I swear it was Jerry. After he got lost, we searched for him for over a day. He, it, came walking out of the woods. He was made of grass, like a naked scarecrow, and he shambled toward Mike.
Henry ran off screaming, who can blame him, and I seriously thought I was going to shit myself. The sun was coming up, and I could see Mike glistening with sweat. His eyes were huge. He was crying, and talking to Jerry–asking him what happened, what was wrong with him–that kind of stuff.
The Jerry thing stopped a few feet in front of him and blades of grass shot out from all over its body, really long ones, and they stabbed right into Mike’s body, sliding right in. There wasn’t any blood and he didn’t seem like it even hurt.
I screamed at him to run away, but I don’t think he could, it was like he was hypnotized. I ran up behind him and grabbed his shoulders, but several of those blades of grass slid right through the skin on my hands and face. No pain, no blood, and I instantly felt weirdly sleepy.
It really pissed me off, and I jerked away, long grass sticking out from me like I was turning into a plant porcupine. While I fell on my ass, grass was already growing out of Mike’s back–the shit had skewered him–and the Jerry thing shot out a bunch more that cut right into Mike and started wrapping around him like a green cocoon. That’s when I ran like a bitch.—Lyle Morris, giving a statement in Interview Room 1 at the Peyton County Sheriff’s Office.
Plant Walkers are created from people who have fallen victim to Venom Grass. They roam in search of humans to infect and turn into another of their kind. Once they succeed, they collapse into a heap, spread out and form a new, circular patch of Venom Grass. If they encounter a group of people containing someone with whom they were close in life, they will select them as their target, due to dim memories of the relationship.
They are human in shape, but made entirely of thick, tightly wrapped grass.
SPECIAL POWERS
Ensnare and Convert: When a Plant Walker is within 1 yard/meter of a human target, it will shoot out dozens of medium to dark green blades of grass. This counts as a Fighting (Brawl) attack, and may be dodged as usual.
If the creature is successful, the blades pierce 1 to 2 inches into the flesh of the target. This causes no blood loss, and an anesthetic secretion causes it to be painless. Up to the end of the round following this ensnarement, someone may easily pull the victim free–as can they themselves providing they are not paralyzed by insanity-induced madness or some other factor.
On the subsequent round, the Plant Walker and its target must engage in a contested POW roll. If the Plant Walker wins, it continues to secure its victim, otherwise the target may attempt to break free with a contested STR roll–another person may assist and this provides a bonus die, though the Plant walker will attack them with 1 penalty die and the person may not dodge.
On the third round, the Plant Walker and target must again engage in a contested POW roll, with the victim suffering 1 penalty die. If the Plant Walker wins, grass begins to emerge from the back of the victim and cocoon them, otherwise the target may attempt to break free with a contested STR roll with 1 penalty die–another person may assist, making the roll regular, though the Plant walker will attack them with 1 bonus die and the person may not dodge.
Additionally, success for the creature on this third round enables it to continue cocooning its victim, who at this point is effectively dead and has begun transforming into a Plant Walker–a process which takes one hour.
Should the victim escape at the first of the three opportunities, they will occasionally wake from deep dreams with vague memories of being terrified in a humid, dark forest or jungle.
If they escape at the second opportunity, they will be haunted by nightmares of various plants merging with their bodies and controlling their minds, in accord with the will of some powerful being. They will also have to succeed at a POW check to ever stand on grass again.
Success at the third and final opportunity results in a loss of 1D10 INT and the gain of 1D10 STR. For the rest of their lives, they will suffer nightmares in which they are in a deep, dark, humid forest or jungle. They are fearful, then drop to their knees in terrified, humble, and sincere supplication to an unseen female fertility deity.
Their skin will take on a faint green hue, and they will live in terrible pain until the grass naturally dissolves in their body over a period of 2D6 months. Sufficient time in freezing temperatures will halve this time, as with treatment with powerful antibiotics–a combination of both cuts the recovery time to 25%.
Spells: None
Plant Walker, mummified humanoid plant creature
STR: 60 (30/12)
CON: 80 (40/16)
SIZ: 60 (30/12)
DEX: 50 (25/10)
INT: 40 (20/08)
POW: 60 (30/12)
HP: 14
Damage Bonus: None
Build: 0
Magic Points: 12
Move: 8
ATTACKS
Attacks per round: 1
Fighting attacks: Pierce and hold, 40% (20/08), damage as above under Special Powers
Dodge: None
Armor: 8 points of plant toughness, piercing weapons such as bullets to minimum damage, cutting weapons, shotguns, and fire do normal damage, spraying it with a heavy amount of plant pesticide does 1D6 damage per round.
Skills: None
Sanity Loss: 1/1D4 to see a Plant Walker, +1 if it was once a person close to the viewer, an additional +2 if successfully attacked or to view this.
The initial viewing and a subsequent successful attack count as two separate Sanity losses for purposes of possible insanity.
My name is CthulhuBob Lovely, I live in my childhood hometown of Columbus, Ohio, and have a son and two daughters. I volunteer at MisCon, which occurs each year on Memorial Day Weekend in Missoula, Montana and help out at other shows.
In my younger years I had seen H.P. Lovecraft’s books in the collection of my older brother, Brian, who is also responsible for introducing me to Monty Python, Star Wars and many other things geek.
I began running and playing Dungeons and Dragons in 1977 at the age of 15, and Call of Cthulhu since its original publication in 1981.
I believe geekery and gaming can have positive effects on math, reading and writing, and social interaction skills, as well as family togetherness. I have three published stories online at
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/bios/lovely_bob_bio.html
