Monster Seed: Sludge Shoggoths.

Sludge Shoggoths

Well, they’re not exactly ‘shoggoths.’  Probably. One hopes.  They’re… not exactly harmless, but they’re… manageable.  And – horribly enough – valuable, too.

In its ‘natural’ aquatic form Sludge Shoggoth resembles about five hundred pounds’ worth of various gunk and garbage that will suddenly surround and consume you if you get too close.  That’s problematic, although somebody with a sharp enough knife can usually cut himself loose before he suffocates.  Sludge Shoggoths are also vulnerable to electricity, but not fire: killing one will cause the ‘body’ to dissolve back into the water.  Curiously, they have virtually no smell at all.  

As noted, Sludge Shoggoths are problematical (and terrifying).  What makes them valuable is that a Sludge Shoggoth is constantly purifying and catalyzing its local environment: dump one into a polluted lake, and within six weeks the lake will no longer be polluted.  It even ‘excretes’ heavy metals and what few chemicals it can’t break down in hard-shelled, non-reactive polymer pellets that won’t damage the environment further.  And when it runs out of stuff to eat, a Sludge Shoggoth will beach itself, curl up into a tight ball, and hibernate until it is fully submerged in water again.

In other words, this monster is a certain type of ecologist’s dream, or possibly vengeance-fueled nightmare.  And that may not be a figurative description: Sludge Shoggoths definitely register as supernatural, eldritch, and unnatural.  Perhaps it is from our dreams…