Goggie
RARITY: ★★★★★ | THREAT: ★★★★★ SIZE: Elephant-sized but longer.
HABITAT:
Thick forested land, deep in the woods. Some places are known for having more goggies than others – specifically forests with large amounts of decomposing foliage, such as the Wormwoods.
OVERVIEW:
Goggies are a species of caterpillar-like creature that can grow to be as tall as a giraffe and as long as a blue whale (though, don’t worry; some are only as large as a car). They’re found in heavily wooded areas across most of the world, but due to their massive size and large territories, they’re sparsely distributed and not common to run into. However, those who pick or eat fruit, berries, or flowers found in the forest while one is nearby will draw the goggie out. They’re fiercely territorial of all food in their forests, and will devour anyone who dares to steal from them. Their favorite food is simple leaves, especially when they’re changing color during autumn.
Their size means that they can’t hide away, so they sleep out in the open, which is probably the best time to attempt an ambush. When a goggie is known to be in the area, it captures the attention of hunters and they typically band together to dispatch the creature. Most would shudder to consider what a goggie would be like if they metamorphosed into some kind of monster butterfly.
ABILITIES:
Some goggies are covered with dense fur (called urticating hairs), which irritate human skin and can even cause bleeding pustules to form when touched. Others may be covered in hard spines. A few may not have any obvious defense covering their long, fleshy bodies, but can secrete toxins.
Goggies are giant and long enough to wrap around their victims and crush them to death with their mass. Others might cut to the chase and simply try to gulp victims down into their large maws.
While they don’t have teeth, they do have two powerful crushing “plates” in their mouth.
Despite their size, they can actually move rather quickly and are undeterred by copses of trees, simply knocking them down in pursuit of their prey.
Goggies are also quite resilient, able to take some injury and heal quickly.
WEAKNESSES:
Goggies aren’t particularly susceptible to anything. However, as large supernatural caterpillars, they are soft-bodied creatures. If one can get through their defenses (hairs, spines, toxins), they’ll find that they can slice through the goggie’s skin with relative ease. It’ll require more than a few slices with a weapon to take one down.
If you’re able, cutting off the head or through most of the goggie’s body will kill it.
VARIANTS
BRISTLECAT SEEDER:
Growing to roughly the size of a minivan and covered in a thick shag of stinging bristles, these relatives of the goggie are imposing in their own right. Bristlecat seeders are rarely seen as adults, and are instead known more often for their brood parasite behavior. Mother seeders lay their eggs around supernatural areas, and the eggs give off a strong, musty pheromone that attracts the attention of anyone nearby in a short window of time. When a victim becomes enthralled, they 1) become very stinky and 2) will take care of the egg to their own detriment, and even provide for the young bristlecat seeder when it hatches into a miniature version of the species. Young seeders have voracious appetites and will eat people as they rapidly grow, and may even target those who take the host’s attention away from them, but will not bite the hand that feeds. Eventually, when the seeder reaches a certain size, they simply wiggle away to live a life of their own, leaving behind a bereft and confused victim.
HHG:
Most HHGs (hungry hungry goggies) never reach a formidable enough size to become an issue, making them more common than regular goggies. But rather than growing by eating a steady diet of leaf litter, HHGs increase in size the more they’re talked about by the local community. The more whisperings and rumors about “the monster in the woods,” the larger the HHG will grow, facilitating even more talk about it. When HHGs reach a large enough size to start devouring humans, their growth really takes off as these monsters become impossible to ignore. There’s no known limit to their size.
