A carrion crawler was a burrowing aberration that scavenged the dead and occasionally preyed on living creatures. Similar to a giant, toothed centipede in appearance, carrion crawlers were often accompanied by a foul odor of death, which warned others of their approach.[6]
Although their nature ultimately rested in the Far Realm, it was thought by many, and indeed was possible, that carrion crawlers were created through a mad wizard's experiments.[2]
Description
Carrion crawlers were large, pale yellow, and greenish aberrations whose appearance was akin to a three- to four-foot-long centipede. Crawlers possessed eight long tentacles protruding from the sides of their heads, allowing them to stun prey.[6] Carrion crawlers also had two eye stalks, through which they could perceive their surroundings even in the darkest caverns.[2] Additionally, carrion crawlers had a highly developed sense of smell.[6]
Behavior
Carrion crawlers often laid their eggs within a meal or mounds of waste. When the young hatched, often in numbers reaching into the hundreds, the baby crawlers quickly turned on one another, eating each other. Fortunately, this thinned down the numbers of the carrion crawlers substantially, who were also less dangerous at this time, possessing a less effective venom than their adult equivalents.[2]
Ecology
Carrion crawlers' feasting ground and tunnels created by their acidic secretions.
Habitats
Beyond the Prime Material plane, carrion crawlers could be found in the Domains of Dread.[7]
Use
Carrion crawler brain juice was a dangerous paralytic poison that could be extracted or simply beaten out of the aberration's organ. The simplicity of acquiring this poison made it commonly used by orcs in the Urghosh locking mechanisms.[8]
Appendix
Appearances
- Adventures
- Dungeon #20: "The Ship of Night" • Halls of the High King • The Dungeon of Death • The Tomb of Damara • War of Everlasting Darkness • Out of the Abyss • Tomb of Annihilation • Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
- Referenced only
- Hordes of Dragonspear
- Novels
- Canticle • Sacrifice of the Widow
- Video Games
- Pools of Darkness • Treasures of the Savage Frontier • Dungeon Hack • Menzoberranzan • Baldur's Gate • Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast • Icewind Dale • Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn • Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear • Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms • Warriors of Waterdeep
- Referenced only
- Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor • Sword Coast Legends
- Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
- The Worst of All Snares • The Scroll Thief • Escape from Phlan • Mulmaster Undone • Quelling the Horde • Tipping the Scales
- Board Games
- Battle for Faerûn • Tyrants of the Underdark: Aberrations and Undead • Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Begins
- Card Games
- AD&D Trading Cards
Gallery
Further Reading
- Johnathan M. Richards (January 2000). “The Ecology of the Carrion crawler”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #267 (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 72–79.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 37. ISBN 978-0786965614.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 30. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 35. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
- ↑ Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 13. ISBN 0-935696-00-8.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet and Monte Cook (October 2000). Monster Manual 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 29. ISBN 0-7869-1552-1.
- ↑ Kirk Botulla, Shane Hensley, Nicky Rea, Teeuwynn Woodruff (1994). Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness. Edited by William W. Connors. (TSR, Inc.), p. 8. ISBN 1-56076-914-9.
- ↑ Stormfront Studios (2001). Designed by Mark Buchignani, Ken Eklund, Sarah W. Stocker. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. Ubisoft Entertainment.
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