Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Ecology of the rot grub, slime crawler and carrion moth

© Bioware
Nomenclature: carcass scavenger, carrion moth, catcher-in-filth, corpse creeper, emvika (in Dwarvish), flesh crawler, rot grub, scavenger worm, slime crawler

Description: giant caterpillar, maggot or grub that consumes carrion and incapacitates prey with venomous tentacles or spray, later metamorphoses into a giant moth or beetle

© Wizards of the Coast

When it first hatches the slime crawler is indistinguishable from a common maggot or grub. These larvae commonly form swarms that can incapacitate much larger creatures by burrowing into their flesh. Because of their preference for corpses, these larvae earned the name rot grub.

© Paizo

For whatever reason, rot grubs are unable to mature into slime crawlers outside the digestive juices of a live host; if denied this environment, rot grubs will mature into a halfling-sized neotenous instar or "giant rot grub" that retains a larval form while able to incapacitate prey with venom and lay more eggs.

© Nihon Falcom

The human-sized slime crawler becomes more defined as it matures, becoming less like a maggot or grub and more like a caterpillar or beetle. The slime crawler is divided into a few subspecies that differ in how they attack and the properties of their venom. The venom itself ranges from a paralytic to a sedative, which may be delivered through touch or spray depending on the subspecies.

© Osmatar

Eventually, the horse-sized mature crawler spins a cocoon around itself and then emerges some time later as a carrion moth. There are apocryphal accounts of carrion moths that may animate the dead, ostensibly to acquire food for the nest. More disturbing stories suggest the carrion moth is the last stage before the final instar: a carrion dragon.

© GreyHunter316

 Type: Although typed as "monstrosity" in the MM, there is nothing particularly monstrous about slime crawlers compared to other giant arthropods. If you want to be loosely realistic, you could type them "beast" like the other giant arthropods. If you want to make them more alien or whatever, then type them "aberration" or maybe "dragon."

© Kiriska

Sources: Adventures Dark & Deep, Castles & Crusades, The Iconic Bestiary: Classics of Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Tome of Horrors, Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #25: Bastards of Erebus, Edition Pi

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