Volume 1: Issue 5: Winter/Spring
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The Ecology of the Borer Beetle - Kerry Jordan

"Running... must keep running..."

The thought echoed through Marc's mind. He could hear the baying of his pursuers' mounts as they followed his trail. They were huge dogs, mutated mastiffs, bred to act as riding beasts for their masters during a hunt such as this. He knew they were getting closer, but he also knew he was close to his destination, a place he had been warned away from as a child. He raced on...

"Running... must keep running..."

Marc ran past half-remembered land-marks he had not seen in years, not since becoming a slave to the Knights of Genetic Purity. The Knights were a hate organization dedicated to keeping the human race "pure" - meaning that mutated humans like Marc were either killed on sight or captured and turned into slave labor. Marc was one of the lucky ones; he was strong and young when the Knights came. His parents and grandparents were not so lucky.

"Running... must keep running..."

Marc stumbled, and in his weakened state, could not catch himself in time to stop a slide into a nearby ravine. His body was stopped by the corpse of a large deer. The deer had been dead for several days, yet had not been preyed upon by any scavengers. Its body was coated in a milky, translucent substance, and a small hole was bored into the skull.  The accidental find caused a grim smile to appear as Marc continued on; he was very near now...

"Running... must keep running..."

His once-masters and their mounts were near; the baying had died out. Marc could hear crashing of the beasts through the forest's undergrowth and the shouts of their riders. The men knew their prey was close.

"Running... must keep running..."

The pain in Marc's side was almost unbearable as he raced into a small clearing. He had to stop. He had to rest. He could go no further. He was almost doubled-over as the armed men burst into the clearing behind him. They quickly dismounted and leveled their rifles at the mutant who's only crime was to escape slavery. They demanded Marc face them for punishment. He knew there was only one punishment for his crime, but he smiled as he faced them; he had noticed that several dark green beetles had suddenly appeared on the surrounding tree trunks. He believed it was better to die a free man than die a slave... and he would be avenged...

The mutant's body crumpled as Jimm and the rest of the hunting party unleashed the deadly power of their rifles. After the smoke had cleared, Jimm walked over and examined the body as Lor tied their podog mounts to a nearby tree. Meanwhile, Skeeve and Rex congratulated each other on the successful hunt. Jimm looked down on the quickly cooling corpse and thought how it had been too easy; the altered scum deserved to die a slower death for daring to defy the Knights. Had he not been spared his life and allowed to work for the greater good of the human race? Idly, Jimm counted the various bullet wounds as he scanned the body: one... two... three... five... seven. A smile crept onto Jimm's face as he noted the wounds his rifle had created. A puzzled expression soon replaced the smile when he reached the slave's strange death-grin. What kind of person would smile when he was about to die? Obviously, these sub-humans did not have the same emotions as real men.

At that instance, the podogs went into hysterics, breaking free of their leashes and racing away. Before Jimm and the others could determine what had happened, streams of milky fluid shot from the nearby vegetation. Two struck Lor and Skeeve in the head, causing them to limply drop to the ground before their rifles were even raised. Rex managed to lift his rifle, but promptly dropped it after a stream hit his arm. Jimm, being the most combat experienced of the group, managed to dodge the streams arcing toward him and even find one of the sources of the attack: a large, dark green beetle. However, before he was able to fire his rifle, the beetle disappeared in a flash of light. That was when Jimm realized what his opponents were, and real fear set in. He raced past Lor, who seemed to be having problems with a leg that had been hit by the dangerous, numbing liquid. Lor's call for help was cut short when another stream hit him in the back of the head. Jimm didn't pause, but ran on with only one thought clear in his mind:

"Running... must keep running..."

The brush crackled as the huge mastiffs pushed their way out of the dangerous forest. They did not stop once they had left the forest twilight, but continued on until arriving at their masters' home, many miles away. Several minutes after their departure, a scream of frustration and rage echoed from the forest, but the source never appeared...

  1. Although rare, there are mating areas to which borer beetles return every year (never in consecutive mating seasons). These areas are plentiful with animal life to act as hosts for borer beetle eggs.
  2. The poison of the borer beetle is white and slightly transparent. After the female has implanted an egg in a host (by boring a small hole into the base of the skull), she will coat the victim in a thin layer of her poison. The poison has a particular scent which keeps scavengers and other borer beetle females away for several days.

Borer Beetles

Game Data

STR 2 (d4) INT 1 (Animal 6 or d4+3)
DEX 12 (d8+6) WIL 10 (d6+6)
CON 7 (d4+4) PER  1 (Animal 4 or d4+1)

Durability

 6/6/3/3

Action Check

 12+/11/5/2

Move

 sprint 12 run 6 walk 3

# Actions

 2

Reaction Score

 Ordinary/2
Mutations 

Dermal Plating, Poison Attack (contact paralysis), Teleportation*
* Consult the borer beetle's description for detailed information.
Attacks

Poison 11/5/2 n/a LI/O
Defenses

Dermal Armor: d4-1 (LI), d4-2 (HI), d4-2 (En)
Skills

Awareness [10]-perception [11]; Stealth [12]-hide [14]

Description

 In their adult form, borer beetles are normally 30 centimeters in length with a dark green exoskeleton and brown legs. Although they can use their legs to scurry across the ground, their main form of locomotion is Teleportation. This mutation allows them to instantly move from one location to another as long as the target location can be seen and is within 10 yards of the origin.

These mutated beetles only reach a length of 30 centimeters, but are one of the most feared insects in the Knighted States. Their paralytic contact poison can affect even the largest denizens of Gamma World.

Encounter

Borer beetles rarely attack creatures larger than 1 meter. (Their demeanor changes for a short time during mating seasons. Consult the Habitat/Society description for more details.) If startled or threatened however, borer beetles will defend themselves with a paralytic contact poison. Borer beetles expel the poison in a stream that jets out up to 5 meters from a small opening below their mouths. This poison works very quickly and has an onset time of only 6 seconds (roughly 2 combat round phases). It does not instantly paralyze the entire body, but only affects the particular region of the body struck by the poison. To determine the region of the body affected after a successful attack on a humanoid creature, roll on the following table:

POISON LOCATION

d8 Roll Location A successful poison attack that hits the head or chest will result in unconsciousness for the duration of the paralysis. After attacking with its poison, a borer beetle will quickly teleport away for his next action in an attempt to avoid retaliation. A borer beetle will have enough poison for 1d4-1 streams when encountered.
1-2

Leg

3-5

Arm

6-7

Chest

8

Head

 
Habitat/Society

Borer beetles can be found in the many temperate forests of the Knighted States. Although normally solitary, borer beetles do congregate twice a year during their mating seasons: once in spring and once again in summer. During these times, they are highly aggressive and will attack any creatures entering the area.

Each female normally carries 3 eggs, and each egg is fertilized by a different male. After fertilization, the female will search for host creatures in which to implant the eggs. Additionally, she will begin to release a pheromone that causes other borer beetles in the area to become agitated and aggressive. A pregnant female produces more paralytic poison than normal and has enough poison for 5 attacks. After paralyzing a host, a female will bore into the victim's head at the base of the skull, causing 1d4+2 points of wound damage, and implant an egg. The egg cannot be removed from the host without surgical assistance and will hatch within 48 hours. After implanting the egg, the female will coat the host with more of her poison. This coating has an odor which keeps scavengers and other females away from the host.

After 48 hours, each egg produces two blood-colored grubs that immediately begin consuming the brain of the host, causing excruciating pain and death within 30 seconds. The grubs do not have the poison or other mutations that they will posses as adults. They will continue to live off the host's corpse until reaching 30 centimeters in size (shedding their skins roughly 10 times during this growth process). As they approach their adult size, they will slowly begin to resemble the next stage in their development: the pupa.

The pupae of the borer beetle resemble the adult form except that their exterior shells have not hardened and they are a dark orange in color. Borer beetle pupae do not have the adult poison attack, but soon after entering this stage, they begin to produce the poison and store it internally, rendering them deadly to ingestion on any result other than "no effect" on TABLE GW28: POISON. They also quickly gain the ability to teleport as the adult. When the pupae have completed their development, they shed their skins and emerge as adult borer beetles with all abilities available.