This is a design for a Palladiumbooks Kaiju design contest.
It is currently underway with poll voting for:
Best Art,
Best Written Bio,
& Best Overall Creation.

I cordially invite you all to view all the wonderful entries and participate:

Best Art:
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Best Written Bio:
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Best Overall Creation:
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"Quiserraica"
bio written by Chris "Slappy" Kluge


Located on the inner surface of the Thundercloud Galaxy’s Biosphere is the seemingly unremarkable binary star system known as Janus. The system was explored and mapped centuries ago by the CCW, and they did not see anything that they felt was even worth a second look. According to official records, the system does not contain any planetary bodies, but in actuality, the high-tech sensors found on the Explorer Class Cruiser where simply unable to peer through the bizarre anomalies created by the magic-rich world of Maelstrom which was located dead center between the two stars. The CCW may not know of its existence, but a handful of magic using cultures like the Splugorth are not only aware of this world, but brave its turbulent surface on a regular basis to mine the powerful magic ores like Gantrium that are locked beneath its tortured soil.
Maelstrom contains more magic energy than nearly any planet in the Megaverse. Its P.P.E. levels even surpass those found on Rifts Earth during the Great Cataclysm. As a result, this world is constantly battered by the same kinds of apocalyptic storms and freak supernatural occurrences that nearly ended life on Rifts Earth so long ago. By all rights, nothing should be able to survive on Maelstrom for long (other than the millions of entities rifted there on a regular basis), but against all odds, life not only formed on this world, but thrived. The planet is continuously embroiled in chaos, and the creatures of that live here reflect that environment. For whatever reason, it seems that the ones best suited to thrive and evolve on Maelstrom were monstrous predators that towered dozens, even hundreds of feet into the air. The magic-rich environment gave nearly any species that sprouted on this planet (or that was rifted there) the strength and power to brave the harsh storms for awhile, but only the largest creatures had skin thick enough to survive and propagate for generations. This seemed to be the case with the towering reptilian monstrosities known as the Voracious Absorbers.
Whether these enormous predators evolved on this planet “naturally” or were rifted here from another world is unknown. Whatever their origins, the powerful magic energies of Maelstrom imbued them with strange adaptations that quickly put them on the top of the food chain. Of course, it is easy to see why they were such successful predators just by looking at them. Voracious Absorbers are absolutely built for fighting. These enormous bipedal lizards are covered in thick bone plating that protects their entire body from the harsh environment and ferocious beasts that roam the planet. An extra thick ridge of bone spikes runs along its back from the crest of its head to the end of its two muscular spiked tails. These razor-sharp protrusions provide extra protection against surprise attacks from behind, and make formidable weapons. Its massive arms end in thick clawed hands that are strong enough to rip through a starship’s hull, and the same bony spikes and spines found on the back are also mounted on the forearms and knees. Its mouthful of razor sharp teeth and pair of serrated tusks mounted along the lower jaw would suggest that Voracious Absorbers are carnivores. While this is true in a sense, the thing that makes these creatures so dangerous is their unique method of consuming prey.
Instead of killing its prey and then slowly stripping the meat from its bones like a normal predator, this massive lizard magically absorbs its struggling victim through its skin while it is still alive. The prey not only sustains the creature as food, but its P.P.E. rich body (like most of Maelstrom’s typical inhabitants) actually causes the Voracious Absorber to grow in size. Not only does the Absorber’s size, strength, and power all increase while the victim is stored, but the Absorber can also tap into the natural powers and abilities of its victims and can even release its victims as minions and control them like puppets. This means that at any moment, a single Voracious Absorber can transform into a swarming horde of creatures all under the Absorber’s control. This is typically done to capture and consume numerous smaller-sized victims simultaneously or to defend the Absorber against overwhelming odds. The controlled minions can be released directly from the Absorber’s skin or they can be launched at prey via a breath attack. It does not perform this action lightly since every victim released causes the Voracious Absorber to revert to a smaller size.
Instead of living minions, the Absorber can also chose to launch a soul blast breath attack. This is one of the Voracious Absorber’s deadliest attacks and one that most will only use as a last resort. While it can devastate large groups of attackers with a single breath, it also uses up a large amount of the Absorber’s stored captives each time it is used. Instead of spitting out absorbed creatures as attacking minions, the Absorber can partially digest its devoured prey and spit them out as a destructive blast of spiritual energy and gore that tears apart targets both physically and spiritually. This attack completely destroys the devoured prey, which means it cannot be absorbed again. The energized gore inflicts a great deal of physical damage, but it is the twisted and tormented souls of the victims that wreak the most havoc. They become horrific wraiths that seek out living targets within the “splash” area of the breath attack and soar directly through living targets again and again until their energy dissipates after a few seconds and they finally find peace. They can fly unhindered through armor or obstacles and inflict damage not only to the target’s hit points (when applicable), but to their P.P.E. and I.S.P. as well. This attack leaves targets severely weakened and easy pickings for the hungry Absorber. The only defense against these tortured souls are magical or phase barriers and protection circles.
The reason these beasts are called voracious is because their prey cannot be stored indefinitely, and eventually any absorbed victims will be digested, which causes the creature to shrink. This means they must keep devouring more and more victims in order to maintain their increased size and power level. Fortunately, as the Voracious Absorber gets larger, it is able to absorb larger prey which allows it to more easily maintain its steady growth rate. Of course, the larger it gets, the faster it digests its consumed prey, so even the most effective predator can only grow so large, with the exception of Quiserraica.
Quiserraica is basically the king of the Voracious Absorbers and one of the deadliest predators on Maelstrom. His size changes frequently depending on the success of his hunts, but Quiserraica is usually around 250 feet tall (although it has been documented as high as 300 feet). He is a living pestilence, scouring the planet for any living creature he can find, no matter how small. Over the years he has gorged on a steady stream of demons, dragons, and dimensional travels deposited on Maelstrom from the various rifts that open across the planet on a regular basis. He also preys on the Splugorth expeditions sent to mine the world for Gantrium and other rare magical ores. Even his fellow Voracious Absorbers are considered fair game. Few who have faced him are ever prepared for Quiserraica’s surprising display of speed and tactics. They see this massive beast slowly plodding across the surface (in order to conserve its strength), and they mistakenly assume that it is as fast as it can move. However, once Quiserraica spots them, they quickly see how wrong they were.
Quiserraica has absorbed the abilities of many powerful beings and has learned to use them in rather creative ways to close in on his prey. Some of his favorite abilities are invisibility, teleportation, and shadow meld. He uses them to confuse his prey and keep them off balance until he is ready to pounce. He sometimes does this to toy with his prey, but it is usually done to test their abilities so he can determine if they will be any kind of threat.
Unlike other Absorbers, Quiserraica is not apprehensive about releasing stored victims as minions and will usually flood an area with his puppets whenever he detects prey. He has learned over the years that overwhelming numbers is usually more beneficial than overwhelming size, which is why he has been so much more successful than his brethren. Quiserraica has also learned over the years that while magic users and psychics are some of the most empowering victims, they are also the most dangerous prey.
Until a victim is fully digested within a Voracious Absorber, he or she can still be freed by a simple Exorcism (either the spell or psionic power). This means mages and psychics can significantly weaken a Voracious Absorber in no time. If they are trying to save a particular victim, they can attempt a focused exorcism or they can just cast it randomly to weaken the Voracious Absorber. Quiserraica has learned to hate these beings and will send dozens of minions after psychics and mages whenever he detects them, and he can sense them from very far away. This has made Quiserraica one of the first and last things many visiting magic wielders ever see when exploring Maelstrom.