Shackled- When in her lair, the ankheg queen begins with the shackled condition. While under this condition, the ankheg queen is considered prone, her movement is 0, and can only use her Bite and 'Shackled' Acid Spray on targets in range within 180 degrees in front of her.
Unleashed- If outside of her lair, or once reduced to half of her maximum hit points or less, the ankheg queen loses the Shackled condition, and gains the unleashed condition. While under the Unleashed condition, the ankheg queen gains multi-attack with her Bite, and replaces her 'Shackled' Acid Spray with her 'Unleashed' Acid Spray.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 2) slashing damage plus 5 (1d8) acid damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it is grappled (escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the ankheg can bite only the grappled creature and has advantage on attack rolls to do so.
'Shackled' Acid Spray (Recharge 6). The ankheg queen spits acid in a line that is 30 feet long and 5 feet wide, provided that it has no creature grappled. Each creature in that line must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 15 (3d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This version of this attack is only available while the ankheg queen is Shackled.
'Unleashed' Acid Spray (Recharge 5-6). The ankheg queen spits acid in a 15 foot cone, provided that it has no creature grappled. Each creature in that line must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw, taking 15 (3d6) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This version of this attack is only available while the ankheg queen is Unleashed.
Description
Reclusive and almost never seen away from the hive, the ankheg hive queen is the life-blood of the hive. Without her, the hive would not be able to spawn brood or funcion as a singular unit. She keeps the rest of the hive moving as needed to ensure its survival and longevity.
Mahnaging the Hive
The majority of the time, the ankheg queen lies in her chamber laying eggs. She is always attended by two Hive Guardians, and the various Hive Watchers move her eggs arund the hive. She is capable of instructing individual ankheg as well, if she needs something specific done. The Hive Workers regularly work on expanding the hive, while the Hive Soldiers bring in food from the surface and defend the hive from invasion.
Breaking the Shackles
When the ankheg hive queen goes from shackled to unleashed, the transition is rather sudden and violent. She screams and rips herself from her egg sack, leaving in on the ground where it lay until she opts to return to it. If left alone for too long, roughly a day, the egg sack begins to wither and dry, and all remaining eggs inside become inert.
Leftovers
Typically one can find the skeletal remains of cattle, wild animals, or even other adventurers within the ankheg hive queen's chambers. She has no need or use of any clothing, money, or equipmnt that may have been left behind, only their flesh and meat for sustinence. Neither she or her brood eat the bones if given the time to choose.
Hive Hierarchy
Ankheg hive queens are exclusively the females that are the first of their brood to mate. The process causes an internal change that allows the female to fullfill the duties of the queen, while also emmiting pheromones that inhibit the remaining females from achieving this change. Once a hive queen is established, she burrows to her chosen location for her chambers, and the rest of the brood begins to create the hive around her.
Lair and Lair Actions
The Ankheg Queen's lair is her hive. On initiative count 20(losing initiative ties), the ankheg queen takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the ankheg queen can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
Lay Egg- The Ankheg Queen spawns an egg frome her egg sack in an unoccupied space wihin 10ft of her egg sack. The ankheg queen only has access to this lair action while Shackled.
Serve- By use of pheromones, the ankheg queen orders a single ally she can detect within her range to perform one action immediately as their reaction.
Queen's Call- The ankheeg queen lets out a high pitched wail, causing all of her alive, unhatched eggs within a 60ft radius to rapidly hatch, each spawnig an ankheg larva.
Eat, My Children- The ankheg queen rapidly stomps the ground, sending out shockwaves in a 30ft radius, causing all of the soild to soften momentarily into quicksand. All others caught in the radius must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw (ankheg have advantage on this save) or be Restrained until they successfuly make a DC 13 Strength check to free themselves.
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