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Description
The creeper is a giant terrestrial echinoderm closely related to starfish. Its prehistoric ancestors lived in shallow saltwater lakes or inlets that were at constant risk of drying up. Like early tetrapods, these starfish began exploring the lake edges for food and even managing short walks to find new bodies of water to breed in. As their territory and food range expanded onto dry land, the starfish grew in size and began to walk on the tips on their arms rather than on their whole body. This also allowed them to move their arms in large arcs and even bend them like tetrapods legs. This new form of locomotion increased their foraging range dramatically. One arm gradually became longer and was constantly held off the ground to search for food. This eventually grew into something analogous of a head. The tiny primitive eyes on the end of each arm also underwent changes. Those on the walking arms were reduced and gradually lost while the one on the “head” became larger and more developed. Like their ancestors, modern creepers do not have a mouth so they eject their digestive organs over their prey and suck the liquid back in once the prey is digested. A creeper’s prey is usually no larger than a rabbit although they will tackle larger prey when food is scarce, leaving behind a half digested mass once they have eaten their fill.

Like all animals creepers still require water to survive but they do not drink; instead they moisten their gills which are positioned on the inside of their legs to avoid overexposure to oxygen. Because of this, creepers can only live in environments where water is plentiful. They thrive in forests and caves. Deserts and cold, high mountain ranges are usually avoided although some have been observed there.

Creepers live in large, scent marked territories compromising a single male and up to six smaller females. Males will viciously defend their territory and females, usually with bluff attacks and hisses. Should the predator however continue to threaten the male’s females the male will violently explode by mixing certain reactive chemicals in his body. These chemicals originated as defensive poisons to squirt at predators but the shooting range gradually shrunk in exchange for more powerful attacks. A creeper’s explosion can kill animals as large as skull apes and humans and often leaves the ground scorched. 90% of males don’t survive these explosions but in rare cases when the head is not damaged too much it slowly regenerates. Because they die so easily the dominant female will become the new male to defend her nest mates and eggs.

A single female creeper can lay up to 100 million eggs. All females in a single territory lay their eggs in a pool of water where the larvae develop. Should the pool become too crowded the mother creepers will carry some of their tiny offspring to new pools with their vestigial tentacles.

The many predators of a creeper’s young include fish, cave spiders (if they wander too far from their parents) and surprisingly cats. In fact, cats are so dangerous to young creepers that even adults will do everything to avoid one. Some creepers even abandon their territories for a few days if they detect a cat’s scent.

Creepers are usually green which helps them blend in and have dark face like markings on their heads which are meant to confuse or scare predators. Rare populations who’s ancestors ventured too deep into caves often exhibit colour mutations such as deep grey, black or even albinism. Such individuals are rarely seen as they are extremely light sensitive and entirely blind.

Description
The creeper is a giant terrestrial echinoderm closely related to starfish. Its prehistoric ancestors lived in shallow saltwater lakes or inlets that were at constant risk of drying up. Like early tetrapods, these starfish began exploring the lake edges for food and even managing short walks to find new bodies of water to breed in. As their territory and food range expanded onto dry land, the starfish grew in size and began to walk on the tips on their arms rather than on their whole body. This also allowed them to move their arms in large arcs and even bend them like tetrapods legs. This new form of locomotion increased their foraging range dramatically. One arm gradually became longer and was constantly held off the ground to search for food. This eventually grew into something analogous of a head. The tiny primitive eyes on the end of each arm also underwent changes. Those on the walking arms were reduced and gradually lost while the one on the “head” became larger and more developed. Like their ancestors, modern creepers do not have a mouth so they eject their digestive organs over their prey and suck the liquid back in once the prey is digested. A creeper’s prey is usually no larger than a rabbit although they will tackle larger prey when food is scarce, leaving behind a half digested mass once they have eaten their fill.

Like all animals creepers still require water to survive but they do not drink; instead they moisten their gills which are positioned on the inside of their legs to avoid overexposure to oxygen. Because of this, creepers can only live in environments where water is plentiful. They thrive in forests and caves. Deserts and cold, high mountain ranges are usually avoided although some have been observed there.

Creepers live in large, scent marked territories compromising a single male and up to six smaller females. Males will viciously defend their territory and females, usually with bluff attacks and hisses. Should the predator however continue to threaten the male’s females the male will violently explode by mixing certain reactive chemicals in his body. These chemicals originated as defensive poisons to squirt at predators but the shooting range gradually shrunk in exchange for more powerful attacks. A creeper’s explosion can kill animals as large as skull apes and humans and often leaves the ground scorched. 90% of males don’t survive these explosions but in rare cases when the head is not damaged too much it slowly regenerates. Because they die so easily the dominant female will become the new male to defend her nest mates and eggs.

A single female creeper can lay up to 100 million eggs. All females in a single territory lay their eggs in a pool of water where the larvae develop. Should the pool become too crowded the mother creepers will carry some of their tiny offspring to new pools with their vestigial tentacles.

The many predators of a creeper’s young include fish, cave spiders (if they wander too far from their parents) and surprisingly cats. In fact, cats are so dangerous to young creepers that even adults will do everything to avoid one. Some creepers even abandon their territories for a few days if they detect a cat’s scent.

Creepers are usually green which helps them blend in and have dark face like markings on their heads which are meant to confuse or scare predators. Rare populations who’s ancestors ventured too deep into caves often exhibit colour mutations such as deep grey, black or even albinism. Such individuals are rarely seen as they are extremely light sensitive and entirely blind.