The official GemStone IV encyclopedia.
The dust beetle appears to be some sort of giant insect. It looks a little like some misshapen scorpion, but the tail on it is not as long as a scorpion's would be, and it flares like the tail of a lobster rather than ending in a poison sting. The segmented body is wide, supported by six short multi-jointed legs. A dull red chitinous shell covers most of its body, and a broad carapace protects its head. Two massive claws provide the creature with formidable weapons.
Hunting strategies
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Other information
Beetles are puncture resistant rather than puncture immune since being converted to BCS.
Behind the Scenes
Dust beetles were found in Shadow Valley before the shadow mares and other defiant cursed equines returned to defeat the Terrorite demon. It is an allusion to the "beetle civilisation" that is supposed to follow the end of the race of man in "The Shadow out of Time" by H.P. Lovecraft, which is also relevant for the giant fog beetles in The Broken Lands. They are variants of the extra-planar insect raced called Dictics of Rolemaster.
The reduction of the valley to a poisonous dust plain with dead trees, no healthy plant life, and miasmal vapours comes from "The Colour Out of Space". The insects of the "blasted heath" were described as: "In May the insects came, and Nahum’s place became a nightmare of buzzing and crawling. Most of the creatures seemed not quite usual in their aspects and motions, and their nocturnal habits contradicted all former experience." It was a place where everything ultimately decayed to grey powder, and its residence would cause listlessness or being driven mad with nightmares. The walls also shifted, and: "No bites of prowling things could have brought the virus, for what live beast of earth can pass through solid obstacles?"
See Also
References
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