Cave-Dwelling Murkbant
Murkbants are a naturally occurring magical hybrid of Duskhunters and giant ants. The come into being in bat caverns over leylines. An adult Murkbant stands roughly seven feet tall at the head (though the knees go higher than that by up to three feet), and they live in colonies of three to twenty plus larvae.
Murkbants are dangerous, but they are most well known for keeping humanoids as a sort of livestock. Though the creatures are not particularly intelligent, they seem to be able to trade "human aphids" between colonies. These humanoids are kept in utter darkness, have their eyes removed and ankles crippled, and are stashed away under piles of debris to basically bake in the heat, as the Murkbants like to lick the sweat off of them. Sometimes multiple generations of aphids occur, with the ones raised entirely among Murkbants sometimes being "trusted" enough to care for eggs or feed the other aphids.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The creatures have six limbs. Four are very large and segmented to hold them off the ground and two are smaller graspers attached to rudimentary arms. Each limb has spiky protrusions with leathery bat-like webbing connecting them. The head is that of a large bat's with enormous cone ears, eight large fangs, and mandibles protruding from the mouth tipped with grasping pincers. The tongue of a Murkbant is extremely long and textured like a dog's. The body is two segmented, a furry and loose-skinned thorax atop an insectoid abdomen, positioned in such a way as to give a hunched humanoid appearance if one discounts the legs. A tail consisting of three cords of thin skin and weak muscle protrudes from the tip of the abdomen.
Genetics and Reproduction
All Murkbants are hermaphroditic. Once a year, each member of the colony produces an egg out of their mouths (roughly the size of an apple) and the colony then take turns spitting genetic acid onto the pile. Each egg will hatch with genetic material from each member of the colony. The eggs take roughly three years to fully incubate, during which time the initial hard membranes progressively soften. Even when ready, eggs do not hatch until environmental conditions are ideal, and the little Murkbants can survive in the shell for up to eight years waiting, though the longer they wait the more ravenous they are upon hatching.
Growth Rate & Stages
Out of the egg hatch a larval first stage, which resembles an enormous maggot with two wings and four graspers on thin arms. They move by undulating and pulling themselves along by their strong wings, and are able to fly short distances. The graspers appear to be for the sole purpose of holding on to rock walls and preventing prey from escaping. The larvae have a single large mouth filled with hundreds of teeth, and seem to hunt by detecting temperature of potential prey. Around five years old, the larvae spin cocoons of an incredibly hard substance not unlike bone, mature for another year, and then hatch into juvenile Murkbants.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Murkbants require meat to survive. First, the colony tracks down a prey animal and stuns it with coordinated echolocation bursts, and then each grabs onto it. They drain the blood of the prey entirely, and then consume it bones and all. Once they start eating they do not stop, occasionally eating so much as to require days of rest to move again. There is no recorded case of a Murkbant eating itself to death, and it is known that their stomachs are extremely durable and able to stretch to enormous sizes. They instinctively seek out sources of salt and will even "farm" furless humanoids to lick the salt from their skin.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The eyes of a Murkbant are extremely powerful and sensitive, they do not enter bright light as it harms their vision. They primarily find their way around with powerful echolocation. They do appear to be otherwise deaf and weak of nose, though experiments have found they can find concentrations of salt by some unknown sense.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Abberation
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