Cave Stars

Discussion on game mastering Earthdawn. May contain spoilers; caution is recommended!
Slimcreeper
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Joined:Mon Nov 28, 2016 11:44 pm
Cave Stars

Post by Slimcreeper » Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:43 pm

Cave Stars are found anywhere there is adequate water, space and darkness. They are similar in appearance to sea stars, but are more comfortable out of the water, and they can be much bigger. They are not believed to be related to the more common sea stars in any way. Deep forests, underground lakes or rivers, and flooded mountain caves are all favorite haunts. Their metabolism is quite slow, allowing these slow-growing predators to survive in places where prey may be scarce at times. Once a tasty morsel presents itself, they can move as quickly as bad news to consume it. Cave Stars come in two varieties - Flying Cave Stars and Nine-Tailed Cave Stars, female and male respectively. They are not intelligent, at least by any measure Namegivers can understand. They do have a way of communicating with other cave stars - emitting certain lights that are invisible to most Namegivers. Trolls and Dwarves can make out the patterns, however. At the very least, it seems the males will distract their prey to create openings for the females to attack.

Flying Cave Stars are smaller, measuring less than a yard across. They typically have 5 arms and lurk on cavern walls and ceilings, building up pneumatic pressure within their bodies. When they detect living prey, they can violently expel the gasses, launching themselves and spinning them across the caverns. They can travel enormous distances very quickly, at least relative to the confined spaces they normally find themselves in. They are typically attracted to bursts of magic, such as spells and especially raw magic. This puts magicians in a precarious position, as casting the spells that might protect them or their group will make them a target for the Flying Cave Stars. Once they strike a target, they wrap their arms around them. Then they drive a tube into the unfortunate. This tube has two purposes: it deposits eggs into the victim and also slurps out the victim’s magical energy. At this point, the Flying Cave Star is in a perilous position. It wants to consume enough to live, but the pulsing flow of magic into the Flying Star and the eggs themselves makes the victim extremely attractive to the Nine-Tailed Cave Star.

Nine-Tailed Cave Stars are much larger than the females, at least ten yards across. They are so Named because they have a strange growth jutting out of their center, where all of the legs join. The growth resembles several tails, each a yard or more in length, that constantly writhe and squirm. If the Cave Star should take any significant damage, one of the tails flies off and lands somewhere nearby. It wriggles on the floor in a most distressing manner, compelling everyone nearby to pay attention to the dismembered tail, allowing the Cave Star to attack the distracted victim.
It attacks first by gripping its victim with the suckers that dot the bottom of its arms and ripping it into pieces. Then it climbs over the top and extends its stomach out of its body, enveloping and digesting its meal. More than one female Cave Star has met its end because it didn’t release its meal in time.

If the victim had any eggs inside, the male Cave Star will spend extra time digesting them. In the process, it will fertilize the eggs. The eggs will form a thick, tough shell around themselves. The male Cave Star will then store the eggs inside itself until it can get to a suitable body of water to leave them to hatch.

The Cave Star larvae are all female. They are scavengers, eating whatever decaying vegetation or organic material they can find. Some Nethermancers think they are pretty adorable.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VlI ... sp=sharing

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