#them 1954

"In a world remade in layers of endless bug-shell, man is no longer the only kingdom maker. The hills of the giant ants are monoliths, rivalling anything in human history. Tunnel cities branch out like a circulatory system pumping from colossal formicary hearts. These grand ant colonies are powered not by intellect but by honed swarm instinct and ravenous dedication.

The Enslaver colonies consist only of a Queen and Soldier caste, lacking any true workers, relying completely on raiding other species and fellow ants to survive. Their bodies are built for butchery, with a mutation of duplicate specialized mandibles, a small pair for grabbing, and a larger folded back pair for a powerful snap. Enslaver onslaughts are brutal, with the shock-wave of dismemberment cracking like chitin lightning, stunning their surrounding opponents as they chop and chop. Their goal is less the slaughter of the enemy, as much as the complete thievery of their larvae. Though some will be eaten, many will be raised as servants for the Enslavers, doing the task they cannot.

Enslavers, however, can be too successful and eliminate all foreign colonies, or can be too weak to fight and raid, and so alternatives are sought....

The Myrmiluk people are the result of several generations of kidnapped and reconditioned human beings, the defiant ones instinctually culled by executioner's mandible and the rest kept in check by barbed whip antennae. Clothed in ancestral rags and larval silk, the Myrmiluk duties involve tending to their master's offspring and spotting nest parasites invisible to the primarily scent driven ants. This work scars their sunless skin with red blotches of formic acid, but the rewards of security and consistent food have made them loyal.

Though most only ever know the organic light of the fungus grown for food and visibility, some sneak off with the ants to scout the surface world and feel their ancestor's sun. These Myrmiluk scouts are revered back home for their hauls and stories, impressing their peers with chitter-tongue tales of strange lands and antless wildmen.