K'thir

Few monsters inspire as much horror or terror as the k'thir. Everyone and everything rightly fear them. Few can match them in undiluted evil, cruelty, or cunning. Their origins are mysterious, their plans are enigmatic, and their culture and thought processes are utterly alien.
A k'thir’s attack strikes a victim’s most vulnerable spot. It can psychically peel back a target’s personality as a surgeon draws back swollen flesh. Tentacles slick with slime writhe across ravaged edges of bone to caress gray, glittering coils of brain before drawing them from the conscious, screaming prey.
Where the k'thir came from, why they choose to live in eternal darkness beneath the earth, what they seek, and why they delight in cruelty and horror—these questions have stymied sages for centuries. The answers are startling and horrible yet provide little illumination. One can know the k'thir without understanding them.
K'thir are humanoid monsters, roughly the size of humans. Their bodies are comprised of tentacles, and large hoods conceal where their faces should be. Their evil reputation is based on their horrid appetite for living brains. All mature k'thir are psionically gifted; some are wizards or (rarely) sorcerers.
K'thir dwell underground and prefer to remain there. They have sometimes been encountered in deep-sided chasms and half-buried surface ruins, but the world beneath the surface is their realm. In that place, filled with fearsome races and monsters, k'thir are among the most dangerous predators of the dark. A lone k'thir hunting in its element is more than a match for a group of surface warriors, and seldom is a k'thir alone. They travel with the protection of their minions, enslaved subterranean monsters, or worse yet, others of their kind. Those who explore the deep underground paths agree that it is better to die almost any other death than to fall into the clutches of the k'thir.

Basic Information

Anatomy

In their natural state, the k'thir are amorphous swarms of tentacles, but when bonded with a host, they maintain the general form of the humanoid host. They have no facial features, as their external membrane is sensitive enough to detect ambient light and sound. There is no visible mouth in humanoid form. When they choose to feed, they will develop facial tentacles to draw and hold meat against their external membrane, which will be broken down and absorbed.

Genetics and Reproduction

K'thir reproduces asexually and embed their embryo in a new host. These formless creatures follow the nervous system of the host humanoid up to the spinal column, then traveling up to the brain. Once it reaches the brain, the amorphous embryo begins absorbing the brain and replaces it. It absorbs thoughts, abilities, and control of the host creature. This usually takes an hour, after which the creature the host used to be is no more. At that point, the host is little more than a puppet vehicle under the k'thir's control.  After a time, the exact duration varies from host to host, the k'thir will guide the host creature underground where it will produce a cocoon around the host body so that it can continue the full transformation into a k'thir. The creature is extremely vulnerable during this time, so it will either cocoon itself somewhere very isolated, or surround itself with thralls to protect it. The cocoon

Dietary Needs and Habits

The preferred source of nutrients is the brain. The k'thir will attach tentacles, producing thousands of tiny filaments that filter through the body and absorb the mental faculties. The richer the memories, the richer the mind, and the more the meal is savoured. For some of these prized meals, adventurers or scholars are allowed to recover their lost intelligence before being fed on again.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The mind of a k'thir is highly evolved to the point where they have developed powerful psychic abilities. They have powerful telepathic abilities, and some can manifest telekinetic abilities as well. Some who have martial hosts can form these telekinetic powers into physical weapons made of pure force.

Origin/Ancestry

Aberrations

Geographic Distribution

• Darklands