Ecology of the Krajen (longish)

	Sometimes the best defense isn't always a good offense.  I
figured since my last two posts were about new monsters I should go ahead
and crank out some new material for an existing monster that IMC was
feeling kind of neglected.  I've already checked the MC entry and nothing
presented in here really contradicts established canon.  Comments are, as
always, quite welcome!
	Submitted for your approval,
	Noah Bonebrake

The Ecology of the Krajen

	-A speech given by Torosa Mistcloak during the biannual
Seekers Convention on Bral, OC 5045

	"Ladies, gentlemen, fellow Seekers one and all.  I thank you  for
the
opportunity to address such a distinguished crowd on a topic that has
interested me greatly for some time.  For three years I have gathered
information from knowledge taken from our own libraries as well as
firsthand observation of a creature most of us have regarded as more of a
threat or nuisance than an actual organism worthy of academic study.
Tonight will illuminate for you the actual life cycle, behavioral
patterns,
diet, and a host of other sundry details concerning this beast known
throughout the spheres as the "terror of the spaceways".  I speak, of
course, of the krajen.
	"Before I begin let me provide you with some background as to
why I have chosen such an extraordinary and dangerous animal to study.
Three years ago I served as secondary helmsman aboard the Delkao's
Revenge, a hammership operating under license of the Delkao Trading
Company.  As a trade vessel we traveled the Known Spheres of Greyspace,
Krynnspace, Realmspace, and Spiralspace turning a profit for that
consortium.  During that time we experienced a few disruptions in our
travels, mostly from pirates and the like.  But on the Revenge's last
journey
through Realmspace we had the misfortune of running afoul of a
fully-grown krajen not four hours after breaking orbit from Toril.
Needless
to say, had it not been for the quick thinking of our captain, the
Delkao's
Revenge would not have escaped total destruction at the hands of this
specimen, or rather, I should say its tentacles.
	"Most of you are familiar with the general appearance of a krajen
adult.  For those of you who are not, my assistant will now provide you
with an image that I would direct your attention to now.  Please do not
be
alarmed, this is only a phantasm.  In no way would we allow a live krajen
to be displayed for you tonight, the dangers of which simply outweigh any
academic benefit.
	"You can see behind me that the krajen closely resembles its more
mundane cousin, the aquatic squid, in shape.  The two immediate
differences between krajen and squid lie in the krajen's size and the
presence of a primary tentacle extending from its anterior end.  The
aquatic
squid is lacking this primary tentacle, instead sporting a beaklike mouth
with which it uses to consume prey.  You will also notice the krajen
lacks
any visible sensory organs.  Through careful experimentation we have
discovered that this does not hinder the krajen in any way as it has
developed other forms of perception, of which I will detail later.
	"Ringing the primary tentacle are twelve smaller tentacles, each
of
which secretes a paralyzing toxin from a small gland located at the tip.
This
venom affects most other living organisms although the krajen itself is
immune to its effects.
	"Continuing along the dorsal surface, the krajen's flesh becomes
tougher as we approach the area where the brain is housed, almost to the
point where it takes on a chitinous consistency.  The brain itself is
quite
small for so large an animal, roughly the size of a large man's fist, or
about
six and a half inches in diameter.  Most of the functions a krajen's
brain
performs are related to controlling and regulating its body's systems.
There
is little to no room left over for sentient thought.  However, do not
mistake
lack of intelligence for lack of cunning.  The krajen is largely a
reactionary
creature and it is quite tenacious in its pursuit of anything it would
consider
prey.
	"Directly behind the brain is a secondary node of nerve bundles
whose purpose until now has largely remained a mystery.  This node, which
I have termed the nexus motus, is responsible for generating a
spelljaming
field which allows the krajen to move about.  Fortunately, the nexus
motus
can only generate a tactical field and cannot acheive the true
spelljamming
speed an actual helm could.  This limitation is what allowed the Delkao's
Revenge to finally escape our encounter.
	"The nexus motus does not, by itself, create a spelljamming
field.
Instead it acts as a converter.  The energy supplied to this node is
generated by special cells scattered throughout the krajen's epidermal
layer.
It is these cells, we have found, that harvest and channel sunlight
directly to
the nexus motus, much as a plant would derive nourishment through
synthesizing this same energy.  If a krajen is deprived of sunlight for a
lengthy period, it slowly loses its ability to move.
	"Spreading out to either side of the krajen's posterior are two
large
flaps, or fins.  It is these fins that give the krajen the ability to
maneuver
within its spelljamming field.  They also have a secondary purpose: there
is
a cluster of nerves at the base of each fin that serve as a perception
center
for the beast, the nature of which I will elaborate on later in my
report.
	"As many of you are aware, the krajen has three distinct phases
in
its life cycle: spore, intermediate, and adult.  The spore is the first
phase of
the krajen life cycle and is almost undetectable in the wild.
Spelljammers
have passed through krajen spore clouds and never even realized it.  The
spore itself is less than a fingernail's width in diameter and is quite
vulnerable to attack.  In some cases, adult krajens will absorb these
spores
during the process of hunting prey.  They are content to drift along in
the
vastness of wildspace until the are ready to enter the next phase of
development.  Once a spore encounters an foreign gravity plane, it enacts
a
chemical change in its structure to coat itself in a weak adhesive.  Then
if it
is lucky enough to make physical contact with the object that is
generating
this gravity plane, further chemical reactions begin that will carry the
spore
into its next life cycle phase. If no contact is made, the spore will
return to
its inert state and wait for its next opportunity at development.
	"The intermediate or immature krajen appears at first glance to
be a
ordinary space barnacle.  A closer look reveals a coiled mass at the apex
of
the barnacle.  This is what will later become the krajen's secondary
tentacle
mass.  After dissection of a krajen barnacle we were able to determine
that
not only are the secondary tentacles present, but inside was the
beginning
of the primary tentacle as well.  Even at this stage in its life the
krajen's
venom glands are fully functional, as anyone unfortunate enough to be
assigned to barnacle scraping duty and having encountered them can
attest.
When disturbed, a single immature krajen releases a chemical mixture
which aggravates other immature krajen in the same air envelope.  Simply
put, if one is attacked, all will respond.  If the barnacle is
continually
harassed, it will unhook itself from its base and slowly crawl to a more
peaceful location.  The barnacle pulls nutrients from the surface it has
attached itself to, be it living or dead, and stores them in a pouch
located at
its center.  The nutrients are transformed into a heavy, viscous liquid
that is
thicker than honey, more nutritious than honey, and in my opinion, is the
foulest tasting concoction in the spheres.  Once the barnacle has pulled
its
share of nutrition from its source, it detaches and floats off into the
void.
During careful observation, we have learned that it takes approximately a
year and a half to two years for a krajen to enter its final and most
dangerous stage.
	"An adult krajen is not as big as starfarers would have you
believe.
At least not at first.  If my assistant would be so kind as to begin the
next
projection, you will see this event transpire as I describe it to you.
The
immature krajen enters its metamorphosis two weeks after detachment.
During its metamorphosis, it consumes the contents of its storage pouch
and slowly begins to lengthen.  The hard outer covering begins to soften,
the secondary tentacle mass splits apart, and the primary tentacle
uncoils.
Further nutritional needs are provided for by sunlight; the cells that
transmit energy to the nexus motus do not operate quite that way at
first.
Only after metamorphosis is complete do these cells stop functioning as
food converters and allow the creature true mobility.  The posterior fins
unfurl with the base nerve clusters fully developed.  Once metamorphosis
is
complete, the adult krajen is a mere nine feet in length, but is more
than a
match for its favored prey at this time: scavvers.  As the krajen
continues to
increase in size, so does its prey.  A full-sized adult has been known to
attack kindori herds, delphinids, even radiant dragons, although in the
last
case they are rarely, if ever, successful.
	"It would appear that krajens lack a true mouth with which to
consume their food.  To make up for this drawback, the krajen has a tiny
orifice on the inner base of each of its twelve tentacles.  Bear in mind
that
by 'tiny' I mean relative to the krajen, not our perception of the word.
The
krajen the Delkao's Revenge encountered was more than capable of
swallowing a six foot tall man whole.  The primary tentacle grabs the
prey,
crushing it, while the secondary tentacles render it immobile.  Once its
victim is secured, the krajen begins to tear it apart, the secondary
tentacles
acting as arms and moving the food to its orifices.  The absence of teeth
means that the chunks must be swallowed whole.  Muscular contractions
move the food into its stomach where the combination of powerful acids
and previously swallowed rocks accomplish what the orifices could not.
	"Krajens do not need to breathe, though they are large enough to
carry a sizable air envelope.  Respiration, or the krajen equivalent, is
accomplished through a second set of skin cells, also converting sunlight
but this time into oxygen.  The process that allows this reaction to
occur
still eludes me, but I have confirmed that those magics that affect
breathing
organisms are ineffective against a krajen.  Once again, if krajens are
deprived of sunlight, their chances of survival are slim.
	"One of the aspects I find most fascinating about these creatures
is
their territoriality.  How do krajens determine the extent of their
domain if
they are unable to see or hear as we do?  My search for this answer began
not long after we had escaped from our chance meeting with the krajen in
Realmspace.  I employed the talents of a noted psionicist who had the
ability to alter her perceptions to such a degree that she was able to
see and
hear in ways that remain undetectable by the rest of us. It was this
psionicist that led me to discover that the krajen continually emits a
cloud
of spores that it uses to mark its territory.  The krajen will usually
seek out
an asteroid or other free floating body to mark the center of its
territory
and the spore cloud gradually begins to spread out from this center, from
a
distance of several hundred yards up to a few miles in radius.  The most
remarkable property this cloud possesses is that when a spelljamming
field
comes into contact with it, it begins to resonate.  This resonance is
sufficiently strong enough to force a ship out of spelljaming speed and
down to tactical speed.  The best equivalent I can find is comparing this
cloud to a spider's web.  More amazing, the krajen actually is able to
hear
this resonance and will come to investigate whatever is disturbing the
cloud.  It is in this way that a krajen is able to find larger prey.
Another
property we discovered is that the krajen's own spelljamming field does
not
affect the its spore cloud in any way.  However, an intruding krajen will
activate the resonance of these spores.
	"To determine whether or not the disturbance is created by threat
or prey, the krajen relies on the two nerve clusters I mentioned earlier
that
are present at the base of its posterior fins.  These clusters literally
"see"
gravity.  Krajen are extremely sensitive to gravitic impressions made by
all
creatures and thus are able to differentiate between their own kind and
all
others.  Our present understanding of gravity purports that all gravity
planes are alike.  However, there are subtle variations to this plane
that are
unique unto themselves.  For instance, the next time you see a soap
bubble,
watch the colors that play across the surface of the bubble.  It is these
subtleties that krajen are attuned to, and apparently their gravitic
subtlties
are unlike those generated by any other object, be it man-made or
naturally
occurring.
	"Of these two senses, their "hearing" of their clouds' resonance
is
by far the stronger.  It was by chance that we were able to manipulate
this
resonance field that allowed the Delkao's Revenge to escape with only
moderate damage to her hull.  The exact dweomer I used was meant for an
entirely different purpose and I will make it available to those whose
might
wish to purchase it later at the end of tonight's speech.  It was a spell
I had
developed to deal with the pirates we had sometimes encountered,
effectively redirecting the spelljamming field away from the target's
helm to
stop a pursuing vessel cold.  Our captain had some inkling that the
krajen
could in fact detect our field and at his insistence, I targetted our own
helm, but in truth the redirection of the field merely changed the
resonance
of the cloud and the krajen abandoned us to pursue this change.  Suffice
it
to say, the dweomer worked, although I had no idea exactly why at the
time.   Had it not been for the spore cloud's resonance, I truly feel
that I
would not be among you giving this report.  Once the krajen was a good
distance away, I dispelled the enchantment and we made our escape.
	"Getting back to the subject at hand, the meeting of two adult
krajens is extremely rare, given the size of wildspace and the fact that
krajen hardly ever leave their territory.  During these encounters, the
challenger and the challenged square off, using their primary tentacles
to
grapple each other.  Fights are rarely to the death, with the loser
fleeing
before a killing blow can be struck.  If the challenged krajen is the
loser, the
challenger will not claim the disputed territory as its own.  The general
thought is that the presence of a foreign spore cloud is unpalatable to
other
krajens.
	"Krajens reproduce hermaphroditically.  Every so often, the
spores
emitted by a krajen will be of the type I described before during their
life
cycle.  During this time, the krajen thrashes its tentacles about,
generating
winds that carry these spores out of its air envelope into space.  While
in
the krajen's territory cloud these spores will not acquire their adhesive
property within a gravity plane.  This ability manifests itself only
after they
have left the parent's territory. Supposedly this is to protect both
parent
and offspring from encountering each other within a few years time.
	"Encounters with krajen are most often in deep space.  The one we
met in Realmspace was an anomaly which we later discovered to have been
placed there by a rival trading house with the intent of disrupting its
competitors.  Such an action was foolhardy at best, but the beast was
dealt
with immediately by the hiring of a certain mercenary company we found
on Bral.
	"The best advice I can give you tonight, should you ever have the
ill
fortune of running across a krajen in the future is this: don't be
heroes.  Run as
 far away from the creature as you can.  Unlike most intelligent life, a
krajen
 does not care whether or not it survives.  To it, there are only three
things it
recognizes: home, other krajens, and prey.  And I do not see anyone in
the
audience that can qualify as the first two.  That said, I hope this
address has
enhanced your  understanding of such a extraordinary organism.  I will be
available
 in the reception hall immediately afterwards to answer any questions
that you may
 have and to discuss an exchange of incantations should anyone be
interested in
the helm redirection enchantment I cited earlier.  Thank you for your
time and have
 an excellent evening.  I hear the chef has prepared a quite delicious
appetizer dish
 of fried squid.  Enjoy!"

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