(All pictures in this profile were done for me by Vorry~ No stealings, onegaishimaaaasu~)
The Neban exist as a sort of 'dimensional bridge' of beings... they have been confirmed to exist on multiple planes and have been spotted on countless worlds, but all evidence points to it being the same individuals in every incident.
The creatures live in a structure not unlike a large anthill or beehive... its true location is unknown, but it seems to be able to create entrances via dimensional portal anywhere the creatures desire, allowing them to raid almost any time or point in space.
Ten subtypes of Neban have been encountered thus far. The first is the Queen, pictured above. The queen is a bit decadent and lazy, and is quite rarely seen unless one is dragged bodily into the hive to go visit her for something or other.
Nine other types exist, then... workers, soldiers, royal guards, processors, sprayers, captors, hunters, controllers and corruptors. Information on each is as follows:
Workers are the most basic type, and are what all young Neban start life as. Immensely strong for their size, they do tend to be somewhat listless and lazy when not on the job, and are often found lounging about the hive in droves.
Soldiers are little more than armored workers tasked with hive defense. Slightly more lively than their worker counterparts, but fewer in number. Aside from the Queen, Soldiers are the only ones that usually leave the nest, though in the vicinity of a portal it is possible to find any sort of Neban.
Royal Guards are a special type of evolved soldier. Quite rare... there are thought to be less than ten of them... these massive Neban are generally seen guarding the queen's chamber and other areas of importance. Wearing chitinous plates of ceremonial armor, they also serve as slow, tanklike spearheads into any Neban incursions, gulping armfuls of tasty humans~
Processors are the largest of the 'normal' Neban, filling the hive-halls with their bulk. The job of a processor is to turn people into things that are useful for the hive. Therefore, a processor will often stuff victims into her thick abdomen for conversion into food, or a new Neban, or something similar.
Sprayers serve double-duty in the hive. Firstly, they use their long prehensile tails to excrete the thick, webby goo used in much of the hive's internal construction. Secondly, they use the same goo to smother and cocoon choice prey for later consumption.
Captors are a mostly sedentary variant of Neban... slow when mobile and quite uncoordinated, their large stomachs make most tasks other than being lazy difficult. The stomach, which is translucent, is for holding prey until they are needed... the entire time they're in the stomach, they're being sloshed about in light enzymes, and their imprisonment can last for weeks on end, making it quite the ordeal.
Controllers are a rather insidious and dangerous caste of Neban. Somewhat similar to humans, they can occasionally pass off as them assuming they hide their tentacles and the third eye... but, they usually don't have to. That third eye is hypnotic, they exude mind-muddling pheromones, and they're able to engulf prey's head in their tentaclemaws in order to alter, wipe, or devour their memories altogether, soaking them in brain-draining goop in the process. She can also slither her tongue in directly to tease the victim's mind. Her staff allows her to direct her pheromones as a weapon, as well... one of the few instances of real Neban technology, a concentrated blast of pheromones is enough to make anyone come right to her~
Hunters are a relatively new caste of Neban, but most consider them to be the most dangerous. This is the second iteration of them, in fact... the first were more insectoid and armored, but they proved to be slow and fragile, so most of the chitin was stripped away and tougher, more leathery wings replaced the membranous insect wings. The Hunter's job is to hunt prey, of course... she does this primarily with her hair and tail. The Hunter's massive ponytail is full of barbs, snarls and tangles... just passing it over prey during a flyby is enough to snag them, and the more they struggle the deeper they go. In fact, if they struggle -too- much, they'll end up rather nude, deep in the hair, where the Hunter digests them herself. The tail has a small maw on the tip and is quite rubbery, good for coiling and storing a choice victim she can't risk having digested.
Corruptors would scare people more if they knew the things existed, but truth is, these tubby blobs of poison serve as a sort of Neban superweapon, sent out of the hive only when things really hit the fan. Otherwise, the girls sit in their rooms, brewing toxins and poisons inside of their soft bodies, testing them out on captives, gobbling their favorites, and generally being decadent. None of their poisons are fatal in small doses, but the fact that their internal organs are all sacs of poison gas and liquid means that they can store lots of prey without even using their stomachs. Four more fit in the tentacles, one more in each breast... and none of them able to struggle. Tsk tsk~
And what of the queen? Aside from being the strongest and most agile of the Neban, the queen is also a hunter of prey. Often she will stalk her victims at a distance, leaping on them when they're alone and stuffing them into her rubbery gullet or sucking them up her tongued, muscular tail. Most victims are digested to keep her metabolism up, but choice victims are returned to be transformed, or simply to be given to the others as a toy or pet.
The Neban hive is an inexplicably massive honeycomb of pulsing, fleshy tunnels, the walls oozing some sort of organic slime, with rooms and branches every which way in a haphazard mess. Other than the Neban themselves, one has to watch out for digestion pools and all sorts of traps, like tentacle-snares or slime-pits. It's quite the dangerous place~!
Non-Neban Residents:
Solan. He was nabbed by a processor and 'enslaved' by the Neban... basically made into a live-in food source. He has his own room, and he's fed royal nectar, then gobbled all up. But it's okay, he reforms in his room~
Work in progress~