Ogumo

Ogumo were a sentient race of large, spider-like creatures native to the caves of Daggus. A single ogumo, Harmada, appeared in A Child of Fire and Chalice of Blood, and was believed to be the last survivor of the mining operations that wiped out her kind. It was later discovered that there were still ogumo living far below, as seen in the VR experience, Rebel Moon: The Descent.

The ogumo were probably inspired by the yōkai Jorogumo, which are supernatural spider-women from Japanese culture.

Biology

The bodies of the ogumo were able to endure the harsh conditions of Daggus. Most of their bodies took the form of a large spider, with a thorax and spindly legs. Their thoraxes allowed them to create a silk-like substance that could be formed according to their needs. Their legs could easily traverse these structures and sharp points on the ends aided in hunting prey for feeding themselves and their offspring. The females were capable of laying bright orange eggs, which were kept safe in the confines of a nest that they would spin and maintain during the incubation period. The ogumo were considered to be the native protectors of Daggus.^[1] Harmada claimed to live on Daggus for a thousand generations, suggesting the lifespan of this species was significantly longer than that of humans.^{[novel 1]}

The ogumo also had a humanoid physiology, with human-like hands, arms, and a torso. Their "skin" was in fact a hardened carapace capable of retaining moisture and temperature while also protecting their internal organs and muscles. Their heads featured two rows of four eyes along the naked scalp, allowing them to see in multiple directions at once in addition to their more humanoid, front-facing eyes, totaling ten eyes. They also had a sculpted protrusion near the back of their heads to protect their brains and sharp, fang-like teeth. Harmada was predominantly blue with pink areas on her face and arms, though a male ogumo seen deep in the caves of Daggus instead had black skin. It's unknown if this was a gender difference between males and females of the species, if there were natural color variations between different ogumo, or if Harmada was discolored by her toxic environment. The hatchlings were white in color.

Despite the Imperium's depiction of the ogumo as mindless and savage monsters, Harmada demonstrated significant intelligence while conversing with Nemesis. She claimed to seek justice for the devastation of her people and home, spoke eloquently of wanting "tears shed" by the mothers of the children she planned to kill, and noted the deadly skill and ability of Nemesis as a fighter. Harmada was also seen fighting Nemesis with a handcrafted spear, indicating that the ogumo were capable of making and using tools.

History

The ogumo were a native species to the planet Daggus. When off-worlders colonized the planet and began large-scale cobalt mining operations, shifts in the atmosphere poisoned the air to the ogumo's physiology, resulting in a severe decline in population. One of the last holdouts, Harmada, lamented her failing reproduction and blamed those who came to her world. Her children unable to hatch, she took out her frustrations on the children of the colonizers, wishing to spread pain to the mothers that she blamed for her own. To save a human child, Nemesis fought Harmada, and to Nemesis' dismay, she killed the last known member of the race.^[2] However, eggs stored in Harmada's abdomen at the time of her death hatched and her young scurried into the darkness of Daggus.^{[novel 2]}^[3]

When Devra Bloodaxe led a rebellion against the Imperium on Daggus, an ogumo deep in the caves of the planet fought back against the Motherworld infantry alongside the rebels. A swarm of hatchlings also flooded the caves.^[1]