BONUS MONSTER 10:
Eyebite Zomunculus
VITREOOZE
CLASS: BIOCONSTRUCT
Free, additional supplementary monsters for the Mortasheen Tabletop RPG Core Rulebook, created by Jonathan Wojcik, additional writing and all gameplay stats by Bonnie Saucier. For use with the gameplay system by Morgan Mullins!
Description:
This monster has a thin, translucent body like an elongated eel-shaped embryo, with two long ribbon shaped tentacles sprouting from its small knoblike head. Each tentacle ends in a tapering, berry-like cluster of pink tinged eyeballs. It has no jaws, but a small, dangling protrusion of gum tissue hangs from its open head and bears a handful of thin, wispy needle-like fangs. The entire creatures dangles from two gigantic, bloated balloon-like eyeballs, covered in turn by dozens of smaller eyes.
BIOLOGY:
Organoids appear to be an error in Zomboid development, when a cystwomb forms in more specialized and relatively fresher tissues such as the brain, intestines, or in this case an eye. The resulting Zomboid embryo seems to take its growth instructions from the surrounding cells, adapting its anatomy from a single organ system.
The Vitreooze's primary optical clusters serve dual purpose as its floatation bladders, swollen with gases the creature can vent from its breathing pores to bob through the air. It feeds exclusively on fluids drawn through its short proboscis, and ferments them within its eyes to produce more gas as it cultivates nourishing bacteria.
The monster's bite injects a cocktail of Zomboid nanomons and pathogenic stem cells, which set to work deconstructing any tissues they encounter to rapidly build functional new eyes. The steadily spreading "eyepox" not only overwhelms the host's senses with new visual information, but dehydrates the host as body fluids are continuously wept from the agitated, unprotected oculars as a thick, pinkish mucus, rich with proteins and putrefying bacteria. This material is particular enriching to the Vitreooze's own flora, and it can receive visual information from any of the host's eyes (new or otherwise) through its nanomon network. It is even capable of directing its nanomons to slow or reverse the infection if need be, and can leave them almost indefinitely dormant until needed again.
The monster's parasitic eyes can continue functioning long after their host has expired, slowly feeding themselves on decaying tissues and microorganisms until only bones remain. Most scavengers know to avoid a corpse tainted by eyepox, as the infection can occasionally survive digestive acids, and the unfortunate new host experiences a full view of its new eyeballs multiplying to fill its gastro-intestinal tract.
BEHAVIOR:
The Vitreooze is highly intelligent but physically delicate, preferring to follow its meals from a safe distance until they weaken or perish, and makes strategic use of its eyepox to spread its field of vision wherever it can. Its territory is often littered with infected cadavers, sometimes as small as a network of carefully hidden rats or corvids. It can be cowardly when finally confronted, but may be aided by stronger monsters that have adapted quite well to an expanded range of vision.
A Vitreooze cornered alone is a cowardly, sniveling creature that may attempt to negotiate a partnership at all costs, emphasizing the many benefits of the "fresh perspective" it can offer.
Concept Notes:
My old "Zombie Spawn" class in the Mortasheen archive included a few mutated body organs I originally just called "homunculi." Once I started making an unrelated webcomic that also featured giant, sentient body organs, I grew to find the Mortasheen versions a little underwhelming and have since developed slightly stranger redesigns of them all, now known as organoids, but their basic forms will be referred to Zomunculi in their official titles, which was a suggestion from Bonnie.This one is brand new, not based on a prior species, and an eyeball centric Zomboid was probably long, long overdue. Putrifeyez from the other day is what happens when this monster attempts to form, only for another Zomboid embryo to absorb and repurpose it!
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