bestiary
NASHABBAN HIDDENBEAST

The Nashabban hiddenbeast is a small, mottled gray crustaceoid. It has no obvious head. Twelve legs and four pincered arms extend from its body in a symmetrical configuration. Two mouths are located near the center of the ventral carapace as are four primitive visual organs. These eyes are very limited in range and sensitive to the infrared spectrum. The mouths also act as scent organs. Such multiplicity of organs is very rare. Xenobiologists suggest that due to the highly competitive environment on Nashabba 2 such redundancy greatly improves the hiddenbeast's chances for survival.

When hungry — and it usually is — the hiddenbeast partially buries itself in muddy shadows upside-down. This position would leave the hiddenbeast in a vulnerable position, except for its particular talent. The hiddenbeast is one the few creatures in the galaxy to exhibit strong telepathic abilities. Sensing a potential meal, the hiddenbeast touches the target's mind, exerting a mild attraction. As it nears, the psychic hold grows and alters the target's perception; making the hiddenbeast appear to all senses as an easy morsel, or if it detects a predator, something to be ignored or avoided. This deception is highly convincing, and is even effective on sentient beings. Any warm object in range is grabbed, sliced by razor pincers, and shoved into one of the beast's two mouths.

In 2259, a Nashabban hiddenbeast was brought onto Babylon 5 by a con-artist named Semana McBride. She had trained her hiddenbeast to project very specific illusions. In this particular case, she conned Londo Mollari into thinking she had the Eye of Empire. Ambassador Mollari paid her most of his personal fortune, only to receive a cake in the shape of the Eye. Semana McBride is suspected of operating in or near Brakiri space under the name of Maia St. Cyr.