Biology:
BoneTalkers are praying mantis-like intelligent creature standing 10 feet tall when
erect. They move via an awkward walk or can skitter rapidly in a peculiar, loping
hexapedal gate at about 2x the speed of a human. Some (soldier BoneTalkers) can even fly.
Their armored, natural exoskeleton fades from a dark purple on their dorsal surface to a
pale lavender on their bellies. BoneTalkers produce a faint odor of citrus.
Unlike a mantis, their chitin-scythed Great Appendage forelimbs have crude, three-fingered
manipulatory appendages, Grasping Legs, that are adaptations of claws. While these hands
have very limited dexterity, they are capable of gripping large objects. For fine motor
actions, they use gracefully adapted pre-oral limbs. These manipulatory Gracile Legs are
from 6" to a foot in length (3 pairs of each) and project from the tagamosis of
chitin sections that form the head of the creature. Jutting out an additional foot are
post-oral grasping legs, that help guide and tear food being brought to the mouth. These
thicker appendages have a serrated, rasping inner surface similar to those of the Great
Appendages, thoracic limbs. In repose, the BoneTalkers typically rest with their four
abdominal "walking" legs neatly parted forming a stable, table-like support.
Due to the lightness of the exoskeleton and the air sacks and spiracles penetrating the
tough chitin, for their size these creatures are surprising light, weighing from 250 to
350 pounds. They are also exceedingly strong, being able to sever a human torso with a
whip-like scything cross-motion of their two Great Appendages.
Like many insects, BoneTalkers show a great aversion to water (being unable to swim) and
tend to be more sluggish when the weather is cooler. It has been observed that while
BoneTalkers are very able at seeing during TrueNight and FalseDay, the cooler atmosphere
hinders there ability to use their great speed. Additionally, large sources of heat (a
bonfire) or cold (a waterfall) seems to impair their almost preternatural ability to
detect prey, day or night.
They are omnivorous and hunt the existing marsupials, birds and humans for pleasure and
consumption.
Customs/Castes:
BoneTalkers inset visually startling pieces of mineral, bone, wood, stone, metal, and ice in their carapace as adornment. It is thought that the patterns might indicate status, lineage, rank, etc. It has been noted that the patterns appearing on the hides of these creatures do have commonalties.
BoneTalkers have a caste structure. The observed levels of the cast, in ascending order, are:
 | Drones: Big, strong, slow, stocky, dumb. Nearly without sentience. They perform
their assigned tasks (construction, demolition, transport, etc.) with a mute, placid
obedience. No Gracile Limbs. They seldom even notice humans. |
| Overseers: These BoneTalkers are the ones most involved in regulating the affairs
of humans. They tend to be slightly, taller than average with larger Great Appendages and
smaller, less facile Gracile Limbs. Overseers tend to be slower of wit than other types of
BoneTalkers. |
| Wardens: These bone talkers tend to be smaller, the size of Bulls, and train
humans for the gladiatorial games and for use as tracking animals in hunts. Their Gracile
limbs are vestigial, and they tend in color to a light shade of puce. |
| Guards: Tall, strong, fast, nimble. Both their Gracile Limbs and Grasping Legs
are vestigial. They guard gates, strong holds, and way points of the BoneTalkers. They
also tend to patrol human areas and tend to be more inimically disposed to humans then
other BoneTalkers. They never attack other than with their Great Appendages. |
| Warriors: Extremely feared by humans, warriors are of a purple color almost to
black. Their chitin gleams like oiled leather. Their Grasping Legs are well developed and
fairly dexterous, and their Great Appendages are well developed and are limned with an oil
that causes painful irritation in human injuries. They can also fly at 5x the speed of a
human sprinter. |
| Makers: These are the craftsmen of the BoneTalkers. Their stature is barely as
tall as the average human and their carapace is the color of sun pouring faintly through
clouds. Their Great Appendages are shrunken in size to that proportionally of a human's
arms, while the Grasping Legs and Gracile Limbs are highly developed. They often can be
treated with if posed with a suitably interesting item to attract their attention. A
peculiar metallic order emanates from them. |
| Breeders: Humans are the artistic accomplishment of these beings. They manipulate
the race to produce all the divergent species of man. The Greater Appendages and Grasping
Legs are atrophied, and the pre-oral Gracile limbs have been reduced from 6 to 4, but the
four limbs have paramount dexterity, and two end in filaments so fine that they are
invisible to the naked eye. |
| Seers: Little is known of these BoneTalkers. They are rarely seen, but when observed are noted instructing other BoneTalkers in complex task. They are swathed in white, filamentary integuments that surround them in a floating cloud of translucent petals. There motion is accompanied by a faint chiming sound and the odor of ripe peaches. |
| Strangers: Strangers fit into all the above phenotypes, but seem to have different forms to the patterns of carapace adornment. Usually, they are seen touring human settlements. |
| Royalty: Never witnessed, but hypothesized as the ruling class of the hive structure. |