Gamergate Gundis

Gamergate Gundis replaced their ancestor and diversified across Darwin, Javen, Dixon, and Vivus. They are also present in the Driftwood Islands landmark. They are named for a shift in their colony structure—they now have only a single breeding female, the gamergate, who will use her teeth to cut the throats of adolescent females in the colony to ensure their infertility. The gamergate is perpetually pregnant, making her easy to identify among workers because of her swollen throat. All other members of the colony have a scar on their throats. When the gamergate dies, younger females grow up fertile and will fight over who gets to be the new gamergate. Despite there only being one breeding female now, the rest of the structure remains the same, and the gamergate is guarded closely by her reverse harem of mates—various foreign males, most of which will leave once the gamergate dies to ensure there will be no inbreeding when a new gamergate is chosen.

Gamergate Gundis have very large and well-developed lower incisors for biting. These, along with their claws, are also made of a modified form of wood which is as strong as chitin, convergent with the unrelated Gryphler, as at their size normal wood is actually so flexible it’s useless. Their internal skeleton remains normal wood and has fused into a single continuous bone. This is because, again at their small size, normal wood is very flexible—in fact, so flexible that it bends from their muscles pulling on it, so joints were meaningless. Some parts where joints used to be, such as the elbows, knees, and wrists, are thinner so that they retain the same level of flexibility as before, but the entire limb can deform when needed. While some resemblance of the ancestral skeleton is retained, the sternum runs along the entire underside from the chest to the end of the tail, resembling a second spinal cord. Likewise, the ribcage also runs to the end of the tail, supporting the lungs. Their ability to bend their bodies up and down is limited, but side-side motion is very easy, so they resemble tiny lizards when they run. The skull runs into the trunk, granting better attachment support to the tooth at the end.

Unlike their ancestor, Gamergate Gundis have far fewer males in their colonies apart from the gamergate’s mates. All males are fertile, and they are driven out of the colony at a young age. Those that survive on their own will eventually join another colony’s reverse harem. Workers and guards are instead all female. Interestingly, either one is capable of becoming a gamergate, so some colonies have hulking guard gamergates while others have smaller worker gamergates. If a guard is a contender for the new gamergate, she will usually win, but guards aren’t born as often, allowing workers to have a fair chance at becoming gamergates as well. The colony reproduces—that is, produces more colonies—during conflicts over who becomes the new gamergate when the old one dies. Losers, instead of being killed, will simply leave the colony followed by their own supporters and start anew.

Gamergate Gundis farm arbourshrooms, specifically the co-evolving Tamed Berry Arbourshrooms. They grow these in specialized underground chambers within their burrow, feeding them dung, bits of flora, and dead workers. They then harvest and feed on the giant berries.

There are many species of Gamergate Gundi. They can be found anywhere where there is sufficient flora to farm their Tamed Berry Arbourshrooms. Some species have a reddish or purplish coloration, which makes them more difficult to see in darker soils without also interrupting their photosynthesis. Species in hotter climates have large ears, while species in colder climates have very short ears. Though individual species are very resourceful, most tend to have a preference for either burrows, logs, or tree hollows for their homes. Different individual species may have slightly different nutritional needs from one another such as scavenging more or seeking out more flora, but all farm and eat Tamed Berry Arbourshroom berries.