The shark is the most efficient hunters in the realms. This has empowered the Shark Spirit, to become the Beast Hunting Spirit. This powerful spirit has bound elementals of various kinds and places with a shark imprint. These bound spirits spawn new shark races: land sharks, sand sharks, sky sharks, and as for here, The OcrheMaws.
Full Description
These massive and slow moving creatures are powerful hunters in the Ocadian Desert. They are one with the desert, taking on the same sick ochre hue as the soil. Truly they are massive, between the size of a Great White and Whale Shark. Their nose is pointed and their bodies are tapered and fairly flat. The nose radiates a magic which temporaily breaks up the soil and stone. This magic allows the beasts to slowly lumber through the ground (its top speed is equal to a brisk walking pace). It attacks from suprise, breaching out of the soil to snatch prey. Some claim that you can feel a rumble or feel the flow of magic before it strikes. Neither claim can be verified.
OchreMaws hunt by hearing and touch. They can hear and feel the dropping of a pebble hundreds of yards away. The vibration of walking can bring an OchreMaw from miles away... slowly sliding forward to eventually capture its prey.
Their bite is fearsome. It can cut a yak in half. No beast known has been known to stand up to its three foot wide bite. (Though no dragon has ever been in the Ochre Desert.) Their jaws have eight rows of jagged teeth. The Teeth are used by The Ocadians as knives.
Additional Information
If you need to know how they act, think SHARK. What you don't know them? Well watch more Animal Planet/ cable nature television! If not, google the words Shark Behavior. That is how they behave. These things eat food on the surface, so they might breach or jump to get their food. Other than that, think aquatic shark.
When in doubt about somethings behavior, always think about how the analagous "real world animal" lives and works. That is the animal that the fantasy one is patterened after. So everything not contrary to the real animal's behavior or does not need special note, will default to the real world creatures. It is a Shark, except it lives in the Ocadian Desert. These sharks tend to eat things on the surface.
OchreMaws will rest or sleep at the surface, their fins all that will be showing. It is good for everyone and thing that they rest most of the time.
If you are being trailed slowly by a OchreMaw and it turns away, there is a Ocadian PitFiend nearby.
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This article links to 3
- Ocadian Desert MoonHunter linked by MoonHunter
- Ocadian PitFiend MoonHunter linked by MoonHunter
- The Ocadians MoonHunter linked by MoonHunter
Links to this article 1
- Ocadian Desert MoonHunter linked by MoonHunter
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The last sentence made me actually laugh. A good way to strees how dangerous this place is.
I wonder what happens if two of their kind meet - will there be a conflict, avoidance, or mating if possible? Also, is there any particular type of rock they cannot burrow through, or are they merely slowed down?
Definately not a subtle monster. Apart from powerful magic or old age/misadventure, how do the Ocadians obtain the teeth to use as knives? Do they loose them regularly?
ummmm...
I know, I know Moon. A sub can be real short as long as it covers the basics...etc, etc, etc.
but geez, a few more details would have been nice ;)
last line is funny, as manfred mentions. BTW, is this a 'New Take' on Bullettes?
I would use the default Shark Behaviors. What you don't know them? Well watch more Animal Planet/ cable nature television! If not, google the words Shark Behavior. That is how they behave.
When in doubt about somethings behavior, always think about how the analagous 'real world animal' lives and works. That is the animal that the fantasy one is patterened after. So everything not contrary to the real animal's behavior or does not need special note, will default to the real world creatures. It is a Shark, except it lives in the Ocadian Desert.
Unless there is a mating season, once every few years... they normally slide by each other. After all, an OchreMaw could seriously damage another one. They have a regular range, but do not care about intruders. After all, one will kill a prey.. and any hangers on will just take a few random bites out after the Killer gets his original 'cut'.
Since they use magic to burrow though the ground, rather than any pretense of physics, I would say no. They are limited to the Ocadian Desert where their magic is strong enough to allow them to go anywhere. They might be able to travel in The Ring, but their they would be limited to soft soil or mud.
1) The Ocadians always head to the high ground and rocky outcroppings after a soaking rain (which happens about once a generation there). There they will stay until the ground firms up. They know that the Ocremaws will be able to travel in that soft soil and will be looking for new kills outside the Desert.
These things do die of natural causes. They are tough, but not invunerable. Set up a trap with a yak or two tied to an open space near a rocky outcropping. When the thing appears... shoot it with arrows, throw spears with barbed tips and ropes attached, and throw dingi at it (Chakram). A few lines, a touch of magic, and maybe a little poison, and you have one dead critter... ready to feed the entire Sook for a while. And the 'bones' can be used as reinforcement for Tents. The teeth for knives. The stones in the stomach will make good grinding stones. And who knows what you will find in the stomach of one of these things?
Sharks also loose their teeth on a regular basis. So at a kill site, you might find a tooth stuck in the dirt somewhere.
Bullettes? Googling. Oh. Nope. I didn't know the monster existed until a few seconds ago... though I should not be suprised. (Remember me? I never played normal D&D with dungeons and monsters and such...) So not a new take. Just another Shark Spirit critter to go with the Artic Shark critter.
This submission is just one step above a stub. It is there to help round out the set. And to get this setting out of my system. One more thing I am now free of!
Okay. I might revisit this place in a book of 101 odd places to put in your campaign, but really.. I am done with it.
And no, this is not a great submission. I do not expect it to be highly rated. It is just to round out the set and possible be part of the Shark Series.
There are a few spelling problems (Ocre, suprise), but other than that pretty solid.
The summary isn't spell checked by the auto checker. Ooops. fixed.
updated a few things in the main text.