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Source: Floriat Derby's "Appendix Chaotica"
Walktapi are obscene monsters first sighted during the Darkness. They are of gigantic size, up to two meters to the human shoulder, above which humanity ends and horror begins. Numbers of them survived the destruction of chaos during the Chaos Wars, but in the present day they are mostly confined to swamps, parts of the Rockwood Mountains, and a few hellholes (such as Dorastor or Snake-Pipe Hollow). Occasionally, to the dismay of all, a specimen will wander far from its usual climes to wreak destruction.
Walktapi are innately pollutive and destructive. Their path is marked by broken tree limbs, poisoned pools of water, and desolation. Their lairs are cesspools and sludgepits, filled with debris and the few undigestible bits of prey.
Where the walktapus strides, humans and animals flee, and even other creatures of chaos often depart. Walktapi feed on both corpses and the living, but thrive on magical carrion, which causes them to grow unnaturally fast and large.
The ability of the walktapus to regenerate is its best-known feature. One can be chopped into pieces but, within days or hours, the chunks creep together and reform. Burning the tissue only slows this regeneration, as the charred, oozing scraps of flesh slowly rejoin. Only the complete dissolution of the monster in acid or the use of special spells can permanently destroy these horrors. The death spell of the Humakti is also known to be effective in rendering the foul creatures inert, though most people agree it is a shameful waste of a good spell.
Trolls have effective tactics for walktapus destruction, using their anti-chaos magics to kill the creature, then devouring the remains before they can regenerate. Men naturally refuse to eat the human portion of the monster, though trolls have no such qualms.
Contrary to popular belief, a walktapus that is cut into several pieces does not reform into more than one walktapus. Instead, a walktapus will become stimulated to wander restlessly after reaching maturity, seeking another of its kind. When it finds one it falls upon it, tearing, biting, and spewing forth its venomous fumes until both are torn to pieces. The human part dies, and is often consumed by another walktapus as potent food. An apparently random number of fragments writhe off, and gradually regenerate into full walktapi.
If a wandering walktapus cannot find another of its own species, it becomes more and more frenzied, until it finally tears itself apart. The monster regenerates, but the walktapus does not gain the "benefits" of its catastrophic "mating."
After walktapi have "mated," strange monsters are often seen nearby: octopus-like beings with a single enormous arm or leg; giant tentacles bearing a doll-like body and seven tentacular stubs; etc. These abominations are the fragments of the dismembered walktapus, slowly growing new bodies.
Under normal conditions, a walktapus can be expected to reach full maturity in about four to six years. However, a specimen fed on magical provender might take only a single year, while a poorly-fed one might take longer.
Walktapi are difficult to starve: Ocron Everseer recounts the story of a walktapus which was encased in a stone tomb for over eighty years without access to food. When the tomb was opened the walktapus was still lively, and slew several soldiers before being destroyed by a barrage of spells.
Sometimes plagues of walktapi devastate an area. Evidently, every few years the numbers of mature walktapi reach a sort of critical mass, and numerous walktapi from various regions become seized with the urge to wander, quickly converging to act out an orgy of self-destruction. There is a spot in Dorastor which serves as such a breeding ground every twelve years, and another is known in the Puzzle Canal of the far-off Pavis Rubble; there are other sites scattered across Genertela. Most such sites are known, but some move slowly, or appear and disappear for unknown reasons. Most serve as a breeding place only once every few decades, as anti-chaos activity reaches a minimum and the monsters can spread.
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