These creatures cling to cavern ceilings, appearing to an unwary observer to be stalactites. In reality, they are small predators of the Netherworld. Flying octopi of a sort, darkmantles lead frugal lives, mainly hunting bats, lizards, and various arthropods. Driven by hunger or tricked by the appetizing size of a halfling, they may attack parties of adventurers. One must be mindful of group attacks, when several darkmantles simultaneously swoop at their prey to blind and suffocate them.