Spirit centipede

Spirit centipedes were a race of poisonous shapeshifters native to Kara-Tur.

Description
A giant centipede with a segmented body, the distinguishing feature of the spirit centipede was its head. It had a human face, bald head, large mustache, and nine eyes distributed around the head. A spirit centipede's shell was multi-colored, with alternating segments of green, scarlet, and silver.

Combat
The spirit centipede's shell protected it from attacks. It defended itself by biting or stinging an opponent. Its sting was poisonous. As its primary weapon, it coughed up a thick, black cloud of fog that could reach 15 feet (4.5 meters) in diameter. This fog cloud blocked all sight including darkvision.

Abilities
All spirit centipedes were shapeshifters. A greater spirit centipede could shapeshift into five forms, a lesser spirit centipede into three forms, and the least spirit centipede into two forms. The forms they could shapeshift into were:
 * Centipede
 * Scorpion
 * Snake
 * Spider
 * Toad

Society
Spirit centipedes were used by the Celestial Bureaucracy to administer punishment to heretics.

Ecology
A spirit centipede's diet included most inorganic objects, but they favored minerals. If they willingly gave an individual one of its scales, it could be used as a charm of protection against disease. A dead least spirit centipede's body turned into brass, and was often used as a charm of protection against spirits in buildings across Kara-Tur.