Changeling Wasp
The nobleman was out on horseback when he came too close to a nest of Changeling wasps. The first sting made him scream and sent him falling from his horse. When he felt the second sting and was close to passing out with the pain, he thought Whatever happens now, my life of freedom is over. Even if I am not stung again,and escape being paralysed or killed I will be a girl. I will no longer have the right to choose who I marry, to carry a weapon, to join the army or to have control over my own finances.My life is ruined now.
The Changeling wasp is large, a full foot long, with glittering transparent wings and a multicoloured body, and infamous for the effects of it's sting. A single sting given to a human or humanoid wasp just hurts. A lot. According to some who have suffered the misfortune of being stung, it feels like a red hot poker would if applied to the skin. But it's what happens if a second sting is given that has gained this wasp it's infamy; the human's body will change sex over a period of about fifteen minites or so, to the opposite gender. Women will become men with fully functioning sex organs, males will become genuine females, who can get pregnant and give birth. They normally pass out and wake not long after as their new gender. Since the vast majority of people (or elves, dwarves and other races) wish to stay the gender that they were born as, the first thing done when a new town or city is founded is that people in sting-proof armour destroy the nests of these unwanted wasps. In the case of deeply patriarchal (or, much more rarely,deeply matriarchal) societies, to be changed into the gender at the bottom of the heap is a disaster. Rulers are deposed or at least stripped of effective power;those lower in society lose some or indeed all of the rights they enjoyed. In fairer societies, they still have the burden of proving who they are.
These things do not prey on humans and humanoid races, they only sting them if threatened or attacked. Their normal prey is other large insects and spiders,which they sting to paralyse, then munch up themselves or feed to their fist sized grubs. They normaly build large nests with twelve to twenty-four grubs and six to twelve adult wasps per nest, with at least two adult wasps and sometimes more guarding the nest and grubs at any one time.The grubs themselves have no stings, although they can give a nasty bite if handled carelessly. Once killed and crushed into a pulp, they can be put into food or drink to change someone's gender. However, the adult wasps will defend the grubs with their lives. Three stings are enough to paralyse a human for hours, and four or more in a day will kill without quick medical aid.Once someone's gender has been changed, it cannot be changed in the same way again.
Plot hooks
To Queen the King- In a country that sees women as very much second class citizens,some nobles have been plotting to bring down their paranoid king not by killing her, but by turning him into a woman who will no longer be able to legally rule over them. And guess who gets to trek out into the back of beyond,risk their lives and their genders getting the grubs, prepare the grubs and then smuggle the potion past the royal bodyguards and poison the royal food without getting caught? The PCs.
Make Me A Male- A noblewoman, fearing she will be married against her will and fed up at the way she is belittled for being female, wants the PCs to prepare the potion for her.
Make Me A Girl- A nobleman is transsexual and would much rather be female, and wants the PCs to prepare the potion for him.
For the Zoo- The owner of a zoo will pay the PCs well if they can capture two adult.Changeling wasps without killing or hurting them in the process. Not an easy thing to do.
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? Responses (8)
This is a fun idea. Check the writing though, the last part of the second paragraph has been eaten up somehow.
Fun idea indeed, but there are lots of questions in my head. Are the wasps magical? Why does it take 2 stings (magic would make sense)? Can the stingers/poison be used as/on weapons (changeling darts)? What happens if a pregnant woman is stung? Can the wasps sting each other for mating (it would be kinda cool if all wasps were male and they had to sting each other for mating rights)?
Can I throw out a possibility? What if the wasps have a type of DNA mutagen poison. This poison causes pain throughout the entire body, but enough poison overcomes your natural resistances and mutates your DNA, consuming your excess fatty tissues to fuel rapid transformation. That would be super painful! The poison would need a paralytic to paralyze someone for hours, or perhaps enough poison would render you incapacitated as your entire body is overwhelmed by the mutation. Enough poison and you would simply die from pain or fall apart as the mutation gets too aggressive.
It's not perfect, but it's something. Magic would be easier to explain.
The premise is indeed juicy and fun, the bug's execution, less so. I'm liking OmegaDraco's idea on the techincal aspects of the Wasp, and would also like some of those same questions answered.
This is indeed fun. I agree that the execution needs to be tightened up, and Omega's suggestions are very sound. The only thing I have to add is a little nitpick: if someone was just stung by one of those things, I doubt they'd have time for the introspective contemplation of the guy in your summary. My guess are that his thoughts would be a lot more fragmented and horrified. :P
I can see childhood a dare gone horribly wrong... 'Whatsa matter? You scared of one tiny little bug!?'
I see these as needing a pretty large hive to hold all that was described. Large enough so it would be virtually impossible to walk up unawares on a hive. A single wasp outside their hive however is possible but I don't see the 'I'll sting you if threatened.' aspect. These things are large enough to not be threatened but have an overbearing type action mentality. It's a foot long wasp what is there that it would feel threatened.
These seem to me to be some godling's prank. Making this a magical effect clears up any nit-picks about how it works.