First drone

In the skat'ra society drones are the ones who fertilize future queens. Like their ant ancestors. But within the skat’ra, the process is a bit different. When the princesses are ready to mate and later leave the hill to establish their hills, the queen sends for a drone because they are not members of a hill but the entire skat’ra nation. They are not raised with special food to become workers or warriors. They are born as drones.

When a drone becomes an adult and ready to procreate, he leaves his hill and starts to wander from hill to hill. They can smell the pheromones of the princesses from miles away, or in rare cases, they hear the telepathic call of a queen. But this happens only with experienced drones. Usually, drones won’t live very long, and they die after mating with a princess or two. Of course, there are always exceptions.

Some drones are tougher than most. They live longer and mate with more princesses. The queens favor these drones because they have a better chance of sire stronger and tougher workers and warriors, but these drones are rare, and only the most influential queens can request their services.

The drones are unaware of it, but there is a title that belongs to the toughest drone. That title is called the first drone. The first drone is only for the queens. They know who their first pick will be when a princess is ready to establish her hill. When the current first drone finally dies, the title immediately goes to the next drone.

In the past, especially after the Rending, when the skat’ra nation was founded, there were legendary first drones. Some of them even received their unique name.

Queens usually don’t mate. This is the responsibility of the princesses. After they lay their eggs, their only task is to lead the hill. But sometimes, an older queen becomes ready to procreate again. Often this happens when the number of the skat’ra in a hill drastically reduced, and a new generation is needed to fill the numbers. In these cases, that first drone will be called.

Oh, the first drones

— queen Nya

Type

Civic, Honorific