The Corpse Eater
In the strict caste based society of the mystical sub-continent of Valur, belief in re-incarnation is powerful and the concept of ''dah'', or the actions of one's previous life having far reaching consequences for the present one, holds powerful sway. Thus, does one receive great punishment or reward in his next life, depending on the actions of his current existence.
In the strict caste based society of the mystical sub-continent of Valur, belief in re-incarnation is powerful and the concept of ''dah'', or the actions of one's previous life having far reaching consequences for the present one,holds powerful sway. Thus does one receive great punishment or reward in his next life,depending on the actions of his current existence.
And for one hailing from the elevated king-priest cast thato commits an unforgivable crime such as the killing of the sacred ox or the desecration of the holy scriptures, terrible indeed is his punishment. For him, there will be a cruel and sinister twist to the typical cycle of birth and rebirth.
Two months following his inevitable demise,he rises from the grave as a Corpse Eater, a dreadful pallid thing that resembles nothing so much as a skeletal mockery of the human figure. Naked and utterly devoid of hair, this wretched thing is extremely emaciated with its bones streching out clearly against its parchment brittle skin. No eyes does it possess, with only twin slit like nostrils and a large slack maw filled with hundreds of shredding yellow fangs visible on its face. But this minor handicap does not thwart it from performing its functions.
In charnel grounds heaped with massive numbers of unclaimed corpses, the Corpse Eater performs a vital task by feeding on them and stripping them of their flesh with its hungry jaws, thereby performing a very important task. It is a most lowly assignment in the scale of duties, one that not even the lowliest castes will perform, for getting rid of human corpses is regarded as rendering one unclean. Thus, the former son of the noblest caste in existence is now compelled to do a task that no human will touch.
But it is more than a mere cleaner of the grounds of the deceased. The unwanted dead are not all it has to feed on. On occasions, the Corpse Eater does find itself given the chance to relish the taste of live meat bursting with the nectar of fresh blood, when grave robbers make the fatal mistake of looting the grand mausoleums of important men that lie in its domain. Seemingly appearing from nowhere out of the night, it will pounce upon the stunned men as they hunch over their grim work,and begin to claw the skin off their backs with its wickedly curved yellow nails. Slowly it slays its victim, peeling off his skin with the utmost patience even as he screams in agony for the release of death. Taking its time, it will see to it that his torment goes for as long as it can before he finally succumbs to the release of death. Only then does it begin to lick the copious amount of blood oozing out of his freshly flayed corpse.
Attempts to slay it are fraught with peril. Any wound inflicted on its pale hide will issues forth a jet of putrid green liquid reeking of puss and rot, that burns the skin right off a man.When this happens, the toxic blood of the Corpse Eater will then seep into his bloodstream where it will poison him to death within a few moments.
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? Responses (4)
A nasty, but useful creature. *imagines a sign saying 'Beware of the Corpse Eater'*
One heck of a supernatural guard dog to toss at your players, that's for sure! On the flip side, there shouldn't really be many of them around, so each one would have some sort of mythos attached to it, rumors and such of the fall of the highest of the high to the lowest of the low. Great work!
I think that if a priestess who is obliged to remain untouched indulges in the pleasures of flesh, she might be cursed thus...
An interesting beastie.
A very terrifying creature indeed! Certainly the material of nightmares.