Barbanaatha
The barbanaatha themselves are relatively small in their body, with long prehensile tentacles. They use these to attach to the central nervous system of a sentient being. Once they have done so, they can communicate directly with that individual. After that, they will integrate themselves more and more with their host.
While attached, the barbanaatha can help their host reach for Branches and thus access sorcery. They also remain clinging to the back of the individual with their tentacles hugging the body rightly. But under duress, the tentacles can lash out to help defend the symbiote. In other cases, the barbanaatha can remain entirely hidden under regular clothes.
While they can be found in many different places and especially thrive in the Thicket of Thorns, these creatures originated in the Writhing Depths. They feel an instinctive call to that realm and will try to make their host go there, but before they can do that they need to achieve a complete blending of mind. The host and the parasite will become ever more the same being as the alien mind devours the host's and makes it part of itself. Once they have truly merged, the barbanaatha will return to its home plane to evolve into its next stage.
Eventually, this strange hybrid that was once a person will wander the words, leaving new barbanaatha behind. Some say they seek out places where the original host often went, possibly to trap former friends into joining them in the Depths. They might still feel a longing for those they cared for, but they don't know why.
Lifespan
60 years
Geographic Distribution
Comments