Gobbling Grout: Attack Spackle (Type 1B)

Gobbling Grout: Attack Spackle (Type IB)
No. Enc.: 1d2
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 12' (4') [along any masonry surface]
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 4+
Attacks: 1 (Acidic-Sting)
Damage: 1d6/minute
Save: F3
Morale: 10

Special: Retains Type I's Suffocation Attack, but can only use it on immobile/unconscious/sleeping victims.

Large, lumpy and ponderous creatures that resemble discolored and slightly bubbling patches of nastiness spattered across walls, ceilings and sometimes floors where the bulk of the curdled mass of these things tends to settle into the cracks, joints and seams of the local masonry. The central mass can be up to a foot or more in diameter, but they rarely gather themselves up into anything more than a couple of inches deep at any given moment, unless confronted by voltaic, actinic or similar effects or open flames. Attack Spackle fear the shock-prods and are often herded and forced into service by wielders of these sorts of weapons and similar devices.


These things will also attempt to sneak up on victims who are either asleep or unconscious in order to suffocate them by slithering down their throat and filling their lungs, just like their lesser brethren the Type I's.


When suitably fed and trained, after a fashion (they are decidedly non-sentient), these odd creatures can be conditioned to stand watch over a specific station and to attack anyone who attempts to pass by without first feeding them. Unfortunately, these things will not distinguish between whomever feeds them, so anyone knowing to give the creature a treat can pass by easily.


These particular sub-types of Gobbling Grout have been successfully integrated into Ochre Jelly solutions in order to produce a denser, darker, more virulent 'Burnt Orange Jelly,' that is so far quite rare, but gaining a serious reputation as a terrifying new addition to the sewer ecosystems beneath Wermspittle.


Unlike the usual Type I's, these bulkier sub-types do not make a good mortar when ground down, and are instead better suited to the formulation of a durable, mold-able paste that hardens into a dense, water-permeable cement that is used in the maintenance and repair of various underground systems.

There are also records of old experiments with the Type Ib Grouts that investigated their potential utility in treating hides, making leather and so forth, but that line of inquiry was cut short during a rampage by a rogue Type IV Grout that leveled the laboratory. Anyone recovering those records would find several competing bidders who remain very interested in learning how to harness these creatures for industrial (and potentially other) applications.

There are other types of Gobbling Grout, at least four distinct varieties are duly noted in the Sewer System Concordance & Cthonic Ephemeris published every October by the Sewer Militia in Wermspittle.

Known Varieties of Gobbling Grout

• Type I
• Type II
• Type III
• Type IV

Gobbling Grout (Type IV)

Gobbling Grout Type IV (Pit Pore Leviathan)
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 10' (3')
Armor Class: 10
Hit Dice: 8+
Attacks: 1 (Crush or Swallow)
Damage: 3d4 or see below
Save: MU10
Morale: 8

Huge, ponderous creatures of ambiguous outline and protean form, the Type IV Gobbling Grout is a grotesque combination of a living stain and some sort of protoplasmic blob that sloshes about the lower sections of some alleys, fills old cellars and wallows in backed-up and over-full cess-pits where they slowly digest all the organic matter that they come into contact with, often producing massive amounts of highly explosive gasses.

These creatures grow to a size where they can shift buildings off of their foundations when disturbed.

They generally do not attack, so much as they roll over and crush anyone within reach as they stretch and slither about in their feverish dreaming.  If a human-sized or smaller victim insists upon being swallowed by clambering atop one of the things, or if they get caught within the blubbery folds of the thing, it will swallow them, but this is totally involuntary and un-premeditated as these things are not truly conscious on any level recognized by sentient beings. But they do dream. How and why has yet to be determined, but they most definitely do dream.

Flattened at the top and festooned with the filth they slumber beneath, Pit Pore Leviathans are a constant nuisance and menace to densely populated cities as they block drains, stop-up pipes, re-direct gutters, and cause back-flows, ruptures, floods of rotting waste, and the aforementioned pockets of explosive gas.

The Grand Marshall of the Sewer Militia traditionally has offered a fairly substantial bounty on these creatures, but collecting the reward is a very difficult and dangerous task. Capturing or killing a gravid female before it can expel its spawnage into the sewers is worth a great deal more than just another slow-moving mountain of fetid ooze dug out of someone's basement.

Certain specimens of the Type IV have shown a remarkable talent for a sort of dreaming that Oneirists, Fantomists, and others have begun to investigate. There might be some esoteric secret or occult knowledge to be gained from dredging through the noisome muck and darksome mire below the city streets after all.

There are other types of Gobbling Grout, at least four distinct varieties are noted in the Sewer System Concordance & Cthonic Ephemeris published every October by the Sewer Militia in Wermspittle.

Known Varieties of Gobbling Grout

• Type I
• Type 1b
• Type II
  
• Type III
  

Gobbling Grout (Type III)

Illustration from The Sewer System Concordance & Cthonic Ephemeris

Gobbling Grout Type III (Killing Floor)
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 20' (6')
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice 4+1
Attacks: 1 (Bite, Trip or Gulp)
Damage: 2d4 or see below
Save: MU6
Morale: 6

Much more mobile than any of the other known types of Gobbling Grout, the Type III is known as a 'Killing Floor' precisely because it lies in wait looking just like a slightly damp and lumpy floor until some unfortunate soul awakens it by walking across it's exposed surface. Then it either forms a vicious mouth and bites the trespasser, extrudes a stony pseudopod and trips them or it makes an attempt to gulp them down whole (only if the victim is human-sized or smaller).

Fortunately, much like it's relatives, Type III Gobbling Grout is a bit torpid and tends to rely on ambush tactics to get close enough to strike a likely victim. Once it lurches up to bite, trip or gulp a victim the brutish masses of gritty goo are most likely to slowly subside back into their pre-attack posture and go back to sleep. If severely threatened or tested, a Type III typically lapses into a death-like state, allowing its exposed flank to harden into a tough armored layer (now AC 3, and as hard as granite) and remaining motionless for 1d4 days.

Some butchers are believed to have installed false floors in their abattoirs with Type III Gobbling Grouts underneath, allowing the sluggish monsters to soak up the effluent and debris that is a natural consequence of their trade. For the most part, the Gobbling Grouts seem content to wallow in the blood and entrails, getting bloated, obese and even more incapable of movement...unless suitably stirred up or motivated by extreme measures.

It is estimated by the Grand Marshall of the Sewer Militia that there could easily be as many as several dozen over-sized Type IIIs ensconced or embedded within Wermspittle. They decline to comment on the unfounded supposition and rumors that there might be any such creatures left slithering about loose in the alleys or abandoned sectors, under strict prohibition from the Privy Council.

There are other types of Gobbling Grout, at least four distinct varieties are noted in the Sewer System Concordance and Cthonic Ephemeris published every October by the Sewer Militia in Wermspittle.

Known Varieties of Gobbling Grout

• Type I
• Type 1b
• Type II
• Type IV

Gobbling Grout (Type II)

Gobbling Grout Type II (Biting Stain)
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 12' (4')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 3
Attack: 1
Damage: 2d4 (Bite)
Save: MU 5
Morale: 9

Strange, slithering silicaceous and carnivorous stains, the Type II variant Gobbling Grout is a larger, slightly more aggressive and nastier customer than it's predecessor the far more shy and retiring Type I. Where the weaker Type I relies upon slow-motion stealth to make its attack upon the unwary and unprepared, the Type II prefers to arrange itself so as to present a nearly unavoidable ambush as it adheres to stairs, narrow passages, confined spaces, at the bottom of disguised pits, and other such places where passersby are most likely to come into contact with them. Thankfully, these things tend to prefer dark, damp environments and seem to have an intense dislike for bright lights and intense heat. Even a hungry Type II will seek to escape rather than attempt to go after what appears to be an easy meal when confronted by even as much as a Gloomlight spell or a Koponu in a tin cage.

Once a Type II Gobbling Grout bites a victim, they must make a Save or else the gritty thing will lock onto them and slowly begin to curl up around the affected part in order to bite again. It takes 3d4 minutes for the sluggish thing to finally get curled into position to do a follow-up bite. Often this is enough time to take suitable preventative measures.

Particularly large specimens can sometimes curl up for a third bite attack, again taking another 3d4 minutes to get into position.

Type II Gobbling Grout is not suited for the production of mortar or much of anything else. Their only real use is as hindrances, nuisances and weak traps used to deter things such as ratterlings and the like, and even then these things are not terribly effective even at that simple a task.

Several back alley magic peddlers, Midwives and golemicists will sometimes pay a small fee for a sealed jar containing a Type II Gobbling Grout. It is unclear just what they might actually do with the things though.

Local folklore asserts that Type II Gobbling Grout can destroy animated statues and most masonry/stone-work golems if left unattended for extended periods of time, necessitating regular inspection and maintenance of these sorts of features.

There are other types of Gobbling Grout, at least four distinct varieties are noted in the Sewer System Concordance & Cthonic Ephemeris published every October by the Sewer Militia in Wermspittle.

Known Varieties of Gobbling Grout

• Type I
• Type 1b
• Type III
• Type IV
  

Gobbling Grout (Type I)

Gobbling Grout Type I (Lesser Spackle)
No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 6' (2') [along any masonry surface]
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 2
Attacks: 1 (Suffocation)
Damage: 1d4/minute
Save: MU4
Morale: 8

Special: Base 40% chance to go unnoticed in dim light.

Small, slow and difficult to distinguish, these creatures resemble patches of languid grit that barely move while they are being observed. They tend to between 3 inches and 3 feet in diameter and hardly half an inch thick. Their preferred means of attack is to sneak up on victims who are either asleep or unconscious and to suffocate them by slithering down their throat and filling their lungs. If captured and ground into a paste, these creatures can be used as a sort of water-proof mortar that will repel mold, mildew and fungus for decades. This could lead to a lucrative trade, for those how know how to properly bait, trap and process the nasty things.

There are other types of Gobbling Grout, at least four distinct varieties are noted in the Sewer System Concordance & Cthonic Ephemeris published every October by the Sewer Militia in Wermspittle.

Known Varieties of Gobbling Grout

• Type 1b
• Type II
• Type III
• Type IV