimately just as destructive
• They see in ultraviolet and are incredible natural Citron magicians
• They can produce their own food through their sweat crystalizing like a selenite consistency

Where are they in your setting?

• Everywhere but particularly in Tall Towns where they can hide in the cracks and crevices of things undetected
• Often hired as cheap merceneries in the North, Eskern, anywhere forests are and anywhere oxygen rifts are
• They often lend themselves to projects of physical labour

How do they survive in their environment?

• Much faster rate of reproduction due to being able to clone themselves
• Basically can form their own armies and create their own food
• They have the protection of a Godsibb named ________, who is constantly giving birth to Nymphs so there's a fertility cult there too. Many communities will rally around a Godsibb and basically help it survive in exchange for protection
• Completely able to metabolize anything by converting it to sugar, indestructible stomachs
• They can survive off of almost anything that can be converted into sugar
• Mature much faster due to low life span. They are middle aged by 20 years, making them intellectually and physically about 80 years old in a Vespula lifespan.

What is their general attitude?

• They defend their living space at all costs but will listen to their allies
• They are often hunted en masse and are honestly kind of disorganized despite being a colony culture
• They are also mater negotiators and their pheremones can create glamors and Love Oil, a forbidden element
• the queen makes the warbands/workers pay taxes to use her resources in exchange for protection from her nymph praetorian guard,
• a priest keeps a godsibb captive in a prison full of carnivoros plants that some of the nutcases out there breed.
• the godsibb will kill and eat the queen or priest if she deems they have failed the colony, and appoint a new leader after enough of the current priesthood has been sacrificed (eaten)
• new recruits are expected to join in the eating alongside the Godsibb

How do they feel about the other peoples?

• Untrustworthy of everyone but the ant people and the Glendatis, sometimes Polotesk (the ones that like seaweed)
• They have everyone else . Though sometimes if they find a dead wrakka, like a Yew, they'll build a colony on it called a "Wicker Town" which is another major point of contention between tribes
• But some of them are master negotiators and assimilators and they are actually incredibly effective partners for building communities in inhospitable places

Encompassed species

• Halfwing