Summary
Terrifying. Unstoppable. Immoral. Yet they are possibly the strongest example of mutations forming from long-term corruption, their hive-mind nature combined with their devastating ability to mutate, learn and adapt is one of the most powerful weapons found throughout time. It is whispered that they are the true reason that the Great Rupture came to be, not the Firstborn, nor the revolution of Humanity.
— Merlin, “The Seer”
Culture
The Pale are a hive mind that does best when ruled by a Brood or Hivemother. In these instances, they are known as either one of these terms, based on their leader, and can generally number from the hundreds to tens of thousands depending on the size and success of the group. However, smaller groups of Pale do exist when a mother dies, and no replacements can be acquired. Leaderless Pale will travel trying to find other broods and hives, functioning decently enough for hunts until they can either find or make a new mother. These groups of Pale are generally known as 'Packs'.
Despite all the vile methods in which the Pale exist, they are still sapient creatures. Holding the ability to learn and grow. In their most common cases, the Pale are known for their ability to garden, growing great fungi and other rare plants only found within the cursed depths of the Labyrinth. Using them to grow great underground keeps of glowing mushrooms, blanketed in spores and rooted in stone. Their gardens are known to be beautiful by the few explorers that kill the Pale enough in their own underground hives to view them, glowing like starlight beneath the earth.
Reproduction
The Pale hold a unique breeding cycle that has made them feared by all other humanoids on the planet. Humans, especially, are terrified of them not just due to their preying upon them, but simply due to the fact that it is their greatest weapon. The fertility and 'blank slate' of humanity, that allows them to breed with any other species. Yet, this has been utterly weaponized by the Pale, in the vilest of ways.
The Pale are able, when they reach Maturity, to breed with any other humanoid in creation. However, they lack their own genetic females. Instead they are forced to prey upon other species females and drag them back to their hives. The female is injected with the venom of the Pale, completely rendering the female effectively braindead, while leaving the body alive. This is considered by some scholars to be the only shred of humanity left in them, rendering the female effectively dead instead of forcing her to endure the next steps of the process while alive.
General
Alternative Names:
Clickers
Chittering Madness
The Hive Mind
Origin:
Lifespan:
Variable on Mother Species. Human-Brood averages 20 Years.
Status:
Stable
Average Physiology
Height: 5' (152cm)
Skin: Translucent
Notable Traits: Missing any form of eye sockets, smooth reinforced skull, large ears, split and flared nose. Abnormal physical power and speed for their size and lanky builds.
From this point, the strongest and eldest Mature Pale capable of breeding will then perform the act, before they begin the incubation process. Placing the female into the Flesh (see below) where it will form a chrysalis around her. Over the next six months, the female's body is broken down, mutated, corrupted and tainted. By the end of the process, a Broodmother is formed and will break her way free of the crystals.
The Broodmother
A Broodmother will hold the genetic traits of the Pale, but while retaining all the traits of her previous species and life. Their original personality has been completely nullified and killed. However, fragments of the original skills and understanding of the female remain. Due to the hive mind's connection, this knowledge is spread to every Pale that serves the new Broodmother. Granting them access to tools, understanding of construction, weaponry, science, or even magic depending on the Broodmother's past life.
If there is already a Broodmother in the hive, this new Broodmother will give birth to her first litter. This will vary from ten to a hundred pale depending on the size of the Broodmother--based on their original species. After the litter is birthed, the Broodmother will take her new litter and half the original litter and leave with the original Broodmother's blessing. Generally staying within five-hundred miles, so that the two Broodmothers can continue communicating through the hive mind. If there is no current Broodmother, then the new Broodmother will simply take over the hive without issue.
The litter born of a Broodmother will have the genetic traits of their mother's original species, within limitations. For instance, a litter born of a female Giant Broodmother will not all be the size of a Giant. However, they will be twice to three times the normal size of a Pale and hold monstrous strength for their size between their giant genetics, and their corruption. To date, there has only ever been a single Fae Brood Mother. This is said to be part of the two reasons that the Great Rupture, happened.
A single Broodmother never needs to mate again after her initial transformation and will continue to give birth to one litter once a week. Due to this speed, the Broodmother's body will rapidly give out and her life expectancy is only a tenth of what her original species lifespan would normally be.
The Hivemother
A Hivemother is an immense rarity and is not something that comes down to genetics in the slightest. Instead, it is of the female's sheer force of will, and endurance. These are females that go through the exact same process as a Broodmother, but with the slightest, and most revolting of differences. The venom injection doesn't work. When this venom is resisted, the female's mind is still completely intact during the entire hellish experience, and this drives her utterly mad.
As such, a Hivemother is a fully sapient dominator of the hive mind. Hold every memory and experience of their prior life, but are rendered mad and full of hatred that they cannot direct toward their own kind due to their mutations, and the hive mind itself rendering them part of the Pale. This madness creates a terrifying creature capable of incredibly advanced tactics and learning. But more than that, it creates a creature with emotion. A hatred and anger beyond any other that has no target until it finds one.
This target, generally, is the surface. Such times are what cause massive, large-scale raids on the surface and lead to an all-out war against the Pale of the Labyrinth. It is, effectively the fuel for nightmares and deadly legends of hell on earth for the surface for hundreds of years to come.