Crèche Larvae

These small skittering creatures are the larval form of the insectile behemoths, Crèche Walkers. Like their elders, Crèche Larvae live in the harsh environments of deserts and badlands, however they cannot survive long in the heat and must regularly take shelter within the back hump hollow of their parents. 

While in a larval stage, these creatures are extremely quick and much deadlier than their elderly counterparts, capable of mild psionics and equipped with sharp mandibles. Larvae will defend walkers from any dangers until it comes time for them to bear their own young and metamorphose into slow-moving, defenseless giants relying on their own spawn for protection.

Larvae have a symbiotic relationship with the elderly of their kind, they defend the weaker adults who keep them from boiling within their unhardened chiton. When they hear the call of a distressed Crèche Walker, larvae almost always respond in numbers. 

Scholars have pondered why Crèche Larvae, which seem ill-suited for hot climates, are only found in deserts and similar terrain. The current consensus seems to be that their elderly forms metabolise immense heat into energy, so the larvae live their young lives waiting for this change, feeding on carrion and protecting the Crèche Walkers until their time comes to malt and walk in the sun.