Senior Broodmother Ysta

Ysta’s wrinkled face creases into a broad smile when she sees life take hold where an enemy expected only bare metal. The rounded forms gathered over her head and shoulders are tended with the attention of a broodmother who has spent a long life watching small beginnings become formidable.

Spore Crown carries her toward places where her broods can be dispersed with care. Ysta prefers to observe from a distance when she can, allowing the living material time to settle and change its surroundings. She regards impatience as a failure to understand what she has nurtured.

Her warmth is real among her own young. She remembers their needs and delights in their persistence. That same affection can make her chilling to outsiders, because she has little concern for a ship whose hull becomes a home for her brood. A captain who bargains with Ysta should understand that she sees every surface in terms of what it might sustain.