Carbuncle

Carbuncles were small armored telepathic animals resembling armadillos with a bright gem in their foreheads.
==Description==
An average carbuncle's body was long. Its interlocking leathery armor plates covered the creature's back. The back plates had attractive patterns of browns while its belly had a light grey coloration, splotched with green.
Each carbuncle had a large colorful ruby embedded in its forehead. The ruby was a part of the creature's body and crumbled to dust after its death. The ruby could remain intact if the carbuncle was convinced to voluntarily give it up by normal or magical means, such as charm. After the ruby was given up, the carbuncle naturally regrew the gem, its size and price increasing by 100 gp per month.
==Behavior==
In the wild, carbuncles often approached adventuring parties and persuaded them into helping the creatures or performing certain tasks, often tagging along with the groups. Persuasion was easy, with carbuncles having a beautiful gem to promise as a reward. Carbuncles could not be trusted, however. Their chaotic nature prompted carbuncles to use their telepathy and premonitions to lie to the adventures, pick at their insecurities, and cause internal hostilities. On some very rare occasions, carbuncles were known to collude with nearby monsters, leading adventurers into traps.
Sages were perplexed by this behavior, being unable to determine what motivated carbuncles. Some speculated that this chaotic nature that dipped into malicious deeds could be the result of carbuncles' inability to comprehend the concept of death, leading to the creatures' fascination with death and dying and trying to cause it to happen.
==Abilities==
Carbuncles had telepathic and empathetic abilities allowing them easy communication with other creatures. This psychic nature granted them a slight precognitive ability that stretched into the immediate future, allowing them to discern the character and intentions of creatures they encountered. Despite all that, carbuncles had limited intelligence and struggled to formulate much past the most basic concepts.
==Combat==
Carbuncles were not aggressive creatures and rarely put up a fight, making them easy to capture. These creatures did not fear nor understand the concept of death; they could even will themselves die if faced with suffering or duress.
==Ecology==
Carbuncles only inhabited woodlands and marshlands, as these were areas with abundant food. They fed on forest leaves and small insects. In turn, carbuncles were edible. Humans and demihumans of the Dalelands roasted carbuncles and served them in their own shells, finished with a beet sauce and garlic.
A carbuncle's ruby, if received intact, was valued at 500 gp with some immaculate specimens reaching 1,000 gp and sometimes even a whopping 5,000 gp.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
===References===
Category:Creatures with low intelligence
Category:Creatures with average intelligence
Category:Food and drink
Category:Food and drink from Toril
Category:Food and drink from Interior Faerûn
Category:Food and drink from Faerûn
Category:Food and drink from the Dalelands
Category:Food and drink from Tasseldale
Category:Food and drink from Battledale
Category:Creatures found in freshwater marshes
Category:Creatures found in forests
Category:Year of Manuscripts