Vex

The Vex are a Hive Mind Run by Queens who birth the entirety of the swarm. They are recognisable by the purple glowing eyes, purple chittin, grayish purple skin and a single horn. These features are shared across all Vex be they drone or Queen. Drones appear to have limitations on how much they can be altered needing to have at least 6 legs and a horn but this has been suggested to simply be a result of Marcus' inexperience.

They all look like a mix between insects and lizards but their general shape changes greatly from type to type (Ch. 29). They are warm blooded (Ch. 13).

Vex will eat almost everything organic and not be bothered by it (the worst quality animal food is good enough for them). The Queens turn this up to eleven, since they literally have bio-nanodrones in their stomach which will decompose and digest pretty much anything, along with reading any DNA present. Poison, acid and even metal would be digested without any ill effect. Marcus could eat a block of lead and follow it up with a glass of mercury and the worst that will happen to him would be a mild stomach ache.

All Vex are hatched from Eggs and new drones have to be hatched by the Queen. Existing models can be hatched by designated Brood Mothers. Eggs are generally similar to the egg of a fish or a frog than that of a reptile or a bird. They are oval in shape but of varying size depending on the Drone and they are semi-translucent so you can see the shape inside.

Hive Queens
They are the mind that controls the Vex Hive.

Most Vex Queens are single-mindedly dedicated to caring about their hives and spend most of their time commanding drones, laying eggs and trying to find new valuable DNA. Despite being very intelligent, the Queens are still eminently instinctive creatures. However, one of the instinctive activities of Queens is experimenting with the DNA they have acquired and learning about the world they're in. Vex Queens can be incredibly curious, and have an innate desire to know more.

Marcus surmises that Vex are instinctually fairly territorial and aggressive (Ch. 34).

The Hive Mind
Marcus is not aware that the hive itself has a gestalt consciousness, mostly because said consciousness mostly act as an extension of his own. The Hive Mind and Marcus are not separate entities... let's just say that they are both part of the same system. Marcus is usually in charge of major decisions while the gestalt Hive Mind deals with subroutines but occasionally, when the central decisional unit is out of order (Marcus is unconscious) she can also work as the main consciousness (Ch. 45).

Relations to other Hive Queens
"... the relationship between Marcus and the Mother Vex Queen is actually a rather standard one. Vex Queens do create other Queens and then send them away to create a new Hive and spread the Vex infestation in the world. Usually Queens are much stronger than Marcus, but their will is much weaker, so much so that the mother Queen can still command them. However, once the new Queen have made a new hive, she is considered a "rival" by her mother. If two hives are close to each other they would instinctively try to absorb one another, making an exception only if there is a serious external threat. The only case in which multiple Vex Queens can live together is if there is a  Vex Empress  ruling over them... though in that case, they would essentially all share the Empress' will (like the drones share the Queen's will)."

Unique attributes
It's hard to permanently injure Marcus, by the way. Anything that doesn't kill him would eventually heal completely, given enough time.

It's also one of the reasons he doesn't get more muscles from his training. Sadly, as Vex Queens are not meant to become stronger with training, the microtears heals incredibly fast but the muscles become exactly as they were before. On the plus side, Marcus would never lose muscles due to a sedentary lifestyle.

Maturity
Technically speaking, he was mature even before that... but there are some minor adjustment and changes during the first year of life of a Vex Queen. After a year, they stabilize completely though. ValetheHowl on Discord 24 Jun 2021

Marcus
Marcus is a very defective Queen, by Vex standards. He was made as an experiment by the Mother Vex and was never really meant to actually start his own hive.

Well, physically he is an abysmally weak Hive Queen. Most Vex Queens are huge for the purp[o]se of better laying eggs, and wouldn't even blink after laying an oversize Destroyer egg that basically makes Marcus beg for the sweet release of Death. Mentally though, Marcus is exceptional, even for a Hive Queen. His will is strong enough to impress even his Mother.

Drones
Drones possess minds but no will other than that of the Hive Queen. Should the Hive Queen be injured or incapacitated they follow the instincts of the Queen rather than her conscious will. Marcus and thus presumably all Queens do not not dream rather their “dreams” are filled by the collective consciousness of their minions. They grow at a greatly accelerated rate but this can be further boosted by prolonging the gestation period. Names are based on those Marcus himself came up with.

An actual nervous system is necessary for a drone to be fully integrated into the Hivemind.

Vex drones are considered unpalatable even to Orcs.

Hound-Hunters

 * a creature similar to a dog in shape, with a back protected by a chitin armor covered in small spikes. The creature had a big, triangular head with a small horn in front of its forehead, and a big mouth filled with sharp teeth. The creature was very fast and had very sharp sense of smell and hearing: it was a natural hunter, ready to catch all prey. As for the size, it was quite big, at least the size of a wolf.


 * this was the first drone Marcus birthed and he named the first one Cooper and it has stayed by side from the very start despite becoming outdated by newer models.
 * Newer models: bigger and stronger but equally speedy due to using the Crystal Deer's genetic information namely its musculature. The third pair of limbs had been allowed to fully grow but from their backs like featherless wings, these pseudo-arms were tipped with sharp, vaguely hook-like claws, which could be used both for combat and for grabbing their prey. He has also boosted them with additional jaw strength from Nightwolf DNA.

Builders

 * About the same size as Cooper. He elected to make it like a centaur, with the lower body of a quadruped which ended in a short, reptilian tail, and a quasi humanoid torso, similar to that of a mantis. The legs were very strong, allowing the creature to jump and run very fast, while the arms were long and had human like hands covered in chitin, pretty much like his own, only they had four fingers instead of five.  The chitin armour of this creature was actually a lot smaller than Cooper's, leaving a lot of their skin unprotected safe for its arms and legs, but it had some sort of chitin helmet to cover its head, with a single horn sprouting from its snake like head. Possesses glands that allow it to make a mold wax like substance.
 * Newer models: The builders had a more humanoid torso now, but also the the ability to walk on vertical surfaces like geckos and spiders: this way, they could also start farming mold wax on ceiling and high walls.

Flying Explorers

 * A lizard-dragonfly hybrid, the size of a small dog. They could fly and had an excellent sight, but they were rather clumsy on land. Marcus made sure to include a way for the flying drones to look upward, giving them 3 pairs of eyes after an encounter with a big bird.
 * Newer models: now with venomous fangs and sharp claws added

Soldier

 * it has powerful, raptor like posterior legs. The upper ones are mantis like scythes. And the middle ones are very long. The soldier could use them to balance itself, as well as run and fight on all four should it need more stability. It could also use them to grab its prey and finish it with the scythe claws. It has a long tail for balance which is barbed. Its armor is thicker than that of the hunters and covered in spines. The scariest part of the drone was its head: very big and triangular in shape, it rested on a long but strong serpentine neck, and it was protected by a chitin helmet from which a single horn protruded. Two pairs of eyes were visible from holes in the chitin, glowing with furious energy, and its gigantic mouth was filled with rows of teeth that could make a shark envious.
 * Newer models: Denser muscles and stronger jaw strength
 * the first of these was nicknamed Achilles by Marcus

Digger

 * a four meters long drone with the torso of a worm, powerful claws capable of digging through any soil and a huge mouth with a powerful jaw capable of crushing rock. Its eyes were very small, but it had exceptional hearing and could perfectly feel and read vibrations through the earth. It dug in the ground at an amazing speed, leaving behind itself a circular tunnel with a one and a half meters diameter, which the builder drones then reinforced with mold wax to prevent cave-ins.

Collector

 * half the size of Marcus' forearm, and shaped pretty much like a vaguely reptilian mosquito. It didn't possess any defense apart from his strong bite but it would be very fast and stealthy to compensate. It would collect DNA in it's second stomach via a retractable needle.

Broodmother

 * A Broodmother is a drone specialized for producing other drones. Unlike a Queen it has no individuality and lack the ability to absorb other creatures' DNA, but it can still lay eggs, and in fact it can even lay more eggs than the Queen herself. Although, since it can't modify the DNA of its offspring, it is restricted to producing a single breed of drones.
 * It's an insectoid creature with atrophied limbs and a very, very big rear section and a humongous vagina. The size is about 4 meters long at full maturity, weighting two hundred kilos. Most of the body mass is made up by the reproductive system, with all other functions reduced to a minimum in order to reduce waste of nutrients. The nutrient consumption to make it and keep it alive is astronomically high though eating its own bodyweight each day.
 * Queens are normally the only Vex with an aura, and therefore capable of "broadcasting" their thoughts (they're the source of signal for every other Vex), but Broodmothers do have better reception compared to other drones, and even a tiny hint of telepathic power themselves. This is why Marcus was oblivious of his drones being killed in the Caligare Forest but immediately knew when his Broodmothers were hurt (Ch. 91).

Heavies

 * Similar to a gorilla, with oversized arms and smaller hind legs that gave them a crouched position,with another set of arms which were smaller and allowed for better balance, and an armour of hard chitin. An incredibly strong juggernaut, capable of lifting tons without effort, and so resilient that nothing short of a cannon would make it budge.

Spitters

 * they resemble toads with lizard legs. The chitin armor only covers part of their backs and heads. This drone was capable of spitting a powerful acidic poison with a very impressive range and accuracy. It could even hit a tree trunk from 70 meters away, and the acid was strong enough to make the tree fall in about 30 seconds.  The drone is even capable of altering the density of its spit, making it very thick for long range projectiles and more liquid for a short range but very wide spray.

Artillery Drone

 * These drones were much bigger than a Spitter and looked more similar to bloated lizards with extremely thick and muscular necks rather than frogs. They were also much more effective as a living artillery piece, having an effective range of 150 meters and a much greater reserve of acidic venom to use as ammo.

Dreadnought

 * A huge, hulking creature that resembled a mix between a beetle, a rhino and a pill bug. The Dreadnought was by far the biggest drone Marcus had ever made, being almost four meters tall and six meters long, with a colossal horn in the front and its body entirely protected by extremely thick chitin armour. The main purpose of this creature was to act as a living battering ram, since it was deceptively fast for its size and its sheer mass made it basically unstoppable once it gained enough momentum.

Wyvern Drone

 * This drone, based mostly on the genetic material and appearance of a wyvern, looked like a huge bat-like creature with a vaguely reptilian head, plus the horn and the chitin armour typical of the Vex, and it was absolutely huge, with a wingspan of over eighteen meters. The Wyvern Drone could not only fly at an impressive speed over huge distances, but it was also strong enough to effortlessly carry two adult humans on its back.

Destroyer

 * He had used the Oxisaurus DNA as a base, but he had added all sorts of modifications to improve it, like the chitin armor of the Vex, the muscle density of a troll, the ability to spit venomous acid like a Piraca and even a fast-coagulating blood which would seal any wound and prevent blood loss. The end result was something that looked like the lovechild of Alien and Jurassic Park, four monsters which looked kind of like a 4 metre tall T-Rexes covered in chitin armour but much more lithe, with strong, powerful legs which granted it an impressive speed and agility for a creature of its size. They also all shared the same kind of upper arms, two scythe-like appendages similar to those of a mantis, and a long, whip-like tail covered in segmented and barbed chitin armour.
 * Marcus had gone as far as giving each of the Destroyer a customized set of secondary limbs.
 * a pair of long, clawed hands which could be used to grab the prey.
 * a second pair of mantis-like scythes.
 * two oversized crab-like pincers which were powerful enough to tear through almost anything.
 * a pair of long, retractable tentacles which could be stretched up to ten meters and were coated in acidic venom.

Clone/Copy Drone

 * A normal drone made to look like Marcus so he can interact with others while otherwise engaged. Marcus is still fine tuning things like expressions, volume control, jerky movements and unusual stillness when not being directly interacted with.

Mold-Wax
A gray opaque wax like substance created by Builder Drones thanks to a special gland that is inherent to Vex and not a result of the DNA of consumed creatures. It grows at an amazing pace with just some light and humidity.

The mold-wax is technically made of microscopic Vex drones already. Even microscopic drones have a rudimental mental connection to the Hive Queen, but they are incapable of processing complex information and orders (and they are also pretty slow anyway). Marcus could, for example, order the mold-wax to not grow in a certain spot.

Mold-Wax works as an insulator as far as aura is concerned. This is why the Dragon couldn't control the region, and Felix always failed to use the Twinstone while inside a Mold-Wax cave. However, Mold-Wax only inhibit the passage of aura, it doesn't actually make someone's aura weaker. So Felix, whose powers are completely inside of him, is fine.

The Mold-Wax doesn't let other people's aura pass through, but it actually catalyze the passage of Marcus's (the queen) aura. The Vex Mound (which contained a LOT of drones and thus had a LOT of Marcus aura going through it) was basically chocked full of Vex aura, to the point of overwhelming anyone capable of sensing Aura.

Uses

 * Excellent coating material that acts as a thermal insulator.
 * Edible and highly nutritious. Marcus describes its taste as kind of like grass and stale bread. Described by Felix as quite hard to chew, with an almost wood-like texture tasting like rotten eggs and spoiled milk.
 * It also seems to have the effect of helping the eggs hatch faster.
 * Vex drones could be given the command to go into hibernation and if they were surrounded by a cocoon of mold-wax they could remain in that state almost indefinitely.
 * Bioluminescent variant that glows blue
 * Water purification