Flumph

A flumph looks something like a jellyfish that took to the air. Its body is a round, flattened, mostly hollow cushion, perhaps three or four inches deep at the center and thinning to an inch or two at the rim. On top sits a round opening between two six-inch eyestalks. Underneath, a fringe of short tentacles hides a cluster of small spikes; the outermost tentacles are nimble enough to handle small objects. Common flumphs are pure white, while monastic flumphs run to pale green or yellow, their tentacles a darker shade.

It flies by drawing air in through the top hole and pushing it out of vents underneath, steering with small openings around its edge. Staying up takes little air, so it usually drifts four to six inches off the ground with a soft breeze and, in a quiet place, a faint whistle. Common flumphs cannot speak but sign with tentacles and eyestalks. About 10% of monastic flumphs can also talk in Common or some other language.

Flumphs prey on rats, frogs, lizards and similar small animals, skimming low or waiting still among reeds. Spotting prey, it lifts a foot or two and falls on it, the spikes stabbing for 1d8 damage if the attack hits. Acid from the tentacles then seeps into the wounds for 1d4 more damage per round over the next 2d4 rounds. Sturdier prey often has to be chased a little way before it dies, after which the flumph settles on top and feeds through its tentacles. Only vigorous scrubbing with 2d4 gallons of water or full immersion in a swift stream removes the acid; a quick dunk or splash will not do.

Faced with something bigger, a flumph tries to chase it off with a squirt of reeking fluid from a vent at its front, covering a 60-degree arc out to 20 feet. Anyone hit must save vs. poison or be nauseated, staggering and unable to attack for 1d4+1 rounds. For 1d4 hours afterward the victim reeks, noticeably so from up to 100 feet. If that fails, the flumph rises to 10 feet and drops on the attacker as it would on prey. Flipped upside down, a flumph is helpless.

Common flumphs are peaceful, intelligent, good-aligned wanderers. Roughly every two years one buds 1d8 tiny young from its underside, which break away after three months at two inches across, reach adult size a month later and live 20 years.

Monastic flumphs are seldom seen. They cast spells as clerics of a level equal to their Hit Dice and gather in cloisters to share learning and venerate gods no humanoid knows. A cloister may be a big cave or, in marsh and grassland, a large bower of mud and grass. Its walls are covered in bright paintings the flumphs dab on with their tentacles using natural pigments, mostly abstract swirls and curves, though a few roughly show flumphs on the hunt. A 5 HD abbot leads each cloister, assisted by one prior of 3 or 4 HD for every six members; the rest are 2 HD monks. Small bands of common flumphs sometimes live nearby, bringing food in exchange for healing or advice.

Flumphs sit near the bottom of the food chain and keep their territory clear of vermin. Their flesh tastes vile, so few creatures eat them, with the exception of ogres and certain goblinoids.