Object

Creepers

Strands of dried swamp vegetation used by the Swampie priests as living restraints. The vines remain pliable when wet, tightening around limbs as they dry, providing a slow, excruciating death by constriction. When sufficiently stretched and dried, they harden and snap with enough force to break spines, as Skart explains to the bound captives.

4 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

4 moments

S16E19 · The Power of Kroll Part 3

Doctor learns ritual secrets while bound

The creepers tightly bind the Doctor, Romana, and Rohm-Dutt to the pallet, contracting slowly as they dry in the temple’s shaft of light. Skart explains how their drying shortens the fibers, pulling the plank and snapping spines when taut. Romana and Rohm-Dutt feel the tightening immediately, heightening dread, while the Doctor uses their conversation to deduce a potential release mechanism via the window.

Before: Freshly moist creepers, pliable and slow to contract, coiled around limbs of the bound captives on the pallet

After: Drying fibers beginning to tighten, causing visible strain and pain; no further contraction observed yet

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S16E19 · The Power of Kroll Part 3

Ranquin summons Kroll while Doctor resists

The creepers tightly bind the Doctor and Romana to the pallet, their fibers tightening as they dry with each passing moment. Skart has explained their mechanism—sunlight contracts them to snap the victims' spines. The Doctor notes their purpose, tying the creepers' role directly to the ritual's cruelty.

Before: Moist and pliable, securing the captives to the pallet with moderate tightness.

After: Continued to tighten unnoticed, increasing the captives' discomfort and pain.

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S16E19 · The Power of Kroll Part 3

Rohm-Dutt reveals Thawn’s conspiracy

The creepers are freshly damp and pliable at the start, carefully arranged around the Doctor and Romana’s limbs and Rohm-Dutt’s shackles on the pallet. As the scene progresses, the creepers dry under Skart’s explanation and Ranquin’s torches, tightening their grip and causing visible strain on the victims. Rohm-Dutt’s confession coincides with the creepers reaching peak tension, highlighting the physiological horror of the seventh ritual.

Before: Freshly applied, damp, pliable creepers loosely encircle limbs on the pallet, positioned by Swampie priests for slow constriction at sunrise.

After: Creepers continue contracting during Rohm-Dutt’s confession, visibly tightening around limbs, straining joints, and causing him acute pain as the ritual process accelerates despite the setting sun's limited heat.

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S16E19 · The Power of Kroll Part 3

Doctor shatters temple glass with primal scream

The living vines, still damp and pliable from the storm, are stretched taut between Romana, Rohm-Dutt, and the temple floor. The Doctor exploits their weakened state under tension, urging the group to pull until the fibers loosen enough to bend their knees and gain manual slack. This strategic stretching enables him to cut them free with the penknife.

Before: Taut, drying, and exerting slow constriction around limbs, creating intense but uneven pressure.

After: Stretched beyond normal elasticity, partially torn, and discarded in slack coils across the temple floor.

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