The giant armoured moles were creatures of the Underdeeps. Adult Moldewarps (S. "Ulundolfanornath") might be the size of a bear, a cave bear, or a cave drake. In the Common Speech they might be described as giant armoured moles, or where the Common Speech was coloured by Northron tongues, moldewarps.
Detailed Description[]
Whether once-natural beasts warped by the Mordo, the outpouring of Morgoth's own corrupted soul-power into Middle-earth, or whether bred in the pits of Angband, the origin of these monsters was lost in the deeps of time.
Where the common mole did have tiny eyes, the eyeless moldewarp was truly blind, and relied entirely on its excellent sense of sound and smell. It detected sound vibrations as much through its body and whiskered as with its ears, which were small and hidden within its fur. In addition to its whiskers, which spread as wide as its shoulders, the snout which projected forward above its fanged mouth bore a striking array of fleshy tentacles radiating from its nostrils.The legs were shorter than in many creatures but stout and immensely powerful, with scaled, shovel-like forefeet turned outward to angle the strong claws for digging.
These creatures were able of digging through rock like their lesser cousins through earth. It took longer of course, for the Moldewarp to dig through living rock.
Where common moles were voracious, eating two to three times their own body weight a day, the giant moldewarp of the Underdeeps could enter a state of hibernation-like torpor in which, as for the sleep of dragons, it was sustained by its own dark spirit.
Notes for Game-Play[]
The head, back and flanks of a Giant Moldewarp were covered with horny plates of armour, much-scarred by scraping through rock-tunnels. Its short limbs meant its body remained close to the ground, making it difficult to land a powerful blow on its furred-hide under-regions. Seeking to stab an eye below the browarmour would prove vain.
To fight such a beast called for a dragonslayer's valour. Its most vulnerable point was its snout, a blow to which would cause it to recoil in pain, or thrash about in a dangerous but unfocussed fashion. But to attack its snout was to put oneself in the path of the two mighty forepaws, the digging-like attacks of which were likely to sweep a man off his feet and pound him against the tunnel wall to left or right. The sensing-tentacles were also coated with a slime that would paralyse or at least slow a mansized victim if they contacted exposed skin. A stunned, pummelled senseless or paralysed victim would be finished off with a stab of the claw-points.
References[]
- Retrieved from Realms of Arda; original reference: [ICE MERP 2012]