Grindylow

Grindylow

(Creature)

2E1E

Common

Small

Aberration

Amphibious

Level

0

Images of grindylows

Source: Monster Core, pg(s). 186

Legacy 2E: grindylows had the

CE

trait in Bestiary 2 138.

Type

Aberration
(aquatic)

CR

½ (or class level)

Environment

Any water

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of grindylows

Source: Bestiary 2, pg(s). 148

Statistics refer to grindylows as creatures. For the playable Pathfinder First Edition race, see Blood of the Sea 17 and Archives of Nethys.

Ⅰ

Ⅱ

Grindylows are amphibious aberrations resembling a goblin from the waist up and an octopus from the waist down. Despite the resemblance, they are not considered to be humanoids.

Appearance

A grindylow attacks a band of adventurers.

Like goblins, a grindylow has a large, grotesque head and many teeth and two arms with fingers. However, its head has a vague shark-like resemblance and gills, and instead of legs it has six suckered tentacles resembling those of an octopus. While most grindylows are about four feet tall, but a few no limit to their potential growth over the years, and a few rare grindylows have grown to massive sizes.

Abilities

Grindylows can eat almost any living creature, and take pleasure in wreaking pain and chaos. They can wield weapons in their hands and entangle foes in their tentacles. They can move faster in water then land, and while swimming they can rapidly propel themselves forward 60 feet in seconds by producing a jet of water.

They can speak and understand the Thalassic language.

Ecology and habitat

Grindylows can dwell in many aquatic areas, but mainly shallow water which could be fresh or brine, from lakes, coastal, or coral reefs.

Grindylow are pragmatic rather then territorial. They build mobile shelters such as within seaweed sargasso or hull of an abandoned ships, but rarely a permanent structures. They will adopt a decent hunting ground for generations unless chased out by a predators.

Grindylow are experience hunters and scavengers and will eat anything they can bite.

Society

Grindylows organize themselves in groups called schools, which can number from a few to hundreds. Smaller schools might at times be taken over by a more powerful aquatic creature, but this alliance lasts only until they face a major setback, at which point the survivors scatter into smaller schools.

Grindylows are indiscriminately violent and rapacious, and attack settlements of merfolk and humans alike, as well as ships passing through their territory. While some travel in small groups, others form tribes of several dozen led by rangers, clerics, or barbarians. Some post skeletal trophies of their prey as "shepherds" near their territory.

In much the same ways as goblins hate horses or dogs and domesticate goblin dogs, grindylows abhor squids of all sizes and consider them to be freaks of nature. It is a great insult to call a grindylow a squid. This also includes things that resemble squids. Sailors moving through grindylow-infested waters sometimes paint squids on the bottom hull to ward away smaller schools, but this could also invite larger schools of grindylows to attempt a coordinated attack, especially if the ship's route is predictable.

This hate does not include other tentacled creatures. Grindylows consider octopuses to be the height of power, beauty, and grace, and they respect the power of other larger sea predators. They also befriend octopuses and devilfish as companions.

On Golarion

Grindylows infest regions from the tropical islands of the Shackles all the way north to the ice-rimmed reaches of the Ivory Sea fringing the Crown of the World.

In Tian Xia, a sea drake named Illycis and a tribe of grindylows have long lived in the southern dock warehouse district of Peijia, Bachuan, where they legally purchased land and pay citizen taxes. As of 4724 AR, Peijia's city hall sought to remove them in order to rent warehouses at marked-up prices, resulting in a impending court case that leaned toward Illycis's favor, but they had trouble finding a lawyer.

In the more cosmopolitan Eastern Xidao, grindylows are more common in settlements. In the Songil Sea, grindylows have a reputation for being ferocious and sadistic, for gorging on the plentiful fish, and for always being hungry for mayhem no matter how full their stomachs become. Although storms are uncommon, grindylows still prefer attacking during inclement weather and will strike quickly during the lightest rain or thinnest mist. Port towns refer to breaking storms as "grindylow weather", which puts them on edge.

References

Paizo featured grindylows as a playable Pathfinder First Edition race in Blood of the Sea.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.