Gray render

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the gray render is a magical beast born from various Terran substances present in swamps and marshes. It is a big, bulky, and bulbous creature which stands nine feet tall, despite a hunched posture, and four feet wide and long. It has a short tail, and a bullet-shaped head with six small, yellow eyes. It has a clay-like hide which seems to harden and soften to absorb blows.

The creature is asexual and reproduces by making a smaller version of itself swell up in its chest from leftover substance and then separate. It carries the young in its pouch for a time, but then leaves it. Gray renders are never found in groups, and the only times they are not solitary is when parents carry their young. Gray renders have the interesting habit of picking a group of other creatures native to its own home, and then protecting and serving that group of creatures for no apparent reason. Whether accepted or not, the render attempts to stay near its adopted masters at all times, protects them from attackers, and brings a daily offering of meat. If the creatures attack it, the render runs away. Gray renders attack by grappling, tearing, and then swallowing the corpse whole. The eaten victims eventually become one with the render.

Gray renders cannot speak and are regarded as neutral in alignment.