Things to Find in Oozes
Oozes have always been a fascinating monster for me: formless, mindless, yet dangerous beings who will stop at nothing to eat your heroes. They eat a lot of things, actually, and sometimes those things get stuck inside of the ooze. These trapped items can be a great way to spice up any ooze monster in order to make the formless quivering masses more intimidating than the gelatin in the refrigerator. To help you in that endeavor, here are 10 things that might be stuck in an ooze.
1. A green gelatinous cube containing a square metal box. On first examination, this box isn’t especially interesting, but to those in the know, it is incredibly important. The box is, in fact, the phylactery of the lich Necrois. Terrified that the cube will eat some adventurer who could threaten his very soul, Necrois spends nearly all of his time aiding the cube in its endeavors, and ensuring that anything it eats is already dead.
2. A yellow ochre jelly containing a swirling black vortex. The vortex is highly intriguing, almost inviting in its steady whirling, though it seems to have no effect on the quivering form of the ooze that carries it. Any character in control of a grapple with the ooze can enter the portal with a successful grapple check in lieu of doing damage. A character that does so is transported to another like portal in a different ooze somewhere in the multiverse. An individual portal always goes to the same destination, though no two portals lead to the same place. Who constructed these portals, and for what purpose, remains a mystery, as does why they are exclusively found in the bellies of various slimes.
3. Two bickering imps. Trapped forever within a weakly acidic slime, these two imps constantly bicker and argue with one another. While the ooze might not lack the digestive power to harm the imps, it is far too strong for them to escape, and thus they ride along, suspended in its gelatin mass. While it doesn’t seem like the imps should be able to speak, trapped as they are, they are clearly able to, and in truth never quiet down. The duo constantly argue with one another, and mock the ooze’s challengers who fail to secure their freedom. While most creatures would be annoyed by the imps’ constant arguing, their slime steed (as they affectionately refer to it) simply does not care.
4. The throne of Etherinia. Contained in the belly of a truly mammoth spherical ooze, this throne was devoured 13 years ago with the king still on it. Though the mighty ooze has long since destroyed the bones of the king, the throne itself is magical and has resisted digestion. According to legend, any character that sits upon it becomes the ruler of Etherinia. Despite the great bounty offered by Etherinian royalty for the recovery of the throne, the ooze remains at large. Some Ethernians have taken to worshiping the creature, and it blindly enjoys a vast following of fanatical humanoids who regularly leave it sacrifices of food and treasure.
5. A small piece of rope. A quickened rope trick spell was all that saved the hapless wizard who wandered into the path of this terrifying jelly. While the adventuring wizard was sure that his companions would save him, instead they all ran away, leaving him trapped and most assuredly doomed, as he only has 4 hours before his spell expires. Still, the wizard would happily reward anyone that could kill the ooze.
6. A surprisingly expressive skull within a black pudding. This skull seems to have survived within the black pudding, long after whatever body it was attached to was destroyed by its acidic host. The skull is human in shape and form, but is oddly expressive despite its lack of musculature and skin, able to give the appearance of conveying emotions as it shifts within the slime. Curiously, when the slime is divided, a second skull appears in the new slime body.
7. An acid-resistant fighter. This Gargantuan slime seems to have at some point grown out of proportion. Its great size and rainbow of colors should be enough to distinguish itself from other creatures; however, its most unique feature is a humanoid clad in armor, which swims back and forth throughout the monster. The fully-armored figure seems quite unharmed, and if asked, is insistent that he is just practicing his swimming and that the ooze offers better resistance than the water.
8. A wide collection of cursed items. Whatever unlucky fellow was devoured by this gelatinous cube, he left behind a fair amount of treasure. Sadly, these items might have been responsible for the young person’s untimely demise, as each item bears a terrible curse. While inside of the ooze, these items each wear heavily upon it, cursing it as it goes about its daily life and causing it to randomly shift form and lurch about in uncontrolled bursts of speed.
9. A bunch of smaller oozes. When this creature ate these oozes, and why they haven’t escaped, remains something of a mystery. Still, the colorful forms of over a dozen distinct oozes move about within the quaking body of this massive pudding. Terrifyingly, slaying the beast will likely result in freeing these slimes from their living prison, resulting in a more dangerous fight.
10. An intelligent item in an intelligent ooze. Priamvoor, an ooze which has through accident gained a potent intellect, has a problem. It devoured a paladin holding an exceedingly preachy holy sword. Though the paladin has long since expired, the sword remains, much to Priamvoor’s displeasure. The sword constantly lectures it about morality, and frankly, the ooze is sick of it. It would have long since thrown it away, but the sword is magically enchanted to remain at the spot where its master died – in this case, inside the ooze - until it is claimed by a true hero. Priamvoor apparently doesn’t qualify, despite the performance of several heroic deeds in the hopes of ridding himself of the nagging blade.