BUGGI

🐜Buggi: Born to Serve, Bred to Fight
From beneath the scorching dunes of Scorrachai crawl the Buggi—beetlefolk forged in tunnels, bound by caste, and ruled by the ancient Queen Below. Few have seen them. Fewer still understand them. Silent, dutiful, and driven by the hive's will, they sing not with voices but with the rhythmic thrum of the Song Below: a pulse only Buggi can hear, echoing through their shell and spirit alike. They are unity. They are strength. They are six legs of a single will.
I. The Queen Below
For countless generations, the Buggi toiled deep within the earth, far from sun and storm, in a kingdom known as Hive Vastellus. Here lies the throne-chamber of the Queen Below: a titanic matriarch older than any living being on Pentara. The Buggi regard her not just as their ruler but as a divine conduit to purpose. Through her, the Song Below resounds. Without her, they believe, they are but scattered husks. They serve. They build. They die. For her. Until one Buggi spoke out: "We were born from the sand, not her womb. There is more to life than servitude." A crack split the hive. Half the Buggi declared the words heresy. The others—tired, wounded, dreaming of choice—nodded. The Fracture War erupted, a civil conflict so devastating it nearly silenced the Song Below. Hundreds of tunnels collapsed. Countless Buggi fell. The Queen herself, weakened from hunger, neared death. Only then did both sides lay down arms. Unity, they realized, was survival. They forged a new caste: the Freemind, warriors who could earn their path to freedom through ritual combat.
II. The Gladiator’s Pact
Deep beneath the dunes of Scorrachai, the Buggi once believed the universe began and ended in tunnels. Sand. Stone. Glowing mushrooms. This was life. This was religion. The world above? A myth they hadn’t even thought to invent.
In the waning years after the Fracture War, a new idea began to buzz through the tunnels:
Freedom could be earned—not by birthright or obedience, but by battle.
A Buggi who fought with honor in front of the people and the Queen could win the right to choose their own path within the hive.
The Queen agreed. The people cheered.
And the architects got to work.
The blueprints were elegant in their simplicity:
“BIG DOME HERE. MAKE BIG.”
They even underlined it. Twice.
So the digging began.
Buggi laborers carved stone by feel. Engineers chiseled arches with mandible precision. Sculptors etched murals of triumph into the walls before they’d even seen a match. Spirits were high.
But then came the sound.
A rumble. A distant roar. Not of beetles—but of something else. Something... above?
Confusion turned to panic when the ceiling cracked and collapsed in spectacular fashion.
A blinding light—never before seen—poured into the chamber.
Moments later, an entire sandstorm plummeted into Hive Vastellus.
Tunnels caved. Fungus gardens blew away. Dozens were buried in dust and disbelief.

The Queen was not happy.

She had been nearly crushed by her own people’s ambition.
It was, in Buggi culture, what scholars now refer to as:
“A complete and total clustercrack.”
But months later, as the hive rebuilt and the air cleared, something strange happened.
They saw the light again.
And this time, they weren’t afraid.
They named the world above the Holy Crust, a sacred land of wind and wonder.
The blinding orb in the sky? They called it the Eye, or the Fire Gazer—a divine test.
To fight under it was to prove one’s strength not just to the Queen, but to the universe itself.
The coliseum was re-sanctified. No longer just a proving ground—it became holy.
And now, every duel fought beneath the Eye is a climb toward destiny.
Win beneath the fire, and you may walk the Holy Crust.
Lose, and return below—for reflection and rebirth.
III. Marmo the Misled
Of all who fought for freedom, none rose faster than Marmo. A dual-wielding juggernaut clad in gold-chipped chitin, Marmo fought with grace and madness. The crowd adored him. Even the Queen tilted her massive horned head when he fought. He won his freedom. They cheered. He marched to the surface to seek new purpose. ...and promptly got lost. Mistaking South Rojour for the North, Marmo wandered into Kolzegrad territory, was imprisoned in Dewtown, and thrown into a cell beneath a cafeteria. There, he picked a fight with the head chef after being served cold stew. That stew never got served. The Great Dewtown Riot erupted. Marmo escaped with dozens of prisoners and, completely by accident, became a symbol of revolution. They marched north, eventually allying with the Izares of the North Resistance. To this day, Marmo doesn't fully know what he started. But he loves the attention.
IV. Notable Buggi
Queen Vastella – The immortal mother. Massive, wise, silent. She speaks through her wings, humming messages to her attendants.
General Krusk – Leader of the Queen's Watchers. Cold, ruthless, and loyal to the hive. Once fought three Freemind warriors at once. Won.
Skittrix the Sandsplitter – A gladiator who used seismic stomp attacks to collapse the arena floor and crush his opponents beneath him.
Varnu the Lost – A Freemind who gained freedom, but chose to return to the hive, becoming the first surface-touched Buggi to rejoin the Queen.
Rizzik the Riddled – A poet and warrior whose body is scarred with ancient markings. Claims to have seen the "Song Below" in physical form.
V. Present Day
Most Buggi remain underground, thriving in their silent kingdom. But more and more Freemind walk the surface, seeking purpose beyond the hive. They are often misunderstood as drones or monsters—until they speak. Then people realize: the Buggi are no simple bugs. They are warriors. Builders. Philosophers. Poets. And if you call one a mindless insect, you may just meet them in the coliseum.

"The Song Below still hums. But some of us have begun to sing above."