Trapper Ants
Not all the beasts that threaten humans are large.There are those who despite watching out for dragons, bears, giant spiders and the like, have underestimated this downright nasty little ant and paid for it with their lives.
Full Description
The worker ants are up to an inch long and a dark red in colour, with elongated jaws that can cut through cloth, silk, and skin, and who inject a narcotic when they bite.The Queen is the size of a human thumb but humans have rarely seen her.
They dig an underground home that compared to the size of the ant is as large as a city. The ant can eat almost everything-leaves, resin from tress, insects and spiders, small animals-and larger prey that it catches in pit traps which it digs close to, and linked to, the nest.
These traps can be up to three feet deep, with a webbing at the bottom made by leaves that the ants have chewed, and a thin layer of soil supported by webbing at the top.The webbing is not very strong but it does not need to be.
As soon as the animal or human falls into the pit,thousands of ants swarm up the legs and bite.Although each ant bite by itself is not very dangerous, the combined effects of hundereds of bites given at the same time sedate the victim long enough for the ants to overpower it and strip it to the bone before the poison wears off. Within hours the victim is a pile of dislocated bones which the ants bury.
Additional Information
These ants can be used to torture PC's, as a booby trap, as a way to dispose of bodies in a Mafia-type game, or as a non-dangerous annoyence.It takes over a hundered bites to cause really serious harm. If the victim survives, a few days later the bites will itch, a tear-the-skin-off type itch.
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? Responses (6)
This is terrific... add in my Ka'tshar and you have some crazy ants to play with in a world setting. I wish you had some more information regarding them but all in all a nice concise submission. These little guys seem like a nasty little vermin in a rain forest or other jungle type environment where noticing something on the ground is near impossible.
I like this Cheka... I enjoyed it... can we get a little more background into them though? Climate type, can the narcotic be harvested to use for medical or malicious reasons? I think thats a cool idea.
Narcotic fire-ants? The trap making is a novel idea but that is about it.
A fairly solid post. Reasonable ecology, somewhat effective, adventurer dangerous. One Paw
A nice, simple 'natural' hazard.
Simple. Interesting. Useful. It's not very in-depth, but it doesn't have to be. I think this can easily be inserted into a campaign world, which is why it'll get a higher score than some other, more in-depth submissions.