[MW Batch 2] Deadwater Rafflesia - CR 4 Large Plant

“Bleugh. I must admit, I enjoyed mein breakfast much less on ze way owt zahn on the ze vay in. Vhere iz zhat putrified korpse?”

— Humperdink, Queasy

When you smell the scent of rotting flesh in the jungle, it means one of three things: Undead abound, something didn’t finish its meal, or there’s a rafflesia nearby. When the flesh-eating deadwater amoeba finds a rafflesia, it hijacks the smelly-yet-innocent plant, converting it into a vessel of necrotic disease: a deadwater rafflesia.

Eau de Corpse. Though rare, the greatest threat a typical rafflesia plant poses to a jungle wanderer is nausea induced by its gut-churning perfume: the scent of rotting flesh. It’s a strategy evolved to attract its pollinators—typically carrion-eating beetles—to enter the plant’s flower and become covered in pollen. However, when a magical, flesh-eating amoeba takes residence in a rafflesia, the once-harmless plant changes into a stalking predator.

Bite-Size. Detritivores make up most of a deadwater rafflesia’s diet. Drawn in by the scent of rotting flesh, tiny beetles and scavengers enter the plant’s flower looking for a snack, only to become the meal of the waiting amoeba. Smaller fleshy creatures like slugs and jungle mice can be consumed quickly, while larger hardier ones, like beetles and millipedes, act as carriers, taking the amoeba to the next rafflesia before they too succumb to the flesh-eating microbe

Patient Hunter. When it rains in the jungle, the amoeba induces the rafflesia to turn its flowers upwards, converting them into water-capturing buckets. After the rain, while the rafflesia’s scent is muted, the water is an enticing resource for larger creatures like apes, deer, and explorers. An agonising and prolonged death awaits the creature after drinking the microbe-laden water, as the amoeba eats the imbiber from the inside out.

However, there’s always a chance of recovery, and this is where the deadwater rafflesia’s secondary hunting strategy comes into play. Deadwater rafflesia are animate plants and, after infecting a creature, uproot themselves to follow their victim. At its weakest moment, they strike with root and claw, rending their prey until it can be fed to the waiting amoeba inside their flower.

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• Get the stats for this fearsome foe DOWN BELOW;

• Enjoy the gorgeous rendered art for it HERE;

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