The Bestiary of Khorinis II

Volume II: Internal Organs & Their Properties

The relationship between a creature's size and the potency of its organs is one of nature's most striking patterns. The venom of an adult bloodfly can bring down a fully-grown man, while the sting of its smaller kin leaves little more than a swelling. This principle repeats for many of the island's beasts, although few dare to study the largest specimens.

The minecrawler displays perhaps the most remarkable adaptation: complex pheromone glands that regulate its social behavior. In ordinary individuals, these organs serve simple functions such as marking territory, coordinating movement, and attracting mates. Historical records, however, speak of vast caverns in which dozens of crawlers move with eerie synchronicity; evidence of specimens possessing far more sophisticated communication mechanisms. Some texts even suggest entire tunnel networks in which the inferior crawlers inhabiting it fell under the influence of a centralized force.

The alchemical potential of enhanced minecrawler glands remains largely theoretical. The few documented samples have nonetheless commanded astronomical prices among scholars and mages. However, the extraction of intact glands from larger minecrawlers has proven nearly impossible, and those who may have encountered such specimens rarely survived long enough to record their findings.