Ravener

Summary

Fueled by bloodshed and driven by hatred, a ravener is a veritable mass of flesh no longer recognizable as a single given being. Each one is distinct in its composition, forming from the eaten prey of ghouls‌ and whatever bodily parts were shoved into itself. Raveners have a finely enhanced sense for detecting the living, and anything that triggers this immediately draws them toward their next unfortunate victim. In this way, a ravener will not stop killing until it can no longer sense a living being around. Left unchecked, even a handful of these creatures can reave life from vast tracts of land in record time. Handling them is no easier, as they not only overcome meager farmers and guards without issue, full fledged adventurers are often brushed aside as well. Coupled with their insane durability–one has to literally cut them into mincemeat before it stops–it's often easier to simply clean up returned‌ and ghouls before they appear. While not comparable to nekrokin‌, raveners have a cunning cruelty to their maneuvers. They can learn about traps, prepare traps, flank, ambush, play dead, and a veritable variety of behavioral adaptations no one expects them to have. This in turn means sometimes tried-and-proven methods can be ineffective, which only ever results in an escalating body count.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Raveners are ghouls who have consumed so much flesh and mana they become walking heaps of flesh, teeth, claw, and mouths. It is almost impossible to discern whatever the original body was amongst the mutations and additions. Whether slithering on an enormous tail, crawling on two arms, running on four, six, eight or more legs, they are large, terrifying, and entirely capable, almost appearing to be a form of life in and of itself.

Biological Traits

Without Pain – They have no concept of pain, and normally debilitating attacks or wounds simply do not faze them in the slightest. Undead Endurance – Driven by their metabolized mana, they can keep going for absurd amounts of time. In fact, the only time they stop is when they've lost all their mana, or lost track of their prey. Life Sense – They can sense the presence of the living in a supernatural manner. This means despite loss of critical sensory organs, like eyes or ears, they can still track their targets with disturbing precision. Gruesome Adapter – Raveners absorb and adapt everything they eat or tear apart then ram into themselves, becoming self-changing weapons on the move.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Carnivore

Disposition

Malevolent

Power

Monstrous