Codex Transportica

(from the Insecta Laudatio plates found in the Codex Transportica)

It is still a source of conjecture how King Slappe-Hersenen Sprungtopf’s Court of Mystery escaped the notice of the world in general for so long. While not in fact descended from any genuine royal line, he was still treated as a monarch by the majority due to three simple facts:

1. he was incredibly rich,
2. like all interesting kings quite mad,
3. and to show any hint of disagreement was to meet with a slow and hideous death, so it was best to just go along with the idea.

Tales first began to trickle back to civilisation of a small kingdom in Saint Eustatius whose residents worshipped a ruler who believed himself to be a god to the insect as well as the human race, styling himself as a kind of Super-Amalgam of the two classes, dressing in either chitinous armour or huge multi-coloured diaphanous wings like a butterfly.

As can be seen from this first illustration, the King regarded all living creatures in his demesnes as his personal possessions and therefore to be used as seen fit (even if the “fit” was not at all appropriate to the sane mind). A good example is shown here: the much-feared Centisteede, standard mount for his crack cavalry section, the 100-Legged Mounted Myriapods.

A stable of specially captured giant centipedes housed several thousand of these creatures at any one time, and an intensive breeding program has apparently been conducted to produce a creature strong enough to bear the weight of a grown man. It is also rumoured that these centipedes bear a particularly virulent toxin in their pincers. This has yet to be categorically proven, since unfortunately these creatures are not particularly fast over open ground, with a typical charge of the mounted brigade occurring at around 0.019 mph, so it is more that the enemy gets bored and goes home rather than any direct combat causing the Myriapods’ so-called victories.