Voad

Description:
Voads are bloated, child-sized swamp toads covered in neon-fluorescent pustules that bubble, twitch, and pop with caustic vapor. Their bodies pulse with a rhythmic bloat—inhale, stretch, hiss—like a slow toxic engine. When startled or agitated, their glowing pustules rupture, launching bursts of sticky poison in unpredictable directions.

Native to the foul, hyper-saturated wetlands of Heave Island, Voads are a slow-moving but extremely dangerous form of swamp-life. They thrive in the RAD-drenched muck, feeding on rotting bio-matter and basking in the chemical fumes that would kill most other creatures.

Physical Inspiration & Features:

• Inspiration: Loosely based on a Cane Toad's bloated form, mixed with the textural nightmare of a Surinam Toad—but scaled up, twisted by RAD, and enhanced with bio-luminescent slime mechanics.

• Size: Roughly 3 feet long, 2.5 feet tall when squatting; dense, round, and heavy—like a living toxic beanbag

• Skin Texture:

  • Base layer is warted and wrinkled, with a mix of matte green-gray flesh and slick iridescent patches

  • The entire back and flanks are studded with bioluminescent, fluid-filled pustules of varying sizes, which twitch and pulse independently

  • Each pustule is semi-transparent with neon fluid inside—typically glowing green, though some Voads display pink, yellow, or orange pustules depending on diet and RAD saturation

  • Some bubbles stretch so thin you can see them reflecting the environment, like toxic soap film

  • When light hits the pustules, they refract RAD glow, shimmering like an oil slick under moonlight

Behavior & Traits:

• Burst Defense: When threatened, Voads will reflexively pop several pustules at once, creating a cloud of noxious spray and acid-like slime

• Toxic Leap: Voads can lurch forward in a surprisingly fast short hop, leaving splatters of fluorescent slime behind them

• Inertial Defense: Their weight and jellylike composition makes them very hard to knock over or push

• Bubbling Sound: A constant rhythmic glub-glub-pop can be heard before they are seen. This is both respiratory and threat display

Abilities:

• #Bile Burst: Random pustule ruptures outward, dealing AOE poison splash damage

• #Toxic Trail: Leaves behind a glowing ooze that slows and poisons on contact

• #Inflate & Slam: Briefly enlarges body size, then belly-flops with seismic force

• #Voad Gaze: A disturbing wide-eyed stare that stuns low-level enemies with horror

Weaknesses:

• Fire Magic causes chain-reaction eruptions across its body

• Ice Magic hardens the pustules, making them brittle and prone to shattering (increasing damage taken)

• Vulnerable to spiked weapons that rupture sacs and cause internal pressure imbalance

Environmental Notes:

• Usually found near RAD-algae pools, mutated water lilies, or fungal geysers on Heave Island

• Attracted to areas of rotting biomass, spilled Newglea, or even decomposing other Voads

• Often avoided by larger predators due to their unstable, caustic skin