Amoeba (Warhammer Fantasy)

It was over two years ago when I developed the Amoeba House at the Imperial Zoo. It was a simple setup, really: a large, metal bowl, no cracks for the Amoebae to escape through. The top of the bowl had piping attached through which steam was passed. As Amoebae shy away from heat, it worked well. I had it created at the emperor’s order by the Imperial Engineers. It made one hell of a racket, but it kept them in... most of the time. WENZEL IMMELMAN, ZOO KEEPER.

Amoebae are huge, single-celled creatures with bodies made of soft, jelly-like protoplasm, hence their popular names of Jellies, Slimes, and Blobs. They flow over solid surfaces or swim through liquids with an undulating motion and can move over almost any surface, including walls and ceilings, seeping through even the narrowest of cracks and crevices.

Overview Amoebae feed upon all forms of living matter, including fungi, mosses, plants, and animals. Their usual diet is dead animal tissue, but they will attack living creatures equally readily, flowing forward to engulf the victim. Food is absorbed directly through the cell wall and is digested by powerful enzymes. Amoebae have no capacity to absorb minerals or metals, which pass out of their bodies unharmed. They are not sensitive to light and sound, but can detect heat and are able to sense food by touch. They are drawn toward sources of heat, which they associate with food, but they will shrink from naked flame, once it has wounded them. Extremes of cold also repel them.

Amoebae are completely formless. They can reach almost any size, although they rarely exceed ten feet in length. Colours vary; most are grey or whitish, but many are transparent.

Amoebae are often confused with jellyfish, for the two creatures appear similar when viewed underwater. However, they could hardly be more different. Amoebae do not require water to suspend them, and often leave it when prey is scarce. Out of water, they are capable of sending out strands of their body to a surprising distance, and can prove to be implacable predators, absorbing anything organic in their path.

No matter how dangerous Amoeba can be to unsuspecting prey, they are utterly brainless and quite slow. This means they are simple to avoid if one is careful. Of course, it can be very hard to be careful enough, as Amoebae can get anywhere.