Salt Monger

Put trust in them, pay them, and they will let you take what you will. They are creatures of their word- urm... creatures who you may trust.
-Merchant of Anathril sharing their guidence

Giant Solifuge by Svetlin Velinov

If you find yourself among the winding tunnels of the Golden Rifts, if you hear clacking or feel a reoccuring vibration, worry not, as you are likely in the presence of the Salt Monger, they mean no harm and will likely deliver none, as long as you are kind to it, for they may pack quite a punch if you mean to hurt it.

Basic Information

Anatomy

As Salt Mongers are creatures first of the Golden Rifts, they have adapted to the treacherous terrain with many more legs than is typical for creatures similar to them, twenty upon birth. Though this number is above the understandable amount, it is simply a game of excess, they have many more than they may need in case of anything going wrong. As an insect, or something close to it, Salt Mongers have exoskeletons, though the protection lowers upon their backs, where their namesake is kept. The Golden Rifts are thick with salt, and all the water to be found within the maze is laden with the liquid, even more pungent than even the seas south of Hanging Sands. So as one of the few creatures to call this salty domain home, they were forced to adapt. The creature's kidneys became an alien organ.
Through a chemical reaction not yet understood, but possibly similar to the Dragon's Fundamentum, Salt Mongers are able to heat the salt into a molten ooze-like state. This is then extracted from their body on a gland at the top of their backs, cooling into crystalized salt. This gland's hide is powerfully fire resistant, as the temperatures needed to break down the salt are well above the necessary heat that would burn its exoskeleton. The crystalized salt is hard within the interior, the newest of it, but by the part that is assaulted by the desert winds and sands flakes easily. This salt is called the 'Salt Carapace' and is an extra layer of defense. Otherwise, the Salt Monger is somewhat simple, similar to the bugs of the Southern Bay. Their front limbs act as pincers, and their mouths are sharp for defense, and legs sturdy for scaling.

Growth Rate & Stages

Salt Mongers are born in broods, with creatures resebling crabs or squarpions, though for the latter they lack a stinger. The mother Salt Monger watches over the brood, commonly all within a recess in a rock wall of the Golden Rifts. The Salt Mongers claws do serve another purpose, especially on the females of the species they are inlarged and strangthened for digging out these 'brood holes', making the caverns artificially more confusing. The babies take place in canibalism until only one or two are left among the orignally fifty-some. The creatures then make use of their extra-sensitive limbs and find a source of water, not only for the fact that they are water-starved aside the blood of their siblings, but also for the defence that the Salt Carapess provide. It takes about 6 years to fully grow into their adult bodies and build up their vital Salt Carapess.
In about 10 years, making them 16, they will begin trying to reproduce. The females of the species will create or find a Brood Hole, then create a certain pre-existing list of vibrations, letting the stone carry it within the caverns, she repeats these vibrations until she finds a mate, or she dies, an unfortunate happening. If the female is lucky, a male will feel them with his limbs and follow them, eventually entering the brood hole, and mating.
Then in an act that is so potent it has made itself into a saying 'They are as good as a parent as a Salt Monger', (many who use this saying don't even know what the creature they mention is, as it is so wide spread) many other versions exist, as an example 'They are as good at ___ as a Salt Monger is at parenting' or 'like a Salt Monger parents'. But the story behind this saying is better than any story of linguistics, the mother and father, as soon as the mother has given birth, flee the brood hole, parting ways among the tunnels, and seemingly simply from the vibrations of the brood, flee above ground where the sands greatly deminish vibrations which they are all too sensitive too. This is indeed the main reason that you may see a Salt Monger among the deserts, deserting their children. Eventually the Salt Mongers die, weather from outside sources (which is the more common option), like hunting or even... falling, they are quite clumsy and top-heavy creatures after all. Or they die from "old age", which is truely more of the molten salt building up and not able to breach the salt mountain, forcing the salt into the blood of the poor creature, which is unsustainable for the heart, this leads them to drink more than they should, not only bringing more salt-logged water into their system. They die in the end from dehydration or drowning, desperate to get water into their system.

Ecology and Habitats

The Golden Rifts are nessasary for the survival of the species, the sub-terrainian slightly cooler tunnels with brine pools nessasary for the creation of their salt carapass, along with the somewhat soft well-reverberating stone that they are able to dig into, this is the main reason that the farming and taming of these creatures have failed outside of their own homes and desert dunes close to the tunnels, where the natives of the land have found some luck.

Owlbear Nest by Gamer Guides

Dietary Needs and Habits

Among the Salt Monger's diet are algae, small fish, mushrooms and other fungi, lizards, bugs, and about anything else that they can get their hands on within the empty caverns. Though the food situation is not an easy one, the lack of water and the rare brine pools are a much larger one.
Salt Mongers have little to no self-control when it comes to nourishment, when they find something they may consume, it will be consumed moments later, or as soon as possible.

Behaviour

Salt Mongers are docile in nature, only attacking if threatened or hungry. They are most often found alone, and only in groups of two at the most, likely for the purposes of abandoning their young. Humans have found that the creatures have a level of intellect required to barter or understand trading,

Salt Monger's, in their carapess and incectoid being, are better traders than a Goblin could ever be.
-Personal Journal of disgruntled Merchant

Though mostly solitary, the Salt Mongers are not territorial with each other, while many hold territories near easily traversable and brine pooled locals, they do not have any natural defensiveness about their homes.

Additional Information

Uses, Products & Exploitation

The Salt Monger's namesake is spawned by their interesting interactions with the peoples of the desert lands, particularly in and around Anathril. When they are found emerging, mostly in their later stages of life, bartering between the two groups commonly takes place. Humans over the ages have discovered that the creatures, in particular, enjoy meats of substantial size (that being pretty much anything as their exposure includes lizards at the largest). The humans begin the transaction by feeding it, most commonly, a rabbit or hare, then as the Salt Monger slowly eats, the humans are able to carve and chisel some of the valuable refined salt crystal. With the ability to acutely feel vibrations, some Salt Mongers have been noted to seemingly remember the particular way certain traders walk, and even camels and other animals that would signify a merchant caravan. While some scholars say that the actions taken by some in the species indicate the beginning of domestication, others simply say that they are intelligent creatures taking advantage of a niche. The reason that the salt of these creatures is so valuable is its original consistency, while salt in the Golden Rifts is obviously present, it is hard to refine such a thing, and of course you have the thick-with salt oceans and brine pools, that creates a somewhat grainy substance that is so unlike what you may procure from the trading with a Salt Monger.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The Salt Monger's vision is not one to be impressed by. With large beady eyes to detect their general surroundings, and two on the front to add to depth perception in front of them, all in black and white of course, they are not very well-sighted. They also have a clear lack of ears of any sorts, making them partially blind and majorly deaf. This is why they rely thoroughly on their many limbs, with all but two (being the claws, a matter of defense) having complex nerve endings, leading this creature to have an oddly long brainstem, well suited for all the responses coming from their many limbs. These limbs are able to provide the Salt Monger with quick and efficient information about its surroundings, along with the depth perception of their front eyes, the Salt Mongers are able to wander the meandering tunnels of the Golden Rifts.
Atop the heads of the Salt Mongers sit a mucusy membrane that seems like an antenna that assist them in finding brine pools through the moicstening of air.

Scientific Name

Vitreus Dorsum

Lifespan

30-40 Years

Conservation Status

Data Deficient

Average Height

3 feet, 1 Meter

Average Weight

250-600, depending on Salt Carapace size

Average Length

4.5 feet, 1.4 Meters

Geographic Distribution

• Hanging Sands

Salt Monger CR: 1/2

Medium beast, unaligned

Armor Class: 14

Hit Points: 2d8+2

Speed: 15 ft , burrow: 5 ft

STR

14 +2

DEX

8 -1

CON

12 +1

INT

3 -4

WIS

9 -1

CHA

5 -3

Skills: Perception +1

Damage Resistances: piercing, slashing from non-magical weapons

Senses: blindsight 60ft., passive Perception 11

Challenge Rating: 1/2 ( 100 XP)

Proficiency Bonus: +2

Actions

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 14). The Sand Monger has two claws, each of which can grapple only one target Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage.