Living Archives

From Introduction:

When wizards summon the beings they call umbrella crabs — named for the way they resemble a parasol — they are not calling demons from the depths of inferno. These things are in fact biological weapons, made by a race of alien overlords that has been extinct for centuries. Their purpose: to gather information from the many worlds their masters might wish to conquer. They do this by eating, and are able to digest more than just the flesh of those they devour. They also collect the thoughts and memories of those they eat, storing this information, so it can be used later, by their masters.