Moniz
"Sister Malak, I humbly request reassignment from anatomical and neurological research to written information analysis. Brother Moniz seems to be much more enthusiastic than any others to keep subjects awake and conscious during procedures, and is most definitely the most enthusiastic of our caste when it comes to being sent for excursions. This is most unnerving to me, and I fear that a specimen may finally break loose one of these times. May the Maw flourish."
Relocation request, sent by Brother Rigis, of the intellect caste.
Information on Moniz
Moniz often changes height and shape, with humanoid appearances having limits around 1 to 3 meters (3.28 ft to 9.42ft) in height.
When disguise is of little importance, Moniz will assume a gangly, chitin-covered humanoid form measuring at 3m in height. Most of the body will be a mottled green, except for the flat, bone-white mask-like structure he calls an “Earth face”. Six eyes are positioned on the front, though they are not visibly noticeable unlike the two false “eye spots” above a false mouth taking the appearance of a nearly skeletal grimace.
Ability data
Spawn's Defense:
Possession and psychic takeover can be deadly mistakes when an attempt is made on a child of the Maw. The immensity of the mind they're connected to can easily cause psychic damage to those attempting to cut off or control a section. While the metabolism of most spawn can make quick work of would-be possessors, as a soul directly entering one is either pulled to the Maw or directly fed upon.
[Hive's librarian:
With the collected knowledge of the hive available, Moniz can take time to learn much faster than most. He can also make new knowledge immediately available to other spawn to access through Hive’s library as he learns. Though the limitations of a body still apply (meaning Moniz would need to assimilate a body attuned to or connected to magic in order to use knowledge on magic.)]
Superior communication:
Like most spawn of the Maw, Moniz can communicate telepathically. Unlike lesser spawn, he can communicate at longer ranges up to 20km (12.42 miles)
Psychic Modification:
Moniz is one of the members of the intellect caste that have experimented with psychic abilities and how to enhance them without the need for physically specializing in it. While not at the peak of psychic power among children of the Maw, by human standards: Moniz is a potent psychic threat.
His main psychic abilities include mental intrusion, mental detection, and sensory manipulation. Mental intrusion can come in two forms, “Remote” and “Wired”.
Remote mental intrusion is a ranged tactic, meant to allow him to worm his way into a target’s mind to start reading memories and thoughts, or make sensory manipulation easier. However, this method does not go without making Moniz’s psychic presence known, and can lead to a victim muddying the waters when it comes to the accuracy of information gleaned from thoughts and memories. Though emotion tends to be crystal clear
[Wired mental intrusion is a much more gruesome affair. This is usually intended for memory extraction from a very uncooperative target. The tactic involves stabbing tendrils into the head of the victim and physically reading the synapse firings responsible for memory. In a pinch, this could be used for rewriting memory, erasing target memories, reprogramming a victim, or rendering a victim catatonic or braindead. Due to the nature of the intrusion, the tendrils are directly linked to Moniz’s central nervous system, this leaves Moniz very vulnerable to attack/severe damage during the lengthy process (for each year of memories, one minute is needed. Other processes take a minimum of one minute for incredibly weak minds, and hours for strong/powerful psychic ones). Severing the tendrils mid-procedure has a high chance of killing them both.]
Mental detection acts as a sixth main sense, allowing Moniz to keep track of those around him as long as they have a brain to detect. However, some abilities or uses of them (set within [example]) force him to turn this off.
Sensory manipulation involves the inducing of or tampering with senses. This can lead to auditory or visual hallucinations, phantom smells, nonexistent tactile feedback, and tastes without explanation on the easier side. [The harder side is when it comes to internal sensations or suppressing senses, examples include inducing sensations like heart palpitations or feelings from a heart attack without any being present, removing sensation from an entire limb, making an ally “vanish” from the sight of a target or removing the target’s sight temporarily, etc.]
Carrion Repurposing:
Where maggots see a body to control, Moniz sees fresh biomass awaiting use if he already knows the anatomy. Though the name of the ability is a misnomer, more than the body is assimilated if the subject is living. It’s much easier to start assimilating a non-living subject into his biomass than one that can still scream, but a live subject can provide energies (ex. Mana, chakra/chi, essence/soul (either one, but mostly human soul, is essentially stripped down and processed to provide the others. Whatever gets discarded is sent to the Maw to be broken down further), magical or psychic potential) that Moniz does not innately possess. Whether that mass is used to create equipment (essentially growing bone into a tool before detaching it) or repair damaged tissue, the good doctor will rarely let a corpse be.
Built immunity:
After having worked with more volatile projects for many years, disease, acids, and toxins barely faze Moniz. Be it respiratory hazards, digestive enzymes, or weaponized anthrax.
Painful life support:
While not as potent as a maggot’s bile, members of the intellect caste involved with invasive procedures (such as Moniz) have a form of fluid that can keep a “patient” alive while performing exploratory or experimental surgeries. However, this fluid does nothing for pain or getting a victim unconscious, a task MOST members of the intellect caste would bring in another spawn for. Moniz however, is not among them.
Veritable biology:
Like most higher members of the intellect caste, Moniz can manipulate his body to take on different forms and arrangements of limbs. While it is normally used in negotiation, dissections/study procedures, environmental adaptation, and disguise… Moniz takes advantage of the internal implications, allowing him to move his vitals around to avoid lethal damage.
Not only is this useful with staying in a fight longer, but it also allows the user to fake death by decapitation or impalement, as the central nervous system or other vitals have been relocated. Such a manipulation of biology will also make traditional life detection processes more difficult, as he may reduce his body heat. While a heartbeat isn’t normally present due to the open circulatory system shared by most children of the maw, Moniz could attempt to mimic a pulse.
Making and controlling additional limbs (arms, tendrils, wings if currently light enough) is possible, but takes a fair amount of biomass. So, these are usually made after repurposing carrion, and are the first to be reabsorbed when repairs need to be made.
Limitations of the good doctor:
Off Putting nature:
Moniz’s position has allowed, if not required, him to become cruel and possibly even sadistic. Whether it’s taking delight in pinning a new creature down to do a field dissection, having little regard for those around him that he isn’t obligated to protect, or the permanent grimace he has on the chitinous plate he uses as an “Earth face”, little effort is made to endear himself to or build trust in non-Mawspawn allies.
“HEY! THAT SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM!” Syndrome:
Like a superhuman trying to hide increased durability after a knife accident, Moniz’s abilities can easily expose him through incidents that would kill a human subject.
Obsessive research:
Built up from most of his time between excursions being spent on research, Moniz is compelled to learn whatever he can from new or unfamiliar subjects. For example, upon initially arriving, he may pin down the nearest imp. Only to flay it alive to analyze the muscle tissue, drill a bone spike into the head in an attempt to see if the neural biology would be similar enough to perform (an even more barbaric version of) a procedure like his namesake invented, or simply start dissecting it then and there. This also plagues him with the possibility of being bribed with information on unique biology.
Compulsive compliance:
Like those that create deals for those who are sucked in via maggots reviving carrion, Moniz is compelled to follow the terms of a deal until they (the terms) or the one who made the terms would go against the Maw.
Non-combative design:
In intention, Moniz is not intended to take heavy blows. While he can partially evade lethal damage, a strike destroying or damaging a large area of the body in a small amount of time gives him very little time to move his vitals.
Sickening Psychic Presence:
Moniz cannot dampen his psychic presence to avoid detection by other psychics. Furthermore, psychics will get an unpleasant aura from him. Akin to the feeling people get from seeing a real cadaver, or rather seeing one walk.
