idea that has been on the back burner for some time (but is still half-cooked somehow) that im finally elaborating on a little, albeit in a very disorganized rambling manner with nyra, an immature termite (nymph) who has big dreams of becoming a termite soldier so she can bang her head against a mud tunnel to alert the colony to danger without giving herself a concussion.

mature termites are a lot taller, with darker complexions, larger heads, and longer mandibles - the soldiers especially. ramble below:

- an extremely isolationist, subterranean termite colony with a rigid caste system and centuries-old (thinking 200 y/o-ish) king and queen (termites, unlike ants, requiring a primary pair of reproductives to start + maintain a colony population - they're also monogamous, lifelong partners) who refuse to take part in or contribute to any outside conflict simply because they've been around long enough to observe the cyclical nature of conquest/war and want nothing to do with it

- the queen, for the most part, completely rejects contact with the surface (excepting the rare trade agreement) - both a strength and a weakness for the colony's welfare (not dragged into surface politics, economic stability, no involvement in costly + unpredictable conflicts - but also left to handle various crises such as famines and disease outbreaks without outside help, which can result in mass deaths that take decades to recover from and could very well result in the colony's eventual demise).

- expert architects and clay ceramicists (pottery being one of their main exports), use somewhat primitive weaponry (spears, knives) with surprising finesse despite their inherent blindness (note: termite workers and soldiers are completely blind, but queens, kings, and additional/secondary reproductives have small, weak eyes, meaning they can still see - albeit poorly).