[Vacation Content 2/14] Dungeon Strugglers: Suckling Mandrake

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Suckling Mandrake

Spawned by the mad archdruid Mingorius Plesk, the Suckling Mandrake is a baby-like plantoid parasite that requires a living host to survive. Plesk had an obsession with exploring the adaptive potential of nature. This led him to create his Garden of Abominations, a hidden grove where the abundant beauty of biology was twisted into horrid new forms.

In this garden, Plesk crossbred rare wild mandrakes with a species of carnivorous creeping vine. From this fusion, sprouted the wicked vine he named Phlagellos. Inside the serrated seed pod of the vine, a new breed of mandrake was formed. Phlagellos lacked the motility of its ancestors, but that didn’t stop Plesk, who fashioned the vine into a whip that could be wielded to deliver his new mandrake seeds into nurturing flesh.

Suckling Mandrakes will follow the creature they were implanted into, known as the host. A mandrake remains connected to the wound it erupted from by a thin umbilical cord that drains the host’s vitality. This empathic link causes the mandrake tremendous agony and from the second it is birthed it will emit a tortured scream that sickens all who hear it. Mandrakes act of their own volition, with the sole desire to remain tethered to their host. They will only attack out of self-defense if cornered, lashing out with their tiny teeth. If their umbilical cord is severed, they will continue to follow the host until they wither away. Mandrakes summoned by Phlagellos take their turns immediately after the host’s turn. The wielder of Phlagellos and their companions are immune to the mandrake's wail.

For the full lore, art and mechanics of the Mandrake’s accompanying weapon, check out the Phlagellos post HERE.