Hungry Grass
The Hungry Grass is a dangerous Chimerical Creature whispered of by the Kithain and sometimes blamed on the Redcaps.
Overview
No one is really sure of the redcaps are to blame for hungry grass, but they're the best guess that anyone's come up with. What is known, however, is that hungry grass is both insidious and deadly and that it is nearly impossible to spot.
In appearance it is just like any other patch of grass one is likely to find in a meadow or hillside. It's a bit unkempt but otherwise unremarkable. A strolling kithain is no more likely to notice a patch of hungry grass in their path than they are to notice the difference between two ants trundling along the ground in front of them. As soon as they set foot on it, though, they'll likely notice the difference very quickly.
Hungry grass doesn't, country to some stories, reach out to tangle its prey. Rather, it simply drains the life right out of its victims and its victims include anyone who makes the mistake of walking on it. Those who have fallen into its clutches generally begin to feel ravenously hungry within the space of two turns, fewer if they haven't eaten recently. Longer than that and the victim begins to feel weak from hunger. If they linger long enough, they begin to feel too weak to move and quickly die from hunger. Within hours, all that's left are some bones, polished clean and shining through the grass.
System
This particular flavor of chimera never actually strikes a target. Rather, once a victim walks on it, they begin feeding the chimera's insatiable hunger for life energies. After the victim has spent two turns on the grass, it begins to drain a health level every two turns. An Intelligence + Gremayre (or an appropriate Lore), difficulty 8, is needed for the target to understand what's happening and try to escape.
The effect of the hungry grass extends as far as the grass does. As for the extent of the grass itself, that varies from patch to patch. There are documented reports of growths that were ten yards across and there have been rumors of places where mile upon mile of meadow or prairie has been replaced by patient, hungry grass.
References
- CTD. Kithbook: Redcaps, pp. 88-89.