Lord of Dread
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: A creation of Darth Nefaron's experimentation, creatures to serve in Nefaron's armies.
- Image Credit: Mirkwood Bats-John Tedrick
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: None
- Links: Darth Nefaron, Anoat
- Name: Mesinis Swarmer
- Designation: Non-Sentient
- Origins: Anoat
- Average Lifespan: 5-10 Years
- Estimated Population: Planetary
- Description: Creatures born in the bowels of Darth Nefaron's foretress, these beasts are designed for the sole purpose of consuming the flesh of those unfortunate enough to come into it's path. While their size can vary, the largest can be the size of an average human male. They are capable of extended flight, and their taloned feet can cut into flesh and bone with ease. They have poor eyesight but have an enhanced sense of smell, especially for rotting meat.
- Breathes: Type 1 Atmosphere.
- Average Height of Adults: 50 Centimeters
- Average Length of Adults: 120 Centimeters
- Average Wingspan: 1.9 Meters
- Skin color: Pale White, Black, Grey
- Hair color: White, Black, Grey
- Distinctions: Large flying mammals, Mesinis Swarmers can take on several variations depending on their breeding ground. Those within the Fortress of Darth Nefaron tend to be entirely black in order to camouflage themselves in ther dark pits beneath the fortress. Those who make their homes in the countless caves and mountain systems of Anoat's surface have more variation depending upon their exposure to the limited light from Anoat's sun. All variations consume flesh, living or otherwise, and have teeth and claws that can rip an unarmored being apart easily.
- Races: Fortress-Born (Black fur and skin, tend to be larger and easier to command), Surface-Born (wild swarmers are often smaller but make up for their size in their increased speed and smaller frame, allowing them to hide in many tight spaces. These can vary in coloration, typically being grey or white.
- Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive
- The Swarm: Mesinis Swarmers rarely hunt alone. Often, when Darth Nefaron sends them to war, the number is in the hundreds to assault enemy positions or spread terror among civilian populations.
- Claw and Tooth: Bio-engineered by Darth Nefaron, swarmers are designed to have teeth and claws that are easily capable of ripping a man apart. A pack can consume a small squad of troopers in minutes if they get the jump on them.
- The Master's Command: Like most creations of the abominable laboratories of Darth Nefaron, his will is absolute amongst the creatures. When he calls to them through the force, they will heed his command.
- Profideous Sun: Born in darkness, the Swarmers are vulnerable to the light of day. Typically, not an issue during the conquest of worlds whose skies are choked by smoke and ash, a single clear day will send packs of Swarmers into hiding. Prolonged exposure damages the limited optic nerves the swarmers have, disorienting them.
- Thin Skin: While terrifying, the Swarmers are not designed to be particularly durable. Most can be taken out by a significant bash to the head, nearly all blasters can eliminate them with a single blast.
- The Master's Absence: Without Darth Nefaron (or his Apprentices) present on world, swarmers will lose cohesion and revert to basic animal instinct. Most will flee the field and attempt to find a dark, quiet place to attempt to establish a new brood.
- Diet: Carnivore (Preference for living flesh but can consume rotting meat. Most poisons are effective on the creatures).
- Communication: Communication usually occurs via screeching and roaring.
- Technology level: Wild Animals
- Religion/Beliefs: None
- General behavior: Most Swarmers, when not brought to war, gather in broods to provide protection as well as find mates. Males tend to be larger than the females, and a rudimentary hierarchy exists in most broods; typically, the largest male swarmer tends to lead packs, especially on hunts. In their natural habitat on Anoat, the creatures tend to come out when what limited light on the surface is extinguished by night or the vast storms that ravage the surface.
While secluded within his fortress, Darth Nefaron spends his time on many different projects. His preference for twisting the minds and flesh of existing species had taken precedence for some time, but the Corpse Lord did seek to create something he could call entirely his own. For many months, Nefaron labored on a proper creation before a stroke of inspiration struck him. Within his fortress, death was a common occurrence, and the corpses of those who had fallen under his experiments often lay about, so he sought to solve the issue by creating a creature to dispose of these useless sacks of flesh and bone.
Many variations of what would become the Swarmer were tested, but many failed outright by either being far to genetically unstable and quickly expiring or were not able to be controlled, insanity having gripped them from the moment of their creation. After these failed attempts, the first batch of what he named Mesinis Swarmers were born and began to spread into the darkest places within his fortress, picking off lone servants and slaves or feasting on the many corpses that could be found within the slave pits. It took a further month for the Dark Lord to impose his will on the beasts, having them adapt to his presence in the force and to heed his basic commands, but now, when he calls, the creatures will come to him in a vast swarm. While they have not been used in grand campaigns just yet, Nefaron has found great success with the creatures attacking small villages on outlying worlds between Sith and Alliance space.
Nefaron has allowed the creatures to slip away from the fortress, and now vast broods have found footholds in the mountains and caves of Anoat, coming out to feast on packs of marauding Corpse Legionaries or communities of escaped slaves who have managed to avoid the Dark Lord's wrath, though many have failed to realize they were brought to Anoat merely to feed the vast swarms of mosnters that Nefaron takes so much joy in. These beasts are the smallest of Nefaron's creations, but in a large pack, no man can survive the storm of teeth and claws that seek to consume every bit of them, flesh and bone.