"Sanity Eater"

CLASS: UNKNOWN

A nonliving, non-sentient structure that grew from a meteorite, this inanimate "monster" forever obeys the whims of the first sentient being it comes into contact with. Comprised of three to six hovering nodules that orbit one another in erratic patterns, it can cause considerable damage with its crystalline spines but rarely has to, for its psychic attacks are often devastating enough. Despite a total lack of consciousness, it thrives off mental energy, sapping thought from nearby brains and leaving madness in its wake.

Proximity to an Avazoth causes mildly blurred vision and a tingling in the bones.

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ART STUFF:

In 1957, Universal released a film entitled "The Monolith Monsters," wherein Earth is threatened by a terrifying alien mineral. It petrifies living things and grows rapidly on contact with water, causing mass destruction as it sprouts into towering spires that eventually topple and shatter in hundreds of pieces that each repeat the process. It's not a lifeform, not even a "being" in any traditional sense, but it's billed as a monster, and who's to say it isn't one? I always really liked that idea. The name "Avazoth," of course, is a distortion of "Azathoth," one of H.P. Lovecraft's creations and another completely inanimate "monster."