Page 108 - Lords of Madness: The Book of Aberrations

readful predators of the dark, grell exist as horrible to “follow the herd” and relocate their hunting grounds to Illus. by C. Lukacs
blights of the underground and of dismal swamps and places where humanoids congregate. That said, a powerful
forests. They entertain few schemes of world domina- grell colony represents a spreading blight or plague of
tion or the enslavement of other races. Instead, they are predation that can eventually depopulate an entire region
primarily interested in colonizing as many worlds as possible, if not dealt with.
and once ensconced in any particular world, enjoying to the
fullest the delicacies it offers. They are the eaters.
Grell are not native to the natural world. They arose in GRELL
some distant and horrible sphere in an alternate Material These horrible, misshapen creatures resemble giant
Plane. Driven to explore the multiverse in search of prey floating brains with tentacles. They detest sunlight

to sate their unending hunger, grell long ago embarked on (although it causes them no harm) and inhabit dun-
migrations through world-spanning gates and across the dim geons, underground passages, remote caves, and other
wastes of the Plane of Shadow to colonize as many new worlds places where light never reaches. Humanoids of all
as possible. They are a fairly recent arrival in the world of kinds are their favorite prey.
humanoids, having crossed over from the Plane of Shadow Grell are most often found in a feral state, existing
after a long search for new worlds to infest. as solitary hunters underground. However, they have
Compared to creatures such as mind flayers or aboleths, been known to gather into large colonies or nests.

grell are insular and reclusive. A nest of grell is a purely local Grell that belong to nests have access to strange
problem; the monsters gladly dine on any living creatures magical powers and weapons that feral grell do not

they can catch, but they make no effort to infiltrate nearby normally use. Fearsome grell philosophers, beings

humanoid societies, enslave people, or influence community that study alien science and deadly sorcery, govern
affairs. Humanoids are meat animals, and their dealings with grell colonies.
each other are of no interest to the grell. The threat grell Grell speak their own language, composed in part
pose to human society is incidental, not deliberate. Grell are of invisible and inaudible electrical manipulation
unlikely to conceive of schemes to bring a steady supply of that very few other creatures can perceive. They
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humanoids into their tentacles; instead, they’re more likely understand Undercommon but do not speak it.