Shrieker

A shrieker was a variant of the violet fungus known for the strange and loud noises it emitted to attract prey.

Description
Shriekers were human-sized mushrooms. They were similar in appearance to violet fungi, but they lacked the ability to move and did not have tentacles with which to poison prey. They could produce a loud, piercing, screaming sound that tended to attract curious creature (or adventurers) to the area.

They were immune to the poison of violet fungi.

Habitat
Shriekers thrived in dark underground environments. Besides being found in large numbers in the Underdark, shriekers also grew on the illithid homeworld. The Flooded Forest was a dark enough environment for shriekers to grow there as well.

Behavior
Shriekers could sense nearby motion or light and would respond with their namesake shriek. Each such screaming sound lasted between five and fifteen seconds. A patch of shriekers relied on violet fungi to kill prey with their poison, since a shrieker could not attack or move on its own. Like violet fungi, shriekers gained their nourishment from the breakdown of organic matter that had fallen nearby.

Uses
In the Underdark, shriekers were sometimes placed intentionally to act as intruder alarms. House DeVir planted a shrieker among every fifth mushroom surrounding its compound to ward off potential attackers.

Shriekers were poisonous to most creatures as food; however, the stomachs of hook horrors had adapted to digest them without issue. They were also known to be eaten by purple worms and shambling mounds.

Some considered their spores to be a vital ingredient in brewing a potion of plant control.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dungeon #20: "The Ship Of Night" • Dungeon #30: "... And a Dozen Eggs" • Dungeon #52: "Welcome to the Krypthome" • Dungeon #94: "Spiral of Manzessine"
 * Novels
 * Homeland
 * Video Games
 * Menzoberranzan • Icewind Dale
 * Card Games
 * AD&D Trading Cards