Trapjaw Tangle

Sometimes the best intentions result in dire consequences and even a successful project can turn into an unending nightmare. Such is the grim tale of the first trapjaw tangles. These mechanical swarms were initially created as a solution to the pestilence of mutated rodents that plagued Alkenstar. These mobile rat traps, bound together by a magical matrix of occult energy, were programmed to wait in ambush or chase down their prey. The first trapjaw tangles proved effective and their creators were well rewarded for their ingenious designs. Soon trapjaw tangles were deployed throughout Alkenstar, Martel, and the Gunworks. Waves of them would be sent to roam into the Spellscar Desert, and the ever-present vermin were quickly forgotten.

Then disaster struck. A rogue wave of magical energy washed over an airship that carried a trapjaw tangle in its hold. The magical affliction scrambled the tangle's programming and gave the swarm just enough intellect to send it on a red frenzy through the ship. When the airship crashed into the outskirts of Alkenstar, its crew perished but the infected tangle survived to infect every trapjaw it met with the same deadly scrambling of magic. Now, trapjaw tangles are an even greater menace to society than the vermin they were originally designed to eradicate.