These croaking, sneezing, waddling little creatures are engineered to both manufacture and administer debilitating biological agents, and were first discovered still "patrolling" the ruins of a previously undocumented, ancient urban micronation. Fractured records indicate the rise of a deranged "mayor" whose radical biological security system was his own downfall when a single Mumblegog, #0000, unintentionally achieved the capacity to self-replicate. This individual's unstable descendants failed to discriminate between intruder and citizen, and much of this isolated civilization died out overnight.
BIOLOGY:
Within the Mumblegog's compact frame is an entire secondary organ system devoted solely to the live culture of myriad bacterial and viral pathogens. These microbial symbionts can be ejected from the monster's snout in a powerfully concentrated blast; a toxic sneeze capable of knocking a hominoid flat. Direct exposure to this microbial cloud typically triggers an intense immune response, potentially resulting in immediate fever, chills, vomiting, dizziness or even excrutiating pain as tissues begin to blister, blacken and eventually dissolve into an ashy, moldy dust - a favored food source snorted back into the Mumblegog's snout directly from an infected body, living or dead.
A Mumblegog's robe-like mantle is prehensile, capable of grasping objects in its folds as dextrously as if it concealed arms and hands. A Mumblegog seldom reproduces, but does so by gestating a single juvenile or "sniffle" under its cap. The new Mumblegog will grow in a soft, saclike form before its body is pumped full of air and its bones harden, a complete, full-sized adult seemingly bursting into being from under the headgear of its parent.
BEHAVIOR:
Mumblegog prefer living among architecture, especially narrow alleyways or artificial tunnels, picking out an extensive path as a personal territory to endlessly patrol on a rigid, predictable schedule. Most creatures entering this territory are immediately accosted by the creature and any other Mumblegog within earshot of its hooting, honking alarm signal, collectively swamping the intruder in an excessive explosion of virulence.
Regardless of environment, Mumblegog are fixated on their own peculiar sense of order and propriety, becoming agitated by messy, unpredictable behavior or even outright panicked by seemingly trivial surprises.
A Mumblegog must inhale through its "hat" before sneezing, producing a sound not unlike a train whistle.
APPLIANCE:
Few creatures can resist infection by a Mumblegog's sneeze. Harboring dozens of bacterial strains within its internal sacs, the monster may mix and match its microscopic arsenal to sicken a wide range of subjects. Even the sheer force of its sneeze can be dangerous, comparable at point blank range to a spray of bullets. The monster's agility is not to be underestimated, either, its toddling gait and dumpy proportions belying the speed and grace it can achieve when necessary.
With their pathological attention to detail, Mumblegog can also make excellent assistants in business, research and medical care.
TACTICAL MECHANISMS:
DEATH SNEEZE:The Mumblegog's primary weapon is its sneeze, itself strong enough to blow a hole in flesh at a close enough range, while the microorganisms it delivers are immediately debilitating to a wide variety of organisms.
EXPLOSION: rarely executed, a Mumblegog can, in an emergency, detonate its entire body in a massive ball of disease, body fluids and bone shrapnel.
IDENTIFIED SUBSPECIES: MUMBLEGOG SNORKUS
Once mistaken for a distinct species of monster, the Snorkus is in fact only an externally altered Mumblegog, the name essentially translated to "fighter." A Mumblegog may request this metamorphosis from a Gezoond or more slowly undergo it on its own, sacrificing cognitive ability, maneuverability and bacterial potency for a 400% increase in size and even greater proportionate strength, its legs modified into lethally powerful talons and its snout into a highly prehensile trunk packed with dense muscle. Though easily lost, confused and spooked without some form of leadership, it is capable of easily tearing apart creatures that would otherwise resist infection and make a quick meal of the standard Mumblegog.
TACTICAL MECHANISMS:
DEATH SNEEZE: the sneeze of the Snorkus is weaker and less infectious than that of the standard Mumblegog, but nonetheless debilitating to vulnerable entities.
STRENGTH: the Snorkus is a powerful fighter with its claws and trunk.
