The Pollenesian Swarm

Now are ye maggot or are ye Swarm!?
For the Swarm! For the Hive!

— Buzz Sweets, Chief Pollenilator

Based within the Hive of Pollenesia, the Swarm is the Queen Bee's royal guard. They are fiercely protective of both their home and their Queen, utilizing poison-tipped weapons to leave their enemies wailing.

Location: Pollenesia
Beepower: Hundreds of Thousands
Origin: Pollenesia
Loyalty: The Queen Bee
Training: Elite

For the Swarm! For the Hive!

Life Within the Hive

The Hive is an intense, loud, high-energy city at the heart of Pollenesia. Hosting the home of the Queen Bee, she rarely leaves her throne, choosing to eat, sleep, and be bathed directly in her throne room. Busy bees buzz through the space delivering messages and packages, tending to the queen, and performing their royal duties.

Pollenesians have high expectations placed on them by their Queen. Everyone is assigned a position after their larval stage and expected to follow through their respective training programs and apprenticeships and assume their given role. The most prestigious position is that of a Swarm Knight, sworn protectors of the Queen and her Kingdom.

The Swarm Hunt

Once per month, the Swarm gathers to hunt outside of the hive. Led by Pollenilators and Swarm Knights, the Swarm consists of several thousand bees and hundreds of guardians. Traveling in a single pack, the Swarm is a terrifying sight for any foe; however, no harm will come from the Hunt. It has been nearly a century since the last fatal incident occured.

Settling the feverish group on the outskirts of Pollenesia, along the greenery of Herbacium, to collect pollen, fruits, vegetables, and whatever other delicious goods they can gather. Pollenilators use this time to refill their pollen pauldrons and redistributing the pollen along their way home. When the Swarm has collected all they can carry, they hold a small ritual thanking the fae for the safe Hunt before returning to the Hive.

Weapons of the Swarm

Poison-Tipped Death

Every Swarm member carries a refillable poison sack that can be emptied into or onto the tips of their weaponry.

Some weapons are fashioned with barbed breakaway points to stick into enemies and continue pumping poison.

Fight and Flight

When attacked, the Swarm is trained to take to the skies and strike. If a foe hears the buzz of the Swarm they are already dead by a thousand stingers. They are unrelenting in their barbed strikes.

Pollenilators

Traveling Swarm Knights dedicated to spreading the word of the Hive, Pollenilators are highly trained commanders equipped with pollen pauldrons.

No Rest for the Winged

The Hive is Eternal

Retirement can be a painful process for Swarm members. Surviving alumni have formed support groups to sustain them through the loss and keep them motivated during the difficult time. Rather than fully retire, many alumni have taken on guard roles, protecting the younger keepers.

When alumni decide they have completed their duty, they have the option to volunteer for Hive Honey. The volunteers gorge themselves on the spoils of the previous Swarm Hunt in a grand feast before they climb into a honey-filled nook. The crevices are sealed off and individuals are left until the anniversary of their feast when the honey is harvested and labelled.

Hive Honey is a highly sought after delicacy from Pollenesia.
It's one of the only non-vegetarian options of honey currently available in Culinaria.

Among the Swarm

"Get yer buzzin' butts up outta bed and get a move on, ya maggots!" The booming voice of Buzz Sweets swept through the barracks. The room suddenly sprang to life with beefolk and Swarm Knights flitting about. As they got ready for their early morning, Chief Sweets slowly strut through the space inspecting bedding and uniforms. "I don't wanna see a single stripe out of place, ya hear me!? Up! Uniforms on and polished, soldiers!"

At the end of the row, little Fling Hoghead struggled to pin closed his jacket. Tiny beefolk fingers fiddled with the clasps as a bead of sweat dripped from his fuzzy brow. Chief Sweets rounded the corner, his dark glare sticking Fling to his spot. He stammered for a moment before standing up straight and saluting his chief, his jacket slowly swinging open to reveal his bare, striped chest. Fling's yellow cheeks flushed as red as hive honey before he could whip his hand down to snatch the fabric closed again. He had spent the last two years training with apprentice Swarm Knights for this moment only to be betrayed by a bit of fabric.

"Get yerself together, soldier! Nobody needs to be seein' yer bits," Chief Sweets shook his head and turned on his heel, spinning to look down the row of eager knights. "Today we hunt! For some of you this will be your first time out with the Swarm. I sincerely hope you take this time to reflect on the decisions and actions that led to you standing among your fellow bees today. You are the elite few chosen to represent the Hive. Our Hive. Do not disappoint me. If you have any questions, you know who your Pollenilators are. Follow them to the end. For the Swarm! For the Hive!" Chief Sweets saluted his soldiers, the entire room returning the gesture with a hearty:

"For the Swarm! For the Hive!"

Fling quickly buttoned his top and saluted back to his Chief, glancing around at the bees around him ready to dive into the Hunt. What would be expected of him? He knew his goal was to collect as much as he could for his beloved Hive, but was there a minimum he should aim to beat? Would he lose his position if he wasn't good at the Hunt? As if he could read minds, Chief Sweets turned back to the young beefolk with a kinder smile than he thought possible from the man.

"You'll do fine, soldier. Nobody has bombed their first Hunt. Yer fellow bees won't let ya. Should ya need aid out there, reach out for those nearby. They will always lift you to victory. Now, get ready. We have a busy day ahead of us." With that, Chief Sweets marched forward and out of the barracks, leaving behind a much more confident Fling.

All images created by Emily Armstrong using wombo.art AI.