Tractatori

Lurking far beneath the surface in the treacherous depths of the underground exists a foul and harrowing beast unlike most other creatures in its stead. This monster, named by the few who have come into contact with it and survived, is among the most complex creatures to reside in the caverns of the Deep Run.

It all begins with the eerie appearance of a young child. At first, the child will stand alone before a group of explorers traversing into the cavernous depths. It will take after one of the more dominant races present in the group of adventurers and appear harmless enough. The child looks no different than an ordinary person of their race, barring the eyes. Instead of normal iris’, the child will appear to have eyes that glow a faint hue of green, indicative of soulsight. This soulsight provides the creature the ability to identify the power of its targets, based on the power of their souls. This soulsight helps the creature identify which threats to eliminate first.

Shortly after the first child is sighted, more children will begin to emerge. They will take after only the races present in the adventurers and begin combat fairly quickly. The children can wield any number of weapons, and some of the older ones may even be mages, using catalysts as their weapons. Unsurprisingly, the children themselves are fairly weak in combat, as normal children are. Their fragile nature serves as an advantage to the true beast that creates these “children”. One blow to any of the children will instantly kill the child, leaving their corpse with glowing green eyes upon the ground. When any of the children die, the person who delivered the killing blow will be unable to move any part of their body for a short period of time, making attacks, defensive maneuvers, and even discussing strategy impossible for the duration of this stun. The more powerful the person is, the longer they are stunned. Additionally, once one child is felled, another will soon emerge from the stone or depths of the cave to replace the one that was killed.

Wherever a group of children are present, an unseen monster lurks nearby. The Tractatori monster itself, when alive, is invisible in both body and soul. Anything that makes contact with a living Tractatori such as throwing a sheet over the creature, splashing liquid onto it, etc. will also cause the material in contact with the creature to become invisible as well. Relying on sound has been found to be the most effective means of combating such a beast.

Once killed, the true form of the Tractatori will be revealed as the invisibility falls away. These creatures have four limbs that are seemingly identical in appearance. They are thick, veiny, and muscular, with three smaller appendages spanning out of the bottom. These appendages look similar to oversized fingers but have no nails present. Instead of relying on piercing or slashing with their attacks, Tractatori rely on the brute force power of their limbs. These creatures are capable of crushing armor with their strength, equivalent to that of a Minotaur. A single punch to an unarmored victim can completely and painfully shatter bone.

Tractatori have short and stocky torsos, the majority of their body mass being found in their sturdy limbs. They have an oval shaped head that is capable of retracting, moving, and protruding from any location upon the torso of the creature. As a result, these monsters are incredibly good at navigating by scaling the walls and even ceiling of cavernous structures. The Tractatori itself will typically lay in wait as its “children” combat adventurers, and once a stunned and unprotected target is sighted, the Tractatori will move in to consume its prey.

Distribution

These legendary monsters are found exclusively within the Deep Runs of the realm. They tend to reside far beneath the surface.

Habitat

There are very few Tractatori in the Deep Run. As a result of this, they are not often found near others of their kind, however, Tractatori tend to have no issue co-existing with other creatures of the deep run due to their ability to generally remain unseen and unnoticed.

Diet

It is believed that Tractatori feast on a combination of stone and the bones of their victims, but this remains to be confirmed.

Relations

Tractatori are not tameable and are highly intelligent beings. They are both powerful and aggressive, a deadly combination against most other creatures that Tractatori view as potential threats or prey.

Mechanics

• The children have passive soulsight.
• The children do not have souls.
• The children typically wield weapons of people the Tractatori has killed in the past.
• The children can speak common, but Tractatori cannot speak. They can, however, make pained, animalistic noises.
• When a child is killed, the killer will be stunned.
  • Mundane characters and Runesmiths are stunned for 1 Turn.
  • Mages and Shaman are stunned for 2 Turns.
  • Divine Blessed, Feyspeakers, Dragonmarked, and Demonbranded are stunned for 3 Turns.
• Child mages are no more powerful than Adept level. You can find more information on this here.
  • Spells cast by these mages must be taken from the Trees section of the Magic forum found here.
• Tractatori are capable of latching onto stone and can move easily along any terrain in the Deep Run.
• These creatures are completely invisible in both body and soul and can only be tracked through sound and terrain movement.
  • Tractatori try to move quietly, but cannot always do so.
  • Anything that comes into contact with the body of the Tractatori itself will also become invisible so long as it is in contact with the beast.
• They have strength equivalent to that of a Minotaur and are capable of ripping limbs off their victims.
  • They can crush most armor in 2 Turns.
  • They can crush unarmored bone in 1 Turn.

Material Properties

• Skilled tailors can make use of Tractatori skin to create an invisibility cloak.
• If the head of a Tractatori is cut out of the torso, a bone-like core will be revealed within the body just beneath. This bone is thin and easily breakable. If it is broken at any point before being extracted, it will be rendered useless if harvested.
  • This bone, when intact, looks similar to a wishbone. When two people take hold of either end of the wishbone-like core and break it, they will temporarily have access to one another’s abilities for ten turns. This means that, for example, if a divine blessed and a mundane both break the wishbone, the mundane is capable of using some of the divine blessed’s abilities temporarily at the cost of the blessed’s aura.

Alchemical Properties

• The eyes of the children can be harvested and used by alchemists to create soulsight potions lasting for ten turns.

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