Thursday, August 30, 2018

Lesser Malformed Homunculus

Fundamentally, a humonculus is a parasite of form. Clay-flesh, the creation of which is beyond the scope of this document, can use a human body as its mold, stealing away shapeliness and poise for its own use.

The creation of a homunculus is a complex undertaking that can go wrong in many different ways. Errors in early stages of development usually force an early "birth", creating a small, weak creature that is of little use. If this happens, you can still recover costs by placing the malformed thing within the skull of a freshly dead body. If all goes well, the homunculus will learn to control the body, and thus still be able to serve.

Wants: Sensation. When malformed lesser homunculi view the world it is as if through smudged glass, when they touch it as if their hands were wrapped in cloth. They pursue pleasurable sensation without care for its nature or cost, seeking more and more intensity. Their incredible hedonism gives them incredible reputations; they can often be tracked down by seeking the sources of the strange rumors that are spread about them.

Needs: To obey their creator. Even malformed homunculi must obey their creator. They will bend meaning and interpret as far as they can, but they must obey the letter of a command. Use them but never trust them.

Morale: Malformed lesser homunculi rarely have a instinct of self-preservation. Their morale depends on their attitude towards pain. Some despise pain so desperately they will surrender upon merely being threatened with it. Others embrace pain as another sensation that can be felt intensely, and will fight until destroyed.

What happens if you eat this monster: The bulk of the body is human, and eating it has all the usual ethical, legal, and occult implications of eating human meat. The homunculus itself, is made of skin surrounding a core of disgustingly soft fatty meat. It is calorie rich, but needs to be cooked carefully to be made palatable.

What can be crafted out of this monster's body: The body of the homunculus is of great value, as it can be made into a clay-like material out of which replacement limbs and organs can be shaped.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

World of Mists

The world of mists is a terrarium, a cylinder carved out of an asteroid to contain a self-sustaining ecosystem. Spun for gravity, the interior of the cylinder has a surface area of almost 140km2. An odd effect of airflow through the spinning cylinder has led to permanent mist.

Approximately a third of the surface is covered in lakes and ponds, another third is marsh, and another third is forest. The constant mist has lead to massive amounts of lichens and mosses growing on every available surface. Moose wander the land eating lichen off branches, otters live along the shores of the lakes, and packs of wild dogs hunt through smell at night. The thick constant mist forces all animals to neglect their sight and depend on other senses. During the day you can hear moose bellowing to each other, and at night the dogs howl.

A village has been carved into the sheer cliff that forms one end of the cylinder.. The villagers tend to moist gardens and maintain necessary machines, living meditative lives of routine, including exercises that maximize their hearing. It is because of these exercises that they have become aware of the wanderer, a being that has never been seen. It may be able to see through the mist, for it has always been able to avoid even silent pursuers, but in quiet twilights one can hear the sound of its heavy steps as it roams.