Denzelian

A denzelian is a flat, featureless disk about 10 feet wide and 6 inches thick. It looks like smooth stone, but its tough hide bends enough to squeeze through cracks and crawl up or down slopes. Its hue comes from the minerals it absorbs, usually brown or gray, occasionally bright red or yellow. Denzelians seem to converse by sending vibrations through rock, a language no outsider has mastered, though some can be trained to answer taps.

These peaceful rock-eaters fight back briefly if attacked and go to any length to kill or drive off a threat to their young. They track intruders by the tremors of their movement.

Acid seeps from the whole body, normally to bore into stone and digest it. When frightened, a denzelian pours out more and sinks into the rock, leaving a crumbly black sand. To attack, it charges at double speed and tries to trip a foe onto itself; the victim takes 5-20 acid damage, halved with a save vs. breath weapon, and on a failed save clothing and gear may suffer too.

Alternatively it tunnels above its enemies and falls. It weighs nearly 1,000 pounds and deals 4-24 to those beneath, who escape with a save vs. paralyzation. Pinned victims take acid damage automatically each following round until it moves, is hauled off or dies, though its flexible body leaves them air. Sand pours through the hole behind it; anyone within 10 feet must save vs. paralyzation or attack at -2 for 2-5 rounds, unless the grit is washed from eyes, nose and mouth sooner.

Far from civilization, denzelians wander through solid rock in search of rich minerals, which their acid breaks down for absorption through the skin. They dislike metal, so their winding tunnels are often littered with exposed ore.

They seem to have two sexes, though no sage can tell them apart. Pairs mate only once a decade, whenever a male and female happen to meet. Roughly a year afterward, the female spends a month laying 3-12 eggs, each hundreds of yards from the last. An egg is a beautiful fist-sized faceted gem like smoky quartz, holding a milky gray embryo. Rough handling kills it; otherwise it hatches in about a year, with the mother staying close enough to sense intruders.

They eat no plants or animals, and nothing eats them, since they stink and cannot be digested. Collectors pay up to 1,000 gp per egg, and rich mine owners pay as much for a viable one, since hatchlings can be trained to seek particular ores, though they get stubborn once they find a deposit they like. Alchemists value the body, especially with intact acid glands. It is a dense mix of minerals including almost pure carbon, sulfur and magnesium, and perfectly round diamonds are often found inside.