FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1 (5% chance of 2-4)
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVE: 11"
HITDICE: 4+8 to 6+8
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 bite
DAMAGE/ATTACK: See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Blood drain, slow
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Silence
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Animal
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (12? long or more)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: IV to VI/210 + 5/hp
to 600 + 8/hp
The orgautha, or ?land leech,? is a creature
encountered so seldomly that it is only
a legend to most rangers, wanderers, and
hunters. Few who encounter it live to tell
the tale, so many human disappearances
could well be the results of orgautha attacks.
The favorite food of the orgautha is mankind,
but any warm-blooded mammal of
human size or smaller will serve as food.
The orgautha gets its nickname from its
appearance and method of feeding. It is a
dark brown, wormlike monster of giant
proportions ? some have been known to
reach 20? in length, although most are
about 12?) and have a 5'-diameter girth.
An orgautha presses its snout, of which it
has one at either end of its body, against a
victim and exerts bone-crushing suction to
hold its prey. The orgautha then bites into
the victim and sucks the blood from its
victim?s body. The initial contact does no
damage, but cannot be broken unless the
victim successfully rolls his chances to bend
bars or lift gates, or the orgautha breaks it
to attack another foe, or it recoils in pain
(which it will do on any round in which it
receives more than 16 points of damage). Its
teeth do 1-4 hp damage on the round after
it first catches a victim, and 1-4 hp per
round thereafter until there is nothing left.
One end of an orgautha can feed while
the other fights, or both ends can drain two
creatures at once. The orgautha is very
flexible and has been known to attack a
victim with both mouths.
The relatively soft body of an orgautha
would seem to make it easy prey in a fight,
but it has two offsetting natural powers: it
continually radiates silence 15? radius,
concealing its approach and hampering any
teamwork among multiple victims, and all
within 10? of the beast are slowed unless
they save vs. paralyzation at -2. All creatures
must make a saving throw for each
round that they are within 10? of an orgautha
to determine if they are slowed that
round or not.
Orgautha wander tirelessly in search of
food, instinctively avoiding cities
and large
settlements. They have been known to wipe
out isolated steadings and villages, haunt
battlefields when the fighting is done, and
even track and ambush trappers along traplines.
Orgautha inhabit forests, rocky scrubland,
caverns, and subterranean realms.
Usually solitary, they seem to gather in as
yet undiscovered places to reproduce every
ten seasons or so, females laying large (1?
diameter) eggs which in texture and hue
resemble dark blue grapes. Orgauthas avoid
each other rather than fight, but may team
up for short periods if they encounter each
other while hunting.
Orgauthas have no eyes, but can sense
vibrations and large sources of heat within
7". They can also smell keenly, within a 6?
range.
| Dragon magazine | MM3 | - | Dragon #94 | 1st Edition AD&D |