Crawling Terror 4 (12)

Gunslinger Knights

Is the thing composed of hundreds of individual red worms crawling all over each other to create a dense mass, or is it a single creature that manifests as numberless twining, slender strands? Whether a community of creatures or a single being, a crawling terror is about he size of a person, except it can warp and deform its body so that it can roll along level surfaces, swim through liquid, squirm up the sides of plateaus, or slip through fissures just large enough to admit a human hand.

Always hungry, a crawling terror attempts to overwhelm prey with its mass of slapping, squirming fingerlets that can tear and bite flesh with invasive, worming lengths, each of which is tipped with a tiny mouth.

Motive: Hunger

Environment: In, near, and after Fundament Storms; alone, in groups of two to five, or in the company of Veen

Health: 15

Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)

Movement: Slithers, rolls, climbs, and swims a short distance each round

Modifications: Stealth as level 6

Combat: A crawling terror bites with multiple mouths as one attack. A crawling terror also has the following options.

• Asphyxiate: Instead of dealing damage, the crawling terror's successful attack means it wraps a portion of itself around a target's neck (or blocks the target's throat with an invasive wormy limb). The target can't move and takes Speed damage (ignores Armor) each round after the first that it can't escape being held immobile.
• Disarm: Instead of dealing damage, the crawling terror's successful attack means its twining tentacles grab its prey's weapon— which it immediately tosses away as part of the same action.

Interaction: If it is possible to communicate or interact with a crawling terror, the means have not been discovered, at least by humans or the Order. They act like vicious predators with a limited sense of self-preservation. If they do hide instead of attacking, it's only to attempt to ambush their prey later.

In the presence of Veen, crawling terrors act with far more nuance, presumably because they're following arcane commands.

Use: A well in the center of town is no longer giving water, and all expeditions down to determine why have ended with the disappearance of the explorers. Something horrible lives in the rafters of the abandoned shed.

GM Intrusion: The crawling terror dramatically changes its body conformation and attempts to hide even if in plain view of the character.