Kalabon

Kalabons were a type of devil native to Malbolge of the Nine Hells, the unexpected byproduct of the death of Malagard, the Hag Countess, at the hands of Glasya, daughter of Asmodeus. Having torn themselves away from the remnants of her corpse, kalabons sought only to rebuild the Hag Countess, but were denied this by her killer. The essence of the Countess living on in them, the kalabons awaited the day they could unite in recreating their former self, suffering all the time.
==Description==
Kalabons appeared as roughly tall, heaps of glistening flesh slick with the blood and pus that leaked from their orifices. They walked around on three stumpy legs, and had notably little in the way of bones. When piled on top of each other into heaps of quivering flesh they resembled giant tumors or masses of butchered meat.
==Personality==
Kalabons were tortured creatures trapped in a state of constant, maddening pain brought on by the psychic screams and anguish of deceased Malagard. This frequently prevented from doing much more than collapsing into pitiful weeping, sobbing, muttering, grumbling and shaking, and they sought out and comforted each other by gathering into piles, as befit their perverse compulsion to rebuild the Countess. They retained fragments of her memories, but were severely unintelligent.
Dismal as their existence was, kalabons were nonetheless also ravenously hungry monsters that hated everyone and everything. They would kill any creature they encountered unless commanded not to by Glasya, their lawfulness and commitment to order best expressed by their continued service to her, but even then she was forced to destroy them with startling regularity when individuals occasionally lashed out.
==Abilities==
Kalabons exuded acid from their tentacles, and were immune to acid themselves. They were also invulnerable to the cold, and quickly healed from injuries. They exuded a stench that sickened all non-baatezu around them, and could see in the dark, though they were sensitive to bright light.
Kalabons' most unique quality was their ability to form up into masses more powerful and difficult to destroy than individuals. The more they gathered, the bigger they became, and the more tentacles they had at their disposal. Joined kalabons could burst out from the collective afterwards.
==Combat==
Kalabons most commonly lived and fought in small groups called colonies, which usually broke up into their component kalabons to better fan out and hunt for food. Upon spotting targets, kalabons would often shrilly shriek to attract the others of their colony, creating a horrible chorus before reassembling into one or two masses and swarming their enemies. If on the verge of defeat, kalabons would break down into individual parts to flee and attempt to preserve as many of their colony as possible. Kalabons were also capable of learning some tactics, such as disguising themselves as carrion heaps.
==Society==
Kalabon colonies could consist of only two kalabons, but larger ones had about eight members. Devouring everything in their path, they left a trail of dead vegetation, gnawed skeletons and general destruction in their wake. Rare beyond Malbolge but common within the plane's "Hair Forest" were "cancers" of kalabons, immense, voracious masses made up of over thirty of the creatures. Lone kalabons were oddities most likely attributable to an attack that destroyed the others, and usually kept out of sight tailing possible prey until they could find others of their kind.
==Ecology==
Kalabons were spontaneously generated from Malagard's remains, emerging from her rotting flesh and growing from her hardened bones.
Kalabons reproduced after consuming enough food, swelling and distending before budding and popping into two in a most disturbing way. Unlike normal devils, kalabons grew in power by joining into colonies. Groups of kalabons left alone, even if isolated or active, swelled with corruption, and with time would merge, bloat and expand into larger, singular versions of their common kin.
Kalabons were known to possess feelers in their nostrils through which they sampled the air. They could instinctively sense creatures that enjoyed Glasya's favor and were particularly dangerous to such hated foes.
Kalabons lurked in the shadowy corners of Malbolge awaiting Glasya's orders, but sometimes blundered through various passages into the Material Plane, where they invariably wreaked havoc. Sometimes clerics of Glasya and other diabolic casters summoned kalabons (such as with various versions of the summon monster spell) and intentionally set them loose to rampage across peaceful forests.
==Appendix==
===Non-canon===
According to the non-canon source Pipyap's Guide to All of the Nine Hells, the kalabons began to feed on each other after the last of Malagard's remains disappeared (and Malbolge returned to its incarnation before Malagard's death), becoming rarer over time. Rumors circulated that the more they devoured each other, the less they heard the Hag Countess's mental screams, and the more they could defy Glasya's commands. Most disturbingly of all, some kalabons began to take on a female humanoid appearance with purplish skin and a mane of white feelers- an appearance that some said was reminiscent of the Hag Countess.
===References===
===Connections===
Category:Creatures found in Malbolge
Category:Creatures found in the Nine Hells