Krant story…

He woke to screams. ‘Ambush!’ Drawing his broadsword while rising he spotted Bigfist. Sword in one hand, torch in the other, he alone held one entrance against… Bigfist duelled with a huge insect. It reached him to his abdomen and it carried a curved sword. Its dark body had six legs and two arms and it seemed to have big problems parrying Bigfists heavy blows. It screeched as it fought and he could see more of the insectoid pressing from behind.

A quick glance showed that the rest of the guards held the other two entrances against the dark insectoids. It was a chaos inside the cave with marines and insectoids fighting. Something jumped at him and he held up his sword to parry. Insectoids swarmed inside the cave. Derryl fought back to back with another marine, he didn’t know who, as he batted at the curved sword to get an opening. Screams and screeches filled the cave as man and insectoid clashed together.”

The chronicles of the Fogwalkers, the Attorian 1st Medium Marines

Krant description

The Krant is a strange race. Instead of the soft or leathery skin of the other races they have a chitinous exoskeleton that also supports their body. They are very diverse in shape and size, with some of the workers growing as large and strong as a fully grown horse. Most of the Krant are a lot smaller though and often only reach the abdomen of a human. They have up to eight legs and arms making them very agile and apt at using tools.

The Krant lives close to each other in underground mounds. Their natural telepathic ability enables them to develop the Krant mind as soon as there are more than a few individual Krant. This Krant mind is intelligence by itself and functions as the overseer of the Krant society, thus making sure that all duties are performed when needed by the different castes. Only the strongest of the Krant castes, the Bredaxx and the leader castes, have enough willpower of their own to influence the Krant mind. This allows them to govern and control the aims of individual Krant societies.

Krant souls

A krant soul keeps its strong bond to the Krant mind during the first minutes after death. The Krant mind are unwilling to let go of the soul and the dead Krant do not want to leave the warmth of its fellow Krants. This strange bond between the Krant mind and the soul gives them a strong protection against the soul stealing Ende. Ende warriors are known to steal Krant souls as well but far less frequently than of the other races.

But after these few initial minutes the bond start to decay between the soul and Krant mind. The pull of the Kingdom of Death becomes too strong and the soul passes through its gates to the afterlife. Krant do only in extreme cases turn into Ende Noii. When it happen it’s always due to some great injustice that have befallen the Krant mind, not the individual, which gives the Krant strength enough to stay in the land of the living after death.

The worker caste

The majority of the Krant belong to the worker caste. The worker caste performs a variety of duties. There are many different classes of workers. Only a few of them will be mentioned below.

The Bredaxx – These massive and heavy Krant are the equivalent of the queens in many insectoid societies. Their sole purpose is to lay eggs for the Krant which can hatch into either new warriors or workers. An egg can be stored for some time before it starts to evolve in a specific direction.

The Laraxx – Small beings who take care of the eggs as well as the Bredaxx. Using their small telepathic ability to direct the eggs into the right path.

The warrior caste

Although the majority of the Krant consists of different types of workers the warrior caste is equally important. They are tasked with hunting for food as well as defending the hive from different threats. There are several types of warriors.

The Asaluazz – These are specifically bred for defensive combat. They are stocky, strong but move slowly. Their body is constructed to stand their ground against enemy charges. Their long spearlike forward limbs make them fearsome warriors as well.

The Crozz – These are fully fledged attacking drones. They are extremely aggressive and dangerous. When they stay in the hive they must be kept separate from all other Krant in the population as the Crozz have been known to turn on their own in their lust for slaughter.

The Erdizz – These long and thin insectoids can stand on only two legs instead of four. This gives them more limbs to handle the cumbersome bows used by the Krant. Firing arrows is not the ideal occupation even for the Erdizz but they are fairly good at it.

The Kantazz – Kantazz are small and agile but weak in strength. Their originally evolved as hunters in the broken caves and forest caves in the Netherworld. There they learned to fight well in close quarters and they adapt more to new and unique situations. This makes them good allround warriors.

The Thorazz – These resemble the giant spiders also inhabiting the Netherworld. Using 6 legs instead of four for moving they can move fast over long distances. This only leaves them two limbs for using tools and weapons but their strength combined with their speed has made them into fearsome cavalry. They also have a very strong carapace.

Preferred level: Netherworld

Major Strengths

• Krant breed horribly quickly and will outnumber any other race, even the Greenskins.
• Their small size makes the food last longer. A Krant only need 0.8 instead of 1 food per turn.
• Their strong and natural carapace gives all Krant units an armour bonus.

Major Weaknesses

• The insectoid society is not effective and has a poor economy. The tax income from their population is smaller than the other races.
• The insectoid society requires a larger minimum population for towns and cities (+20%).
• Their small size makes them very poor in ground combat and they can not withstand as much damage as the other races can.