The Hive

This article is about the group known as The Hive. You may be looking for the Vortakinj or Naviaspore.

The HiveNaviaspore
Group Information
Leader(s)	Vorta (1st Hive) Yavalla (2nd Hive)
Members	Kahvi (Freed) 60,000+ (Freed)
Occupation	Serving Yavalla Serving Vorta and The Seven
Status	Destroyed

“	I am the only one who's experienced what it's like to be part of The United. It's like your mind is swallowed up, your body withers away with every passing of the infection. It is a slow and awful death.	”
	— Rosmund describes the effects of the Hive

The Hive, also called The United, is a term used to describe the effects of the Vortakinj and the group of people it infects with smaller offspring kinjes called Naviaspore's. The Vortakinj can procreate small gold kinjes that connect the infected to the bearer of the Vortakinj. Janzo likens the effect to that of Stingray flies.

Yavalla and Vorta shared a collective consciousness with her infected. The members are, more or less, puppets controlled by the leader of the Hive. Yavalla's hive had a primary sanctuary at an ancient blackblood temple only a day's journey from Gallwood Outpost. The second hive were freed when the Terakinj and the Vortakinj destroyed one another.

History

Locating the Kinj

The kinj was hidden away in a forgotten citadel underneath Gallwood Outpost. The room that held the kinj was protected by a labyrinth that was riddled with traps designed to test the seeker's worthiness of such a powerful kinj. Yavalla traveled to the citadel alongside Wren, Janzo, and Talon, who solved the riddles for Yavalla. Yavalla then placed her hand into a hole that produced a snake. The snake bit her hand and passed an gold kinj onto her. The snake turned to dust the second the kinj was passed onto Yavalla.

Yavalla Creates Her Hive

Upon receiving the kinj, Yavalla returned to Gallwood and used the reproductive aspects of the kinj to infect Rosmund. Yavalla's kinj split in two - a white and an gold one. She forced the gold one into Rosmund. The introduction made Rosmund complacent and bound her to Yavalla. Yavalla explained that she can now see through Gwynn's eyes, hear through her ears, and communicate through her mind. It is later shown that Yavalla can also manipulate Rosmund into saying or doing whatever she wants.

Rosmund's kinj reproduced similarly to Yavalla, but this time, an identical gold kinj was produced. She then passed one onto Sammy by kissing his cheek. She welcomes him to The United and instructs him to spread the wisdom that she passed onto him. He complied and his kinj reproduced, creating an identical gold one, and he passed a kinj onto a Blackblood solider. This chain reaction continued, with Yavalla infecting Blackbloods and Rosmund being tasked with infecting Tobin Aegisford.

In the meantime, Yavalla attempts to welcome Talon to the United but Talon's kinj protects her from Yavalla's infection. The rejection causes Yavalla physical pain and allows Talon to escape and warn Garret, Janzo, and Zed of the true nature of Yavalla's kinj. Yavalla tries to force the kinj into Wren but the woman is strong and fights off Yavalla before running away.

Talon, Garret, Tobin, and Zed imprison Yavalla and the rest of the United to contain the Kinj infection. Rosmund's Kinj reproduces again and she infects a rat with the offspring Kinj. The rat escapes the prison and bites Tobin, passing the Kinj on to him. Now under their control, he frees Yavalla, Rosmund, and the other United, and they leave the Outpost along with Tobin's army to begin spreading the infection throughout the wider world. They are successful and claimed The Capital and over forty-thousand people.

Janzo recommends fire as a source of destruction for Yavalla. He doesn't know if it will work or not but thinks that an explosive device should tear through all the tissue in her body and leave her with nothing to regenerate. This proves futile as Yavalla's Vortakinj revives her despite her decapitation and burned body. She proudly announces that she is a God. She also claims Munt and Wren as her newest additions to the Hive, though Janzo uses his last dose of fictor's sap to cure Wren. Yavalla announces to her followers that the time has come to attack Gallwood Outpost, as they are the greatest threat to their cause.

Destroying the Hive

Now aware that the only way to cure the gold kinjes is Fictor's Sap, Janzo and Wren work tirelessly to find a way to make the extinct herb. When this proves futile, Talon decides to visit the Plane of Ashes in search of a "death kinj" that can supposedly kill anything. She believes that her father, Sai-vek Redwan, is in possession of such a kinj. She enlists Wren and Zed to travel to the Plane with her. In the meantime, the Hive rallies itself outside Gallwood Outpost to attack the last corner of the realm that isn't infected. The first wave of attackers claims the lives of Tobin Aegisford and countless others. Yavalla offers Rosmund the chance to be united once more and spare bloodshed, but Rosmund remembers the feeling of being infected and refuses. The two groups are in a stand-off as Yavalla is hesitant to lose more of her followers, as she feels their loss each time one dies. Her reluctance grants Rosmund and her troops a few extra hours in the hopes that Talon will return with the kinj.

Talon does find her father in the Plane of Ashes with the Terakinj, though he informs them that the price of using it to destroy the Vortakinj is death for both hosts and kinjes. They return to Gallwood in the heat of another attack, as the Hive were able to stop Falista from utilizing the effects of the Kultorkinj, as it killed dozens of infected. Talon, Rosmund, and Sai-vek retreat to the throne room where they realize they are the last remaining residents to not be infected - Zed having been captured. Sai-vek is ultimately impaled to the wall by Yavalla's Lu-Qiri, leaving Rosmund the only available person to use the Terakinj. She takes the kinj and prepares for her final act as Queen. Upon emerging, they see that Yavalla has indeed claimed Janzo, Wren, and Garret Spears as members of the infected. Yavalla commands her army to kill Talon and Rosmund, but Talon uses her expert combat skills to pave a way for Rosmund. She throws herself at Yavalla and pins her to the ground, their respective kinjes glowing before the Vortakinj is expelled from Yavalla. Their bodies turn to stone and crumble to the ground. All around them, members of the Hive watch in shock before their gold kinjes are expelled and they are free once more.

Kinj Abilities

Vortakinj

For additional information and a complete history of the kinj, please see Vortakinj

Due to the interconnected nature of the hive and the kinjes, each member was connected not only to one another but to Yavalla as well. While the Vortakinj that Yavalla possesses has certain additional powers, it shares the same biological components as the gold offspring kinjes, known as Naviaspore. The original Vortakinj was exceptionally more powerful than the Naviaspore, as it was among one of the seven original kinjes.

Yavalla communicating through the hive

• Mind Control - Yavalla could manipulate her hive to obey her commands, even take control of their bodies and move through them. The larger her hive became, the harder it became to force a singular subject to obey her command. This was shown when an infected member disobeyed an order not to pass her kinj onto a soldier, and again when Munt's loyalty to Janzo made him disobey Yavalla's command to kill Janzo and his friends. The mind control seemed focused on verbal communication; Yavalla could see through her subject's eyes and talk through their mouths.

"A mind-expanding in ways we never could have imagined. Not only peace but knowledge. Its power is limitless, you must experience this for yourself." ― Wren in From Paradise to Hell and Back

• Hive Mind - This allows a group of people to "share" the same mind. Like most hive insects like bees and ants, each member could work autonomously and communicate on their own without the meddling of the leader. However, Yavalla could insert herself into the conversation at any point in time, leaving the member thinking the words they spoke were their own. However, the larger the Hive became, Yavalla's access became limited. She could only see what triggers her, such as a commotion or disturbance amongst the Hive members.
  • Hive Senses - Yavalla could hear and see everything that the members of her hive see and hear. They were all connected as if they were one body. Rosmund claimed she could feel Yavalla's heartbeat.
• Memory Access - Yavalla could access the memories of everyone in her hive and learn their secrets. This was shown to stretch to the members of the hive, as Rosmund and Tobin dreamt the hive members memories even after they were freed from the hive.
• Advanced Regeneration - Yavalla could recover instantly from a fatal stab wound inflicted by Garret, while in possession of the original hive. She could regenerate her skin and limbs to the point where she was virtually indestructible. Janzo believes that the only way to truly kill Yavalla would be to burn her entire body so the kinj doesn't have any tissue left to regenerate. He also suggested cutting off her head before burning her. This enhanced regeneration ability was not passed down to other members of the hive. Yavalla's regeneration bordered on immortality, as the kinj regenerated not only her burned flesh, but her decapitated head as well.

Naviaspore

For more information including a detailed history of the kinj, please see Naviaspore

• Immunity - The gold kinjes were immune to all forms of extraction, including poisons, burning, cutting, and even singing. They were only vulnerable to Fictor's sap.
• Hive Mind - This allowed a group of people to "share" the same mind. Similar to most hive insects like bees and ants, each member could work autonomously and communicate on their own without the meddling of the leader. However, the "Master" could insert herself into the conversation at any point in time, leaving the member thinking the words they spoke were their own. 313 found the process debilitating as he lost all sense of self and was completely subservient to his Masters.

Weaknesses

Asterkinj rejects infection

• Other Kinjes - The only exceptions to the kinjes ability to reproduce were people who already possess a Kinj. Trying to force the kinj into the Blackblood will cause the originator of the Hive physical pain. The infected were also vulnerable to the effects of other kinjes, a trait that is specific to the gold kinj. Zed was able to manipulate the minds of those in possession of the gold kinjes, but was unable to manipulated Yavalla, as she hosts the Vortakinj. The Black Kinj, or the Terakinj as it is called, is the only kinj that can cure all of the infected and kill the host of the Vortakinj.
• Physical Rejection - Members of the hive notoriously exhibit sick-like symptoms such as paleness, sweating, and physical pain. Rosmund felt the pain in the form of a headache, while Sammy's seemed to be located in his right arm. According to Yavalla, the pain is the split kinj needing to be passed on to another host. If it is not passed on, then it is only a matter of days until both the host and the kinj die.

Rosmund devitalizing

• Devitalization - Each time the kinj reproduces, it drains some of the host's life force. After sufficiently many reproductive cycles, the host's life force is exhausted and they will die. It is not known if this weakness is shared by Yavalla's original kinj. An infected rat also rapidly aged to the point of death. Rosmund became drawn, pale, dizzy, experienced overall weakness when her kinj had reached the devitalization point. She required the assistance of Tobin to even walk.
• Ficter's Sap - This sap can be found in a now-extinct bush. It is reddish in coloration and has a waxy consistency. Janzo and Wren discovered this ancient sap while looking over the Meld Box. The sap was used as a seal in the corner of the map. According to Janzo, when one ingests the sap it tastes like mustard and follows with an intense burning sensation. The wax seal produced only three doses, one of which they tested on a human villager. The host was rendered unconscious for a few seconds as the kinj expelled, then awakened seconds later. The effects of the sap were not effective on the Vortakinj, only the offspring kinjes.
• Dependency to the Vortakinj - When Zed and Talon decapitated Yavalla and burned her body, the infected members of the hive began to tremble and became unconscious. They seemed to be cut off from the Hive temporarily. However, when Wren was disturbed in this state, she awakened, but still connected to the Hive's belief system. When Yavalla died, all of the gold kinjes ejected from their host freeing everyone from the Hive.

Members of the Hive

Former

Vorta

• 313 (Freed by Janzo and Wren's premature awakening)
• The Kahvi (Freed with Vorta's death)

"Their choice is to be United. To be devoid of all conflict to lose themselves to paradise and thereby find themselves more whole than ever before." ― Yavalla describes the Hive mind

Yavalla † (Originator, Leader)

• Sammy † (Infected by Rosmund)
• Rat (Infected by Rosmund)
• Rats (Infected by other rats)
• Human village (Infected by The Hive)
• Unnamed Blackblood warrior (Infected by Yavalla)
• Unnamed humans (Infected by Hive members)
• The Capital (Infected by Hive members)
• Gertrusha
• Captain Orlick †
• Ana
• Strom (Infected by Ana)
• Gatesman (Infected by Strom)
• Hundreds of thousands of people
• Rosmund (Infected by Yavalla: Freed when she died)
• Tobin Aegisford (Infected by a rat: Freed when he died)
• Unnamed Blackblood † (Infected by Sammy)
• Unnamed Villager (Cured by Janzo and Wren)
• Hawk †
• Wren (Infected by Captain Orlick: cured by Janzo. Infected again by Janzo, freed after Yavalla's death)
• Munt (freed after Yavalla's death)
• Warlita (freed after Yavalla's death)
• Janzo (Infected by Munt: freed after Yavalla's death)
• Garret Spears (Freed after Yavalla's death)

Notes and Trivia

• Yavalla's reach to the members of the Hive is unlimited. She merely has to think of someone to access their mind.
• The Kinj reproduces twice a day.
• Janzo and Wren determine that surgery is not an option to save the infected as the Kinj just moves around in the body until the surgery stops. It only leaves the host when he or she dies.
• The process of passing the Kinj onto someone else is called "uniting".
• It is never seen if a Lu-Qiri was ever infected. Yavalla's Lu-Qiri Ketma was not infected, as she was unsure what happened to it when Talon and Rosmund came out of the citadel alive.
• Janzo believes that the Naviaspore were always meant for the Kahvi and not humans, which explains why humans bodies rejected the kinjes so quickly, while Kahvi were seemingly unaffected by its presence.
  • However, Blackbloods were also compelled to pass their kinjes despite their genetic descension from The Seven, the originators of the Naviaspores.

Gallery

Rosmund's kinj is expelled

Yavalla feels Rosmund's death

Tobin's Kinj dies with him