Gripper

A gripper is a small hump-shaped creature that almost looks like a rock. It has gray armor bands interlocked all across its back and jagged spikes all around the bottom edge. The only known habitat of the grippers is in the King's Port, a pass through the boundary between Westland and the Midlands. It is one of the slowest creatures in the King's Port pass, slow but steady. Its armor is harder than an axe. It has many legs underneath, each with a sharp, hooked claw at the end. It makes a soft scraping sound when it walks, like claws on a rock. It moves with an odd, waddling gait, its humped body swaying from side to side as it struggles forward. Its mouth is like a leech with teeth all around. When threatened it can make a snapping and hissing sound and a clicking growl. With great trouble, but relatively quickly, it can right itself when stuck on its back.

When it reaches its prey, a gripper wraps itself around its victim so only its armor is exposed. It digs into the flesh to hold tight so it cannot be pulled off and fixes its mouth to its victim, sucking the blood out, tightening with its claws all the time. It will suck all the blood out of its victim before moving on. The only way to get a gripper off once attached is to cut off the appendage it is attached to.