A Shadowsponge, or Air stealer, is a creature from the Spelljammer campaign setting.[1]
Overview[]
Shadowsponges, also known as air stealers, are strange sponge-like creatures that are greatly feared by most spacefarers. They drift aimlessly through wildspace until they sense the approach of an atmosphere, whereupon they immediately rush in mindlessly, soaking up precious air.[1]
Description[]
A shadowsponge resembles a greyish marine sponge, with hundreds of rubbery, many-branching air sacs protruding from a central mass. Studded with small, keen eyes and sensory patches, a shadowsponge can detect air in the void up to three miles away.[1]
Behavior[]
Shadowsponges feed on nutrients gleaned from gases, absorbed light, and low level electrical and heat energy. Attacks relying entirely on heat for damage, and not flame, cannot harm a shadowsponge, but rather give it additional vitality or will heal any damage done.
Flame based or powerful electrical attacks affect a shadowsponge normally, and cause it to burn with a thick, choking smoke. The smoke expands rapidly to fill a 30-foot diameter area, and lasts for up to 50 minutes, completely blocking normal vision beyond 4 feet, and fouling any clean air within its confines.[1]
Combat[]
Once a shadowsponge reaches an atmospheric envelope or air bubble it focuses entirely on soaking up air, swooping and turning continuously without regard for any living creatures that may be nearby. Any creatures close by within the atmosphere (such as a ship's crew) are at risk of being struck by the wildly swooping sponge, and may either be knocked prone or enveloped.
A victim that has been enveloped by a sponge may be constricted and smothered. They may attempt to cut their way out of the sponge with any piercing or slashing weapons at hand, but are unable to cast spells, retrieve any items, or wield bludgeoning weapons. A shadowsponge can usually only accommodate one human-sized creature at once, though very large sponges can envelope two such creatures at the same time.
Any attacks that target a shadowsponge may also injure the victim, though the bulk of the sponge appears to absorb most of the damage inflicted.
The porous, air-filled nature of a shadowsponge prevents any enveloped creatures from suffocating, though they may still suffer the harmful effects of any toxic gases the sponge may have absorbed earlier. When a sponge suffers significant damage from a single blow, or when it is killed, it convulsively expels an enveloped creature (who will be injured by the attack that causes their release).[1]
Society[]
Shadowsponges appear to instinctively herd together while searching for gas clouds or atmospheric envelopes in wildspace, though they tend to avoid the large, stable atmospheres of large planets.
Shadowsponges never fight amongst themselves, and seem capable of recombining scattered portions of their bodies, or even joining with another sponge to form a larger whole. They do not appear to have a reproductive cycle or form family units.[1]
Rumors[]
Some sages believe shadowsponges are merely a development stage in the life cycles of more advanced fungoid creatures. It is thought this particular stage ends when a sponge reaches a critical state after absorbing the various nutrients it needs from the gases it assimilates. The shadowsponge will then enter the atmosphere of a large world, falling to the surface where it metamorphoses into spores which begin life anew in some other form.
Although this theory cannot be discounted, definitive proof in support of it are lacking for several parts of the hypothetical life-cycle; the true nature of shadowsponges may be completely different.[1]
Uses[]
Shadowsponges play no part in any food-chain, and are themselves inedible. Alchemists and various spell researchers have all searched in vain for a use for shadowsponge tissue and essence.
However, one questionable experiment produced results of a sort: it was found that if a low-level electrical charge, such as that generated by a shocking grasp spell and certain gnomish devices, was applied to a sponge, it caused the creature to release a quarter of the gases stored within its air sacs.
Desperate spacefarers have been known to corral shadowsponges within the confines of a spacewreck or some other large, sturdy spaceborne storage container and forcibly drag them through a planetary atmosphere. The objective of this particular stratagem is to gain a portable atmospheric storage device, allowing a too-small a ship to carry too-large a crew on too-long a space voyage. A secondary use of caged shadowsponges is to steal air from enemies by setting a spaceborne cage adrift on a course that would bring it in contact with the atmosphere of, or into a collision with, a hostile planetoid, base, ship, or elven armada.
Shadowsponges that are confined or forcibly brought into contact with a planetary atmosphere ultimately die from the shock of this treatment. A dying shadowsponge releases the toxic gases contained within its air sacs, fouling up to 40 tons of air. If enough shadowsponges die at the same time, their corpses may foul the entire air envelope of a ship: once the ship's entire air supply has been fouled, each additional dying shadowsponge may turn up to 40 tons of air deadly. Many an intrepid space explorer has been forced to cut loose a barge full of dead shadowsponges to escape the poisoned air and stagger along on inadequate air reserves.[1]
Herd cloud[]
Some small, dark shadowsponges have been observed rounding up their fellow sponges into groups and leading them through wildspace on long voyages. These "herd clouds" have recently been studied by several sages, and have been found to be significantly more intelligent than individual sponges, and far more willful. They also have the ability to store electrical energy, which they use as a weapon against other creatures. A typical "herd cloud" can emit a single chain lightning (as per the spell) and two forked lightning bolts per "day" (24 hour period). Merely coming into contact with, or passing through, a "herd cloud" will not cause a discharge of electrical energy, unless the cloud feels threatened.
Some sages and alchemists believe that "herd cloud" essence can be harnessed in some way to guard against or generate electrical magical attacks, but experiments pursuing this line of enquiry have so far ended in shocking disasters.[1]
Appendix[]
External Links[]
- Shadowsponge article at the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Wiki, a wiki for official Dungeons & Dragons content from 2nd edition AD&D.