L.T. File: 015: Zhůmɯ- Morphlings

The natural form of a morphling is typically agreed to be a translucent green blob, as this is the form they take when slain.

Once a morphling gets large enough, splits off a much smaller pseudopod and separates it from the main mass. As this can continue throughout the life cycle, the largest of these pseudopods have been calculated at roughly the size of a small building.

Growth of morphlings is largely dependent on their diet, though, starngely some morphlings never grow, despite access to food, while others seem to grow disproportionately to their food intake.

Morphlings in their natural state dislike hot or dry spaces, making the below ideal, and the desert regions of Hechesoieh untenable. In Hechesoieh Morphlings are typically found in the northern marshes or deeper caves.

Morphlings hunt and eat by ambush most of the time. They take the shape of an object and wait until something stumbles upon that object, oftentimes, if picked up and not attacked, however, the morphling, if not actively hungry will allow itself to be taken to a new place where it can hunt closer to it's prey's place of habitation.

While there seems to be no upper limit on age of a morphling, their hibernation cycles are unique, as they take the shape of simple objects to keep from being devoured by predators.

Mostly restive, the morphlings can be truly dangerous when hungry, they have been known to devour entire families who carried larger objects, yet another reason that the aulvi rarely travel with very much.

no domestication had succeeded

Morphling goo residue has been used as a sort of advanced glue to repair almost any non-living material, as the goo slowly morphs to become that material over time. Storage is extremely difficult, so it is recommended to harvest no sooner than 24 hours prior to use.

Typically found in Hechesoieh and the Below

low to animalistic

Morphlings appear to have the same senses as aulvi, though whether they have a sense of taste is debatable, as they have never been shown to take preference to one dissolvable object over another.

I. Survivor Accounts: “The Breathing Cavern” Incident

Subject: Cavern-Sized Morphling (Designation: Ampliogela mutabilis, Variant Omega)

Casualties: Estimated 9,814 aulvi

Status: Returned to dormancy following feeding event

Witness 1: Sævunli (Age 312)

Recorded 3 days post-rescue.

“We thought the earth was breathing.

I know how that sounds—madness—but the walls had… a pulse. The guides said it was just the wind forced through narrow channels. They thought we were nearly at teh surface. This was after time began to have meaning again, so we were no longer in the madness of the deep Below. There was a hum, a resonance, and sometimes the stone felt warm. But no one questioned warm stone; not in the Below, even that far from the distortions.

It wasn’t until the floor began to rise that I understood it wasn’t stone at all. You know how a sleeping animal stretches its limbs unconsciously? That’s what the whole cavern did. The walls swelled outward—like the entire place inhaled. And then… everything tilted. People slid. Thousands of us. I watched an entire caravan—carts, friends, screaming children—slide toward the far wall. The wall opened. Like a blister tearing.

And then the teeth came out. Not real teeth—gods, no—but ridges of hardened gel that sheared through wood and flesh. There was no time to run. The floor had already become… its tongue, I think. We were in its mouth the whole time. I don't know how I survived in that press of flesh. I think there were so many of us inside that I got pushed out. I got acid burns, but I was alive. That's more than I can say about the rest.

Witness 2: Mheèr (Age 87)

Recorded 6 days post-rescue; speaker expressed fragmentary recall due to acid inhalation damage.

"I heard bones cracking—not from bodies, no, from the cavern itself. The stalactites bent like wax, melting into the ceiling. The architecture of the space changed around us. The Morphling didn’t chase us. It just… rearranged its body. And if you happened to be on the wrong surface when it softened—You fell in.”

Witness 3: Lyūt-shan (Age 512)

Interview conducted under dreamwalk stabilization due to severe psychological trauma.

“There were ten-thousand voices. And then there were none. When the creature finally settled, everything grew still. Perfectly still. The floor became flat again. The walls hardened. No blood. No bodies. The Morphling absorbed it all. It went back to sleep before anyone could even finish climbing out of its mouth.

A cavern. A whole cavern. How long had it been there? A decade? A century? We walked right into its stomach and didn’t even know. And I... was on the tail end. If I'd stepped two feet ahead I'd have been part of its dinner.”

After-Action Notes

The Tranquil Shadows do not recommend attempting to harvest residue from this specimen, even if it can be found again. -Field Captain Lirä Veinlight

II. Interview: Survivor of the “Diamond Morphling” Incident

TS-Psychological Debrief 5531-C

Subject: Human civilian "Soleil", Age 35

Context:
The Morphling was discovered masquerading as a heptagonal diamond, found embedded in a basalt formation. For twenty years, it passed from hand to hand among jewelcrafters, traders, and tourists, dormant and unreactive. When it finally awoke, one individual survived close contact.

Transcript (excerpt)

Mistletoe (Therapist): Let’s start with the moment you realized the stone wasn’t a stone.

Solelil:

“I was polishing it. I’d done it a hundred times before. Diamonds are supposed to be cold, right? This one wasn’t. It felt… fleshy. I thought I was imagining things, so I set it down on the cloth. And then it breathed. Small. A little rise and fall, the way a sleeping child or a tired bird breathes. The facets softened, like wax under sunlight. The edges rounded. I dropped the cloth. The diamond stuck to my palm.. I didn't know anything about morphlings then, or I would have called the guard immediately. God's I'm a fool...”

Mistletoe:

No, you had no idea. Did it attack you?

Soleil:

“No. That’s the part that keeps me awake at night. It wasn’t hungry. If it had been, it would’ve dissolved me instantly. Instead, it… tested me. My hand sank into it, just the thumb. It felt warm, and then cold, and then a kind of tingling. I think, looking back on it, it was tasting me. When it decided I wasn’t food, it just… let go. It rolled off my hand, reshaped into a perfect diamond again, and sat there like nothing happened.”

Mistletoe:

Your partner was taken, correct?

Solelil:

“Yes. Lusan picked it up later that night. I didn’t warn them. I should have, gods, I should have. The Morphling woke hungry that time. I heard their scream through the wall. When I got to the room… the floor was wet. The diamond was gone. Lusan was gone.”

Mistletoe:

You are not responsible for their death. Morphlings deceive everyone.

Soleil:

“No. The worst part is… Sometimes I still see it. A glint of seven-sided sparkle in a puddle, or a piece of glass. And I wonder if it remembers my flavor”

Post-Session Summary

Patient suffers persistent tactile trauma and object-based paranoia. Regular immersion therapy recommended. No signs of Morphling pursuit. House cleaned with extremely concentrated bases. Morphling not found. -Mistletoe, Psychosocial Division

III. Containment Manual: Morphling Residue Production Unit

TS-Operational Document 77-D

Classification: Level 5 — Practical Handling Protocol

Specimen: Ampliogela mutabilis (Maintenance Strain)

Purpose: To maintain a low-cognition Morphling specimen for controlled extraction of “morphing gel,” used in repair of damaged nonliving materials. This manual outlines feeding, containment, harvesting, and emergency procedures.

I. Approved Specimen Characteristics

Only Morphlings meeting all of the following may be retained for production:

• Size: Between 1m³ and 2m³ in neutral state
• Cognitive level: “Mud-class” only
  (No tool recognition, no trap avoidance, no seeking behavior)
• Response pattern: Retreats from strong bases; no predatory lunge behavior
• Documented hibernation cycle: Less than 10 years

High-cognition variants, or specimens capable of mimicry above Object Complexity Level 3 (simple tools, stones, chests), must be destroyed via dreamfire protocol.

II. Containment Chamber Specifications

• Walls: triple-layer basalt with dreamfire tracings
• Floor: sloped to central basin for residue collection
• Copper lattice: installed at all exits; absolutely mandatory
• Humidity: maintained at 85–92%
• Temperature: 6–11°C
• Lighting: minimal; red-spectrum preferred
• Feeding aperture: non-organic chute system, self-sealing, copper-edged

The Morphling must never be permitted to contact any wooden structural supports.

III. Feeding Procedure

Feed once every 40–70 days, depending on metabolic signs.

Approved feedstock:

• cellulose waste
• leather scraps
• bone offcuts
• untreated wood shavings

Forbidden feedstock:

• meat or living tissue (encourages predatory cycles)
• enchanted objects
• glass (may trigger crystalline mimicry)

Signs of hunger:

• increased quivering
• rising acid vapor concentration
• thumping/wave-motion against containment walls

If thumping intensifies to rhythmic frequency:
→ Initiate Emergency Phase I (see Section VII).

IV. Residue Harvesting

Residue forms naturally as Morphling excretes excess stabilizing compounds during digestion.

Harvest window: 24 hours after feeding
Tooling: alkaline-resistant collection ladles
Handling: store in sealed ceramic jars with slight airflow (do NOT fully deprive of oxygen)

Residue remains viable for:
24 hours (raw)

Never harvest from a Morphling mid-mimicry. This is how Operative Shouma lost her arm.

V. Behavior Management

To calm an agitated Morphling:

• diffuse alkaline vapor (safe up to Protocol Strength 3)
• play low-frequency hums (Below-acoustic mimicry)
• reduce lighting to complete darkness

To interrupt mimicry shifts:

• sprinkle fine lye powder around the specimen
• do NOT strike the Morphling; impact encourages compression reflex

VI. Maintenance Crew Requirements

• Minimum of two handlers present
• At least one must be trained in fire application
• No personal belongings allowed inside the chamber
• Clothing must have:
• no pockets
• no jewelry
• no loose fabrics
• no straps longer than 7 cm

If something is dropped near the specimen, it is considered lost.

VII. Emergency Procedures

Phase I – Pre-Predatory Rumbling

• Vent alkaline mist into chamber
• Cease feeding for 40 days

Phase II – Mimicry Lock

(When specimen becomes an object of structural size)

• Activate copper lattice pulse
• Flood chamber with mild base solution

Phase III – Predatory Activation

If the Morphling attempts expansion beyond containment:

• Full basic concentration flush.
• Chamber evacuation
• Collapse chamber using pre-installed detonation bolts

Under no circumstances should a live, hungry Morphling be transferred.
Terminate and restart program with a new specimen.

Notation compiled by - Snowball-Containment Division