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The Dwarves of the Blue Mountains tell their children not to wander off into distant passages alone or else the Brimthrowend might catch them and eat them. They describe huge, pale segmented monsters like great scorpions or crustaceans, but no adult actually believes in them. However, what if they were based in fact?

Brimthrowend
The Brimthrowend (Old English: 'sea scorpion') are intelligent, highly organized creatures that are kin to giant sea scorpions that thrived in the time of the Spring of Arda. Their unique characteristics and form of communication developed during the long night of the Sleep of Yavanna. Brimthrowend came to inhabit the ruins of Nogrod and Belegost (and perhaps other, flooded Dwarf-cities and mines) as a result of the defeat of Morgoth and destruction of Thangorodrim at the end of the First Age. Their presence was one of the reasons that the Dwarves eventually gave up their attempts to restore their old cities and migrated east to Khazad-dûm. Colonies of Brimthrowend might also be found inhabiting networks of coastal sea-caves. A colony might number in the hundreds or thousands.

The Brimthrowend are not as a species evil; however, they are carnivorous and do not particularly empathize with any of the Free Peoples. They communicate through a combination of clicks and strobing bio-luminescent panels or patches on their carapaces. Different colours represent different emotional states or basic desires:

Violet = Joy
Blue = Peace/Contentment
Green = Curiosity or Hunger
Yellow = Caution/Suspicion
Orange = Pain/Distress
Red = Anger/Hostility

More complex ideas and feelings are indicated through strobing patterns and clicks.

Attribute Level: 7
Endurance: 28
Hate: 5
Parry: 6
Armour: 4d/1d*
Skills: Personality, 2; Survival, 3; Movement, 3; Custom, 1; Perception, 2; Vocation, 1.
Weapon Skills: Pincer crush, 3; Sting, 2.
Special Abilities: Seize Victim; Thick Hide; Weak Spot*.

Weapons:
~ Weapon Type: Pincer crush; Damage: Attrib. lvl; Edge: 8; Injury: 18; Called Shot: Break Shield;
Notes: The strong chelae of the Brimthrowend can crush bones and splinter shields.
~ Weapon Type: Sting; Damage: Attrib. lvl; Edge: 10; Injury: 14; Called Shot: Poison;
Notes: Brimthrowend have venomous stingers at the end of their tails that they can whip forward over their bodies.

Weak Spot: The oblong bio-luminescent patches on the sides of a Brimthrowden's thorax are soft and vulnerable to attack. * See page 69 of Rivendell.

Scorpion-venom: A poisoned character is paralyzed and falls to the ground after a number of rounds equal to his Body or Heart rating, whichever is higher, in addition to suffering the normal effects of being Poisoned (see page 144 of the Adventure's Guide). The effects of the poison wear off after one full day.

The Brimthrowend might resemble the creature depicted here, but about nine feet long:

I like these a lot. Would you classify these as 'nameless things'?

Ernst-Jan wrote:I like these a lot. Would you classify these as 'nameless things'?

I would if I hadn't named them.

Thanks! I wanted to introduce something truly alien. My inspirations included: the Lurker in the Long Valley (in Ruins of the North); Peter Jackson's creepy-crawlies from his King Kong remake; Lovecraft's Dholes; and the movie Tremors. Basically, for the AiMe version, I took the giant scorpion from D&D and gave it the mental abilities of a drider (minus spells, plus Riddle).

I admit I was thinking of Steven King's It. You know, the monster that only the kids can see

Corvo wrote:I admit I was thinking of Steven King's It. You know, the monster that only the kids can see

Sorry, no connection to Pennywise. These aren't even shape-shifters!