Larvester
A Tryker occupation
Larvester is the newest occupation, and the only one that didn't exist in any form before the Great Swarming. Before the Great Swarming, homins had never even heard of kitins, let alone their larvae. One could say that where many occupations died in the Great Swarming, Larvester was born in it.
Though not instantly, ofcourse. In the first few years after the discovery of kitins, all homins were either immediately killed by those kitins, or far too busy with not getting killed to spare any thought about the reproduction methods of the insectoid terrors they were fleeing from. And the homins that survived eventually settled in the New Lands, where there weren't any kitin or their larvae to be found.
It took several years for kitin to follow the homins to the New Lands, and then several years more before they started building nests there. And even then, homins were still so traumatized by their memory of the Great Swarming that nobody would ever dare set a foot inside those nests.
But gradually, the new generation overcame their fear of kitin and learned to fight back. And they realised they needed to learn all they could about this enemy to stand a chance. It's unknown whether the first larvae were discovered by a homin army attempting to clear out a kitin nest, or by a suicidally brave explorer daring to venture into a nest alone, but by 2525 it was becoming well known that some kitin larvae made great crafting materials.
These larvae appeared to be a special kind that could only be found in small quantities near kitin queens - possibly these are the larvae that new queens grow from. Most larvae found inside kitin lairs, and sometimes even outside, were unsuitable for crafting and considered useless. Until some curious Tryker discovered that with the proper treatment they could be made into very tasty snacks.
There is some debate over who discovered the recipes, but as early as 2530 there are records of kitin larvae being served in the bar in Thesos, under the slogan "get revenge on the kitin by eating their young!" For the next two decades however, kitin larvae remained a rare and expensive delicacy, as there were only a few kitin nests in the New Lands, and only a few particularly skilled Tryker explorers who were crazy enough to sneak into these nests just to steal a few snacks.
When the Kitin Lair was discovered beneath Almati Wood, most homins reacted with shock, but the Larvesters smelled opportunity. Properly exploring it, they found it to be full of unprecedented amounts of larvae. But more importantly, since they lacked the numbers to exploit the Kitin Lair by themselves, they also found materials highly useful to other occupations. Armed with this knowledge, and intent on finally turning their niche business into a huge enterprise, they negotiated the joint operation to exploit the Kitin Lair.
A Tryker occupation
Larvester is the newest occupation, and the only one that didn't exist in any form before the Great Swarming. Before the Great Swarming, homins had never even heard of kitins, let alone their larvae. One could say that where many occupations died in the Great Swarming, Larvester was born in it.
Though not instantly, ofcourse. In the first few years after the discovery of kitins, all homins were either immediately killed by those kitins, or far too busy with not getting killed to spare any thought about the reproduction methods of the insectoid terrors they were fleeing from. And the homins that survived eventually settled in the New Lands, where there weren't any kitin or their larvae to be found.
It took several years for kitin to follow the homins to the New Lands, and then several years more before they started building nests there. And even then, homins were still so traumatized by their memory of the Great Swarming that nobody would ever dare set a foot inside those nests.
But gradually, the new generation overcame their fear of kitin and learned to fight back. And they realised they needed to learn all they could about this enemy to stand a chance. It's unknown whether the first larvae were discovered by a homin army attempting to clear out a kitin nest, or by a suicidally brave explorer daring to venture into a nest alone, but by 2525 it was becoming well known that some kitin larvae made great crafting materials.
These larvae appeared to be a special kind that could only be found in small quantities near kitin queens - possibly these are the larvae that new queens grow from. Most larvae found inside kitin lairs, and sometimes even outside, were unsuitable for crafting and considered useless. Until some curious Tryker discovered that with the proper treatment they could be made into very tasty snacks.
There is some debate over who discovered the recipes, but as early as 2530 there are records of kitin larvae being served in the bar in Thesos, under the slogan "get revenge on the kitin by eating their young!" For the next two decades however, kitin larvae remained a rare and expensive delicacy, as there were only a few kitin nests in the New Lands, and only a few particularly skilled Tryker explorers who were crazy enough to sneak into these nests just to steal a few snacks.
When the Kitin Lair was discovered beneath Almati Wood, most homins reacted with shock, but the Larvesters smelled opportunity. Properly exploring it, they found it to be full of unprecedented amounts of larvae. But more importantly, since they lacked the numbers to exploit the Kitin Lair by themselves, they also found materials highly useful to other occupations. Armed with this knowledge, and intent on finally turning their niche business into a huge enterprise, they negotiated the joint operation to exploit the Kitin Lair.