Malpraeda

Basic Information

Alternative name(s) Hunter of Hunters, Malevolent Quarry, Vengeful Game. Threat Extreme. Tactics Persistance hunting, ambush, all-out attacks. Subspecies Many; any creature can technically become a Malpraeda over enough time and when exposed to enough fell magic. Locations In the deepest wilds of Arethil, wherever predators and prey may be found.

Physical description

Size See above. Distinctive features Frequently riddled with telltale signs of failed hunts, features of prey animals that have become warped beyond nature.

Out-of-character information

Image source もの久保:画集『ねなしがみ』発売中 on Twitter

Since time immemorial, heroes and adventurers have sought to slay great and terrible beasts. From dragons to aurochs, from apex predators to beasts of the field, the hunt has continued not for the sake of survival, but for glory. For the lesser of these creatures, the chance of survival against a determined hunter is slim to none. What hope does a mere ram have against a warrior, armed to the teeth?

For most, none. But for those who can slip away, for those that are infected with the spark of an ancient, fell magic and a spirit of revenge, a chance can be born. That spark may fester and grow, and with it, so will the beast, until it may have the power to slay its hunter. For a brief time, the prey may find itself safe in victory over those that would see it made a trophy.

However, a hunter slain is a rumor started, one of a great and terrible beast that stalks the wilds. More hunters will inevitably come, and with each that does the beast will need to grow more and more powerful, more resilient, more clever. More and more, the vengeful spirit that possesses it will evolve and force that same evolution upon the beast's physicality, each hunter slaughtered increasing its might.

Eventually, the creature itself will be consumed by hate. Unable to live the peaceful, natural life it was intended to, the beast, now a Malpraeda, becomes the very thing it spent its entire existence defending itself from: a hunter without reason, seeking and slaughtering even the innocent. Twisted beyond redemption, the only path to peace for a Malpraeda is the release of death, ironically brought to it by a hunter.

A true Malpraeda can have many appearances, based upon the animal that it was created from. Most common attributes shared among them are their prey-like features that have been twisted into tools far from their original purpose; caprine eyes may become numerous and huge, allowing for extremely sensitive vision; flat teeth designed for grinding plant matter may become fanged or far too many to fit in the creature's mouth; horns and hooves may become spikes and vicious, etc.

Additionally, Malpraeda, in the rare instance that one is seen and the witness lives to tell the tale, are said to bear countless scars, as well as spears, arrows, hooks, and swords that jut from their bodies. It is unknown whether these signs of failed hunts are truly real or simply a manifestation of the creature's victimhood, as many of the weapons will be impossibly many or inhumanly large. Some say that the spots on a Malpraeda's body where their flesh is pierced by these weapons leaks a steady stream of noxious soot into the air.

Malpraeda are usually only found in the wildest, most inhospitable environments. The heart of the Ixchel Wilds, the deadest of the Blightlands, the furthest reaches of the Eretejva Tundra, or the dankest depths of the Bayou Garramarisma.

• Drenched in Malice: Malpraeda are far beyond the reaches of reason or peace. An encounter with one can only mean violence. Run and pray you are faster, or fight and pray you are lucky.
• Cursed: A foul, terrible, ancient magic courses the veins of a Malpraeda. Those in tune with such energies will find themselves repulsed by the Malpraeda's very presence. The cursed energy that runs through a Malpraeda will often overflow, leaking from its body in the form of a toxic miasma.
• Predatory Prey: Malpraeda do not need to eat, nor sleep. They tend eat that which they kill anyways, but they also tend to vomit up any meat they consume. They have no need to engage in the behavior that they do, but they are compelled to by their curse.
• Twisted Biology: The Vengeful Game have physiology that stretches beyond the reach of nature. They are often huge, cancerous things, seeming like demonic parodies of the animal they once were.
• Old Habits: Malpraeda are not invincible by any stretch of the imagination, just highly aggressive, territorial, and dangerous. Many still fill fear and are prone to obeying their survival instincts. Their behaviors can be studied and exploited, especially if one can discern what animal a Malpraeda once was. For example, a mountain goat Malpraeda might obsessively climb sheer surfaces, and a keen hunter might start a rockslide on its favorite stomping ground.
• To Break a Curse...: If the Malpraeda are cursed beings, surely the curse could be broken...right?

It is whispered among hunters of beasts that once, long ago, lived an archdruid devoted to protecting the prey of Arethil from unnatural predation. As time passed, however, the druid began to realize that he could never perform his chosen task flawlessly. For each animal he saved, for each hunter he defeated, ten more animals would wind up as trophies, and a hundred more hunters would join in felling the druid's friends.

At wit's end, the druid fell to madness. Sorrow and rage and hatred took his heart, and in a moment of weakness, he made a pact with a demon that would turn his feelings into a curse upon each and every hunter that ever dared seek the life of an innocent creature. In exchange, the druid offered his soul, becoming a black and cancerous spirit that dispersed itself across Arethil.

The result was the Malpraeda, those foul parodies of defenseless beasts, the stalkers of stalkers, the hunters of men. They lumber through the wilds of Arethil, seeking flesh they cannot consume so that they may earn their endless, bloody vengeance.

Of course, that is all simply a story told in distant villages to scare children away from wandering off into the forests alone...isn't it?