Reaper of the Rows

Description
Buried beneath the earth for countless millenia and dormant until inadvertently disturbed by a farmer tilling his field, the Reaper of the Rows is an insectoid alien entity worshipped as a god by the residents of a small village. Whether it is a lone exile or the precursor of an invasion force is unknown, but through a combination of fear, mind control and gradual genetic mutation it maintains absolute control over the village beneath which it sleeps.

The Reaper sleeps beneath the field, ever aware of its surroundings. Through much of the year, the village is the very picture of an idyllic farming community.

During the autumn harvest, however, things take a turn for the sinister as the Reaper awakens. Powerful energy beneath the field causes crops to flatten in orderly, symbolic patterns. The residents of the village begin to behave strangely and become hostile to outsiders. Evil tidings culminate on the autumnal equinox, when several villagers are selected by the Reaper during a midnight ceremony and taken below the earth, never to be seen again.

Ecology & Tactics
The Reaper is not fully adapted to the planet's atmosphere. As a result, it spends much of the year hibernating in its lair out of necessity. This lair might be a spacecraft, hive or catacomb depending upon which is most appropriate for the setting. Despite this, it still maintains awareness of its surroundings and will arise if its lair is discovered. If encountered during harvest time (especially during a blood moon), it will be at full strength and will attack with a deadly combination of melee and psychic attacks.

If the characters enter the lair (whether voluntarily or not), they will discover that the missing villagers have been mutated into pathetic half-insect, half-human hybrid thralls that will fight to the death for the Reaper. This is the fate that awaits them as well in short order should they fail to escape.