VISCEDROULE
PREFIX VISCE SUFFIX DROULE

TITLE
THE ENTANGLERS
NUMBER
456
PREDATOR
CHOLERIC
HEIGHT
(SEE ENTRY)
LENGTH
16 FT
WEIGHT
2,476 LBS
SIZE VARIANCE
45%
IQ
10,087
LATIN NAME
DROLOS VINCULUM
CORE TEMP.
165F
STABILITY
58%
PREVALENCE
50%
CONSTANCY
80%
LONGEVITY
70-140 YEARS
NO. APPEARING
1
(SEE ENTRY)
INARTICULATE

physical appearance

The viscedroule is a large stranger composed of a thick, viscous fluid, its coloration varying depending upon generation conditions. Its greasy body drips and pools with ease, leaving an oily but quickly-evaporating trail of fluid behind it as it moves, and feels somewhat like pulverized flesh to the touch, leaving a thin, persistent feeling of oil on the skin that takes several washings to remove. Its eye markings are narrow and share the same color as its long, slimy tongue, which often lolls out of its open mouth. Along the viscedroule's sides, there are anywhere from four to ten long, prehensile tentacles, the material inside of which being tougher and more solid than the rest of its body in un-submerged state.

The viscedroule's fluid body can be cut through with little-to-no resistance, and any parts that are severed will melt down into a puddle of slime within seconds of being separated from the body. The viscedroule possesses very rapid regenerative ability, however, with the sides of cuts and gashes simply pressing together like clay until there is no sign of injury at all. It splatters when hit with blunt instruments, and cannot recover from this without entering submerged state.

Its voice sounds strained and tense, and is masculine in 87% of cases. It possesses no language, instead speaking through long, pained groans.


environment and generation

The viscedroule appears in a wide variety of locations. Different generation conditions tend to be conducive to different viscedroule color morphs. For example, the "blood" color morph has a distinct tendency to appear in long hallways and corridors, especially those with tile floors and white-painted concrete walls, and is especially attracted to areas where human-on-human violence has occurred in the past week. Alternately, the "water" color morph tends to appear in secluded, outdoor locations, most often after rain, and the "oil" color morph appears in parking lots or old factories. Regardless of color morph, the viscedroule will never appear in residential areas.

above: variations in color, shown in a partially-submerged state. from left to right: blood, water, oil, algae, pink slime. all are equally common except for pink slime, which is very rare.

The viscedroule first forms as a palm-sized puddle of liquid, which grows in size in spatters and pools until it reaches a diameter of roughly six to ten feet, at which point the stranger begins to emerge head-first. It moves as though crawling out of a hole using every ounce of its strength, groaning ceaselessly as it does so, until it finishes generating, at which point it lies dormant for a short while before either shuddering forward or submerging on the spot.

5% of viscedroule fail to generate, collapsing suddenly with a resounding splattering, before sliding back into whatever unseen hole they emerged from. The resulting puddle proceeds to evaporate away within about 15 minutes.

behavior and effects

The viscedroule possesses a weary, discomfited disposition, dragging itself along with its tentacles and making low, bleary moaning sounds with each pull, as though simply moving is a herculean task for it. Due to its fluid composition, the viscedroule is able to compress itself down into a thin form, resembling an inert puddle in this state. It is capable of "surfacing" any of its body parts from this state independently, the process of doing so visually resembling its body emerging from submersion in a pool of liquid. Under normal circumstances, the viscedroule prefers to rest in this state, moving only when disturbed, provoked or in active pursuit of a sensitive. In full un-submerged state, the viscedroule's large head reaches a height of about six feet and four inches (approx. 1.9 meters).

The viscedroule's awareness and vision of its surroundings is limited to an exactly 6-foot (approx. 1.8 meter) radius around it. It seems to be unable to percieve anything outside of this radius at all, and the size of said radius is exact down to the micrometer- a person standing 6 feet and 2 inches away is effectively invisible to the viscedroule (unless one of their body parts is within range), while a person standing 6 feet away becomes perceptible. The viscedroule reacts to things in this range as though it has near vision.

Living things that happen to walk over or land on the viscedroule in its submerged state will be consumed by the viscedroule, with anywhere from a small rippling of its fluid mass to an extension of two or more tentacles depending on the size and amount of struggling. A living thing engulfed by the viscedroule in this way will be visible as what appears to be a large, opaque bubble in the puddle, often unintentionally betraying the viscedroule's presence to observant sensitives. Inside these bubbles, the object (or creature) is slowly melted down. Plants dissolve entirely, while animals' blood will often stain the viscedroule's body for a short while, turning a patch of its skin faintly red.

Inanimate objects mistakenly presumed as living by the viscedroule are not damaged by its internal processes, and will eventually be dropped out of its body without issue (outside of potential liquid damage).

interactions with sensitives

The viscedroule becomes particularly aggressive in the presence of a sensitive, often reaching out a tentacle to grasp at the sensitive's ankles or anything else within reach instead of waiting for them to step onto it, should they enter its radius of vision. Once the sensitive has been snared, the viscedroule may even un-submerge itself in (something that resembles) excitement, licking at its dripping lips while dragging the sensitive towards them. A sensitive that manages to escape this grasp, as difficult of a task as that is- considering the viscedroule's great strength- will find themselves actively pursued by the stranger, in one of the only times that it will entirely un-submerge.

Should a sensitive be cornered by the viscedroule, or grabbed by its lashing tentacles, they are engulfed like any other living thing. Unlike plants and animals, which simply slide into its body with no resistance, sensitives appear to require some effort on the viscedroule's part to fully absorb and melt down, tugging on the sensitive's limbs and shoulders with calm, yet somewhat annoyed determination. The viscedroule will often remain partially un-submerged in order to contain the sensitive until they dissolve entirely, be that holding them down with its tentacles or simply laying its head atop them.

Due to its slow speed, typically-stationary nature and limited vision, the viscedroule can be avoided by a quick or knowledgeable sensitive, as remaining out of its vision range will prevent it from becoming aware of them at all.

aging and death

The viscedroule dies abruptly at the end of its life, with this death being either silent or dramatic depending on whether or not the viscedroule is submerged. A submerged viscedroule will simply become inert on death, its fluid matrix losing cohesion and evaporating over the course of a week. A non-submerged viscedroule will hack and scream as its thrashing body quickly falls apart in chunks until it melts down into a pool of fluid, which evaporates over the course of a week as well.