Flumph Ecology

by Fortuan

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Flumph Ecology

I n my time spent in the Underdark, I was always in fear of my life. While stalked by the horrors in the dark. Until I met the strange Flumph. Since then I've never met such a friendly and kind creature, and I owe my life to them and happily call them friends. - Underdark Survivor

Introduction

The Flumph (used as both singular and plural) are creatures that few find but almost always come back to tell the tale. Flumph are known to be very kind and helpful to other good alignment beings and are a welcome sight to most in the Underdark. They look physically weak but are highly intelligent and extremely powerful psionically. Psionics regard flumphs as powerful beings.

Flumph Physiology

Origins

Their origins are unknown as no other creature seems to be related in any way to a flumph, some theorizing they are of another plane. Despite this otherworldly nature, they are remarkably adapted to their lives in the Underdark and seldom find themselves in a dangerous situation that can't be handled.

Appearance

Flumph appear to be floating jellyfish at first sight. A dome-like body with tentacles hanging down sort of drifts through the air. Where they differ is large eye-stalks sprouting from the dome and a large toothless mouth between the stalks used only for breathing. They also glow soft, inviting hues belaying their emotions.

Glowing Emotions

It has been observed that they usually are glowing soft pinks as they are content working throughout the day. Other colors have been found, Green seemed to show curiosity, Blue was an indicator of sadness, Red was anger, Yellow fear, Orange has been observed as a mix of fear and anger usually seen in battle. It was also noted the more brilliant the color, the more intense the emotion.

Floating Locomotion

The gentle drifting in the air is controlled by several air jets attached at the bottom of the dome structure. They float using the wind to a varying degree. They gulp in air and expel it through the jets. There's a wider central air jet for a sudden fast movement that gives them their namesake for the "Flumph" sound it makes. It's also noted that they do not appreciate being called as such. It was pointed out that if they happen to land eyestalks down, they have trouble up righting themselves. This was especially true for younger members of the cloister. It's common practice for young to flip each other and race to upright as it was called.

Experts in Camouflage

When in danger, they prefer to hide and disguise themselves as the glowing mushrooms commonly found in their environment. A flumph will "sit" their tentacles on the ground, bunching them together to appear as a stalk of a mushroom and retract the eyestalks and close their mouths. It takes practice for a flumph as younger ones who have less control of emotions may accidentally attract intruders giving of brilliant yellows.

Flumph will avoid any danger or simply just hide from any potential threats. If they need to fight, they employ hit and run tactics and work as a team.

When in battle, they use their tentacles to club attackers close to them. They will start by spraying a target with a foul-smelling liquid that is quite poisonous to other creatures. They can only do this once a day, so it's used sparingly. They prefer to hit a target and disengage and let another flumph move in for an attack. Because of this, many attackers simply gave up.

Psionic Feeders

Flumph are considered very dangerous to psionic beings as they feed off of psionic energy as a food source. Feeding was never "observed" as they seem to just consistently do so with ought any physical indication. They usually do this at a safe distance and without notice from the beings they feed off of. Illithids are the most common food source, but Aboleth and other psionic beings are found in some cases. Many of the creatures they feed off do not suffer any ill effects. However, when too many feed off or feed too much, they can become weakened and even die. This is dangerous for the Flumph as they could be discovered if a community becomes suspicious. It's hard for psionics to detect a flumph as they are always protected by a shroud of psionic energy. It's well known to Illithid that Flumph are to be dealt with physically, mostly by slaves. Flumph are also found outside of drow cities but in smaller cloisters as psionics are less common in the race.

As a result of feeding, they can see into the mind of the victim, and since they usually end up feeding on evil creatures, they end up seeing many evil and base acts. Being good creatures, they do not enjoy seeing such things and eventually build up enough to weigh on them heavily. They usually "vent" to community members to relieve the stress, but those who can't vent can turn into a Dark Flumph.

Flumph can feed off of non-psionic creatures' thoughts as long as there is some amount of intelligence. Doing so is not considered desirable as it can be excruciating to the victim and is poor feeding. This is avoided most of the time, but if desperate, they can do so.

Life Cycle

Children reach adulthood in a matter of 3 years. Once they are adults, they usually leave the cloister to find a suitable mate referred to as the departure. The cloister revered this going with fear for the child and was very supportive. Typically children did not stay as a cloister too large would be discovered. It was observed that this was a perilous time for a Flumph as they did not have any member to "vent" to until they find a mate. The flumph emits a psionic signal that indicates it is looking. When 2 potential mates meet up, they immediately vent. They seemed to then search for a suitable food source away from their cloisters although visiting from time to time socially. Eventually, pairs searching find other couples and form their own cloisters.

Social Observations

Living in Cloisters

Flumph live in groups called cloisters. They are composed of usually 4 to 6 pairs of adults, and there can be up to 1 child per couple. This depends heavily on the availability of a food source and can range upwards of 15 pairs. The pairs are mated individuals that stay together for life, usually raising 2 to 4 children over a lifetime. It seems that breeding numbers were calculated as they would only replace members in lower food source regions and build up in abundance. A flumph lives around 50 to 60 years, and once it finds a mate stays with them for life. If a mate dies, a Flumph will only last a few hours as the profound depression can affect them so ultimately that they'll die as a result. In a cloister, other members console the remaining mate as much as possible but finally know their fate. The cloister has no reverence for the dead bodies and simply moves them to a location where scavengers won't be attracted to the cloister.

Reproduction

How Flumph reproduce wasn't revealed as it was considered a private affair. It didn't seem to be a long affair as a pair would float off and be back within a few hours. It was usually reserved for the sleeping times of the cloister and didn't occur very often. Flumph are pregnant for only a few months and give birth through the large central jet. The central jet was never used during pregnancy seems to be a result of the pregnancy. This seemed to be dangerous for the female, so the mated pair were usually protected, and it seemed only 1 duo would be expecting at a time. Young are very quick to learn and become fully mentally capable in a few days. Motor skills were developed over a few weeks as newborns instinctively crawl up onto the mother's dome. Newborns immediately naturally feed on the nearby food sources.

Cloister Frequency

Cloisters can sometimes not be far apart only a half-mile or so as food can be extremely abundant since a cloister can usually feed off of only 1 or 2 psionic creatures. The more powerful the brain, the better the food source. Creatures like Aboleth can by themselves support a cloister of 15 and still not feel any effects.

Roles in a Community

The community usually is concerned, aside from feeding with safety. All members of a cloister seem to immediately accept a role and play its part to the key. Some teachers or children watchers guide young in groups to learn about their world and explain things. There are alert sentries for dangerous predators that are far from susceptible to psionic defenses. Then some cleaners simply keep the area they live in clean. There seems to be at least one individual that is concerned with relations with other beings. They will regularly communicate with other cloisters or be the spokesperson to outsiders. There are also sometimes in larger communities scouts to guide young in a safer direction during the departure. Scouts would go long distances, and aside from the young themselves are most susceptible to becoming dark.

Interactions with other Species

Creatures of Intelligence

Flumph regard intelligent outsiders with curiosity or simply avoid them. Being very intelligent and psionic, they attempt to communicate psionically; they cannot do so verbally. If they can't communicate immediately, they will very carefully try to probe an intruder to determine motives and react either friendly or on alert. They will never reveal themselves purposefully without determining if an outsider is dangerous our not. If warm, they will attempt to visually communicate with an individual by showing their curiosity or green hue. They will then try to carefully work their way into the outsider’s thoughts to convey. Once communication is established, they greet and welcome good outsiders offering safety and information or any help they can. Neutral individuals make them cautious, but if asked, they are willing to help.

Concept of Self

If introduced to the cloister, the Flumph will present themselves as individuals. They don't have a name for the species as a whole and only address individuals in naming. It's been noted that when first called Flumph, they found it very rude to be named after their locomotion. They refer to cloisters by family ties or if no link exists by a few individuals and their location. Flumph are especially eager to warn and help adventurers with either avoiding or safely confronting their food source. They are cautious about revealing locations for fear of individuals’ lives. Although they hold no love for a food source as with their usual evil nature, they will not help individuals kill it. They do not stop such actions and avoid violence even in this situation, but they will deceive to protect a food source.

Befriending Outsiders

It's not uncommon for them to befriend good individuals and treat them warmly as a trusted friend. They are always kind and pleasant and will provide ample hospitality for any friend. They even go as far as to attempt to gather food and water for a friend. Venting to a friend is considered a high honor and usually only reserved for a mate as it is done only with extremely trusted individuals. Venting has the potential to harm an intelligent creature of any non-evil alignment. This is an attack against one's will (or wisdom) that forms a bond with an individual. This bond cannot be broken to the Flumph, and they will stay with that individual for life. Venting can be done to multiple creatures but causes complexities with more and more individuals as it is usually reserved for parents and mates exclusively. If an individual who has been vented to dies, the Flumph regards this as a great sadness. Much like a trusted friend or relative dying. It seems that only the mate dying affects it so profoundly to death, but that may be due to the mate being vented to the most.

Variants

Dark Flumph

These individuals have not vented long enough that evil thoughts have built up and caused them to mentally deteriorate. They gain a psionic blast that can be lethal to even lower intelligence creatures as they are trying to vent to anything it can. Typically Dark Flumphs don't live very long as they'll disregard safety for the need to vent on any creature. They are easily indicated by quickly flashing between emotions, almost rainbow-like flashing, and always brilliantly.

Aquatic Flumph

These flumphs are found underwater in the pools and lakes of the Underdark or even rivers. They tend to favor Aboleth as prey but will find any source suitable for food. Instead of air jets they have water jets and breath through gills; thus, the mouth is replaced with gill slits.

DM's Toolbox

Flumph are considered a silly creature in D&D's history, but they can be used as a joke or as a believable part of any world. Many scenarios can be used with flumphs.

  • Gather information on the surrounding or an evil city they are feeding off of

  • Players can Help Flumph move to a new food source

  • DMs can use Flumph cloisters as a morality issue to choose between letting a city of evil thrive so the Flumph can survive or just wipe the town and make the Flumph figure it all out.

  • A role-play scenario of trying to communicate for the first time with a seemingly alien race

  • A quest to help a young adult find a mate

  • A deadly encounter with a Dark Flumph

  • Help protect a cloister from a dangerous creature

Thanks for Reading

help contribute to the monster ecology project!

Edit 5/27/2020 - Thanks for reading my 1st ever ecology!

Fortuan's Ecologies

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