Gibbering Mouther

*HEY! Hey meatbag! HEY FILTH! Filth! Yeah, YOU! C'mere you delicious crunchy bag of meat! FILTH! WHERE YOU GOING? Hey! HEY! YOU DIRTY FUCKER! YEAH YOU BETTER RUN! Hey FILTH! Come BACK!*

* A gibbering mouther on a good day.

## Introduction

Madness personified. Nightmare-made-flesh. A creature of amorphous flesh, eyes, and mouths, the Gibbering Moutheris a an aberration unlike any other known monster. Many theories have been put forth about the Mouther's place-of-origin, striving to find some sort of framework to explain it's nature. Most believe that Limbo is the only place that could spawn such a horror, but many others argue that the Void is infinite, and there are multitudes of Planes that we cannot even imagine where perhaps these types of lifeforms are normal. Others will say that they have no Plane, and spring forth from the minds of sleeping Elder Gods, and some even claim that they arise from the energies arising from the trauma of many conscious minds, much like Feyr do.

## Physiological Observations

Whatever it's beginnings, there can be no doubt that the Mouther is a terrifying predator. It moves with an alien grace, almost flowing like liquid. It is a huge amorphous blob covered in eyes and fanged mouths, that it stretches out with pseudopods in any direction to grab and devour prey.

Some have been reported being slightly larger than man-sized, and one asylum patient claimed she observed a Mouther that was the size of a house (her claims that it destroyed her entire village was later proved true). The creature propels itself in two main ways; by oozing along the ground, in a peristaltic wave, (and it is decidely faster when traveling over mud, snow, or water), or pulling itself over walls and ceilings by means of extended pseudopods - the mouths of the Mouther actually bite and grip the surface of whatever its climbing across.

If still, they resemble a wet pile of earth or stone. There is a miasma of stink around them that cannot be ignored. Ammonia and feces seems to be the two that are reported the most, but Mouthers smelling of sulfur, formaldehyde and even turpentine have been observed.

The eyes and mouths covering a Mouther are said to come from the prey it devours, however many new research papers have postulated that new eyes and mouths appear at random, and the multitudinous babble that pours from it are not the memories of its prey, but more often just a muddle of nonsense. Heated retorts have been declared in public and the debate continues. What it does illustrate is how little we really know of these aberrations.

Because they are covered in living eyes, Mouthers can see in all directions simultaneously, and can never be surprised. Mouthers have never been observed at sleep and most agree they do not need sleep, but can relax and close its eyes and mouths when in ambush.

Some have speculated that Mouthers can breathe through anaerobic respiration and are unable to be suffocated. This has never been tested.

The prevalent theory is that the Mouther's nervous system is decentralized, meaning no brain tissue as we would recognize it, but there is a vocal minority who claims to hold evidence that the Mouther's brain is found in one central location, much like humanoids.

Mouthers have been observed "giving birth" - when enough victims have been devoured, the Mouther splits itself into two smaller creatures, much like Oozes and Puddings. The two new creatures each have around half of the size of parent form, and immediately seek to distance themselves from one another. Nothing is known about lifecycles, or even if the Mouthers have one. Perhaps their size is merely a reflection of how much prey it has consumed?

## Social Observations

Mouthers are not naturally friendly. They do not socialize. If you aren't a Mouther, you are food. If you are, you are to be avoided. Mouthers do not wage war on one another. When two meet, they determine who should leave on some level that we cannot comprehend, and age or size does not seem to make a difference. There is some speculation that if two Mouthers were forced into the same area and could not leave, that they would merge into a larger version rather than fight, and this could explain the observations of witnesses, but does seem less practical on a biological level.

## Behaviorial Observations

The creature appears to have no real intelligence, most agree it only rates a 1 on the Moldvay Scale. It exists only to devour, and while it can survive on vegetable and mineral resources, it's real hunger is for flesh. Animals, humanoids, monsters, whatever it can catch.

The Mouther appears to be completely insane. It howls and gibbers in dozens, sometimes hundreds of voices, depending on size, and any creature who hears this cacophony is usually driven from the area in sheer terror. Only the very stoic can face a Mouther in battle.

Mouthers have two incredible abilities. One appears to be biological, the other, some force of the Unknown. The biological ability is a spitting of ammonium iodide from any one of its mouths. When this spittle strikes a hard surface, it causes a bright, dazzling flash, and is often used to blind prey. Some arcane force little understood also gives the Mouther the ability to soften rock and stone to the consistency of loose quicksand in an area around the Mouther beyond it's physical body. This gives the Mouther an indisputable advantage when hunting, and Mouthers are actually*faster* in watery terrain.

That being said, their almost non-existant intelligence usually results in a Mouther's own death by simple greed. Most Mouthers die of starvation, not battle. If they become trapped in an area for only a few days without any source of food, they die and their corpses aspirate away through some planar transfer we do not understand yet. In short, we have never been able to dissect or study a dead Mouther. They do not seem to hoard treasure, and have not been observed using magic items.

## Inter-Species Observations

These insane abominations are incapable of understanding what cooperation means, so they are unable to form attachments for mutual benefit, but they *are* capable of being dominated by creatures with formidable will and power.

Mouthers have been used as shock troops in wars across the Planes, and they are most often found in the company of Demons, who find them hilarious. Agents of Chaos will often have dominated Mouthers that serve as assassins and "biological weapons". Powerful sorcerers often keep them as "pets". Mouthers can be found serving nearly any powerful, intelligent creature.