Wezer

Wezers are huge flying insects that live in underground colonies on the desert tablelands. Workers, water fetchers and soldiers all have wings, compound eyes and six slender legs on the abdomen. Soldiers are a little bigger than the laborers and a brighter yellow. The brood queen dwarfs them all; her wings are too small to lift her, and her vast abdomen exists to lay the hive's eggs.

Workers and water fetchers have one sting each, dealing 1d4 points of damage. A soldier stings twice per round for 1d4 per hit, and each victim must save vs. poison. On a failure the venom paralyzes after a delay of 2d6 rounds, and the paralysis lasts 2d4 days.

The queen also stings twice a round, for 1d6 each. A hit from her tail plants an egg in the victim's stomach for another 1d6 damage. A successful save vs. poison kills the egg, though the injection damage still applies. On a failure the egg grows and hatches in five days unless a cure disease is cast or it is cut out surgically, which costs 1d10 more damage. The larva then feeds, permanently draining 1d4 points of Constitution each day. After ten days of feeding, or when the host dies, it crawls out through the festering wound and keeps eating from outside. Eggs and larvae cannot fight and are easily killed.

From above, a colony looks like a cluster of domes 3 to 8 feet high and about 5 feet across, built by workers from sand glued with a resin they secrete. Only one dome opens into the tunnels. Any dome has a 50% chance of holding a dead, bloated creature with a festering belly wound, a single white larva feeding on it, and the stench of rot. Every chamber has a 4-foot shaft leading down, hidden under a 6-inch plug of sand and wax that works like a secret door.

The tunnels are 6 feet wide, cool and damp, just big enough for half-giants to crawl. Humans, dwarf-human crossbreeds, mantis warriors, elves and half-elves take -2 to attack and damage rolls inside; half-giants take -6; halflings and dwarves are unaffected. The tunnels link storage chambers for larvae and food, and the brood chamber where the queen never leaves.

Water fetchers roam near the hive and store what they gather in wax balls, either as plain water or turned into honey. Each ball holds a gallon; pale ones hold water, dark ones honey. A brood chamber usually has about 35 balls of water and 20 of honey hanging from its comb ceiling, on top of any other treasure. A character can carry three, and they melt and spill after one day outside the hive. Eating at least a quart of the honey in a day heals 1d8 points of damage.

Workers build and repair domes, tunnels and chambers. Water fetchers supply water and honey. Soldiers use their venom to bring back live hosts for the queen's eggs. The brood queen is mother to every wezer in the colony and is defended to the last; the hive relocates only at her command.