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Description
An adventurer can witness many strange and wondrous things in his travels. Creatures and entities of all shapes and sizes exist in the foreign landscapes. Some are small and insignificant. Others beautiful and terrifying. And some... some should simply not exist.

Plague Heads are tumorous monsters that can be found sprouting up in places of rot and filth. Bulbous, soft, and porous, they seem to be related to fungi, yet many of their body functions are frighteningly similar to that of an animal, leading some to believe they are a link between the two. Their spongy skin is interlaced with delicate veins and nodules that are easily damaged, yet the creature is very resilient and repairs itself quickly, like a simple fungus.

Plague Heads derive their name from the characteristic orifices they develop, mimicking that of a howling human face. On rare occasions the two smaller orifices might not develop properly, giving the creature a permanent missing "eye" or a wincing expression, but the "mouth" will always develop into a large cavity, full of what resembles human gums. Although the creature appears to have a throat, the large space is really more of a round sphere inside of the creature, meaning that Plague Heads are slightly hollow. All day and night the Plague Head will sit, its eyeless pores staring and its wailing mouth gaping at nothing... and then it will start to drool.

Drooling usually occurs when the Plague Head has reached a significant stage of maturity, but it may also occur when the creature senses the presence of another living thing. Specially designed water-storing organs inside of its body will then slowly mix their contents with the creatures blood, and the resulting bile is secreted out of the mouth. This greenish blue substance is filled with a potent mixture of toxins, Plague Head spores, and sugar. While it has been concluded that no animal of even the slightest intelligence would willingly touch or ingest Plague Head drool, flies and other creatures of pestilence revel in it, feasting on the sugar and in turn covering themselves in Spores and Toxins, which they will then transfer to whatever they land on... including anything else living around the Plague Head.

Plague Head toxin, even in minute doses, is lethal. It is an incredibly potent blocking agent, spreading around the body and stopping all nerve impulses, which leads to an extremely quick paralysis and a slightly less quick death. The Plague Head spores in the entities skin now have time to germinate, growing in clusters and eventually becoming drooling monstrosities like their parents, spreading the cycle of disease, poison, and death. Plague Head colonies can form in ecosystems and grow on the steady supply of carcasses, doing heavy damage to the ecosystem before there are simply not enough animals left to support the growing blight and it dies away.

Fire is the best way to kill a Plague Head, as touching anything other than its outer skin will most likely result in paralysis and death. Stomping on the creature will cause it to explode outward, most likely drenching the perpetrator in liquid nightmare and giving birth to a new cluster. Only with fire can both the Plague Head and its spores be safely and efficiently disposed of. Should you encounter a Plague head, it is best to leave it alone and travel far, far, far away. Preferably to a place with less than one Plague Head. Or better yet, less than zero.

Description
An adventurer can witness many strange and wondrous things in his travels. Creatures and entities of all shapes and sizes exist in the foreign landscapes. Some are small and insignificant. Others beautiful and terrifying. And some... some should simply not exist.

Plague Heads are tumorous monsters that can be found sprouting up in places of rot and filth. Bulbous, soft, and porous, they seem to be related to fungi, yet many of their body functions are frighteningly similar to that of an animal, leading some to believe they are a link between the two. Their spongy skin is interlaced with delicate veins and nodules that are easily damaged, yet the creature is very resilient and repairs itself quickly, like a simple fungus.

Plague Heads derive their name from the characteristic orifices they develop, mimicking that of a howling human face. On rare occasions the two smaller orifices might not develop properly, giving the creature a permanent missing "eye" or a wincing expression, but the "mouth" will always develop into a large cavity, full of what resembles human gums. Although the creature appears to have a throat, the large space is really more of a round sphere inside of the creature, meaning that Plague Heads are slightly hollow. All day and night the Plague Head will sit, its eyeless pores staring and its wailing mouth gaping at nothing... and then it will start to drool.

Drooling usually occurs when the Plague Head has reached a significant stage of maturity, but it may also occur when the creature senses the presence of another living thing. Specially designed water-storing organs inside of its body will then slowly mix their contents with the creatures blood, and the resulting bile is secreted out of the mouth. This greenish blue substance is filled with a potent mixture of toxins, Plague Head spores, and sugar. While it has been concluded that no animal of even the slightest intelligence would willingly touch or ingest Plague Head drool, flies and other creatures of pestilence revel in it, feasting on the sugar and in turn covering themselves in Spores and Toxins, which they will then transfer to whatever they land on... including anything else living around the Plague Head.

Plague Head toxin, even in minute doses, is lethal. It is an incredibly potent blocking agent, spreading around the body and stopping all nerve impulses, which leads to an extremely quick paralysis and a slightly less quick death. The Plague Head spores in the entities skin now have time to germinate, growing in clusters and eventually becoming drooling monstrosities like their parents, spreading the cycle of disease, poison, and death. Plague Head colonies can form in ecosystems and grow on the steady supply of carcasses, doing heavy damage to the ecosystem before there are simply not enough animals left to support the growing blight and it dies away.

Fire is the best way to kill a Plague Head, as touching anything other than its outer skin will most likely result in paralysis and death. Stomping on the creature will cause it to explode outward, most likely drenching the perpetrator in liquid nightmare and giving birth to a new cluster. Only with fire can both the Plague Head and its spores be safely and efficiently disposed of. Should you encounter a Plague head, it is best to leave it alone and travel far, far, far away. Preferably to a place with less than one Plague Head. Or better yet, less than zero.