User:Bill/Abeil Invasion

The Abeil, see Monster Manual II for D&D 3.5, are a humanoid insect race similar to bees and elves. They are roughly described as a lawful and expansionist race dedicated solely to creating new Abeil colonies, making them an excellent non-evil antagonist race. The background presented in MMII is very limited; describing the Abeil as a hive mind dominated by a queen that is not interested in morality or worldly pleasures, but rather as a somewhat mindless machine that expands In all directions until confonted by sufficient resistance. This, in my opinion offers a lot of opportunity for stories. And not just for D&D. To further complicate matters, the Abeil are not actually mindless. They, like bees, are divided into a rigid caste system of workers/drones, warriors, and queens. The queens especially are interesting because they are powerful spellcasters as well as supreme and undisputed rulers of their societies.

After some significant investigation, I discovered that it is within the power of these Abeil queens to wrest their hive cities from the ground. They are actually capable, in cannon, of creating a flying city. I doubt that the original authors thought this idea through, but I think it makes for a wonderful opportunity to have a very powerful, temporary, menace in any D&D campaign. And potentially for multiple conflicts to ensue if more than one floating Abeil colony appears at a time.