Apodalypse

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The apodalypse is the fruit of a misguided experiment gone horribly wrong. The combination of necromantically animated shark tissue implanted in still living humans birthed an aquatic monstrosity that requires the flesh of living creatures to retain its form and "life." The progeny are the half-living offspring of the apodalypse.
Progeny normally hang in tight coils of squamous flesh that look like wasp nests formed by a single coiled snake. When unfurled, progeny generally reach 2 feet in length, resembling eyeless serpents with sharklike mouths filled with row after row of sharp teeth.
==Combat==
Progeny can remain in their dormant, hanging state for years, perhaps even centuries. However, when disturbed by living humanoids, they attack. Progeny prefer to drop onto unsuspecting victims from above, but once active, their coiled lengths can propel them up to 20 feet through the air (they can swim through water) to deliver a vicious bite once per round.
On a successful bite attack, progeny hang on and begin to burrow into the victim toward the spinal column, automatically inflicting 1d4+2 hit points per round. If left unmolested, burrowing progeny reach their goal within 1d4+2 rounds, whereupon the insipid creatures automatically paralyze their hosts. This allows a progeny to begin the process of subsumption; it attempts to digest and then replace both the spinal column and lower brain stem of a victim. The process of subsumption requires 6 full rounds and inflicts 2d4+2 hit points per round upon the victim.
Since the progeny are partially undead, they are affected by clerical Turning (as ghasts). During an attack or while burrowing, successful Turning only causes a progeny to freeze up for one round, after which it continues to attack or burrow. Progeny which are successfully Turned while subsuming a victim's spinal column are permanently destroyed. Applying a burning torch (or applying something similarly harmful) to a burrowing progeny inflicts 1d6 hit points per round on both it and its victim, but better a few burns than to allow the progeny to complete its activities.
As semi-undead, progeny are damaged only by +1 or better weapons and are unaffected by sleep, charm, hold or cold-based spells. In addition, they cannot be harmed by poisons or paralyzation attacks.
==Ecology==
If subsumption is successful, the victim is irrevocably lost, and the progeny takes possession of the still-living husk. If allowed the time to slowly incorporate the recently acquired flesh, it transforms itself (over a month's time) into an apodalypse with minimum hit points.
Category:Creatures
Category:Night of the Shark Creatures