Gorgeling
Born from blood of an all-devouring titan, gorgelings carry on the monstrous nature and purpose of their progenitor. They are tenacious and cruel creatures with a culture of hunters. Though feral and untamed, they are a force to be reckoned with, and an invaluable ally to come upon.
From the belly of a Titan
Gorgelings believe that their species were born from flesh of an ancient titan, commonly known as the Allgorger. According to the folklore of gorgelings and some other cultures, the Allgorger was a dreadful creature of cosmic scale who existed in the very dawn of times, and whos only purpose was to devour all matter, driven by insatiable hunger, until there is nothing left but empty space and the titan himself. The beast would devour world after world, with no one there to stop him, until a mighty celestial warrior confronted him in battle and ripped his guts open with a flaming sword, releasing all that the titan has consumed. The blood and flesh of the creature then scattered across the universe, forming into gorgelings and other microscopic manifestations of the titan's former glory.
They also believe that even though the Allgorger is long dead, his remnants, floating in the starry sea, are still warm. And that the embers of hunger present in them can still reach out and speak to some gorgelings, even grant them magic, and otherwise influence the world, like how a deity would.
Voracious Monstrosities
The features of gorgelings much resemble those the Allgorger was known to have. Each gorgeling bears a number of uniquely spread and shaped horns across their body; their skin is hard, sometimes spiked, and can have green, brown, purple, red or gray coloration. They also have a very thick and soft tail, which purpose is presumably storing fat and water. But their most notable features are, of course, the giant eye in the center of their face, and the teethy maw taking up most of their stomach.
Despite them having a huge eye, gorgelings, contrary to the popular belief, do not have excellent vision. In fact, it is actually worse than the vision of humans and most other races, due to gorgeling's underwhelming depth perception (the ability to tell distances and scales). Because of that, gorgelings rarely ever resort to ranged combat (though it isn't impossible for them), and they hate vast open spaces, preferring to remain within dense forests or cities.
Hunting Grounds
Gorgelings generally live solitary lives, making their living with hunting (sometimes choosing not only beasts as their prey). They are very territorial creatures, and would fight any unwelcomed invader of their claimed space, including other gorgelings.
A cluster of neighboring gorgeling hunting grounds is called a shek'reba (from gorgeling tongue - "gathering of kin"). Every shek'reba has a special central religious place, called a Graamwugwa, led by a number of special gorgelings-shamans with a strong connection to the Allgorger. All gorgelings of the shek'reba must always obey to the shamans and answer their call, or be collectively exiled from the shek'reba.
The shamans usually gather the shek'reba for two reasons: call to arms and Ulken'Khagra (The Great Devouring), the greatest religious event in their culture, combining a tournament, a bazaar and an offering ceremony.
During Ulken'Khagra, gorgelings are tasked to slay the declared biggest and most dangerous foe in the area (sometimes it can be even a lord of a castle), devour them and bring a trophy for their god. A winner is rewarded with higher social status, as well as various material goods.
All artwork is made by me: twitter.com/bjornignas
A gorgeling-courtesan. The teeth in the maw are removed entirely, and the tusks on the facial mouth are filed down.
All artwork is made by me: twitter.com/bjornignas
Gorgeling Names
The gorgeling speech is filled with guttural gurgling and rumbling sounds, somewhat like a hungry stomach or a growling beast, much fitting to their nature. They have personal names given at birth, but a gorgeling is best defined by their hunter name, created after the biggest prey they've managed to slay and devour. The hunter name largely determines a gorgeling's social status.
Male Names: Krusk, Mhurren, Galbr, Grinn, Red, Brolgrax, Ghrat, Ermond.
Female Names: Errin, Urri, Vrax, Pleeya, Khanma, Laugra, Bhamma, Frreja.
Hunter Names: Dragonslayer, Mammoth-eater, Bearhide, Griffonwing, Rhino-Khagrash, Basilisk Gorger, Goblin Scourge, Kingeater, Mephit-Khagrash, Threehorn.
Gorgeling Traits
Your gorgeling character has the following traits, common for all gorgelings.
Ability score improvement. Your Constitution score increases by 2, and your Strength, Wisdom or Charisma (your choice) score increases by 1.
Age. Gorgelings mature to adulthood by the age of 13 and normally live up to 80 years, but the few most well-fed ones are known to live up to 500 years, growing in size and appetite over time to truly gigantic proportions, until their hunger outpaces their capabilities and becomes impossible to satisfy.
Alignment. The natural craving for devouring and destruction present in all gorgelings often draws them towards chaos and evil.
Size. Gorgelings significantly vary in size, depending on how well-fed they are, ranging anywhere between 5 feet and 8 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Ravenous Maw. You have a gaping toothy maw in your stomatch, with a long tongue hanging out of it. The maw has an interior space considerably larger than your outside dimensions, roughly 1 foot in diameter at the mouth and 5 feet deep. Any creatures or objects within the maw take 1 acid damage every 1 minute. You can spew out all the contents of the maw anytime on your turn (no action required). When you attempt to grapple a creature, you can use the maw in place of a free hand. While grappling a creature, your maw is considered a natural weapon which you can use to make unarmed strikes against the grappled creature. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Predator Instincts. You have proficiency in two skills, choosing from the following: Athletics, Intimidation, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival.
Omniphagus. You have resistance against poison damage, and you are immune to the poisoned condition. Additionally, you have advantage on saving throws against diseases, as well as any negative effects caused by consuming a substance.
Gluttony. If there is a corpse within 5 feet of you, you can use an action to completely devour it with your maw, provided its Size isn't larger, or smaller by more than one Size category, than yours. When you do so, you gain temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + your level. The corpse is then dissolved within the maw in span of seconds. Once you've devoured a creature in this way, you can't use this trait until you finish a short or long rest.
Additionally, you need to consume five times the normal amount of food per day to avoid the effects of starvation, and you can only go without food for a number of days equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1) before suffering the effects of starvation.
Poor Depth Perception. You have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to estimate distances, as well as on ranged attack rolls, if whatever you're trying to perceive or attack is more than 100 feet away from you.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Common and Gorgetongue. Gorgetongue is a strange language, that utilizes a lot of guttural, growling sounds, resembling rumblings of a hungry stomach.
Maw hound
Medium monstrosity (gorgeling), unaligned
- Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
- Hit Points 39 (6d8 + 12)
- Speed 40 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 19 (+4) 15 (+2) 14 (+2) 2 (-4) 8 (-1) 8 (-1)
- Skills Perception +1, Stealth +4
- Damage Resistances Poison
- Condition Immunities Poisoned
- Senses passive Perception 11
- Languages Understands Abyssal but can't speak
- Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Keen hearing and smell. The maw hound has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Poor Depth Perception. The maw hound has disadvantage on any attack roll against a target more than 30 feet away.
Pounce. If the maw hound moves at least 20 feet straight toward a creature and then hits it with a claw attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a DC 13 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone. If the target is prone, the maw hound can make one maw attack against it as a bonus action.
Actions
Multiattack. The maw hound makes two attacks with its claws.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) slashing damage.
Maw. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 14). Until this grapple ends, the maw hound can't use its maw on another target. As long as the target is grappled, it takes 2 (1d4) piercing and 5 (2d4) acid damage at the start of each of the maw hound turns.
Acidic Bile. Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 20/60 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (3d4 + 2) acid damage.
The Maw Hounds
Gorgelings aren't the only creatures born from the scattered essence of the Allgorger. The titan's blood has an ability to evolve into hideous monsters, or even merge with and transform a creature it comes in contact with. One of these mutant species are called maw hounds.
The common theory is that they originated from ancient canines who were consumed by the hungering substance thousands of years ago. They are now aknowledged as aboriginal inhabitants in many places, spreading terror and carnage to forests and deserts. Gorgelings sometimes use the maw hounds to aid them in battles, as well as to track their prey.
All artwork is made by me: twitter.com/bjornignas