Golothoma

Golothomas were worm-like obyrith demons most common in the lightless tunnels of Ugudenk's Writhing Realm. The terrifying creatures dripped with darkness, and fulfilled their compulsive need to consume by drawing other creatures into their squirming shadows.^[2]

“

Its ravenous hunger is not blunted by the lack of a mouth, and this fact makes the spectacle of a golothoma feeding frenzy all the more horrific.

”

— The Demonomicon of Iggwilv^[2]

Description[]

Golothomas were massive, vaguely serpentine creatures whose knotted bodies bulged in bizarre places, and from which spikes jutted out at random points. At their front was a yellow, snake-like eye. This was ringed by five insectoid arms, each three-jointed, covered in horns and ridges, and tipped by a cluster of talons and claws. At their end was a tail that, though it lacked a stinger, was held up like a scorpion's and trickled with coils of black, thick, sticky acid. The misshapen shadow of a golothoma wasn't simply the result of its body blocking the light; the shadow existed regardless of the illumination around it and didn't match up with the golothoma's body.^[2]

Behavior[]

Golothomas barely had the intelligence required to telepathically belch out the few Abyssal words they knew, engaging only in the most limited conversation. For the most part they were simply predators driven to consume the bodies of other creatures by a never-ending hunger, a primal compulsion deeper than any mere biological requirement for survival.^[2]

Abilities[]

Golothomas were extremely physically dangerous, possessing incredible strength, dexterity, and endurance, and able to strike with all their claws and their tails in just a few seconds. They swam and burrowed faster than they moved on land, but even if incapable of reaching their prey they could reach between dimensions to swipe with their claws from afar, mixing in physical and ranged slashes at a whim. The shadow dripping from their tail was also dangerous, not simply because it was a potent acid, but because some of it could end up clinging to the victim after they were already struck with the blunt tail.^[2]

Golothomas fed by absorbing flesh through their shadows, quickly killing all but the most robust, and any creature within their reach was at risk of falling inside of the writhing darkness. While the clever might think to try and fight in complete darkness, such an area simply made it more difficult to discern the boundaries of the shadow and thus made it harder to avoid. As obyriths, golothomas maddened those that drew close to them, in their case giving their victims an unhealthy obsession with lighting. Being in bright light or pitch darkness caused distraction and discomfort to the victim, and they had a reflexive desire to accept things of shadows, whether they be shadow monsters, shadow magic, beings from the Shadowfell, or the shadowy powers of the golothoma itself.^[2]

Society/Ecology[]

Despite their obvious association with Ugudenk,^[2] it was unlikely that the ravenous demons could be called the Squirming King's servants. Though worm monsters and invertebrate obyriths often preceded Ugudenk's subterranean appearance and were common in regions where he appeared, such creatures seemed more like opportunity feeders following the mindless obyrith lord for scraps than servitors doing his bidding. The underground tunnels and caverns comprising the Writhing Realm that many golothomas dwelt in were almost entirely a result of Ugudenk's endless burrowing.^[3]

Golothomas were also associated with Sertrous,^[2] an obyrith lord initially linked to parasites and crawling things but who later became a patron of serpents.^[4] Though Sertrous's minions used them as guards, the connection between them was partially accidental, a result of their coincidental physical similarities. A snake was the closest analogy the mortal mind could conjure to try and describe the maddening form of Sertrous and golothomas had loosely snake-like traits. Though Sertrous was trapped in a near-dead state, the closer he came to resurrection, the more prevalent golothomas would become. They, along with various other serpentine monsters, would herald his arrival, bursting out of the earth in a torrent of infestation, and they would appear with increasing frequency in the bottomless lakes and poisoned marshes of the Hungry Tarns, formerly Sertrous's layer of the Abyss.^[2]^[5]