Gelatinous Cube (Basic Lore)

Gelatinous Cube (Threat; CR 4)
Neutral - Large - Ooze
This creature possesses the Threat role, and therefore counts as 4 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure. This monster frequently has the Threat role, but may be set to different roles if desired. Oozes are matter in a dread, unquiet state of existence. Oozes are not exactly alive, nor are they safely dead. They merely exist, in a mindless state of eternal hunger, forever seeking their next meal. Of the various oozes, one of the most deadly, unusual and specialized predators is the Gelatinous Cube. Cubes are one of the most viscous of the oozes, very close to being a solid, and as such have a well-defined cubical shape. Gelatinous Cubes spend their existence mindlessly roaming the darkness, swallowing up all they encounter. Materials the cube cannot digest, such as metal and stone, may briefly remain in the cube's thick, transparent substance, leaving an eerie impression of the unfortunate departed. Some beings use gelatinous cubes as protectors of dungeons and underground fortifications. They make particularly efficient waste disposal mechanisms as well -- a tribe that can trap a gelatinous cube in a pit or other area that it cannot climb out of can use it as a midden or even a deadly trap. Gelatinous cubes are generally 10 feet to a side and weigh upward of 60,000 pounds, though subterranean explorers report larger specimens trawling the deepest caves and corridors. In locations with plentiful sources of food, gelatinous cubes can exist for hundreds of years, if not thousands, and may grow to tremendous sizes. A gelatinous cube's acid only dissolves organic matter, and leaves metal and stone polished but otherwise unharmed.