Cave Fisher

The cave fisher has two ways of hunting. Its preferred method is to string its long filament in the vicinity of its lair. The filaments are thin and strong, making them exceedingly difficult to detect or cut. The filament is coated with an adhesive which can only be dissolved by liquids with a high alcohol content (such as the cave fisher’s blood). The fisher’s favorite food are small, flying creatures like bats. Ever opportunistic, they are constantly trying to vary their diet by trapping a careless creatures. If more than one fisher inhabits a lair, they will frequently pool their resources to catch larger prey. Once the victim is trapped, the cave fisher draws its prey in, reeling its filament in like a fishing line. Should a target escape the monster’s traps, the cave fisher will draw its filament in and then shoot it at the prey. If the prey is hit by the filament, the monster can pull a weight of up to 400 pounds at a speed half that of a walking human.

Cave fishers prefer living on ledges and caves located above well-traveled paths, sharing their lairs with others of their kind. No more than four cave fishers will be found in one lair. Their filaments are always strung before their lair, and they attempt to kill anything they trap, often storing food for future use. Their territories are very small, and never larger than about 300 feet to either side of the lair. Anything mansized or smaller is considered fair game by the cave fisher. A single cave fisher would never attack a large, well armed party for the sake of a single meal. Still, they are cun-ning, and a group of the monsters might reel in their filaments and attempt an ambush if they thought they could get away with it. If hunting in one area becomes scarce, the cave fisher will simply find a new area to hunt, where the small game is more plentiful and careless. Like all predators, the cave fisher is interested in survival. This means a steady supply of food and a mate. Females lay eggs in the vicinity of the lair, which they protect from predators. The young scatter when the eggs hatch, seeking lairs of their own. Although the cave fisher does not collect treasure, its lair is often strewn with the possessions of its former victims.

The cave fisher preys primarily on small flying game, and in the subterranean world this frequently means a diet of bats. It is not the top predator in its ecological niche, and has learned caution in dealing with other monsters. The cave fisher knows the dangers of preying on large, well-organized groups. The monster instinctively picks the easi-est route for survival, and relies on stealth and cunning to trap its prey and avoid being eaten itself. The filaments of the cave fisher are highly prized by many thieves’ guilds, for they can be made into thin and very strong rope which is nearly invisible. The filaments are wound onto reels and then specially treated to dilute the adhesive. The resulting strands are made into ropes, while the diluted adhesive is turned into a special solution, which when applied to gloves and boots, greatly increases traction for climbing