All posts by Oscar Rios

A new race created from a dying one
The serpent kin are a new race, barely a century old, struggling to find its place in the world and their own identity. Outwardly they appear quite human, with a few key differences. Serpent Kin are totally hairless, have long forked tongues, and either slit vertical (in females) or horizontal (in males) pupils. They can extend their jaws to swallow prey (up to SIZ 20) whole and move with an unnatural grace, like a trained dancer or acrobat. They are extremely intelligent, with boundless curiosity and a natural gift for science. Their temperament is one of cold clinical calculation, with subdued emotions. While they understand the concept of empathy it is not something they truly feel, making many of them seem detached at best and cruel at worst. 

The true origins of these creatures remain a mystery, with many theories about their origins. Some say they were once humans who became trapped and corrupted between dimensions. Others surmise that they are natives to another plane of existence who’ve taken on a human-like form to invade our reality. What is known about them is that they emerge from weak points between dimensions, usually caused by failed experiments or rituals involving temporal or extradimensional travel. Once manifesting in our reality a crawler can never return from whence it came, and seem fixated on a single goal, finding and killing as many humans as possible.

These strange, grotesque creatures begin as a normal deer common to North America, such as White-tailed, mule, or roe deer. They appear much like a regular deer until they get close enough to see clearly. These creatures have milky eyes and patchy coats covered with a dusting of what looks like bluish pollen (see below). Strange fungal masses, resembling toadstools, grow around their mouths and in any open wounds they might have. These growths become more pronounced and gruesome the longer the zombie deer lives. Zombie Deer move with a strange wobbly,trembling motions and reek of rotting milk and rancid flesh. They tend to be solitary, spreading out from one another to better spread their infection (see below).

These creatures are created when a mortal person dies after being subjected to a powerful curse, usually one placed on a sacred site or tomb. Most Accursed Thieves were thieves and grave robbers in life, or those they infected afterwards. They appear to be walking corpses very similar to a standard zombie, but a bit more driving and intelligent. Their open wounds teem with maggots. Worms wriggle under their skins, behind their pale eyes, and drip from their open moaning mouths.

This creature, native to the central planes and eastern forests of North America, enacts vengeful upon those who have harmed innocent women and children. The Deer Woman also target womanizers, unfaithful lovers and husbands, appearing as temptress. They’ll try to lure them away to secluded places using their powerful otherworldly charm. Such men are often never seen again. Deer Women seem to always be able find such men within a 20-mile radius, using their very keen sense of smell. There are rumors of spells and rituals that attract such a creature, and direct it towards a particularly heinous offender. 

Whether these solitary creatures degenerated into being from humanity or simple took on human shape in order to hunt us is unknown. What is known is that they freely move about society, emerging from their hiding places at night to feed upon the unsuspecting. They appear barely human, typically having lost yellowing skin over corpulent frame, overlong arms and short legs, filthy claws and sharp teeth on elongated jaws. They always seem dirty, with greasy hair and filthy clothes. Their disguise is mainly on their powerful psychic abilities to cloud the minds of any around them.