Carrion Stalker

Full grown, a stalker measures about a foot: a flat, hard-shelled crab-like body dragging jellyfish streamers as long as 15 feet. Shells may be shiny black or pale as bone, but the usual hue is a diseased pinkish gray. They are sometimes glimpsed skittering through damp tombs and rotting graveyards, tendrils dragging behind. Mindless and speechless, they shriek piercingly as they strike.

Hidden in a rotting body, a stalker bursts into action once any warm-blooded prey strays inside 15 feet. Speed and concealment give victims -2 on both surprise and initiative. Eight stinging tendrils attack separately for 1d4 each. If even one hits, the victim saves vs. paralysis, at -1 per tendril that hit, or is entangled. Breaking free takes a successful bend bars/lift gates roll, made by the captive or by someone helping. Each round held, the victim takes 1 more point per gripping tendril, and tendrils that missed keep striking until all eight hold or the prey breaks loose.

Each round the stalker drags its catch 3 feet closer to the corpse. When the prey is that close, larvae spray out in a swarm; 1d6+3 settle on the victim and begin boring in next round. Each grub is AC 8 with 1 hit point and does 1 damage per round until killed. Would-be rescuers must save vs. breath weapon or catch 1d4 grubs themselves.

Adults and larvae are immune to poison and disease but vulnerable to most other attacks. Since it clings so tightly to its prey, most attacks deal only half their damage to the parasite, with the other half landing on the captive.

Lacking any social structure, they still tend to nest close together. Larvae sharing a host fight over food until just two or three survive to adulthood. There are no sexes; every adult can produce young every 2d4 weeks.

These parasites eat their hosts, living and dead. Their lives are short and fertile: an adult usually breeds a handful of times, then dies.