Mud slaad

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Mud slaadi were the lowliest of slaads, considered lacking even in comparison to the common red slaadi. They were cowardly creatures whose sense of self-preservation compensated for their relative weakness.

Description
Mud slaadi were only tall and approximately  with skin color that ranged from various browns to a sickly brownish-green. They had the wide mouth full of sharp teeth typical of slaads as well as long, lanky arms ending in sharp claws.

Personality
Craven and insecure, mud slaadi had a strong survival instinct that allowed them to find ways to live through even overwhelmingly perilous situations.

Abilities
Although weak by slaad standards, mud slaads were still dangerous creatures, capable of unleashing a horrible screech so loud that it actually damaged things within. Pathetically, one of the most effective methods of self-defense for mud slaads was their ability to cringe, cowering in fear so pitifully that many couldn't bear to attack it.

If seriously injured they could attempt to play dead, lowering their heart rates and stilling their breathing so effectively that it took excellent perception, astute judgement or exceptional doctoral ability to determine that they were still alive. They could also attempt to summon another mud slaad to provide them with aid, or, rarely, a red slaad.

Combat
When fighting, mud slaadi typically started by screeching or attempting to summon help, being the rare types of slaad willing to call on others of their kind. If seemingly outmatched, they either cowered or pretended to be have died.

Society
In the culture of the slaadi, where strength was a virtue, mud slaadi were often ridiculed by their stronger kin. They were known to live both solitarily and in packs with up to ten members.

Ecology
Mud slaadi reproduced by infecting other creatures with a disease via their bite. This disease, likely a form of the chaos phage, turned the victim into a mud slaad over the course of a week, although for every day it lasted the victim had a chance of beating the illness.

A skilled spellcaster could summon a mud slaad with summon monster VI.