Swordwing

Swordwings are a species of Aberrations native to the Underdark of the Nentir Vale setting in Dungeons & Dragons. Created brand-new for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, Swordwings debuted in the 4e Monster Manual. They received some expansion in the 4e Underdark splatbook, and had a dedicated "Ecology" article in Dungeon Magazine #204.

Description

Swordwings resemble bipedal winged insectoids, combining a suprisingly humanoid physique with obvious bug traits, such as chitin-plated skin, claws and wings. Their most iconic visual trait is that they have one forearm replaced with a razor-sharp chitinous blade that can cut through just about anything. Their biggest defining trait is that each swordwing is absolutely obsessed with collecting something... although just what that is varies from individual to individual. One may collect swords, another may collect recipe books, yet another may collect human hearts, the crowns of kings, the heads of beautiful maidens... you never really know what a given swordwing wants. And that's what makes them dangerous - they are maniacally focused on their one singular obsession, and care about nothing else... although they may be coaxed into trade on occasion.

Socially, swordwings live in a quasi-eusocial caste system; immature specimens ("cutters") on the bottom, followed by mature specimens ("drones"), followed by specialist swordwings ("slashers" and "shapers"). Above these sit the "crownwings"; a larger, more powerful variant who basically serve as subordinate leaders, underneath a singular "Queen", who leads a given swordwing hive in reverence of the Far Realm entity Dhogostho-Attu, violently adjudicates disputes between crownwings, and uses its pheromone abilities to induce fertility in its minions. Swordwings reproduce by gaining approval from their queen, who washes them with a chemical substance that activates their reproductive organs. The swordwing then takes a humanoid victim hostage and injects an egg into their guts, where it consumes them from the inside out and ultimately subsumes their body to become a new "cutter" swordwing.

Unlike the normal eusocial insect, swordwings are full of individual ambition; crownwings mostly advance through the ranks by killing each other off and proving they had better collections, and assuming the queen's throne requires planting a blade-arm through the old queen's heart.