Bloated Maw

## Introduction

No matter how grotesque the environment, life is obnoxiously persistent in proving that horrible creatures can live horrible lives in every crack and crevice of this world. The Bloated Maw is one such horrible creature: a species of fish so gorged with food and so free of predation that it has evolved into a blind, meandering being with no goal except to consume and produce spawn in its ever-expanding habitat of Carrion Lake.

## Appearance

Adult Bloated Maws resemble an over-inflated stomach, much like a balloon blown up just a bit too large, on the verge of popping. Contrary to their outward appearance their skin is in fact quite tough, and only looks to be close to bursting because it is semi-transparent.

As their food supply in Carrion Lake is quite practically limitless, Bloated Maws never close their mouths. Adults possess an extensive baleen (“whale filter”) to allow soft organ chunks and other bits if decaying flesh into their system while keeping out rings, brooches, and other miscellaneous adventurer leavings.

Possessing eyes, a nose, or a sense of taste would be a death sentence for any creature actually entering the slime of the Lake, so the Bloated Maw has none of these. In place of sight, the round body of the creature grows several long, thin tendrils of flesh which trail down to the mountain of bones which compose the bed of the lake. With the sensation of their tentacles running over bone, Bloated Maws are able to keep themselves close to the darkest depths of the Lake and far away from any possible predators.

## Ecology

For whatever reason it is that life decides to continuously proliferate, Bloated Maws insist on laying thousands upon thousands of eggs within the skulls and ribcage of the Lake floor, to be fertilized by any hermaphroditic partner. The spawn of Bloated Maws differ wildly from their adult counterparts: because their mouths are smaller they cannot simply bob along the bottom of the Lake absorbing any corpse-chunks which cross their path, and instead have no choice but to swim the length and depth of Carrion Lake in a mad dash for refuse small enough for them to digest. Still lacking any vision, Bloated Maw spawn swim and thrash wildly in large clusters, using their trailing tentacles to feel the presence of each other instead of the bones of the Lake.

## Combat

> **Fully Aquatic**:
>
>

> **Blind**:
>
>

Fully grown Bloated Maws pose nearly no threat to Denizens, as they are both lumberingly slow and nearly inaccessible. The spawn, however, will devour whatever they can find, so if for some reason a living creature did manage to make it into the sludge of Carrion Lake without dying of disease first, any exposed flesh on their body would quickly be torn away by swarms of the blind creatures.

## Treasure

At one point in humankind’s history within the Dungeon, desperation pushed one community to fish for, cook, and subsequently eat the slimy flesh of Bloated Maw spawn. This marked the beginning of the Red-Netters, who now live their entire lives camped around the edges of - or floating on metal barges in the middle of - Carrion Lake.

Consuming the meat of a Bloated Maw or their spawn for the first time has an immediate and terrible effect. The creature’s flesh itself is so caustic that it causes one’s tongue to soften, bubble, and eventually liquefy into a pool of black ooze in your month, typically spat out in a great glob within a few minutes of one’s first taste of Bloated Maw. This grueling process is the secret as to how it is possible for Red-Netters to survive not only in proximity to the lake, but directly on top of it in their metal dinghies. As most living creatures die of agonizing sickness simply by coming anywhere close to the lake, nearly the only choice humanoids have is to remove their sense of taste and smell via Bloated Maw spawn. In fact, this also entails that a potential Red-Netter is required to imbibe in Bloated Maw meat before they ever come close to the lake in the first place - an initiation of sorts.

Due to the nature of their diet and environment - the liquid passing slowly through their gills all throughout their lives - the Bloated Maw have perhaps the toughest and most efficient immune system of all creatures in the Dungeon. Red-Netters (and a select few other mystical sorts) hold that repeated consumption of the organs of these foul fish can promote vitality and longer lifespans. If you ask the right person, some even say that the steady consumption of Bloated Maw can grant immortality.