Kleptower- The Perfect Prison

World: Alfheim

Diet: Magic, drained from captives and from the environment.

Height: 456-905′

Lifespan: 1050 years

Habitat: Any

Activity Cycle: None

In the great narrative of the world, there is often a reason to take prisoners. Whether it be a deposed fae prince who is still too mighty to slay or royalty kidnapped for ransom, few solutions are as grand as a kleptower. A kleptower spends most of its time hibernating underground, deep in Alfheim’s version of Erebus. There they are fed by the ambient magic of the world, enough to keep them alive and in slumber for decades at a time. However, what they truly crave and need for the creation of more of their kind is the power contained in mighty individuals. And so any kleptower’s great desire will always be to serve as the prison of another being.

A kleptower’s security comes in two layers, physical and psychological. The only entrance or exit from a kleptower’s body is its mouth, capable of sealing itself entirely once the prisoner is inside. Their bodies have both an internal and external layer of stone, living like a coral’s stony skeleton and capable of repairing itself if the prisoner makes an attempt to burrow their way out. In-between is a layer of muscular tissue that can reshape the tower’s interior, making as many rooms as necessary and even furnishing them. This is the real factor that makes a kleptower the perfect prison guard. The creature obsesses over its captive and will reshape itself however they desire, granting anything it can provide, other than their freedom. Even their outsides are reshaped to match their captive; if containing an overthrown dark lord, they will darken and their flag like head-arms will become tattered. Similarly, a kleptower containing an innocent child may take on pastel colors and more rounded angles to its eye-windows.

The final power of a kleptower is one it willingly shares with its captive. The windows of the tower serve as its eyes, and can not only see within the creature’s own body but scry upon any location they have seen before. With the addition of a captive, this ability is expanded. Anywhere or anyone that the captive knows personally can be gazed upon. Many prisoners lose themselves forever to dim nostalgia, watching their lost lives through the eyes of their prison.