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"Blattodea sapiens"  CLASS: ARTHROPOID BIOLOGY: Created by the hybridization of human and cockroach, this prolific Arthropoid is infamous for its adaptable diet, capable of thriving on materials that would be nutritionally empty or even dangerously toxic to many other organisms. Entire documented colonies have been found living exclusively off supplies of discarded paper, styrofoam, wax, latex, lead paint, moth balls, engine oil or bath soap, and individuals can evidently survive years between meals. Skittish and highly alert, the Karacha is hyper sensitive to both scent and vibration and can move with lightning speed when startled. A soft, filmy mantle of translucent chitin grows throughout its lifespan and easily tears free in the grasp of most predators, while its greasy body surface and sharp spurs make it even more difficult to grapple with. When all else fails, most Karacha can spray a thick, brown vapor from the abdomen that burns the eyes of other creatures, reeking of sulphur and hints of cyanide. BEHAVIOR: The Karacha has a reputation for cowardice and weakness among other Arthropoids, but regards itself as more of a strategic escape artist, and can fight back with a surprising ferocity when finally cornered. Though comfortable in even barely livable surroundings, it most loves pitch dark, dripping wet spaces and is the monster most immediately associated with sewage tunnels. Karacha are extremely social, deeply valuing friendship and family. Though their various bloodlines maintain strict territories in Mortasheen's sewer lines, they exhibit no rivalries or competition with one another, freely trading resources to ensure that all families have as much food and space as they require. They are also highly fond of music and dance, and will find any excuse they can come up with to throw some manner of party. APPLIANCE: The Karacha is most effective in combat against larger, heavier monster, often exhausting such opponents with evasive tactics before delivering its own offensive strike. For similar reasons, it is often paired with slower moving monsters to compensate for their reaction time, or sent ahead to engage with other light and speedy targets. Detail oriented, limber and comfortable with harsh chemicals, Karacha take easily to the operation and maintenance of machinery and are a staple of industrial work. Though multiple Arthropoid factions enforce adequate labor compensation, most Karacha insist on being paid in factory waste products. COCKROACH TENACITY: Karacha are difficult to poison and comfortable almost anywhere. STINK BLAST: the Karacha can "mace" attackers with its harsh chemical spray.   DESIGN DESCRIPTION: This monster resembles a shiny, oily cockroach with four limbs. Its left arm is long, bent forward at a human-like elbow, until its wrist extends into a single six-jointed, curled finger-like appendage with a single dark, hooked claw. Its right arm is even longer, with a long, thin, gnarled hand with three talon-like hooked digits. The left leg first bends backwards on a humanoid knee, then bends forward again and ends in a twisted, somewhat chicken-like foot. The right leg is its smallest limb, ending in another thin, curled, finger-like claw similar to the left arm. Because of this asymmetry, it stands on its left foot and the knuckles of its right hand. All four limbs join together neatly on its upper chest, like four large chitinous "ribs;" this is based on the appearance of actual cockroach legs. The rest of the body is more cockroach-like, tapering into a short, segmented tail ending in two sharp hooks. On its back is a dark, chitinous armor plate with two forward-facing knobs, and a pair of shiny, bright green false eyespots. The back of the armor plate flares into more rounded knobs, and from beneath this plate grow a series of overlapping, translucent, veiny segments like a cross between an insect's wings and its carapace. The head is cartoonish and inspired by the design of "Rat Fink;" it has two gaping, dark fleshy sockets from which sprout both the whiplike, segmented antennae and the large, lightbulb-shaped veiny eyeballs, one with a large black pupil and red cornea, the other with a tiny dot pupil. The smiling, drooling jaws have no lips, only lots of long, thin and sharp teeth that only crookedly fit together. There is no room for a nose. Both the head and all four limbs have many rows and clusters of hair-like spines and needles. Contents copyright Jonathan Wojcik
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