Warp-Hive

Description

Dark magic bubbles in the darkest depths of Tykonia, birthing forth the Warping Hive. This Natural Obscuran is malign made flesh, coveting only hunger and avarice. It knows no end to its cravings: eating constantly lest it be destroyed. It is made of countless tiny creatures, each as hungry as the last, who interlace and flow like honey or sap. By themselves, they are an amorphous thing with no agency or movement—but link together around the bodies of the dead to pull their bones to life again. Like puppets upon a string, they move these skeletal marionettes as surrogate bodies in search of prey. Depending on their size, Warp-Hives reflect the physical power of the bodies they puppet. 

Neary a mouth is needed for the Warp-Hive to feed as their very body is voracious: one could fall back into the writhing mass and find their flesh eaten away. To all bodies they strip bare, leaving only the bones which may be affixed into the hive so as to grow even larger. It’s thought that there is no maximum size to their expansion, but eventually starvation will render their masses untenable. Whispers tell of places below the earth where even the walls writhe with their millions, though naught to prove such has fortunately ever been found.

Behaviour

Although composed of many creatures, the hive bears no greater intellect than any common brute. Their sole drive to sate a bottomless hunger shan’t be thwarted by reason or opposition—both met with the full force of the Warp-Hive. They are most common where food is abundant and easy to collect, especially in dark, humid places where trapped animals are easy prey. The hives seem to know no fear, willing to engage even with overwhelming odds, but they abandon efforts if they lose too much material. Retreat is temporary, however, as hives inevitably return to areas with consistent food.