Race:Ooze

Ooze Characteristics

Oozes are large masses of unintelligent slime. Their shape, weight, size, color, and chemical properties can vary, but in most cases are highly corrosive. The acidic material they are comprised of is extremely potent and can dissolve almost all material, including metals, but not stone. The touch of most of these creatures can cause serious harm, while immersion in one can kill most creatures within a matter of minutes. Some of these strange monsters can be split into smaller copies of themselves by being cut with bladed weapons. This is a bizarre adaptation that does not harm the monster, but instead helps it to replicate itself, usually to the attacker’s detriment. Oozes do not possess intelligence, and instead hunt for food by sensing vibrations in the air or on the ground. Having no organs of any kind, they cannot see, hear, smell, or taste.

Culture

Being unthinking monstrosities, Oozes have no culture of their own. Their only motivation is the consumption of any matter they come across. It does not matter if the material is living or dead, and oozes will pursue a living target with no thought for safety or self-preservation. If they have any sort of ecology at all, it is that they tend to gather near each other if possible, an instinct that increases their chances of absorbing matter. This can either mean that they grow larger with more matter consumed, or even possibly combine when they run out of room. It is fortunate for most other creatures that Oozes seem to have no instinct to meld with each other, such occurrences are usually unintentional. This is perhaps the only indicator that while they do not appear to have any intelligence that other creatures can recognize, they have some degree of autonomy and willpower.

History

The reputation of Oozes is discussed with horror and fear amongst all peoples. Adventurers, especially, talk about these creatures at length to avoid any surprise encounters with the monsters. While they are dangerous, they are also very slow and are not known for tactics of any kind. Historically, they have always inhabited caves, dungeons and other dank, dark, underground areas. These are environments that the creatures can physically thrive in, as well as hunt. The dark crevices and holes of the cold and wet stone landscapes are among the few locations that a slow moving, unthinking ooze can potentially attack a victim. Sometimes creatures have been known to simply fall into them, unaware of their presence in a dark pool of water or a pitch-black cave.

How these horrid monsters came into existence is widely speculated. As far as anyone can tell, they have always just been there, threatening any creature that would venture to deeply into areas not meant for it. It is likely that in the past a magical force, perhaps from a powerful spell caster or divine being, granted will to a single slime, and from there it consumed and replicated with all manner of matter, causing the wide variety of hostile acidic blobs that exist today.