Khalkoi

Khalkoi, more commonly known as mind wasps, are parasitic predators that feed on the cosmic principles of good and evil, law and chaos. They conquer reality after reality, leaving behind deserted heavens and dead gods as they rob worlds of divine magic.

A khalkos is humanoid in shape with an inexpressive wasp face. It is able to disguise itself psionically in order to infiltrate sacred or profane places, dooming them to destruction.

Parasitic Life Cycle. Khalkoi implant their larvae into the brains of intelligent creatures. A parasitized victim comes to see every khalkos as an ally to be trusted, and may even help a khalkos implant its eggs in other victims. When khalkos larvae are ready to be born, they burst from the skull of their host. As the headless victim collapses to the ground, the khalkos larvae—now independent khalkos spawn—fly away to search for new victims.

Although khalkos larvae can infect any intelligent creature, they prefer hosts that are cosmically aligned: archpriests and saints, angels and devils, and even gods. Khalkoi spawned from an aligned creature begin growing into adult khalkoi immediately, reaching maturity in a few days. Khalkoi that hatch from unaligned creatures must consume many humanoid victims, over a period of months or years, before they mature.

Existential Threat. A khalkos can sense cosmic power as a spider senses a tremor in its webs. The battles of warring pantheons, or mighty deeds performed by celestial or fiendish champions, can attract their attention to a heretofore-overlooked planar realm.

Usually, only a single khalkos travels to a newly discovered world. With mastermind intelligence and mind-clouding psionic powers, it infiltrates a temple or cult. Finally, it targets a divinely-empowered priest or minor fiend, hijacking its body to serve as the breeding ground for its eggs. Soon, one khalkos becomes a swarm of khalkoi that immediately set their sights on bigger game.

Fight or Flight. A few worlds have successfully fought off a khalkos invasion. To win such a war, powerful cosmic entities must be aided by unaligned heroes: warriors, spellcasters, and other adventurers who don’t inherit their power from cosmic principles but who are willing to fight for them nonetheless.

Other worlds have survived the khalkos threat by avoiding detection. Some dimensions have constructed vast psychic barriers or concluded divine treaties to limit the power of deities and fiends. If these magical protections are violated, such worlds risk unwelcome attention.