Oom

Introduction
Before the creation of the universe, there was nothing. And before that… there were the Ooms. If you could think of no other, then Ooms are the reason to always be afraid of the dark.

Appearance
While in perfect darkness, Ooms do not inhabit space the way most creatures do. The exact same pit of shadows could hold one single Oom or 1,000 of them, although their physical size never truly changes. Once revealed by a lightsource the Ooms’ true size will apply to the physical world, which can result in the horrifying situation of shining a torch in a dark corner only to have dozens of writhing, thrashing Ooms spill out in an avalanche if spiny flesh and bloody fangs.

When touched by light, an Oom is roughly the size of a rhino if it had been compressed into a near-perfect sphere. An Oom’s body is covered in thousands of microscopic spines, barely visible to the naked eye but razor-sharp nonetheless. Although in the darkness an Oom inhabits all physical space at once and therefore has no need for locomotion, these tiny barbs function as appendages in the light. Ooms stick to walls, the ceiling, each other, pushing and rolling themselves along at roughly half the speed of a human. The squirming dance of dozens of Ooms tumbling out of the darkness would almost appear comical if it weren't for their nightmarish jaws. An Oom’s mouth comprises at least 25% of its surface area, with a full row of diamond-hard molars behind a full row of 15cm-long incisors. They ooze drool constantly - a reflection of their limitless hunger. Aside from their mouths, Ooms possess no other physical features: they are both blind and deaf, totally.

Despite the fact that they could easily be completely hidden in both darkness and silence, Ooms do make a sound: they whimper a desperate, pleading cry, like that of an injured animal caught in a hunter’s trap. Although it sounds to be the opposite of threatening, it is in fact a threat.

Ecology
Ooms loathe matter. They consume ‘somethingness' to replace it with nothingness, and what they can't consume, they destroy. Living beings are not so much ‘eaten’ by Ooms as they are butchered, massacred: blended.

If an adventuring party travelling through Dungeon 26 is suddenly immersed in total darkness, when that darkness is banished by torchlight the party will immediately know if they have been attacked by an Oom. It is not that one of their party will have a bite taken out of them, or be missing entirely - rather, the floor, walls, ceiling, and all of the victim’s companions will be coated with what little is left of them. Intestines will be hanging from a torch sconce, brain matter will be sprayed an inconceivable distance away, and it will be difficult to distinguish the difference between scraps of skin and scraps of armour within the puddles of blood.

The actions of Ooms will likely seem malicious to most, almost as if they intentionally wish to bring about as much terror as possible. Indeed, few creatures in the Dungeon are as feared as the Oom: a horror story to tell to new arrivals, and a reason to be terrified by the pools of darkness lurking in every corner and down every pit and well. However, this destructive and gruesome behaviour is simply an Oom’s nature. Although it would be ideal to utterly annihilate their victims, at the end of the day Ooms are clumsy, awkward creatures. The existence of matter offends them and they will do everything they can to erase it, and if that means an Oom swarm converting a hapless Denizen into pink mist and a pile of loose teeth, then so be it.

If they could, Ooms would eat the planet. Unluckily for them, they do have a biological digestion, with internal organs and all the other burdens that life requires of a living being.

Interactions
Ooms are the reason that the fauna in Dungeon 26 grew to become bioluminescent. An Oom’s ravenous hunger is not reserved only for humanoids, and in the pitch darkness they consume all matter their bodies can digest - which of course includes fibrous plant life. Revealing Ooms by means of a natural, chemical glow does not stop them entirely, but it does slow them down by limiting their movements to physical space.