killgore wrote:Problem is, Aftermath came out before XI IIRC. Since XI says they haven't reached the point of mandatory expansion, and it flat out states that the offshoot hives where created by choice not necessity, we have to consider the words in Aftermath from that light.
YDNRC.
Aftermath came out in 2002.
XI came out in 1999.
Aftermath is set in 109 PA.
XI is set in 105 PA.
Left unchecked for these past four or five years, the Xiticix population has continued to explode, not quite at a geometric rate, but close to it. Soon, swarms from each hive will go forth with a new, young Queen to start their own hive and increase the current Hivelands range by 33%.
Taking in the context of XI, this means there are an incredible number of Xicitix, but not enough to require the hive to split, probably around 100 million. Enough that the queens are looking to head off any ambitions amongst the lower ranked queens.
"SOON, swarms from each hive will go forth..."
They are, as of 109 PA, about to expand.
Unless you think that they can jump from 100 million to 200-300 million "soon," then your numbers are off.
The Xiticix population has grown steadily over the war years, and like an overripe tomato, threatens to burst and spill into the fallen defeated Kingdom of Tolkeen, as well as northern Wisconsin and possibly the state of Iron Heart and upper Michigan.
See above statement.
Boldness mine.
Okay; I give.
What are you being bold about?
Though the Xiticix constantly encroached on the Kingdom of Tolkeen and there would have been eventual conflict, the insectoids saw the Tolkeenites as the dominant force in the region and held off. However, with the dramatic fall of Tolkeen and the mass exodus of its people, to the Xiticix, this indicates the region is "up for grabs," and the Coalition Army a new competitor for the land. This in and of itself could cause the Xiticix of the hives bordering on or located in upper Minnesota to expand into the now unclaimed (as they see it) land south of them, as well as offer new opportunities for the half dozen new queens about to splinter from the established hives. The expansion of the Duluth Hive has already begun and Crookston and Fargo should soon follow.
Once again, nothing that says that they are actually splitting off because of population pressure, but rather one of expansion of existing hives, and creating new hives in unclaimed land for no other reason then they can.
Except that's now generally how Xiticix do things, and it doesn't fit with the description of their population.
An "overripe tomato" is not half-full; it's swollen to the point of bursting.
Also, you stopped your bolding short.
The sentence "This in and of itself could cause the Xiticix of the hives bordering on or located in upper Minnesota to expand" means one thing, but "This in and of itself could cause the Xiticix of the hives bordering on or located in upper Minnesota to expand into the now unclaimed land" means something else.
As you bolded it, the fall of Tolkeen caused the Xiticix to expand in the first place, but as written it was only the cause of them expanding into that area.
Kind of like how bolding the following sentence like so:
My love of Nikes was the reason why I walked to the mall.
As bolded, the only reason why the speaker walks is because he loves shoes so much.
But as the sentence is intended, the speaker's love of Nikes only determines his destination, not the fact of his ambulation.
