Progress on Sohmulacrum Volume I - Abode to Terrodia
Despite the lack of cover/concept art compared to other pages, I hope that the silhouette of a termite from Earth provides the basis of a visualization for the “xeno-insectoids” I have populated Abode with. They are, in essence, greatly enlarged termites that develop distinct personalities, cultural traits, and social idiosyncrasies in addition to their eusocial organization. Six pale legs, two pale antennae, creamy-white segmented bodies, and being meters-long and a meter wide only begins to develop who they are, where they live, and how they change. So let’s hop into my progress this week, so far.
10/4/2026
Changed the setting of Abode from dark and rocky caverns to dank and dirty galleries/tunnels to be more in-line with a hypothetical xeno-termite habitat.
Peripheral galleries (galleries further from the central nest) are wetter and less stable, with mud deposits and water ingresses peppering the floors, roofs, and walls of the freshly-burrowed tunnels.
Galleries deeper into the colonies of these xeno-insectoids are drier, with sturdy clay fixtures in place to support the foundations of galleries & the central nest.
Incorporated research of termite chemosensory communication & caste-differentiated vision into Abode’s dialogue and character interactions.
Termite workers and soldiers are blind or have otherwise underdeveloped light-sensing organs, with only reproductive castes (kings, queens, and their replacements) developing fully-functional compound eyes.
Thusly, all nymphs in Abode are written as blind, and communicate through vibrations they make with their legs and mandibles, tapping gallery walls, touching one another, secreting pheromone signals, and detecting signals and vibrations via their antennae.
Character actions constitute the dialogue, and dialogue is written in italics instead of quotations to indicate the lack of spoken words
Added exposition detailing the roles and differentiating the castes in the eusociality of Abode’s xeno-insectoids.
Larvae and Nymphs: undeveloped young, born blind and hatched from eggs that later molt into nymphs.
Larvae and Nymphs both have Creamy-white segmented bodies with pale appendages, but are noticeably smaller compared to Dwellers and other, older castes.
Nymphs have their development and growth regulated through grooming and food/fluid exchange by Dwellers and Escorts, and hormonal secretions and pheromone signals produced by Escorts, Elders and Guides
Dwellers: the most populous caste in Abode society, consisting of nymphs that molted into Dwellers.
Have enlarged creamy-white body segments and pale-legged appendages of their younger stages; are also blind
Assigned with allo-parental responsibility over caring for larvae and nymphs produced by Elders and Guides
Find and use building materials to further construct galleries and other structures in colonies
Locate and collect food for all members in a colony
Escorts: the third-most populous caste in Abode society, consisting of nymphs that molted into Escorts
Have enlarged pale-brown/tan segmented bodies with dark brown legs, enlarged mandibles and antennae on their heads, and much sharper claws than any other caste; are also blind
Are tasked with defending a colony from predators, natural disasters, and other colonies
Distribute collected food and pheromones through food/fluid exchange to Dwellers and nymphs to regulate their development
Elders: Caste is only constituted by 1-3 male xeno-insectoids that developed reproductive traits through lower exposure to pheromone signals and developmental regulations from preceding Elders and Guides during their growth, allowing them to mature into Elders
Have enlarged deep-brown segmented bodies with black appendages, and possess compound eyes with full vision
Tasked with mating with the Guide of a colony to reproduce more larvae and nymphs that can molt into Dwellers, Escorts, or Elders
Secrete pheromone signals and development-stunting hormones to nymphs, Escorts, and Dwellers to control and monitor their development
Have significantly longer lifespans than Escort and Dweller castes
Guides: Caste is only constituted by 1 female xeno-insectoid that developed reproductive traits through lower exposure to pheromone signals and developmental regulations from preceding Elders and Guides during their growth, allowing them to mature into Guides
Have enlarged deep-brown segmented bodies with black appendages, and possess compound eyes with full vision
Abdomen eventually swells into a massive egg-sac to lay exponentially more eggs across their lifespan
Tasked with mating with Elders in a given colony to reproduce more larvae and nymphs that can molt into Dwellers, Escorts, or Elders
Secrete pheromone signals and developmentally-stunting hormones to nymphs, Escorts, and Dwellers to control and monitor their development
Have significantly longer lifespans than Escort and Dweller castes
Reproduces parthenogenetically (asexual gg/embryo development without male sexual material) to produce larvae/nymphs that can molt into Guides
10/5/2026
Specified which forms of communication correspond to which dialogue in-universe and meta-universe in Abode
Tapping heads & legs along gallery walls signals distress or danger, is used to request aid
Scents and secretions of odors and pheromones are different for each caste, and communicate caste-restricted areas or signal the presence of important caste members like Elders and Guides
The first main character, Auphula, develops a novel leg-scratching communication style following her affliction in Chapter 1 of Abode, and uses it to communicate more complex ideas
Elaborated on appearances of Guides and Elders, and introduced their precursor-and-replacement-caste, Emissaries
Emissaries are allowed to mature into developing reproductive traits by Elders and Guides to either replace Elders and Guides or to settle a new colony with another Emissary
Emissaries develop enlarged brown segmented bodies with brown appendages, and develop compound eyes with full vision
Emissaries develop compound vision as an adaptation suited to better navigate the dank & dark subterranean wilderness beyond the galleries and nests of colonies when traveling to settle their own colonies.
Guides, Elders, and Emissaries have symbols and ornate patterns etched into coatings of substrate on their exoskeletons
Mineral compositions and colors of substrate coatings are specific to colony geography, but can contain dried mud, clay, loam, silt,
Symbols and ornate patterns are specific to colony culture
Tend to communicate things about a reproductive caste (Emissary, Elder, Guide)
Listed the 9 colony names and how they affect naming conventions in Abode xeno-insectoid society
Colonies (kolnes in insectoid) are the highest level of eusocial organization among xeno-insectoids
As opposed to mating for life in solitary pairs & separate nests like their progenitors, the proto-insectoids, Abode’s xeno-insectoids live in immensely populous collectives/settlements
Xeno-insectoid collectives form a division of labor between developmentally-stunted Dwellers and Escorts constructing galleries, finding sustenance, and defending the colonies for mature-reproductive Elders and Guides who mate for life to increase the colony’s population.
Can loosely be categorized as a superorganism (synergistically interacting organisms of the same species) while also being an intra-species symbiotic relationship between stunted and reproductive castes
Names of the 9 colonies are:
Hul, Hod, Hk, Hy, Hamot, Hh, Hij, Hep, Hav
Colony names are pheromone traces specific to each of the 9 xeno-insectoid settlements
Each xeno-insectoid colony’s pheromone trace is environmentally influenced by colony-specific diets and resources used in construction & reproductive-caste substrate-coating in conjuction with internally produced pheromone traces.
All xeno-insectoid names are mononyms (i.e. Erekhule, Auphula, Ghiralhios)
Their mononyms have 2 parts, 1 prefix (i.e. Erek) and 1 suffix (-hule)
Prefix:
based on how a xeno-insectoid molted in their nymphal stage (pre-nymphal larvae do not have names until they molt into the nymphal stage)
is the unique pheromone trace left by xeno-insectoids & detectable to others
used by xeno-insectoids to informally address familiar xeno-insectoids
Suffix
based on one’s colony membership (i.e., hul at the end of Auphula)
based on one’s sex/gender (a for female (i.e. Auphula), nothing for male (i.e. Terrhod), and e for third-sex/intersex (i.e. Erekhule)
always used in conjunction with prefix when xeno-insectoids formally address unfamiliars
can be used by xenoinsectoids to collectively refer to a colony’s entire population or just 1 sex of a population
10/6/2026
Edited all communications and dialogues in drafted chapters 1-5 of Abode to Terrodia to match with chemosensory communication
All quoted dialogue and instances of speaking have been replaced by meaning in italics paired with characters’ body movements, environmental interactions, pheromonal secretions, and body contacts
No more “spoken” words present, only meaning italicized in tandem with action
Updated Erekhule’s, Auphula’s, Ghiralhula’s, and Terrhod’s character descriptions and attributes in-text to be congruent with world-built caste-differentiation
Nymphal descriptions for Erekhule and Auphula
Guide description for Ghiralhula
Escort and Emissary description for Terrhod
Researched aquifers to world-build underground flooding that leads to Abode to Terrodia’s inciting incident
Moist soil, massive water content, and air present in pores above the phreatic level (the water table- a depth under which the ground is saturated)
Water content of an unconfined aquifer is soil moisture that fills the porous areas in an aquifer
Some aquifers beneath Abode are exposed to Abode’s surface
Sunlight and rays from Abode’s red sun radiate through porous gaps in Abode’s exposed aquifers, irradiating certain chambers in colony galleries burrowed too close to exposed aquifers
Added more color and lighting adjectives to the gallery descriptions
These detailed visual descriptions are written only after Auphula’s development of vision as a result of her exposure to the red sun’s radiation part-way through Chapter 1 - Embalmed
10/7/2026
Added more paragraphs in-text about Auphula’s and Erekhule’s journey to the peripheral galleries in Chapter 1
Auphula bumps into Erekhule, wiggles their chassis, tap the walls, and produce pheromones and stress-steroids to communicate
After being sent crashing into a dry mud deposit by Auphula, Erekhule mistakes the dry mud they crash into to have adequate water content, but Auphula insists that they travel further to find wetness
Erekhule jumps on and over Auphula’s abdomen, shoving her into the mud beneath her, to pass Auphula in a race to find a gallery with enough wetness to drink
Added more fauna, flora, and biomes to Abode’s subterranean habitat through expositing history of Abode leading up to the rise of the xeno-insectoid colonies in Chapters 1 and 2 of Abode to Terrodia
Proto-insectoids are the non-social solitary ancestors of Abode’s xeno-insectoids
had brown segmented bodies, 6 deep-brown legs, 2 brown antennae, but also possessed tan flipper/wing-like appendages
only interacted collectively via happenstance near food sources
molted significantly more times than xeno-insectoid descendants due to unrestricted growth and hormonal development
lived significantly shorter lives as a consequence of solitary settlements/hole-nests
resided near subterranean mudbanks bordering subterranean seas and lakes
consumed just about anything they could.
Burrowers are solitary primordial worms that decompose dead organic material beneath the surface and in the soil of Abode
are pigmented red-brown, possessing thick radially symmetric cylindrical bodies with rings of short light-gray sensory prongs directed towards its rear
moves through muscular contraction and locomotion; uses rings of sensory prongs to anchor its body when contracting
also called “plowers”, because of how efficiently they tunnel through the soil compared to proto- and xeno-insectoids
composts organic material through castings (feces) excreted with the aid of gut-symbionts
burrower castings are nutrient-rich composting that allow for large plant growths in the subterranean world
a secondary food source of both xeno-insectoids and their predecessors
additionally, burrower castings are a substrate-coating used by some colonies’ Guides, Elders, and Emissaries
Black Algae was a primary food source of proto-insectoids, and shares a common ancestor with the primary food source of the xeno-insectoids as well
black pigment results from very limited to no sunlight exposure under Abode’s surface
grows primarily in the shallows of Abode’s subterranean seas and lakes
scents and chemicals exuded by dehydrated and decaying algae was an indicator of a “dry cycle” for proto-insectoids
Deep-Shades were an ancient predator of proto-insectoids
preyed upon proto-insectoids during the “wet cycles” of their subterranean mudbanks
could only be perceived as dark shapes by proto-insectoids
would lunge out of the shallows and drag proto-insectoids into the muddy, algae-bloomed waters
Xenoxyles are a primary food source of xeno-insectoids.
consists of massive underground networks of woody fixtures
woody fixtures are composed of xenocellulose (non-earth lignocellulose), the active compound in the food source of xeno-insectoids, and is used in gallery & nest construction by colonies
bleach-white shrubs with blood-red 6-petaled flowers grow and blossom on the surface, while long roots grow and thicken underneath the surface
extract heavy amounts of water content from aquifers, groundwater, and subterranean lakes
subsists on methane excreted by xeno-insectoids
photosynthesizes energy from the red sunlight from Abode’s red-sun
produces oxygen that cycles the air in an otherwise stale subterranean atmosphere
Explained in-text how proto-insectoids measured time.
Proto-insectoids molted about 13 total times in their lifespan, and observed how many times they would molt in connection to their environment
most proto-insectoid eggs got laid and hatched during wet cycles
wet cycles were the periods of time when mudbanks were wet, black algae covered by shallows, and deep-shades would be lurking in the shallows
during wet cycles, food was more abundant; xenoxyles would grow longer and more quickly, burrowers would produce more castings, aquatic carrion and black-algae would wash up on the mudbanks, and hole-nests were easier for proto-insectoids to dig to lay their eggs in
assuming birth at the beginning of a wet cycle, proto-insectoid larvae, nymphs, and adults would molt about 7 times before the wet cycle ended
wet cycle ends when waters in shallows would recede, exposing black algae and drying up the mudbanks bordering the waterbeds
lowest amount of proto-insectoid eggs got laid and hatched during dry cycles
dry cycles were periods of time when mudbanks would harden into dirty slopes, water would recede past the shallows bordering the mudbanks, and black algae would be exposed to the subterranean atmosphere and dehydrate and decay
10/8/2026
Reviewed & built further upon several key details pertaining to Abode to Terrodia
Further development of ecological niches filled by various new additions of flora and fauna to the world of Abode
More coherent breakdown of naming conventions in Abode’s Xeno-insectoid society
Began drafting cover art based on the termite silhouette image featured on Volume I - Abode to Terrodia page
colored with a brown base covering the bottom 30% of the page layered behind the silhouette, with darker-brown labyrinth-like tunnels illustrated throughout the brown base
colored with a red roundel/halo layered behind the termite silhouette’s head, akin to early illustrations of saints
including illustrations of differently-sized xenoxyle bush-flower blossoms surrounding the termite silhouette
Progress on Website
I haven’t overhauled the site design or paid for a subscription bonus to inject CSS code into the website yet, but I do intend to in the future when I make more income, as well as updating the image accessibility and adding more information to my Project pages. In the meantime, here are the current updates on the back-end and front-end of this site.
10/7/2026
Linked website on my social media pages; will likely have to post about it (I haven’t felt like publicly posting on social media much lately, but I will work up to it later this week)
10/8/2026
Added alt text to all images (excluding images used as page backgrounds on Writing Projects pages, but I will get to that)
Created anchor links for headers and images on specific pages in Writing Updates and Writing Projects, (not yet linked site-wide, but I will get to that)
Changed the formatting of the Support My Work page to display the “Why Support Laurentia?” at the top of the page, followed by Ko-fi link and author-photo.
Progress on Poetry & Autism Memoir Projects
10/6/2026
Wrote a new poem, titled Divination’s Delusion
Unveiling of my Druid spirituality
Connects Druid spirituality from the past to my present
Laments the limitations of my spirituality’s ability to help me resolve my issues
Further explores my stagnation-patterns resulting from traumatic events or stressful times
Planning on including in Cries of a Quite Calloused Mind when finished editing
Began editing a previously written poem, titled A Kindred Chasm
Unpacks the abuse I have inflicted on the people close to me over the past year following my psychosis
Poignant details included about the nature of how I hurt those I care about
Ending Expresses hope about moving forward and rehabilitating myself to be a better person
Emotively expresses uncertainty about ability to remedy the pain or mend the hurt I have caused loved ones and their loved ones
Planning on including in Cries of a Quite-Calloused Mind when finished editing
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General Life Updates
10/6/2026
Got accepted for a University Transfer - Associate of Arts degree to a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences degree program
Finished student-account setup, student Microsoft Office software setup, and tuition payment setup
Drafted a class-schedule and planned out which courses to take for my program and major-focus for the next 4 semesters
Scheduled appointment with an academic advisor to register for classes
Submitted FAFSA information to the college I was accepted to for financial aid
10/7/2026
Edited my resume to look more professional (more bullet points, less walls of text)
Submitted resume for a job application to a local gas station <1 hour of walking distance away from my current residence
Got an in-person interview setup with the Station Manager for October 12th in the afternoon
Thank you, readers, for giving me your time in reading these updates. I deeply appreciate you engaging with my creative processes, projects, and endeavors herein. Showing your support through visiting my website, perusing my various ramblings and writings, and taking the time to sift through my creations. It’s a deeply introspective part of my life that I am grateful to be able to share, even if it is just screaming into the digital void for now.
Clarity in Action & Solidarity in Purpose,
~Laurentia.
