Palpares

Ancient dwarves paid little attention to the Sea of Dirt, seeing little worth harvesting from its muck. Orcs were considerably braver, yet even they're wary of monsters swimming through the silt. To an outsider, palpares might seem like a cautionary tale to keep children from sinking into the quicksand, and the large pits found dotting the Sea of Dirt's shores are just geological phenomena that appear in the wet season. Those who have stumbled across these traps know the dangerous reality.

Few know much about palpares, an enormous insect whose plated, hulking abdomen takes up most of its size. They seem to be solitary ambush hunters that hibernate during the dry season, then awaken during the Flood to create their enormous pit traps. These traps capture prey of all sizes, even the occasional herd of migrating aurochs, as they wait buried in the center. Though usually very patient, when disturbed, a palpares can move through its native sandy soil surprisingly quick, greeting intruders who enter its domain with its shovellike head and vicious pincers.

Life Stages

Research suggests palpares aren't yet in its final form of life, as large caverns on the shores have been discovered to hold traces of chitin and the rotting remains of palpares partially transformed. Though nobody has encountered an adult and lived to tell the tale, rumors abound that the fully fledged insect form resembles Rovagug. Communities are quick to locate and dispose of any pupae they find in large, sand-encrusted mounds in the dirt. Some towns hold large barbecues to harvest tons of "mud bacon."