Stone-Eater

An adult stone-eater worker.

60-90 kg (130-200 lbs)

**Stone-Eaters** are a magical creature native to the realm. They can be found in the rocky parts of realm and live in cave systems underground. They are eusocial and live in a strict hierarchy. They are famous for their aggression and near-invincibility to all human weapons with the exception of ones constructed from coral.

## Description

Stone-Eaters are a medium-large magical creature. They bear a resemblance to several other beings, most striking of which being moles (because of the hairs on their faces) and insectoids (as a result of their large mandibles and long, segmented legs). Stone-Eaters can reach several feet in length and are, on average, between 70 and 110 centimetres at shoulder height. Their heads are located close to the ground.

Stone eaters use extremely strong, serrated mandible-jaws to chew through stones. The legs and body of a Stone-Eater are covered in thick, coarse hairs, usually mottled black, gray or brown in colour, which presumably assist with thermoregulation.

Stone-Eaters have wide eyes located on the sides of their heads, though their eyesight is not particularly good. Their heads and bodies have several long antennae poking out, especially in front of their faces. Additionally, they are known to make a variety of loud, high-pitched chirping sounds using their their mandibles, legs, mouths and other body parts. These sounds echo throughout cave systems. Their primary usage is echolocation and navigation, though sometimes they may be used for intimidation.

They have sharp, shovel-like claws on the ends of their legs. These are used for digging and for grasping onto stones and cavern walls to allow for a wider range of movement. Stone-Eaters' legs are long and agile and further assist in climbing.

Stone-Eaters have a thick carapace that surrounds their entire body. Weapons made of wood, metal and stone are largely ineffective against Stone-Eaters. However, contact with a type of coral that grows around the coastlines of the realm causes Stone-Eaters to go into toxic shock, which is usually lethal.

## Behaviour

### Social structure

Stone-Eaters live in a eusocial hivemind structure. Their social structure can best be compared to ants or honeybees, though there are notable differences. Stone-Eater colonies are centered around an individual Stone-Eater that has become the leader of the hivemind to which all of that colony's Stone-Eaters are connected. The queen of the hivemind is located in the colony's central hive, where she gives orders to the workers of the colony by transferring these commands to the workers' minds.

### Reproduction

The queen of a Stone-Eater colony resides in the colony's central hive - the cave in which the colony's members sleep and where reproduction occurs. In this central hive, there is a fleshy structure that reaches from the floor to the ceiling of the cave. This structure, formed from an excretion produced with specialized glands by workers - houses the colony's queen.

Once a Stone-Eater has become a queen, she cannot leave the structure until her death. Until then, she produces offspring via parthenogenesis. As such, the structure functions something like a womb for the workers. The workers repair these walls periodically to make sure the structure, the queen, and the colony remain intact and safe. All workers are genetic clones of the queen who birthed them and - consequently - the rest of the colony as well. An adult stone-eater, when encountering a hivemind structure that is not home to a queen - such as one left behind by an extinct colony - will feel an innate urge to climb inside it and establish a colony of her own.