Skarabe

The Skarabe are found almost exclusively in the nation of Askaria. They appear to be a species of giant beetles that stand on average of six and a half to seven feet tall. Their protective carapaces are hard and can protect against  the claws of most animals and can stop a sword or spear thrust at close range. The color of their shells vary by family unit and can be brightly colored when they are young but more dull as they age which can be about the same lifespan as a human. The have large and powerful, beetle-like wings that can easily lift a fully armored Skarabe, but the beating of their wings is loud as the wings slap the air with enough force to lift them into the air. Like most insectoid races they breed quickly, but their breeding strictly controlled through the consensus of the Skarabe themselves. They don't have a hive mind, but they do posess an emotional and social ability that most other races can not match. Due to their advanced communication skills they are able to quickly learn new languages and it is not unusual for a Skarabe to know more than a dozen or more. The Skarabe communicate with each other with a combination of vocal sounds, telepathy and phermone release. Because their language is multi-faceted, it is also thorough in making an individual understood to another individual Skarabe. Through this greater understanding comes a greater ability to cooperate and reach a natural consensus. Skarabe can communicate with non-insectoid races and make themselves understood, but due to other's inability to communicate via phermones or telepathicly, some communication becomes "lost in translation."  Due to this, many believe that they are primitive, of below average intelligence and mainly fit for manual labor. Since the city of Askar was transported to Colarn, the Skarabe have mainly been a labor force with few scientists amongst their ranks. This is not due to lack of mental acuity on their part as Skarabe are as varied in intelligence as an humna, elf or dwarf. Their social and emotional intelligence made them aware that in order for all to survive, everyone needed to do their part and when the survivors of the transport arrived, there was more of a need for the Skarabe to work in more labor intense roles than anything else.  Skarabe are excellent at digging, tunneling and mining and their efforts have been essential to building up what would become the nation of Askaria. They were able to quickly and efficiently find essential resources underground and on the rare occassion that a Skarabe tunnel collapsed, the workers could easily tunnel their own way out. It was due to Skarabe labor that Askaria moved from the city-state of Askar to the nation of Askaria, as the Skarabe could simply breed more workers to meet the rising needs and several citys and many towns and villages were created in short amount of time. As the nation grew and resources became a surplus, the Skarabe have scaled back their role as the primary labor force and have begun going into other fields. Their ability to learn and to understand enable them to quickly learn and even become experts in different scientific fields and due to their ability to quickly learn new languages, several Skarabe ambassadors were trained to help facilitate opening diplomatic relations with the rest of Colarn after centuries of isolationist policies.