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“He then saw too bizarre creatures running after him. They were short, and looked like a half man, half monkey. They were covered in dark hair. Martinez reached the car, fumbling with his pockets for the keys. He was then suddenly grabbed from behind. He fell together with his assailant into a ditch beside the road…he managed to break free and scrambled towards the car. The creature jumped on top of him, screaming.” – eyewitness report, Albert Rosales’s Humanoid Sightings Reports
The Targhuz appear to come from a subterranean realm dominated by immense machinery. The beings make their home in the hot, steaming labyrinthine catacombs formed in the space between – and within – the machine. Whether the Targhuz are native to this realm, or were force to live there by some other force, is unknown. Nor is the exact location of the realm known, only that it is no Earthly location. Few have ever willingly entered their hellish home to explore it. And even fewer have ever returned.
But many humans have been taken to that awful place by the Targhuz. On occasion, small groups of Targhuz will cross into our world to snatch away humans. These unfortunate souls are then forced into slavery, to toil away at the machines. What purpose the machines serve is known only to the Targhuz, and they are not forthcoming with information. Their language of hoots, growls, and snarls is impossible to translate, and all attempts at psychic communication fail.
All so captured eventually die, either mangled in the machines, felled by exhaustion, or murdered by the cruel Targhuz. Dead slaves are returned to our world, near where they were taken. Such abductions may explain the thousands of unsolved disappearances that take place around the planet each year.
Reality distorts when the creatures entry our world. Their coming is often accompanied with bright flashes of light, ball lightning, spikes of radiation, and a slowing of time. Some witnesses will catch a glimpse of the machine realm through the open gates, and believe what they see to be a solid craft in our world. Encounters with the Targhuz, and the affects of their presence, have been mistaken for UFO sightings. The Targhuz themselves have entered UFO lore as the “hairy humanoids”.
Special Abilities
Open Gate: All Targhuz have an innate ability to open a gate at will. These gates only open between Earth and the machine realm. Humans in the presence of these gates experience a warped reality. Any skill checks relating to perception automatically fail, unless an accompanying Idea check is successful. What the investigator sees as a result of these failed checks is at the whim of the Keeper.
Blank Psyche: All attempts to read the mind of a Targhuz, psychically control or communicate – by magic or any other means – automatically fail.
Targhuz, Ultraterrestrial Slavers
char – rolls – avg
STR 3d6+6 19-20
CON 3d6 10-11
SIZ 1d6+2 5-6
INT 2d6 7
POW 3d6 10
DEX 3d6+6 19-20
Mov 6 – HP 9
Av. Damage Bonus: +1d6
Weapons: Claws 40% damage 1d4 + db
Grab 60%, damage grapple, Targhuz will then attempt to drag victim away
Bite 40% damage 1d4 + db.
Armor: The Targhuz are inexplicably hardy creatures, despite their diminutive size. Mundane weapons do half of minimum damage, rounded up, minimum of 1.
Spell: Few, if any, know any other spells.
Skills: Intimidate 60%.
Sanity Loss: 1/1d10 to see a Targhuz.
Bruce is a sociology student and co-host of The Crypt Keepers podcast
