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Creature Description
Anatomy:
The Dark Seed is a heart shaped amphibious, membranous & carnivorous fungal plant-like being that can become symbiotic if exposed to a large enough dead body. It tends to prefer low light swamp environments due to its ability to drink through its membranes. Although most Dark Seeds don't grow much larger than a humanoid heart, some of the oldest ones have grown large enough to devour humanoid sized devils.
Behavior:
Only aggressive to creatures it can eat, the Dark Seed is otherwise not particularly dangerous. If something of the correct size dies near it, it will attempt to enter the body, eat its heart, then replace the organ with itself, creating a necroambulant (undead) creature known as a death knight.
History:
The Dark Seed is a fusion of several Infernum Infinitus creatures, one of which being the burrow wyrm, artificially bio-engineered by Infernal Masters Beleth and Alakash with some help from Infernal Mistress Ereshkigal and Tiamat. Beleth wanted to give his mortal followers in the Creation the ability to raise notably strong mortals into intelligent necroambulant followers. When a mortal necromancer or lich-kind perform the ritual to raise a death knight, the process involves summoning a Dark Seed from the Necrocosm. Ereshkigal being Beleth's wife, she was happy to help him design the ritual and creature alike.
When the specimens were collected, the first Dark Seed was grown in one of Alakash's labs in the blood Vats, filled with Beleth's necromancy, than taken back to the Necrocosm. Meanwhile Tiamat was helping Beleth enhance the botanical properties of his land as the original specimens chosen to craft the Dark Seed were also swamp creatures.
Locations Found:
The Dark Seed is almost exclusively found in the swamps of the Necrocosm, particularly on the Isle of the Black Heart that got its name from the abundance of this creature it eventually accumulated. No one really knows why it will not survive long where else there are swamps in the Infinitus, such as the Isles of Serpentus or the Great Halls of Web. Some have theorized it is because of its close ties to Beleth's magic. If the Dark Seed is summoned out of the infinitus by an occultist, it must absolutely find a host soon after, or it will perish.
Weaknesses:
As with all creatures tied to Beleth's necromantic magic, Dark Seeds are extremely weak to fire. Though they have a protective, spiked bone plate over this area, if they are pieced in the minimal brains they have, they will be destroyed. This is as much true for when they are joined with a host or not.
A Word From the Inkarnator
This piece was inspired by Mati's Monster Tokens. One example can be found bellow:
https://inkarnate.com/m/Jk9mXr--how-to-create-monster-tokens-stream/
When I post this work on Reddit, it will be displayed here:
Credits
I would once again like to thank P:andora Night for her continued feedback on this work, particularly as concerns filters and lighting. I would also like to thank SLMumby and Callums Compass for their generous feedback on Inkarnate Discord.
Once again, thank you for viewing, and a happy early Valentine's Day!
- KKXIII -
