Wednesday Werk: Blatherer

"grim secrets beget eldritch tendrils vile syllables imprinted upon the world — THE SQUAMOUS MADNESS — THE TONGUE OF VECNA — THE WORM THAT BLASPHEMES

"it is an intrusion on life and hope and happiness — THE SOFT WHITE WORM THAT BLATHERS

"the mind recoils in its presence flees the body rather than sit and fall to madness usefullness as a torture tool dubious as victims die rather than waste"

— Zadok the Apostate, The Confessions of Zadok the Apostate

In this week's Wednesday Werk, we'll look at the Blatherer.

The Blatherer is a large, white worm that speaks continuously.  Seriously.

Some scholars have suggested that the Blatherer was an experiment gone wrong, a crossbreed between a Yuan-Ti and a Gibbering Mouther.  Or a demon trapped in mortal form.  Or any one of a million insane theories.

Whatever the case, Blatherers aren't terribly common, but they can be found anywhere throughout the planes.  It is not clear whether they are sapient or not — they appear to know a lot about a variety of subjects, but they can hardly be described as fighting intelligently.  (In fact, they can hardly be said to fight at all.)  They do not seem aggressive, and rarely bite.

However, Blatherers are extremely offensive.  They talk constantly — they apparently respire through their skin and breathe underwater, meaning that they do not have to pause for breath.  All they speak are banal platitudes, blasphemous curses, insults, and the like.  This forms a psychic barrier of offensive thought that is genuinely injurious to nearby minds — even the deaf cannot escape the Blatherer.

In combat, Blatherers typically appear uninterested and may attempt strange tactics as they fight.  The psychic attacks of a Blatherer all seem incidental and subconscious; they do not seem to actively repel enemies.  In fact, Blatherers typically come across as somewhat curious, wading into foreign parties and coincidentally causing mayhem with their infernal rambling.  A Blatherer will typically open combat with Churlish Insult, only using Mindless Drivel when two or more enemies are within range.  It will use Boring Anecdote each round an enemy is within range.  It uses Blasphemous Whispering whenever it triggers.  Blatherers never retreat, although they may sometimes wander out of a combat situation.  They will, however, continue to "attack" nearby targets until they die.