Tag archives for octobernomicon

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. 

“Now learn that henceforth ill-luck shall constantly attend thee; that thy strength shall never exceed what it now is, and that by night these eyes of mine shall stare at thee through the darkness till thy dying day, so that for very horror thou shalt not endure to be alone.” 

– draugr Glámr, The Saga of Grettir the Strong

Alternate Names: Carrion Hounds, Charnel Dogs, Ghoul-Hounds

“The ghoul is seldom alone. In the wake of its passing come the dogs of famine, whose muzzles show the teeth of men. They circle the graveyards like wolves, yet it is not the beast they resemble, but something made mockery of by the tomb.”

—Livre de la Charogne, French, Brother Renault of Poitiers, 1357

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.

. . . regular looking guy–slacks, shirt, and a tie–classic middle-management. He set down his briefcase and stretched out his arms. Next I know, he’s shouting a bunch of gibberish and waving his hands around, then he just picked up his briefcase and casually walked away.

This weird rippling started, vertical and very narrow, standing from the sidewalk to about a foot in the air, then it turned black and widened a little–like a short door opening into a dark room. These damn centipedes came pouring out, dozens of them–huge too–some as big as small dogs.

They started crawling all over people, including me, and it hurt like hell. The legs stuck in me like giant fish hooks. If people weren’t screaming in pain, they were screaming in terror. Some pulled out pistols and started blasting at the things.

You folks got here before any other first responders, damn fast. You a private outfit? I’ve never seen a green and black ambulance with a green triangle logo before.—Walter Walker, to paramedics, immediately prior to his disappearance.

It was fucking insane. He started gagging, retching, then he puked. That was when I got it, why he’d needed to swallow a maggot when he cast that spell this morning–shit, thank God I’m not the group’s wizard.

The damned thing was about the size of a chihuahua when it started shoving its way out of his mouth–I thought his face was going to split open. The maggot-thing was already about a foot long when it slid out and splopped onto the floor, thick with mucus, and rapidly growing.

By the time I blacked out, it was as big as a mastiff and growing tentacles, spikes, and too many mouths and eyes. Good thing it was on our side.

When I came to, we were back at the safe house. I’m the shotgun member of the team, a pump-action 12 gauge, and they told me I helped a lot–blew away a bunch of whatever the hell we were fighting–ghouls, giant spiders, cultists, I can’t remember. Thank God I didn’t hit any of our people while I was out of my mind.

Magic, yeah, it’s a mixed bag.—Samantha “Sam” Fernandez, member of The Silent–a group of ordinary people dedicated to protecting humanity.