Nef'Hahk
From Mizahar Lore
| "Never had I encountered something so incredible, so soulless, so…unnatural." - Hahk’Shatar Veteran |
| Djedic | |
 | |
| Frequency | rare-low; population: about 150 |
|---|---|
| Threat level | high |
| Major features | exterior skull, claws, horns |
| Abilities | climbing, regeneration, filtered leeching, deafening screeches, decaying strength over generation, increasing intelligence over generations |
| Most common in | Taldera; social structure: independent families, possible tribes |
The Nef'Hahk is a spawn of the djed storm. Composed of wild djed and the elements around it, this djedic feeds and reproduces off of the djed of all things around it.
Contents |
Physical appearance
From crown to tail, the Nef’Hahk are of a most unnatural composition. Natural elements shaped and reinforced with djed have morphed the landscape and remnants of the dead into boney, stone clad creatures. Their hind pairs of legs are primarily composed of large spiked toes capable of hooking and latching onto the environment, ideal for swinging amongst the branches or clinging to the bark. These appendages are equally capable in scaling rock, although they tend to dwell where the life is richer in concentration. Their front limbs are designed for tasks demanding of more dexterity, such as grabbing prey, moving objects, opening things, or digging, although the digits too have small claws. Overall body composition is rock like, incredibly strong, dense, and heavy. Their rounded skulls are adorned with four spikes. The front horns share capability to function as siphons for djed, generally by penetrating the physical form of their prey and extracting the living essence of the being. The hind spike, although capable, is not as practical to use for that function. The interior of the skull appears hollow with dark, beady black eyes hovering in the back.
Although djed use can be used to quickly repair injuries, rapid regeneration can result in the appearance of torn “flesh” or gaping tissues. Such occurrences can cause a hollowing out in the Nef’Hahk’s physical body, although such repairs are necessary at times. Open wounds literally leak torrents of djed from the abomination’s body, starving it all the more. Internal composition is generally unknown, appearing fleshy and volatile inside when active. Parts broken off from the Nef’Hahk degenerate to basic decomposing materials or environmental elements once drained of djed. Offspring generations share this quality, although their living portions spear more liquid in appearance when harmed, perhaps oozing at a wound as it heals, and more flesh-like in appearance when finally slain.
Gender Differentiation
No physical difference exists between Nef’Hahk with the exception of types of reproduction “organs.” Males create as pilus structure of their djed to pass along wild djed to the female with an opening of its own for the intake. Females are notably larger when impregnated from increased djed intake. Both genders display similar behaviors in feeding and maintaining territory. Trend among generations seems to be a decrease in physical strength and concentrations of wild djed, in trade for mental capabilities such as self-awareness, problem solving, pack mentality, and verbal communication.
Reproduction
The Nef’Hahk do have specific gender types suggesting the first generation couples did manage to mate and then return to separate territories. Most generation one Nef’Hahk proved to be very territorial and independent, mating once then rejecting past mates. No apparent mating rituals seem to exist among the first generation. The male form impregnates the female, transferring as much wild djed as physically possible without completely surrendering its own integrity. Gestation varies according to djed intake and the rate at which wild djed can be replaced within the parent. Wild djed from the mother is then transferred into the Nef’Hahk zygote until the mother reaches its own physical minimum of wild djed while being able to sustain itself on the djed from its surroundings. The mother continues to nurse its single offspring by sharing the intake of djed from the environment, allowing the offspring to grow. When the offspring Nef’Hahk is ready, it will break through its mother’s body and continue the life cycle by hunting and growing. The mother has no care of the offspring. The breaking womb is healed as with regular injuries.
Generation two offspring, given the chance to reproduce, prove to be a bit more selective of mates, even choosing to avoid generation ones knowing they lack the amounts of wild djed to successfully mate. Males seek to provide evidence of their physical capabilities with trophies in hopes of constructing a shrine; the more “appealing” the shrine, the greater his chances of attracting a mate. Mates now begin to show signs pack mentality, the male defending its offspring, and the pair keeping together. Females even seek to provide for their significant weaker offspring as relative to the first born Nef’Hahk. Both parents are sterile as far as capabilities of reproducing by means of wild djed are concerned, although regular djed spawns are possible though much weaker than pure bred generations to come.
Should the trend continue, its expected the Nef’Hahk would begin to lose such amounts of wild djed that it would require the passing along of external djed as a replacement. Overall average mass would decrease as well. There’s an apparent direct relation with this loss and the increase on the Nef’Hahk’s mental capacity, opening up opportunities for larger family units. The Nef’Hahk are capable of inevitably developing to levels comparable to the “civilized” peoples of Mizahar, although their life style and essential demands would prevent any means of coexistence, especially by the standards held by the local Jamoura.
A special note: due to the presence of wild djed, and its transference to a “fetus” form of the Nef’Hahk, overgiving is a common occurrence in the reproduction cycle. The fetuses in development are not at all prepared or developed to handle the mild symptoms of overgiving, and thus die soon after. In light of this, the population is kept low and generations are smaller.
Lifespan
The Nef’Hahk are apparent immortals as they eternally consume djed. So long as they can supply their bodies with djed they will grow, and heal wounds. Only when their wild djed is utterly depleated, a last resort, are the Nef’Hahk slain. It is unknown where the wild djed is concentrated within a specific Nef’Hahk, although an aura reader would be able of identifying this. It is suggested that by decapitating a Nef’Hahk and preventing its intake of djed that it could be starved of djed. This is of course false as a Nef’Hahk can draw djed from its environment and regenerate itself. Similarities in the structures of the hand and leg limbs suggest they could be used in the same manner as the facial horns for leeching djed, although this is not a primary function.
History
From the moments that the djed storm of Spring 1st, 512 A.V. swept across the landscape of Mizahar, spawns of living abominations and alterations of natural species began to crawl the world. Deep within the recesses of the Talderan wilderness, one of these very monstrosities was born in great numbers. A creature that contends with the now senior Valterric brethren, this morphed being spreads new fear to Taldera and her forests in forms of destruction and spite.
Generation One
Named Nef’Hahk by the Hahk’Shatar who survived putting down one of these beings late in the spring season after the djed storm, the creature displayed the extent at which wild djed could alter life. Recounting the battle , several of the Nef’ ‘s abilities and mannerisms were brought to common knowledge of the guard. The creature fought with might of ten Hahk’Shatar, flinging Jamoura through the brush in fatal sweeps of its arms. With its hind claws gripped tight into the bark, tearing away the outer layers of the trees, the Nef’ shows incredible maneuverability in the trees rivaling the Jamouras’ own. Once they finally brought it to the ground, its reach could counter even their spears as it spread in full. They stabbed and smashed away at the boney exterior of the monster in vain as each crack seemed to swell with some internal fluid and mend all wounds. Surrounding the Nef’Hahk , they managed to take its tail, and found it no longer could reach as far. The hind stub began to wither and die, appearing as a fallen log. The battle was still at hand though, and the numbers of the Hahk’Shatar were thinning.
The Nef’Hahk’‘s tail healed in a shorter pointed stub, although its balance was disrupted. No longer did it reach out to grab for their spears. Still, those talon-like claws gripped into the bark heavily and leapt across the canopy. They followed it, needing to know their enemy, needing to avenge the fallen. They cornered the Nef’Hahk, at which time it let loose its horrid shriek. Their muscles all felt as slush, as the ponds in the middle ground between Spires and Avanthal turn, a para-solid held together by delicate bonds. Some felt need to reach for their bleeding ears or wipe blood from their eyes and mouths, as if overgiving. The sound had been emitted from the shell of a sphere that was upon its neck. Darkened eyes reached out for their spirits as it fought to keep its own. The Hahk’Shatar acted at once, fearing any more time would surely leave them all dead. Spears pierced the Nef’Hahk’s forelimbs time and time again, the same eerie glow returning to the wounds mending them entirely. On all six limbs, the Nef’Hahk thrashed the Hahk’Shatar apart. The lone remaining Jamoura standing, managing to keep his feet, became the sole target of the Nef’Hahk’s hatred. Unparalleled speed, that was all that they could describe the Nef’Hahk in this state of desperation. With its six limbs it propelled itself into the Jamoura’s being and struck him to the far tree wall. The front limbs held back the Hahk’Shatar’s limbs with ease as the dark eyes spirited him away. Through the mandible appendage, the very essence of the Jamoura was devoured and, perhaps, lost forever. This was Nef’Hahk, not of Caiyha, an abomination, a destroyer of nature’s beauty and life, a threat to the life cycle. At her gifted, they acted once more, finding cause to retreat to their own feral instincts to preserve themselves.
Tooth, fisted paw, spears, the load, all came down upon this Nef’Hahk, and it squealed as the life was literally beaten from it. The crackles in its skin flared and faded, soon breaking entirely. Pieces of the Nef’Hahk’s flesh shattered from its form and wilted on the ground as the wild djed was released back into the world. Even in a mangled state it still cried out to the world for aid, as if expecting the help of another. The Hahk’Shatar took their spears and sought to poke out any organ that might keep this abomination alive. The djed began to leak from its eyes as its whole body began to wither and die again. They found it suitable to mount its head on a spear in honor of the fallen. The head fell though, now pieces of the earth, and the withering body was but bones and stone. The once living djed spawn had become materials of the nonliving earth. Without the live force to sustain itself, all reservoirs depleted in regeneration and movement, the Nef’Hahk became as nothing, and the djed of the slain Hahk’Shatar returned to nature.
The Hahk’Shatar left on swift winds from the battle site. The cries were foreboding in their own, let alone the thought of another Nef’Hahk hearing its kin. A rule of nature would be these things are rarely alone, not that the Nef’Hahk adhered to these rules. In their swiftness they failed to listen to the faint cries, like chirping of chicks, which peeped from the rotting abdomen of the fallen Nef’Hahk. A slimy form, the size of a small cat, slithered and crawled on six limbs from its mother’s corpse and found refuge in the still hot body of the nearest Hahk’Shatar. Siphoning away the essence of the living form that lingered, it began to grow.
Generation Two
Not some days passing the event, the offspring, in its own right, had developed to half the size of its parent. It strayed away from the scent of its mother and began to hunt into a wooded area of its own, out of the reach the Spires. Hunting, feeding, growing, and hunting again, the Nef’Hahk became an adult itself after about a season’s time, marking out a territory, and continuing for survival. It ventured back to the still revalitvely fresh scent of the rotten bundle of the parent’s body and observed it, the spear, the decaying remains of the Jamoura left for nature. It was remembering, learning, and adapting at a rate surpassing the first generation spawn. These Nef’Hahk were change incarnate, much like the change brought upon by the storm, embodying the bits of wild djed that found their way into the Talerdan wilderness and settled there, and transformed there. The wild djed which held the form of the Nef’Hahk together would regenerate to a level at which the monster’s body could contain it, and from there would live its daily life off the djed of the living. Piercing into flora and fauna alike, the djed would be absorbed and transformed for personal use with no apparent waste. The djed storm had brought great change to MIzahar, the Nef’Hahk.
Although larger than the parent type, the generation two Nef’Hahk appears weaker in its physical strength, although growing in mental capacity. There’s some suggestion to a decay or loss of wild djed between generations, and a greater demand for external djed. Although there’s no notable rate as to how quickly this wild djed leaves the Nef’Hahk, it could be that even trivial amounts impact the demands of the Nef’Hahk’s body. Total depletion of this wild djed, and its release back into nature, could take a millennia without the outright interference of Caiyha’s followers. Extinction is the only end.
Behavior
First generation Nef’Hahk prove to be excessively bestial in behavior showing concerns for territory, heightened senses, and excessive caution. They generally live as if herbivores, capable of sustaining themselves off of the ancient and djed infused trees of Taldera, wilting them in turn, a direct threat to Caiyha’s domain and the stability of the ecosystem.
Second generations and onward show increased behaviors of hostility and thought. They become more omnivorous in their nature, capable of hunting down prey as necessary. Physical appendages used for mobility quickly become bodily weapons. Diet and Feeding The Nef’Hahk show a direct desire for the djed of their environment. This intake of djed, building off of their wild djed pools, is used to increase the bodily mass of the Nef’Hahk or for other repair. There is no other apparent use for the djed other than the direct consumption of it for sake of gathering yet more djed. Nef’Hahk in their earliest generations are rather nonspecific as to where their djed intake comes from. All djed produces the same effect, with the exception of wild djed which would produce exponential growth and increase in strength if a divine were so mad as to do such. The djed of a tree can produce the same effects as the djed of a deer or a human. The relative amount is the differentiating factor.
Their method of feeding is comparable to the personal magic of leeching, without any adverse effects. Through contact or prolonged presence near djed containing elements, the Nef’Hahk can and will absorb the djed for personal use. The physiology does not have need to accommodate from any of the mundane functions of most mortal bodies, therefore the foreign djed has no effect on their bodies. They are, in essence, a compilation of foreign djed. Reverse leeching is performed in the sense of reproduction.
The rate at which Nef’Hahk is not as comparable to that of a leecher. Nef’Hahk siphon djed at rates that easily put a host into shock and paralysis. It is unknown as to how fast this rate is, with djed being immeasurable by some standards. It is known, however, that the more massive Nef’Hahk can siphon at higher rates than their smaller kin. Because djed can be taken from all sources, the Nef’Hahk perhaps even propose direct threat to the Gods, Goddesses, and Alvina of Mizahar.
Psychology
Although only truly applicable to second generation Nef’Hahk, first generation spawns do show basic feelings common across races and cultures. By listening to their sounds, there are inflections of joy, sorrow, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise.
Second generation Nef’Hahk - and onward - show increasing trends in pack mentalities, possibly capable of elevating to tribal units given the time. They seem more knowledgeable of their self deterioration as a species and strive to conserve it. Such capabilities also seem to aid in helping the Nef’Hahk in developing a sense for their “native” environment in Taldera, making notes of the sentient life and the dangers they entreat on the Nef’Hahk as a people. This information can be used for a variety of purposes, such as avoiding civilization, or exterminating it in return, such as the immediate threat of the Jamoura.
Religion
The Nef’Hahk show no signs of religious comprehension. Speculations would suggest they might have an indirect affiliation with Uldr in that the Nef’Hahk seem to taint life and the djed of the living, or revently passed on. Their futures are their own when it comes to the interference of the divine which helped spawn these anomalies.
Value
The Nef’Hahk, by those of darker intent, are seen as means for greater evils. With their djed diet and regeneration abilities, in corporation with high mobility on most terrains, they are capable anti-mages or even mage hunters given the proper motivation. They are equally as dangerous to non-mages with their siphons holding no prejudice over the common flora and fauna in nature. Given time to grow and learn, they could easily rot away entire expanses of land down to their raw minerals, possibly incapable of supporting life without re-enrichment. Most terrible yet, given the opportunity to grow to great enough strength and size, a Nef’Hahk can pose a threat to the divine themselves, draining away at wild’s djed and transforming it to its own. This power transference could create a being beyond anything know in existence, something as bizarre and obscene as Outlings. The most powerful Nef’Hahk might very well exist in Mizahar, an unmated first generation of the species, although its intellect might render it incapable of such destructive feats without the proper influence.