Gambado

Gambados were a rare and unusual type of monster that wore the skulls of other creatures and could launch themselves like springs.

Description
These creatures had the muscular torso and arms of a human, capped with three curved claws and a strong yet flat neck, and had a pale grey skin tone. They wore various skulls, the type depending upon where they inhabited. Their true heads had specialized muscles secured the placement of a skull and allowed them to move its jaws.

The lower-half of a gambado's body was cylindrical in shape, yet composed of muscle and skin. This strange columnar leg had an elastic hide, was about long, and gradually narrowed downward. It ended in three long and flat single-toed feet. These feet were arrayed radially around their leg and retractable. The design of their feet allowed gambado to make sudden stops, shift direction rapidly, and provided good traction.

Gambados were capable of compressing and then releasing the lower halves of their bodies, much like a spring. This would propel them into the air either vertically or  horizontally.

Behavior
Gambados were creatures of low intellect. Those that inhabited plains preferred to wear skulls of horned or long-toothed beasts, while those who lived underground preferred wearing the skulls of humanoids. Some were even known to don the skulls of neanderthals. Some scholars compared this habit of the gambado to that of hermit crabs and their shells.

While digging their lairs they would often cover their bodies in clay and soil to better camouflage themselves.

They tended to flee from fights if they weren't going in their favor, rather than fight to the death. They also possessed some form of treasure hoarding mentality, for they were only known to scavenge currency, gems, and small jewelry from their victims' bodies. These treasures would be compulsively sorted by their type and color. Once every ten days they would uncover their stored treasure, admiring and compulsively sorting it all over again.



Combat
Gambados would stand straight-up in their pits, their leg contracted in anticipation of springing, and wait for potential prey to come within of them. Once a victim came close enough they would spring out from their pits. They would start off by biting at their victim, then proceed to slash at them with their claws.

Ecology
Scholars once believed that these creatures lived largely solitary lives and would not communicate with other members of their kind. It was later discovered that gambados would wait until a location proved viable for a lair before having their whole family live together. They were often seen lairing close to each other in groups as large as eight.

Diet
Gambados were carnivorous creatures and could go several months without eating.

Lairs
Gambados typically lived inside of deep pits that they dug themselves and which were often deep. They would camouflage their pits by covering the top and surrounding area with a variety of old bones, old rags, rocks, and wood in order to disguise it from prey. However, any creature who had fallen victim to a gambado once in their past was typically able to identify and avoid their lairs with ease.

In the center of these lair coverings was a small hole from which their skull heads would be the only thing visible from above. Their lair covering was also typically not strong enough to support the weight of most creatures larger than a rat.

They would leave their stolen goods scattered across the floors of these pits or hide them in a cache-hole in an interior wall tightly packed with dirt. The former was typically done in order to attract the attention of curious victims. Once a victim was eaten gambados would work tirelessly to rebuild their lairs' covering.

Habitats
Gambados often inhabited places where bones were abundant, as such places gave them a better chance at hiding in plain sight.

On Toril they were known to occasionally be encountered in the temperate plains and underground areas of the Savage Frontier, as well as the plains of Cormyr, the Dalelands, and Sembia. They were also known to be quite prevalent at the Battle of Bones.

Languages
Gambados have often been seen quietly strumming the ground with rapid and minute movements of their springing legs. Some believe that this was how these creatures communicated with each other, though others felt that this activity was nothing more than a means of exercising their muscles during long periods of waiting between meals.

Usage
Due to its elasticity, the hide of these creatures was valued for its use as a connector of pipes as well as in similar applications.

Background
The name of this creature is derived from the Spanish word gambado, which means a leaping movement.