Ankheg

The ankheg is a burrowing monster usually found in forests or choice agricultural land. Because of its fondness for fresh meat, the ankheg is a threat to any creature unfortunate enough to encounter it.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The ankheg resembles an enormous many-legged worm. Its six legs end in sharp hooks suitable for burrowing and grasping, and its powerful mandibles are capable of snapping a small tree in half with a single bite. A tough chitinous shell, usually brown or yellow, covers its entire body except for its soft pink belly. The ankheg has glistening black eyes, a small mouth lined with tiny rows of chitinous teeth, and two sensitive antennae that can detect movement of man-sized creatures up to 300 feet away.

Genetics and Reproduction

Autumn is mating season for ankhegs. After the male fertilizes the female, the female kills him and deposits 2-12 fertilized eggs in his body. Within a few weeks, about 75% of the eggs hatch and begin feeding.

Growth Rate & Stages

In a year, the young ankhegs resemble adults, can function independently, and begin to wander from the nest reaching maturity within the next year.
Beginning in its second year of life, the ankheg sheds its chitinous shell just before the onset of winter. It takes the ankheg two days to shed its old shell and two weeks to grow a new one. During this time, the sluggish ankheg is exceptionally vulnerable. Additionally, it moves at only half its normal speed, its mandible attack inflicts less damage, and it is unable to squirt acidic enzymes. While growing a new shell, it protects itself by hiding in a deep tunnel and secreting a repulsive fluid that smells like rotten fruit. Though the aroma discourages most creatures, it can also pinpoint the ankheg's location for human hunters and desperately hungry predators.

Ecology and Habitats

The ankheg uses its mandibles to continuously dig winding tunnels 30-40 feet deep in the rich soil of forests or farmlands. The hollowed end of a tunnel serves as a temporary lair for sleeping, eating, or hibernating. When an ankheg exhausts the food supply in a particular forest or field, it moves on to another.
The ankheg does not hoard treasure. Items that were not dissolved by the acidic enzymes fall where they drop from the ankheg's mandibles and can be found scattered throughout its tunnel system.
Though a hungry ankheg can be fatal to a farmer, it can be quite beneficial to the farmland. Its tunnel system laces the soil with passages for air and water, while the ankheg's waste products add rich nutrients. The ankheg will eat decayed organic matter in the earth, but it prefers fresh meat. All but the fiercest predators avoid ankhegs.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Gaining nutrients from the ground, the ankheg also had to hunt fresh meat to sustain itself. It could also eat decaying meat though it preferred not to do so.

Biological Cycle

Ankhegs living in cold climates hibernate during the winter. Within a month after the first snowfall, the ankheg fashions a lair deep within the warm earth where it remains dormant until spring. The hibernating ankheg requires no food, subsisting instead on nutrients stored in its shell. The ankheg does not secrete aromatic fluid during this time and is thus relatively safe from detection. Though the ankheg's metabolism is reduced, its antennae remain functional, able to alert it to the approach of an intruder. A disturbed ankheg fully awakens in 1d4 rounds, after which time it can attack and move normally.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Dried and cured ankheg shells can be made into armor, and its digestive enzymes can be used as acid.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Lone, Pair, Cluster (1-6)

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Low-light Vision
Two antennae that provide the creature with tremorsense out to 300' away.

Conservation Status

Rare

Average Weight

800 lbs.

Average Length

10'