CLASS: BOTANICAL
BIOLOGY: A Dynaphyte's spore bombs begin to mix their volatile chemicals the moment they are plucked from the inner lining of its shell, and detonate with deadly concussive force at the slightest impact. Even monsters surviving the initial blast may not stray far, as the spore scatters a thick cloud of radioactive dust many creatures find debilitatingly toxic. Though the monster may scavenge choice hunks of tissue from a detonated carcass, it leaves most of its kill to slowly decompose, attracting a steady stream of birds, rodents and other small prey. During its reproductive phase, a Dynaphyte's bombs scatter hard-shelled larvae almost resembling minute snail's shells. A larva feeds and grows slowly in carrion until ingested by a scavenger, entering a parasitic phase until large enough to incubate spores of its own and bombing its way out of the host's lower digestive tract. Whether this particular act is biologically necessary or strictly entertaining to the Dynaphyte is difficult to ascertain. BEHAVIOR: Dynaphyte may lie coiled on the ground or even bury themselves if necessary, but prefer to dangle from branches, plumbing, power lines or even the bodies of much larger monsters - dead or alive - to maximize their throwing range. Dynaphyte are prone to wasting their spore bombs whenever they believe an explosion would make a given situation sufficiently humorous, a mood which may strike their fancy at almost any moment, for any reason. APPLIANCE: Properly trained, Dynaphyte make ideal gatekeepers, toll collectors, security guards and pest management systems, though they may be wielded as a sort of "grenade launcher" by another monster or fitted with their own personal locomotive modifications. Their foremost breeders and trainers, the Mucophagous Syndicate, carry them into battle on the talons of remotely controlled avian cadavers, while the Outer Virosapient Coalition modifies their spore bombs to deliver biological agents and hangs the monsters in garlands from garishly decorated mechawalkers. SPORE BOMBS: a Dynaphyte may contain up to a dozen spore bombs at a time, varying in size but little in potency. A direct hit can easily blow open and scatter the entrails of many organic targets, while the bomb's radioactive powder can cause intense sickness over a wider radius. RUBBERY LIMBS: the monster's sticky arms can stretch to incredible lengths, giving its bombs even further range and allowing it to entangle targets at a distance. PROTECTIVE SHELL: the monster's flexible, tubular outer body is dense but yielding enough to easily survive even its own explosives unscathed, let alone the offensive weaponry of its assailants.   Contents copyright Jonathan Wojcik
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