FOM: Ebirah (Concept Art)

Coloured sketch of Ebirah. 

Hundreds of millions of years of violent tectonic movements and volcanic upheavals have long fractured the Skull Isle landmass, resulting in the creation of a strange and alien environment known as the chasms, foul caverns where all the rot and runoff from the jungles and mountain highlands spills, and it is this noxious brew that feeds a grotesque menagerie of alien life, a food chain of scavengers from which decomposition and filth form its base. Many of these reach monstrous proportions, and form a hierarchy of beasts which scramble to feed on whatever carcasses and unfortunate stragglers tumble in from above, or on one another. The Iwi considered this region the place from which reality decays; the gate to Hell itself, infested by demons bound in earthly flesh.

Above all others, there is one that rules this dark underworld, that makes her lair in the heart of the chasms' necropolis, slumbering deep within the stoney labyrinths of the Pit. A creature so fearful that even the hypervorous Skullcrawlers dare not venture within the Pit to incite her wrath. A colossal arthropodal beast, the largest crustacean of all time, her carapace nearly as old and gnarled as the land around her. She rarely, if ever even moves beyond the deepest depths from where she calls home, for her legions of followers scour the untold miles of tunnels and canyons that run through the archipelago, bringing back gifts of flesh to the Queen of the Pit.

In those rare events where an opponent rises to challenge her dominion of the kingdom of decay, the antediluvian arthropod heaves herself free by one gargantuan pincer. One snap of this overgrown appendage is capable of crushing rock and metal with ease; the mere force of such strength releases a powerful shockwave that can liquify flesh, blow out eardrums, and turn bone to powder from over a hundred metres away. This claw is backed up by two longer, finer claws on the left side, for slicing and piercing, and a long blade-like tail tip capable of being whipped at foes with surprising speed considering her immense bulk and massive build.

Although immensely slow on land, she has a variety of tactics to close the distance between her quarry and prevent them from escaping. Calling in hordes of smaller brethren to corral her prey, and by spraying an adhesive fluid from her mouth which is able to rapidly drain the body heat from its target, slowing their movements if not outright incapacitating them. She is also a remarkably good thrower, capable of lobbing boulders and other large objects with great accuracy, showing intelligence and dexterity unusual in a decapod. Occasions where Ebirah draws herself to battle are exceptionally uncommon however, for few ever venture deep enough into the Pit to even encounter her.