Mana Moss
- Habitat
- Temperate to tropical woodland; on logs and leaf litter, sometimes carried into caves
- Biomes
- temp-broadleaf, trop-rainforest, +underground
- Spawn
- solo, any
- Temper
- Sessile, but predatory toward magic
- Threat
- Low
- Rarity
- Rare
- Move
- crawl.
- Special
- Drains the mana of anything within a short range while it lingers (the loss recovers on rest); a fed patch sprouts a mana-fuelled mossling that casts stolen spells in its defence
- STR4
- DEX9
- CON6
- INT10
- Health76
- Damage13
- Armor0
Mana moss grows as a thick, glossy carpet, its leaves and tiny flowers all the same pitch-black hue. It thrives without sunlight, yet needs daylight to seed, so it spreads only above ground unless carried below by accident. When starved, it shivers as if hungering. Its true danger is not its body but its appetite: it feeds on mana, the magical energy of living things. Anything that strays within reach feels its power siphoned away, and a spellcaster caught over a patch finds their mana bled dry and their casting choked until they move clear and let it recover. The theft gives the plant vigour, and a well-fed patch can sprout a crude moss-double that spends the stolen mana to hurl spells back at attackers.
Behavior
- Senses the mana of nearby living things and reaches out to siphon it.
- Draws fastest from spellcasters, whose mana runs deepest.
- Drains steadily while prey lingers near, then rests sated once gorged.
- Cannot move or reproduce in darkness; spreads by wind-blown spores in daylight.
- Forms a mimicking sprig that defends the patch with the mana it has stolen.
Abilities
- Mana Leech. Siphons mana from anything nearby; the loss recovers normally with rest.
- Moss Double. Spends stolen mana to shape a sprig that casts spells back at attackers.
- Lead-Warded. Its draining reach cannot pass through lead; a lead-lined box neutralizes it.
- Restorative Pulp. Eating the living moss can return spent mana, or sicken the careless.
Drops & Crafting
- Black moss fronds (alchemical reagent)
- Distilled mana-tincture that restores spent mana
- Spore extract prized by weary spellcasters
- Glossy seed-flowers for enchanting inks