Known to the Uthuk as the Gw’reth Chuik, or “that which feeds,” these mighty demons are simply “spined threshers” to the defenders of the Land of Steel. When the enemies of the Uthuk cower behind the stone walls of their cities and keeps, the witches call out into the Ynfernael for the Gw’reth Chuik. If their sacrifices are sufficient, a huge demon hauls its chitinous form from the beyond to do battle for the Locust Swarm.
A nightmare mixture of insect and beast, the demon looms over Humans and horses. These monsters range from the size of a laden wagon to that of a small house. Despite their bulk, spined threshers move swiftly across the battlefield, their many legs propelling them along. They rip apart their foes with serrated mandibles or even devour them whole, while walls and other fortifications crack and crumble under their sustained assaults.
The mere sight of a spined thresher is frequently enough to infect mortal minds with unreasoning fear. As the beast chitters and lifts its bulbous head above the enemy’s parapet, soldiers scatter before it, dropping weapons and shields as they try desperately to flee. The demon seems to revel in the terror it causes, displaying a dark intelligence as it drives prey before it. Often it will trap them against their own defenses before taking its time to crush them underfoot or snip the limbs from their bodies.
In great battles, a favored blood sister might be blessed with the arrival of more than one spined thresher with which to destroy her enemies. In these instances, the great demons level everything in their path, competing to sow the most destruction until naught remains of a city or town but piles of rubble and twisted corpses.
References
- Realms of Terrinoth