House hunter

House hunters were a rare species related to mimics that assumed the form of an entire building rather than a household object.
==Description==
These creatures had a hard outer shell and unarmored underside that resembled the body of a snail. The texture and color of their outer shells could change to almost perfectly resemble stone, wood, or thatch. They could assume the shape of any building, provided that they retained the same volume. These outer shells grew in size with their owners and were shaped over long periods to resemble buildings the creatures likely saw during their travels.
Young house hunters resembled smaller structures, measuring no greater than , such as sheds or outhouses. Adults could assume the form of structures, such as a small house or cottage. Ancient house hunters could assume forms measuring around in height, such as inns, temples, or ruined towers.
The openings on a house hunter's outer shell were covered by bony plates, resembling doors or shutters, that were opened and shut by powerful muscles that functioned like those of clams. These plates served to hide and protect a house hunter's eyestalks, mouths, and tentacles. With each house hunter it varied greatly where these apertures were located, with either being all arrayed in the front or only the mouth and eyes being in the front, reserving the sides of the structure for their tentacles. Ancient house hunters often had extra tentacles arrayed on all sides of their structure.
The tongue of a house hunter varied with age. Young had tongues measuring , for adults it measured , and for an ancient house hunter it measured roughly in length. Both tongues and tentacles were coated in an adhesive slime that smelled musty. The tongue, tentacles, and eyestalks all were pseudopods and would quickly regrow if severed.
==Personality==
Young house hunters were only semi-intelligent creatures. Once they reached adulthood, a house hunter had a low degree of intellect, followed by an average degree of intellect if they reached ancient age.
==Abilities==
From any opening in their outer shell a house hunter could produce a dim, flickering light, resembling that of a candle or lantern. They could also imitate noises expected of domestic structures, such as muffled voices, farm animals, a tolling temple bell, etc.
These creatures had a strong sense of hearing, being capable of sensing vibrations from human-sized or larger creatures from as far as away.
==Combat==
House hunters typically fought by constricting prey with their tentacles until they died, then dragging them to their mouths. They assumed that any creature not resisting against their grasp was likely dead.
Young house hunters rarely ever engaged prey until an adult made the first move. And house hunters in general would wait until the most opportune time to launch an attack.
Whenever attacked from inside of its body, a house hunter would try to eject the attacker with their tentacles and then constrict them until they died. If brought close to the point of death, a house hunter would retract all appendages and close all apertures, then attempt to flee from their attackers.
==History==
Sometime before the , the adventurous youths Grin and Richard, and Wu-Wei had an encounter with a living tower that they later described as a mimic in the book The Adventures of Grin, Richard, and Wu-Wei.
==Society==
House hunters lived above-ground and traveled in packs that hunted cooperatively.
They disliked exposing their eyes and flesh to sunlight, thus house hunters preferred to travel by night and delay any attacks until dusk if they could. It was unknown how these creatures reproduced, though adults had been witnessed digging large holes in the ground that they deposited young in.
It was not uncommon to find various undigested small treasures within either a house hunter's stomach or shell wall, such as coins, gems, magic items, or more likely cursed items. If their bodies were cleaned out thoroughly of its flesh, the hard outer shells could be converted intro crude dwellings.
===Languages===
House hunters were capable of speaking a crude form of Common by the time they reached adulthood.
===Relationships===
These creatures sometimes acted as servants of Cyrrollalee, the halfling deity of hearth, home, and hospitality.
==Rumors & Legends==
* Some sages speculated that house hunters were capable of communicating telepathically within a range.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===References===
Category:Creatures with average intelligence
Category:Creatures with low intelligence
Category:Semi-intelligent creatures