Chuul (Basic Lore)

Chuul (CR 12)
Pure or Chaotic Evil - Large - Aberration
A chuul is a massive beast, and truly horrible to behold. Its appearance is all armored chitin and massive snapping claws and wet, dangling palps. Chuuls are scavengers and ambush predators, and are more than willing to feed on carrion, rotting plant matter, any undead they can catch, and whatever else they can get a death grip on. Despite appearances, chuuls are not mindless beasts. That said, chuuls are certainly aberrant things, and there is little to no basis for conversation or peace between a chuul and anything not-chuul. Chuul's seem to exist to eat and reproduce and make weird spiky designs in mud, sand, trees, or whatever else happens to be to hand. Indeed, a sure sign of a chuul incursion is weird alien patterns showing up in unlikely places. Chuul are amphibious, as well as aquatic. They swim very well, despite their massive bulk, and they can breathe both water and air, as well as hold their breath for five times as long as you would expect them to be able to and suffer no ill effects for it. Chuuls prefer to live in places where there is shallow water, and are not terribly picky beyond that. Chuul haunt deserted beaches, swamps, bogs, watery caves and tunnels, dark mountain lakes, sewers in cities, ruins and dungeons of all kinds, clear forest streams, crashing rocky surf, fens and marshes, mud pits, peat bogs and many more places besides. They are hardy and horrible, and can reach tremendous strength if they are allowed too, or are cultivated as allies by more civilized monsters. They like to lurk and creep, and their hard outer surface is often crusted with debris from their environment, making them incredibly stealthy for their size. Chuul are not aggressive. They will not raid settlements and kill wantonly. They prefer to pick off victims with more discretion, but they can and will eat sentient races without hesitation. A chuul infestation must be confronted, and quickly, before tragedy happens.