The Automanic Colloquial Cateloquor

The thing slithered further up Morris's neck until it could coil its tail around his ear. It looked at me, its compound eyes transforming into miniature human ones, cool dark irises focusing on my features. "Holy shit," I blurted, "the thing's got your face!"

Morris opened his mouth to speak, but only strangeness came out, and the little insect smiled....

Who doesn't love a little bit of plot contrivances in their gaming? Here's the deal: sometimes you just want to get right into the thick of everything, but at the same time maintain some kind of logical explanation for how things function within your tiny spectrum of fictional universe.

After all, in a planet as diverse and overrun as Planet Dungeon purports to be, how the heck does anyone understand one another?

Enter Automanic's Colloquial Cateloquor, the very best in instantaneous translation needs!

(Individual results may vary.)

Automanic's Colloquial Cateloquor

[Common, Minor Tool, Artifact, Deus Ex Machina]

A cateloquor is a genetically engineered, symbiotic caterpillar-like creature that bonds with a specific individual for life. It functions as a universal translator, doing so not by understanding or processing any kind of alien language, but rather by physically altering the audial, vocal, and brain functions of an intelligent life-form in order to produce and understand a unique language specific to the Cateloquor.

Since the cateloquor is a widespread and well recognized inhabitant of the planet, most intelligent life living on (or in) the world possess a cateloquor symbiote.

The bonding process is difficult to resist (-5 Save vs. Poison), and once complete, the cateloquor is nearly impossible to remove (attempts to do so require a -10 save vs. death with failure killing the bonded creature and NOT the cateloquor.)

Cateloquors survive by consuming the dreams of their symbiotic partner. It's believed if a being stops dreaming, they will die, and the cateloquor will seek out a new host life form.