Karkaskuttle
RARITY: ★☆☆☆☆ | THREAT: ★★☆☆☆ SIZE: Smallest are lobster-sized, but they never stop growing; the largest can reach the size of a truck, at which point they are called “lobstrosities”.
HABITAT:
Found all along the coastline. Most encounters take place on the beach, but they’re also found in deeper waters and in the harbor, leading to sightings from fishermen.
OVERVIEW:
Fishermen have long told tales about lobsters that were far too big to fit on any plate. As it turns out, some of those catches weren’t lobsters at all, but their prehistoric relative, the karkaskuttle. These wicked big crustaceans are usually scavengers and can be seen feeding on dead matter that sinks to the sand in oceans. They use their meaty claws to strip off pieces of their food, and – when the situation calls for it – have also been known to use them to bash their prey to death while it’s still alive.
They are occasionally caught by fisherman and mistaken for mutated lobsters, or just one of those “strange local variants”. Sometimes they even make it to the supermarket where they’re sold as food, and some of Wicked’s Rest’s restaurants even tout them as “specials”. However, these are just the smallest karkaskuttles – many of them grow far too large to fit in a lobster trap and it’s theorized they never stop growing. Fortunately, they typically leave people alone unless they’re mistaken for dead matter (such as the undead) or they disturbed the karkaskuttle in some way. They are pretty grumpy though, so it’s not all that hard to disturb them.
ABILITIES:
A karkaskuttle can easily snip a person’s limb off or crush bones with its over-sized claws.
Their tough exoskeleton prevents most weapons from piercing them.
They have keen senses and can find dead material miles away, including undead beings.
They’re frequently found in large groups, though they are not social creatures and will aggressively fight over a meal. They don’t work as a team, but all of them will want to eat you.
The bigger karkaskuttles can pose a real threat when they decide to leave the ocean and pursue meals along the beach. They can reach massive proportions, with some of the bigger ones seen being as large as a truck.
WEAKNESSES:
Normally the hard exoskeleton of a karkaskuttle protects them from physical harm. However, like all crustaceans, karkaskuttles must shed their exoskeleton every once in a while to grow, during which they are extremely vulnerable to attack.
If your encounter with one of these crabby crabs doesn’t align with their molt, fire magic or abilities may be used to slowly cook them inside their shells.
They are simple-minded crustaceans who can easily be distracted by a bigger, more tempting meal than your fleshy body.
VARIANTS
POLYPUS:
Often fancifully drawn in unknown seas on medieval maps, the polypus combines the features of giant lobsters and octopuses, moving on a centipede-like mass of both tentacles and segmented crustacean legs. They are ambush predators who can change color to blend in with surrounding terrain. A polypus doesn’t immediately kill the prey it snatches, instead taking victims back home – usually a seaside cave – before skinning and eating them. Discarded skins washing up on the beach are a sign that a polypus lair might be nearby.