The Mind Taker is a hideous creature of the shadows. It can be found anywhere from the Poison Forest to the Dead Hills, seemingly immune to heat or thirst. This is not so surprising, given that the Mind Taker feeds on the drained Intellect of its victims. The Mind Talker resembles a purple sphere or octopus with four large paddle limbs. With these it can latch onto a victim, draining D6 Int with a successful touch. The victim will be stunned and confused and must make a fatigue check each time they are hit. Should the Mind Taker be allowed to drain all of a target’s Int then the target will die. However in normal cases the Taker flees after accumulating around 10 points of Int, and a victim will then recover 1 Int per hour until well again.
When slain a Mind Taker quickly deflates, and then begins to sublimate into an unpleasant purple smoke. Catching this smoke within a sealed container is tricky (Agility vs. 16), but results in a Treasure 4 of value to alchemists. Corrupted Stonetalkers are reputed to be able to use this smoke as part of a poison that causes D6 Int damage on exposure.
As if their powers were not already enough the Takers can also teleport in combat up to 5 strides in any direction, allowing them to always attack first in any round. They will usually use a teleport to initiate combat, taking a victim by surprise, usually while resting or sleeping, since they are not skilled attackers.