Burcs (Burks) are antlike creatures only much larger and semi-intelligent on their own. They thrive in a hive and have a high intelligence. Burcs by themselves, do not speak however the Queen and a few select individuals can and they are the voice of their colony.
Burcs are members of the insect family tree as a species and they are very industrious and unrelenting.
Most creatures in the world never see Burks above ground on the stair foraging for food or supplies in the vast forests of the planet. Populations of Berks are kept to a monitored level in the Queen lays enough eggs to keep the colony running at top speed without overproducing and setting off an imbalance in the ecosystem.
Spiders and Burks have a symbiotic relationship and both depend on each other to survive.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Burcs are six legged insects about a half a meter long and about half as high. They have massive jaws, like wood ants and can carry items much larger than themselves. They have powerful legs and the force to knock the largest subturanean creature on its backside.
Genetics and Reproduction
There is a "queen" of each hive and a host of males to fertilize her eggs. There may be more than one queen in a hive at a time, but all are subservient to the rulling queen. They have a hard insect culture and mentality that forms their multi-tiered society.
The most basic burk is called a beirk, a worker who collects and forages for the hive. Bierks are also lesser soldiers and can earn their way up to a full soldier, but no further up the caste system. Their intelligence is limited and are creatures of the dark
The soldier burk is a highly trained creature either born of promoted into civilization. Soldier berks born into this caste are better armored and have stronger mandibles than their promoted companions. Soldiers all have a huge job to do battling the hordes in the under-realm.
The upper levels of the burk colony are queens, males and specially bred burks evolved to be the techological brains of the society. They are conduits to the telepathis, psionic link the colony can't live without.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Burks have intelligence as a single entity, but it is limited. Like most under-realm creatures, they are sensitive to light. However, they have eyes and can see well in any light, even complete darkness
They have two special abilities:
1. They can pick up warm and cold signals through their antenae transmitted to their brains in a visual representation; it is a special form of blackvision. They share this trait with spiders and precious few other surface dwelling creatures.
2. They are linked telepathically to the central hive. Each hive has its own intelligence, so to speak. The ruling level burks can manage the hive via telepathic communication.
Burcs and spiders guard the wole, or the upper lighted world with the Naeswole, or the underdark and they have done so for eons. Most surface dwellers don't know the naeswole exists and the spiders and burcs work hard to keep it that way because they know the horros that dwell far below any surface cave system would ever reveal. The Naeswole is also called the Pitch or the underdark. It is a place of glowing fungi and wonderful creatures. However, it also harbors the qarks, a demon-like insect species banished back to the Pitch millions of years ago by the Old Ones themselves. Spiders and burcs were genetically transformed from the small creatures commonly seen outside into large and agile killing machines capable of guarding the world from the qark monsters ever returning.
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