Bugearth - The lore of LB #3 - Medieval Age #4 - The Coleoptera Empire and the Inquisitions

Coleoptera - Empire forged in iron and creed

At the source of the Imperial River stands the stump of an ancient Colossus-Tree, where the civilization of the Scarabs and Beetles was born. In the ancestral chambers deep within the stump, the larvae are fed by midwives until they become pupae and then, after a development period of one or up to four years, the young Scarabs emerge.

The young grow in the darkness of the chambers and halls, and are then divided and chosen by the Alhakimas, the matriarch leaders of the clans. The males go on to practice combat in training arenas and in the forging of armor and weapons. Some of the equipment is built with the petrified sap that runs through the veins of the ancient tree, becoming almost indestructible and with the characteristic amber glow.

The young females are taken by the Alhakimas to the upper chambers, just like the males, where they are trained in combat and fencing, but their main focus of study is in the arts, philosophy and politics, as they will eventually become Alhakimas of their own clans.

Upon reaching adulthood, the males receive the titles of gladiators and finally have the opportunity to see the light of day for the first time when they are raised to the Imperial Colosseum. The warriors face each other brutally under the blessing and attention of the goddess-empress in the cabin of her ivory and gold palace. In the cabins below, the Alhakimas and the suitors watch the powerful fighters, and below them the members of the clans also enjoy the spectacle.

The most victorious and powerful gladiators are chosen to become the future partners of the Alhakimas and suitors to ensure the future of the clans. In special cases, even the partners of the goddess-empress can be chosen.

These are the customs that founded the culture and society of the Scarabs and Beetles, customs that have continued to this day. The Medieval Age of Coleoptera was marked by the creation of a new caste: the Inquisitors.

The Inquisitors were Scarabs chosen by the clans to fight in the name of the goddess-empress to defend their homeland against invaders, marauders, and even rival clans. A caste born and bred for war even after leaving the great Colosseum. Despite everything, they were very well treated and fed, were cared for by members of lower castes and servants and courted by females, since the literature of the time described them as great heroes who fought for the honor and glory of the Empire.

The Inquisitions - The Clash of Stingers and Shells

For many centuries, the Coleoptera Empire held sway north of the Great Desert, while the Warlords of Lacrau extended their domains to the south. The clash of two civilizations built on iron and war was imminent.

According to the records of both societies, the clash occurred north of the Wyrm's Tail mountain range. Inquisitor Scouts from the Ironshell clan, mounted on their Armadillosaurs (large mammals native to the rockier northern part of the desert), ended up encountering scorpion skiffs under the banner of Warlord Deimos'Kalim.

Initially, the Ironshell Inquisitors remained on the defensive, observing, since vehicles such as skiffs were almost alien to the Scarabs at the time. The 'Kalim Raiders went on the attack, aiming to hunt the Armadillosaurs, rare animals for the southern region, and loot those strange Bugs with large, heavy armor.

The battle was intense, the blows of the Ironshells' hammers and flails easily destroyed part of the skiffs, in addition to fatally denting the lighter armor of the scorpions. However, the scorpions were not easy targets, although their vehicles were slow and clumsy compared to the Scarabs' mounts, they were very agile, their sharp Scimitars injured the Armadillosaurs and could hit the joints of the enemy's armor, in addition to having their long tails and venomous stingers, which were the weapons that gave them a great advantage over the Inquisitors.

In the end, only one Ironshell managed to return to the Coleoptera, dying from a lethal sting shortly after warning his Ahalkima about the battle that had taken the lives of his brothers in arms. The matriarch urgently alerted the goddess-empress about what had happened and thus plans for inquisitions to dominate and fortify the southern borders were initiated.

In the south, Deimos delighted in the plunder of his raiders; the mere idea of ​​facing large warrior people with such valuable spoils excited him. Deimos' Kalim was a known and feared Warlord of Western Lacrau, one of the leaders who eagerly sought conflict, a trait maintained by his descendants who later created Kalim Corp, a corporation focused on cutting-edge military technology, which would merge with S-Corp and become its military research division, responsible for nurturing the Lacrau Armada in the war against the Sapiens Empire.

Countless wars and bloody battles were fought in the desert inquisitions between the Coleoptera clans and the Warlords of Lacrau. Spoils of these wars can be found to this day, buried in the sand of the desert and tunnels of the Underrealm. In addition, outposts of both societies have founded numerous villages and cities throughout the desert.