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Description
Defilers are lanky monsters that prowl in the shadows. With their strangely proportioned legs and dangling central body, they can move with speed, agility, and precision, striking from above like a hawk... or more appropriately a harvestman. Yet despite their formidable offense, they are a delicate species: thin, lightly armored limbs allow for efficiency, but are easy to sever. Because of this, Defilers rarely engage creatures that have a chance to fight back, and when they do, they make sure their victim is unaware. So they lurk out of reach, preying on the weak and small so quench their appetites. This is the larval stage. The beginning.

When a Defiler has reached maturity its center eye changes from burnt orange to glistering yellow, a sign that its organs have fully developed. In this state the Defiler hunts less and less; its body no longer needs as much nutrients, and it will soon spawn other beings to obtain them in the Defiler's place. The Defiler species is a special group in that they have evolved to be capable of "animation" magic, similar to necromancy, but much more broad. This is the field of magic used to create golems, and Defilers do just that. First, the mature individual will find a lair, then it uses its legs and claws to fashion out a crude golem with whatever materials are available. Only then, hidden away from the world, will it recede the bloated flesh around its curled tail and reveal its small purple stinger, using it to administer the magic essence directly into the pre-golem. Once animated, the golem acts much like a worker ant, collecting food (whatever it may be) and returning to the owner. The Defiler eats the food, creates more essence, and in turn builds more golems. Should there be an excess of food, the Defiler will give birth to another of its species, which will grow to larval stage and be sent out to find its own lair... yet some say there are rare cases where young Defilers stay with their parents... forming a hive within a hive.

Larval Defilers are a low-level threat because they have been known to attack younger humans, but they are most infamous for their "queen bee" adult stage. A single Defiler can create upwards of 20 golems before the old ones decay and the numbers average out, making them an enemy spawner of sorts. Defilers have been known to set up near towns, having ther golems steal terrified inhabitants, alive or dead. Sometimes when the Defiler cannot gorge itself on all the corpses, it reanimates them, creating golems of flesh, which continue the cycle. Killing a golem is only temporary reprieve from this nightmare. To stop the scourge, one must kill the Defiler, the heart of the operation.

An adult Defiler is no less fragile than its larval variant, but it will protect itself with lair-exclusive guard golems, and knows how to end a fight. Many adventurers have delved deep into Defiler territory, brandishing their swords and laughing triumphantly before feeling a weight from behind and teeth in their neck.

Description
Defilers are lanky monsters that prowl in the shadows. With their strangely proportioned legs and dangling central body, they can move with speed, agility, and precision, striking from above like a hawk... or more appropriately a harvestman. Yet despite their formidable offense, they are a delicate species: thin, lightly armored limbs allow for efficiency, but are easy to sever. Because of this, Defilers rarely engage creatures that have a chance to fight back, and when they do, they make sure their victim is unaware. So they lurk out of reach, preying on the weak and small so quench their appetites. This is the larval stage. The beginning.

When a Defiler has reached maturity its center eye changes from burnt orange to glistering yellow, a sign that its organs have fully developed. In this state the Defiler hunts less and less; its body no longer needs as much nutrients, and it will soon spawn other beings to obtain them in the Defiler's place. The Defiler species is a special group in that they have evolved to be capable of "animation" magic, similar to necromancy, but much more broad. This is the field of magic used to create golems, and Defilers do just that. First, the mature individual will find a lair, then it uses its legs and claws to fashion out a crude golem with whatever materials are available. Only then, hidden away from the world, will it recede the bloated flesh around its curled tail and reveal its small purple stinger, using it to administer the magic essence directly into the pre-golem. Once animated, the golem acts much like a worker ant, collecting food (whatever it may be) and returning to the owner. The Defiler eats the food, creates more essence, and in turn builds more golems. Should there be an excess of food, the Defiler will give birth to another of its species, which will grow to larval stage and be sent out to find its own lair... yet some say there are rare cases where young Defilers stay with their parents... forming a hive within a hive.

Larval Defilers are a low-level threat because they have been known to attack younger humans, but they are most infamous for their "queen bee" adult stage. A single Defiler can create upwards of 20 golems before the old ones decay and the numbers average out, making them an enemy spawner of sorts. Defilers have been known to set up near towns, having ther golems steal terrified inhabitants, alive or dead. Sometimes when the Defiler cannot gorge itself on all the corpses, it reanimates them, creating golems of flesh, which continue the cycle. Killing a golem is only temporary reprieve from this nightmare. To stop the scourge, one must kill the Defiler, the heart of the operation.

An adult Defiler is no less fragile than its larval variant, but it will protect itself with lair-exclusive guard golems, and knows how to end a fight. Many adventurers have delved deep into Defiler territory, brandishing their swords and laughing triumphantly before feeling a weight from behind and teeth in their neck.