Hive mother
Hive mothers, also called ankhrav queens, are fearsome matriarchs of ankhrav hives.1
Appearance
Ankhrav hive mothers can be distinguished from normal ankhravs by their pair of sharp mantis-like arms.12 These arms are useless for locomotion but allow hive mothers to quickly bring down powerful prey. A fully grown hive mother is 14 feet long and weighs up to 4,200 pounds.1
Ecology
Every winter, hive mothers retreat into their hives to give birth to an egg sac nearly as big as the hive mother itself. This sac requires most of the nutrition accumulated by the hive mother to sustain, to the point that most hive mothers would starve to death, drained by the birth, if not tended to by ankhrav drones. If the hive has plentiful food and drones, a hive mother may give birth to up to two young hive mothers, who leave to establish their own hives at the age of two.1
Habitat
The only hive mothers that are encountered alone are young ones currently leaving her birthplace to establish a new hive. Otherwise, ankhrav drones almost always accompany hive mothers when they leave to hunt.1
On Golarion
Hive mothers are most common near the Skittermounds. They tolerate no settlements in their territory, but their sturdy carapaces and organs are valued by both the orc tribes of Belkzen and the humans of Trunau, as certain alchemists and collectors are willing to pay a fortune for them. Scouts and trappers willing to risk hunting hive mothers are always available.1
References
For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 . “Bestiary” in Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes, 57. Paizo Inc., 2015
- ↑ . “Ankhrav” in Monster Core, 20. Paizo Inc., 2024