Sponge Ooze Core

Disovery

The Sponge Ooze Core was found in the northern bogs of Sivvald, within a small, makeshift hut, made of mud, wood, and thatch. The abode contains no furniture except for a long water-logged bedding spot on it's floor. The materials of the hut have been hesitantly dated to be between 200-550 years old.

Properties

The Sponge Ooze Core is an extremely hard and dense rock of a black, sticky material. The stone has multiple extremely small and thin rivulets carved into its structure. The method of these canals being carved into such an indestructible material is unknown.
Upon exposure to liquid, regardless of the color or makeup of the liquid, the stone secrets a jelly-like black substance from its engravings which adheres to itself, surrounding the core in a relatively even spread of material. The amount of absorbed liquid directly relates to the amount of substance created, but the rate of exchange is undetermined; though it seems to depend on the identity of the absorbed liquid.

Behavior

The jelly substance is extremely sticky and absorbant, able to absorb and convert several gallons of liquid in mere seconds. As it produces the ooze surrounding its structure, the item as a whole seems to gain a sort of simple sentience proportional to its size. At approximately half a foot in diameter, the Ooze body begins to be able to move on it's own, and at 9 inches in diameter, it becomes able to make it's own decisions and actions in order to further enlarge itself. No other motive for existence has been observed. It seems solely focused on transmuting as much liquid as possible.
At approximately 15 inches in diameter, the Ooze becomes hostile, and will begin to attack any living creature that contains blood, regardless of prior interaction. It attacks with psuedopods it creates through manipulation of its own form, and seems to be able to change the acidity of its form at will. No upper limit to its acidity has been discovered as of now, though its acidic capabilities may be related to its size and liquid intake.
At three feet in diameter and larger, extreme caution is advised when dealing with the Sponge Ooze Core. It continues to attack indiscriminately, and gains better control over the pseudopods it creates. It can fit through any opening as large as its core, and becomes as intelligent as an average canine. Unfortunately, it cannot be reasoned with.
At five feet in diameter and larger, the Ooze will begin to extract additional copies of itself from its main form.

Methods of Recontainment

While the child oozes are indistinguishable in terms of appearance, they do not have a Sponge Ooze Core of their own. While the Oozes are extremely resistant to many forms of damage, they seem to dry out extremely quickly in the presence of extreme heat. However, despite the ability to burn away the black jelly of its exterior form and child oozes, the Sponge Ooze Core itself is impervious even to the hottest of flames.
Alternatively, it is generally accepted that the only way to permanently destory the black material surround the Sponge Ooze Core is to simply dry it out fully. As such, it is hypothesized that a sufficiently proficient elementalist could forcefully dry out the ooze through manipulation of the liquid within its main body. However, this method is so far untested.

Item type

Unique Artifact

Owning Organization

The Keepers of the Texts

Rarity

As of the writing of this text, there has thankfully only been one Sponge Ooze Core discovered.

Weight

Variable

Dimensions

Variable

Base Price

Sale of the Sponge Ooze Core is strictly prohibited.