WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Cave Mimicry in Dungeons and Dragons

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind focusing on mythical creatures, ideas

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<v Speaker 1>and monsters in time. Nothing beats a good dungeons and

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<v Speaker 1>dragons cave environment, whether you're talking about an isolated cavern

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<v Speaker 1>layer for a surface rampaging monster or the dark subterranean

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<v Speaker 1>kingdoms of the under dark. Either way, there's no shortage

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<v Speaker 1>of exotic monsters to populate these environments, and at least

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<v Speaker 1>two of them stand out for their mimicry of stalactites

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<v Speaker 1>and stalagmites. First, let's refresh on the nature of stalactites

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<v Speaker 1>and stalactites. Stalactites derived from the Greek to drip is

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<v Speaker 1>a mineral formation caused by dripping that forms on the ceiling.

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<v Speaker 1>The corresponding formation on the floor of the cavern is

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<v Speaker 1>a stalagmite. Some folks might keep the straight in their

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<v Speaker 1>own heads by reminding themselves that stalactite has a C

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<v Speaker 1>in it for ceiling and stalagmite has a G in

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<v Speaker 1>it for ground. At any rate, let's start on the

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<v Speaker 1>floor amid the stalagmites of D and D you'll find

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<v Speaker 1>the occasional roper, a large, one eyed monster that mimics

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<v Speaker 1>a silent cone of stone until an adventurer strays too close.

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<v Speaker 1>Then its tentacles lash out and pull the victim in

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<v Speaker 1>towards its deadly maw. Amid the stalactites, you'll find an

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<v Speaker 1>even more fascinating creature, the Piercer. This predatory mollusk has

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<v Speaker 1>a sharp stalactite shaped shell, enabling it to blend in

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<v Speaker 1>on a cavern ceiling until guess what, along comes another

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<v Speaker 1>hapless adventure and the piercer drops like the sword of

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<v Speaker 1>Damn Maclice and hopefully skewers the poor sap to the floor.

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<v Speaker 1>If this is a success, the piercer, or piercers, because

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes they apparently live in groups, begin the feast. A fail, however,

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<v Speaker 1>means the creature has to slowly crawl back up the

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<v Speaker 1>wall to the ceiling in order to try its gravity

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<v Speaker 1>assisted attack once more. The piercer is a fantastic monster concept,

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<v Speaker 1>and both of these cave dwellers have been lashing out

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<v Speaker 1>against adventurers since the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons. However,

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<v Speaker 1>when we turn to the cave environments of the natural world,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't find creatures that employ such tactics. While there

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<v Speaker 1>are many amazing subterranean organisms with unique adaptations, you might

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<v Speaker 1>well ponder over the seeming absence of stalactite and stalagmite

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<v Speaker 1>mimics as evolutionary Developmental biologist William R. Jeffrey points out

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<v Speaker 1>in his two thousand and nine paper Regressive Evolution in

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<v Speaker 1>Astyanax cave fish quote. In surface dwelling animals, pig intation

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<v Speaker 1>is used for protection from sunlight, camouflage, mimicry, and species

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<v Speaker 1>and sex recognition, all of which are irrevalent in the

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<v Speaker 1>dark cave environment. Jeffrey is dealing chiefly with cave fish

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<v Speaker 1>here in this paper, but I think we can safely

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<v Speaker 1>apply this concept to other cave dwellers as well. Again,

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<v Speaker 1>we have to remember that these are lightless worlds, where

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<v Speaker 1>site in the organs of sight lose their importance. Other

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<v Speaker 1>sense has become the coin of the realm indungens and dragons. However,

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<v Speaker 1>we have to remember that these holy fictional cave environments

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<v Speaker 1>revolve entirely around the inevitable arrival of generally cited characters,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're often aided by magical vision lamps and or

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<v Speaker 1>a plethora of bioluminescent fungi. And we have to remind

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<v Speaker 1>ourselves that mimicry in the real world doesn't have to

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<v Speaker 1>be visual. It can certainly be auditory. For instance, the

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<v Speaker 1>greater mouse ear bat has been observed to mimic the

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<v Speaker 1>sounds of buzzing hornets to gear away predatory owl species. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>Chinese cicadas are also known to use intra specific sexual

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<v Speaker 1>mimicry that means males using female sounds in this case,

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<v Speaker 1>which amounts to a similar sort of auditory deception. And hey,

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<v Speaker 1>D and D has us covered there as well, with

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<v Speaker 1>the Lucrata monstrous beasts said to lure in their victims

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<v Speaker 1>by mimicking the voices of humans and other intelligent species,

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<v Speaker 1>inspired by the half hyena half lion creatures described by

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<v Speaker 1>Plenty of the Elder said to reside in Ethiopia, yet

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<v Speaker 1>quote mimics the voices of men and cattle. Tune in

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<v Speaker 1>for additional episodes of the Monster Fact each week. As always,

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<v Speaker 1>you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 1>Your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is

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