Siegebugs

"You hear it long before you die. Then comes the fire, if you're lucky." -Warden Dallos, sole survivor of the Hollowmeade razing

The Siegebug is a massive, centipede-like apex predator infamous for its ability to level entire villages through sheer ferocity. Towering up to 40 feet long, the Siegebug is covered in overlapping, slate-gray chitin plates that clatter like shattered bones in a sack, creating the deadly, percussion-like rattle that precedes its attacks. The Siegebug’s behavioral profile is radically aggressive. It does not merely ambush the unwise; it hunts settlements, often lashing out in reckless, violent rampages that leave farmland scorched and buildings broken. Solitary, wildly territorial, and hyper-aggressive, the Siegebug will attack anything that moves, even members of its own species, mate or otherwise. This tendency has led to their scarcity, as they self-cull through endless territorial combat, ensuring only one adult inhabits a wide region at any given time. Yet this same trait makes them devastating when they storm through towns, outposts, or encampments, resisting all but the most coordinated or magickally fortified defenses. Despite its armor, the Siegebug detests fire, often flinching away from open flame. In many cases, its rampages ignite wildfires, inadvertently driving it back and ending its devastation only by accident.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Siegebug averages 30-40 feet in length, with a long, segmented body plated in slate-gray, overlapping chitin armor that clatters like ossified bones. Each segment houses a pair of blood-red, bladed limbs tipped in hooked claws capable of scaling stone, tearing flesh, or burrowing into reinforced walls. Its head is flat and wide, split in the middle by dual mandibles ringed with hollow keratin “rattles”, structures that generate a haunting crescendo of noise used both for echolocation and psychological warfare. The tail ends in a glandular spike that emits low-frequency pulses. These waves, invisible to the eye, disorient prey and defenders, causing nausea, vertigo, or magical disruption. It has no external ears or eyes, relying on air pressure shifts, vibration, and rattle-mapping for navigation. The two black orbs on its head are believed to function as heat or motion sensors, or perhaps false targets, drawing enemy fire to the most heavily armored portion of its skull.

Genetics and Reproduction

The Siegebug reproduces asexually, depositing chalky white, rock-like egg clusters into fissures, warm caves, or decaying magical sites. Females mark territory with rune-like gouges, often mistaken for tomb etchings. The eggs absorb ambient decay and residual enchantments, producing hatchlings that feed on carrion and grow by molting. Juveniles are often killed by their own kind before reaching maturity.

Growth Rate & Stages

• Hatchling (0-2 weeks): Blind, pale, soft-shelled. Eats carrion.

• Juvenile (2 weeks-3 months): Gains dark plating, begins light clattering behavior.

• Adolescent (3-9 months): Learns hunting patterns, tail glands form.

• Adult (9 months-5+ years): Fully developed, capable of echolocation and sonic disruption.

Some reports describe elders up to 50 feet long, producing deep, resonant rattles that shake bone and echo for minutes.

Ecology and Habitats

Siegebugs dwell in ruined forts, arcane rubblefields, collapsed mines, and abandoned Dwarfish strongholds. They gravitate toward magickal residue and resonant terrain, especially places imbued with grief, decay, or war magic. Their lairs are littered with bones, crumbled weapons, and signs of past attacks, melted stone, scorched earth, and ash where towns once stood. They are drawn to sound and motion, emerging from hiding when caravans, livestock, or battle noise echoes through their range. Signs of their presence include:

• Sudden wildlife absence.

• Rhythmic tapping from nowhere.

• Pools of blood with no bodies.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Strictly carnivorous, the Siegebug feeds on humanoids, livestock, and large beasts. It prefers warm-blooded prey and consumes intact corpses, devouring bone and all. It will drag survivors away, occasionally storing food in side tunnels for later. Interestingly, it sometimes ignores wounded or unconscious prey, suggesting a preference for active fear or arcane saturation in its meals. Despite its size, it requires only a few large kills per month. However, its rage-state during combat causes it to kill far more than it eats.

Biological Cycle

Active year-round, Siegebugs adapt to all climates thanks to internal heat cycling glands. In cold months, they move less and rattle more, using long-range sound to hunt. In high-magick seasons, storms, or leyline flares, they grow restless and amplified, with increased aggression and greater rattle resonance. They molt roughly once per year, leaving behind shell fragments the size of dinner tables, which are collected by alchemists and magicksmiths.

Behaviour

Siegebugs are solitary, violently territorial, and prone to unprovoked destruction. They kill their own kind on sight, and have never been observed tolerating another adult Siegebug in their range. They are capable of complex emotional responses, particularly rage, pain, and territoriality. They carve spiral claw markings into stone and compose repeating rattle sequences akin to war chants.
Typical Attack Pattern:

• Auditory Escalation - rhythmic rattling grows louder and more complex.

• Vertigo Pulse - tail gland disrupts balance, vision, and concentration.

• Siege Rush - full-speed charge, shredding defenders and walls alike.

If met with resistance, it will level buildings, ignite wildfires, or tunnel beneath barricades. Fire is its only known deterrent, it will panic and flee if flames are large enough.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

• Sonar-style rattle-echo to map surroundings.

• Air pressure and vibration detection.

• Heat-sensitive orbs for prey tracking.

• Innate magick detection, reacting violently to arcane residue or spellcasters.

Siegebugs cannot be blinded or fooled by illusions, but conflicting rhythm patterns (e.g., drums, chimes, or mass singing) can confuse or redirect their aggression.

Scientific Name

Cryptocentris obsidiorum.

Origin/Ancestry

Possibly descended from ancient ruin-feeders and burrowing arcane scavengers.

Conservation Status

Rare but actively culled. Not endangered due to their long lifespan and wide territory range, but rarely seen due to territorial self-thinning. Regularly targeted by fire-based magick orders and highland militias due to their devastating potential.