Bestiary of the Bladeseekers #17 - Burrowing Hive

The orcs are showing me elves again. This time they are even stranger, so much so, that I do not know if I should even call them Elves. And yet, I know in my heart that they are just that, even if they do not look the part.

— Tyson MacBogard, Lord Founder.

The Ant-Elves

These Elves are strange to behold. They have the expected build that most elves do, but I have observed a great deal of variation throughout the dreams in which I meet them.

Appearance

The first thing you notice about them is the carapace: I have seen many different shades of skin over the dreams, and above that skin is a carapace of sorts that is usually a darker shade of the same hue.
All of them are bald and their eyes are strange. I assume the main eyes have an iris, but because both scelera and iris are black, it is hard to tell. Around the eyes is more carapace, on which compound eyes, like that on insects sit.
In addition to a generally humanoid build they posess two ancillary arms below the normal ones. These arms seem less developed, but can likely still perform a multitude of tasks.
Briefly returning to the eyes, my assumption is that the humanoid eyes are the main tool for seeing, but if my encounters with insect beasts are anything to judge, the compound eyes might be able to sense warmth even in pitch darkness.

Who are Tyson MacBogard and the Bladeseekers?

Tyson MacBogard, was one of the founding members of a adventurers/mercenary guild in a place outside of the world.
He does not exist within the world of Focis at all, but somehow his writings in the form of the Bestiary of the Bladeseekers have found their way to the world.
More strangely, many of his descriptions match beings that exist on Focis and even more so he sometimes accurately described beings that did not exist in the world of his origin, but do exist on Focis.
The existence of the Bestiary is a mystery still unsolved and the book and its many copies are prized curiosities among many civilisations.

The elves have a mouth that resembles an insects, just jaws of carapace, and no nose, instead having two antenna above the barely pronounced eyebrows.
In general, I have noticed two presenting sexes which can be assigned to male and female that mammals have, but occasionally I meet a third type, which looks like neither and feels strange to behold. Another mystery and I could only speculate on them, so I shan't.

Habits

Once more I can only speculate on these beings but there are some glimpses I am able to gain. The fact that they have insect like features and that I often meet many at the same time suggests a complex social structure, similar to ants. Nonetheless I have yet to meet what would be a queen.
The ant-elves often seem somber in our conversations over the hot drinks I often share with these dream creatures and more than once they seem to allude to the fact that they are dead. I don't know what to make of this.
I would expect them to live in hivelike structures with high levels of collectivism and cooperation for the wellbeing of the hive. They seem very self-sacrificial at times.
Finally I have noticed a strange effect. Occasionally they are able to influence me. I know it is not magic, because I have years of experience fighting against mind magic. Maybe it is a pheromone?

The last time i wrote down my dreams, they stopped happening. Hopefully this works again, these antlike elves creep me out.

— TMB, Lord Founder.

Weaknesses

Again, I can only speculate on weaknesses. In general I would expect them to rely heavily on numbers advantages, but you still should not underestimate individuals.
Additionally, the carapace mainly works as protection, but does not cover the whole body. I would expect an endo skeleton below their flesh, because the carapace would not be enough to give structure to their body to stay upright.

Advice

If we follow the ant analogy, Do not engage them in proximity to their hive! If they are anything like ants you will not win this fight unless you have an army of your own.
Try to end the fight quickly and before they have time to call for reinforcements.
The fact that they have more arms than you could be to your disadvantage, because they can use more weapons or use a shield to more effect. That being said, maybe they cannot operate multiple weapons simultaneously. Observe them before engaging, if you can.
Good luck and keep the blades honored, Tyson

These dreams pose more and more mysteries for me. I keep having these elves as guests and offering them comfort. Now some of them tell me that they are recently deceased. I wonder what is going on with this. Hopefully I will get more answers in the future.

— TMB, Lord Founder.