Sand Vortex [Dark Sun]

Sometimes called a silt vortex, this creature is a flat disk about 40 feet across and 5 feet thick, its pale gray hide all but invisible against the dust it hides in. It lies just under the surface of the silt sea, waiting for something to cross above it.

The vortex senses prey with life detection, then strikes with its signature psionic power, whirlwind, which costs 15 PSPs to start and 5 PSPs per round to maintain. A sudden spinning column engulfs the target and pulls it toward the creature's mouth while throwing up a silt cloud 200 feet in radius. The victim may save vs. breath weapon to avoid being drawn in; anyone standing on the ground suffers -4 on that roll, while creatures bigger than giants, such as the desert world's rocs or cloud rays, gain +4. Anyone caught in the cloud must also save vs. paralysis or be blinded, and a blinded flier has only a 50% chance to fly clear of the whirlwind (75% for a very large creature).

A wading giant may realize it has stepped on something that is not rock: waders roll for surprise, and one who avoids surprise and retreats immediately escapes the whirlwind, though the creature's other powers still can.

Once a victim is pulled in, the central maw attacks. A hit swallows a man-sized creature whole; anything larger still takes damage from the bite. Very few giants have walked away after treading on one. A trapped victim who has not been, or cannot be, swallowed may fight back, but the spin and the airborne dust impose -4 on its attacks, and blindness can stack another -4 on top.

Coming at it from the edge is not much safer. Life detection usually tells the vortex exactly where an attacker is. It ignores a flanker until that foe actually hurts it, then uses telekinesis to fling silt at anyone along its sides; besides the blinding risk, the scouring dust deals 1 point of damage per round to bare skin. At the same moment it tries project force: if the power check succeeds, the target must save vs. breath weapon or be flipped onto its back in the silt. Should all this fail, the vortex simply levitates and lets the wind carry it off to feed somewhere quieter.

Its full repertoire: telepathic devotions mind blank, life detection and mental barrier; psychokinetic sciences telekinesis, whirlwind and project force; and psychokinetic devotions control winds and levitation.

The vortex is a loner that exists only to eat, and anything that comes within reach counts as food. Being nearly mindless, it keeps trying to trap its prey no matter how the fight goes.

The creature is found only in the silt sea. It hunts by day and seems to enjoy the sun's heat, resting at night to recover PSPs. After about 60 years a vortex divides into two smaller ones of 7 Hit Dice each, each adding a Hit Die per 2 years of growth until mature. The offspring inherit all their parent's powers and are nearly as dangerous from the start. Tales speak of a giant over 100 feet across lurking near the heart of the silt sea.