Rime Sludge

Rot and decay play a natural role in swamps of all climates, and latent magical energies or other strange phenomena can transform decomposing matter into oozes and other monstrous creatures made of living muck. Tundra wetlands are no exception to this trend. Worse, in such regions, a quick freeze can prevent noxious sludge from breaking down, and sequential years of short, seasonal thaws can compress rot upon rot until the pestilential mass animates as a rime sludge. These rare, noxious oozes hungrily search for and consume any organic matter they find in their northland habitats.

Like most oozes, rime sludges consist primarily of protoplasm, though theirs has a slushy consistency peppered with disgusting nuggets of indigestible matter, such as petrified wood, jagged arrowheads, and animal fossils. A rime sludge renews this protoplasm by consuming plants and animals and maintaining a careful balance of semifrozen decomposition in its mutable form.

Rime sludges are among the few oozes that thrive in cold climates, as too much heat accelerates their natural decay. Rime sludges can't survive temperatures too far above freezing for more than a few days. Rising temperatures force them to migrate toward cooler climates or cold underground areas.

Few intelligent creatures inhabiting cold climates want anything to do with rime sludges. These oozes can't be trained, tend to wander off at random, and emit a noxious stink at the slightest hint of warmth. Some inventive creatures try to trap rime sludges in pits to keep them contained and use them to dispose of prisoners or food scraps. Because of the oozes' overpowering stench, these pits tend to be quite deep.