#creature lore

Rare, large and powerful Revenant born from collective emotions, and in the Cadenza Lich-Mollusk’s case; grief and hysteria. An almost siphonophore-like pseudodead consisting of a bony carcass ‘snail’ and symbiotic ‘flatworms’ that churn inside.

Spawning like all Revenants in isolated places without light, in areas that bear suitable emotional energies and dead matter to form from, Cadenza Lich-Mollusks (henceforth shortened to Cadenzas) prefer cool and damp places without natural sunlight and will travel to new environments if they did not manifest in an ideal location. Ones caught out in direct daylight will become irritated and cranky, as reflected in later-mentioned behaviors.

Physiologically, it is incredibly different from what it appears based on: The snail has a snake-like skeleton supporting its form and a thick-but-hollow shell, having to tightly coil up inside to be fully protected by it. The bioluminescent flatworms exist in place of any internal organs and act as its all-consuming stomach, capable of slithering out of the snail’s jawless mouth to act as a ‘trunk’ for consumption.

Cadenzas like all Revenants consume dead matter like dust and carrion, but in its case, new flatworms will form to replace ones that had been lost or destroyed if healing the central snail’s physical damage isn’t needed. Also like all Revenants, they bear a distaste for living matter and will become aggressive to egregious cases of such.

Two specialist leading flatworms anchored into the snail’s skull act as the collective’s primary sensory organs, being both sight and scent. The smaller worms throughout the snail’s body can emerge if said body is sufficiently ruptured and become fully ambulatory, all armed with comically-undersized jaws capable of shearing.

The toothy ‘beard’ below the Cadenza’s head consists of pointy-but-entirely-vestigial teeth, only capable of being a danger if the Cadenza decides to try and smother enemies. The similar toothy spines on its upper back can get in the way of it retreating into its shell, so spines that aren’t loose enough to lay flat against the skin will be ripped out for ease of turtling. Its possible to see these scars on Cadenzas that have never seen combat.

Cadenzas are not mobile, only capable of trudging along at 2-ft in a second at most. They can alternatively lay flat and perform a side-to-side slithering motion for a relatively quicker option of movement.

All Revenants possess an incorporeal “pulse” that binds their physical form of dead matter and shade together and keeps the creature coordinated, but the Cadenza is one of the very few that amplifies its own pulse into audible, comprehensible music that directly emanates from the Revenant. No two individual Cadenzas bear the exact same instrumentation, but they all share the same set of leitmotifs and general genres of the techno-disco-rave ballpark.

Since this pulse coordinates and generally guides the Revenant, the Cadenza naturally follows the rhythm in perfect time as it bobs, shuffles and slithers with an unreadable intent. Their song can reflect the current mood one is in, with;

Muffled beats while inside its own shell.

Passive, funky jams while idle or exploring…

… which crescendo into the spectacular tech-rave-drop they’ve become iconic for.

These can all feel more ‘edgy’ or aggressive if the Cadenza is in a bad mood, such as being caught in sunlight or when facing especially stubborn enemies.

The dual eyestalk flatworms can abuse these rhythmic patterns to cast spells, doing mutual dances and gestures while channeling the Cadenza’s latent magic before releasing it in a single move. They can only know a set amount of spells, so the exact ‘loadout’ can vary on the individual much like their music. The most frequent spells are as follows;

A simple, clumsy projectile blast of blue-and-purple fire.

A circular torrent of black mucus that sweeps outward and away from the Cadenza. The black mucus quickly decomposes into neon sparks once settled

Hardening and sharpening the very ends of the two leading eyestalk flatworms, creating dual maces to pummel enemies. This can affect its ability to cast other spells, but it can easily dispell this one to resume the casting of other spells.

Light manipulation of earth and stone, creating small spires of rock or bringing down boulders. Cadenzas that have long-time lairs will be more efficient at using this.

A simple, ultra-thin jet of pressurized water.

Cadenza’s themselves have a selective anti-magic field around them, one that makes them immune to their own spells while making other spells lose power before they reach the Cadenza or outright reflecting them if it hits their shell, carrying amplified power than before. Two Candenza close together will mutually cancel out one another’s spellcasting, though such an interaction is purely artificial due to their isolationist nature. Attempts to reverse-engineer the spells used by Cadenzas have long proven fruitless.

Most sinister of all their tricks is their ability to ‘thrall’ creatures regardless of species or size. A thrall of a Cadenza is directly connected to the creature’s before-mentioned pulse, so they join the Cadenza in its bizarre jive, acting as supporting backup dancers to the ‘main star’ in synchronized and seemingly-choreographed dances. These thralls are ignored by the leading Cadenza and said thralls never assist it in combat, thought to just be a way for the Cadenza to ‘incapacitate’ enemies and get them out of the way easily.

Thralls can be made by a ‘default’ spell Cadenzas always have; a pink smoky beam that directly inflicts the Cadenza’s body possession, but it can also be inflicted from their enchanted mucus through either direct consumption or thorough engulfment. Those who willingly dance along to the music will also succumb as thralls, taking over as soon as they try to stop. Thralls will never stop dancing around the host Cadenza, and possession can only be broken in the following ways;

Death of the Cadenza and the ceasing of its song and influence.

Death of the thrall, typically through complete exhaustion, insomnia, dehydration or starvation. Long-time Cadenza lairs will have seemingly-untouched remains for this reason,

Special spells that break hypnosis and similar minds control. The Cadenza’s anti-magic only applies to the core snail and none of its thralls.

The worst part of being a thrall is that they’re conscious the entire time, described as a state similar to sleep paralysis where the thrall can only look around as bodily control is robbed from them. Entire bands of travelers can vanish due to each one being made an endlessly dancing thrall in a single encounter, to say nothing of the helplessness of someone who is alone. This unique and cruel fate is why these Revenants are so feared and respected despite their apparent silliness.

As with all Revenants, they have a certain threshold of physical damage they can sustain before their forms become too shattered to hold together. When this threshold is met, the Cadenza enters a state of chaos as the snail writhes and winces as the internal flatworms cannibalize eachother in a mad frenzy, before it all slurrifies and decomposes rapidly, disintegrating to black dust in moments. The snail’s shell is the only body part left behind, although its reflectiveness and magic-repulsion is tied to the Cadenza’s song and thus it reverts to a dull matte gray upon the creature’s collective death.

Cadenzas will try to use their final moments of cohesion to perform a ‘final bow’ to round off their lifelong song, though the execution of this can vary in effectiveness. Any thralls usually go limp upon being unbound from the Cadenza, and no more thralls can be made from anything relating to the dead Cadenza. No limit has been observed for how many thralls a single Cadenza can have at any given moment.

At this distance, the only thing you can do is stay still, hold your breath, and pray.

Often it doesn't help anyway.

...

The Hand is the epitome of an Under predator. Unlike the terrifying singing Wall or the seemingly everpresent, yet non-personified Flesh, the Hand is a breathing, walking Being. It is massive and it is fast - and therefore, it is hungry.

The Hand is always on the move, always searching for its next victims. Its hunting grounds stretch as far as its prey might wander, as far as the Under itself. Its mark - bloody prints of monstrously large human hands - taints the walls in rusty red reminders of its nearly undisputed reign over the tunnels.

It is cruel and cunning and resourceful to the extreme. Its blindness isn't even a limitation - it knows when you see it. It senses fear from the tiniest squeak, from the faintest rustle of clothes against tensing muscle.

It is blindingly fast on the hunt, patient and persistent in the search. It dances along the walls with uncanny grace, diving in and out of shadows. Poking. Testing. And then snapping.

The Hand displays a surprising amount of restraint for a creature that can obliterate its prey by sheer mass alone. Which is why it is so often underestimated by those who see it for their first and their last time.

An object of dread and fascination, the Hand is both the boogieman and the guide. Where it treads, we may pass. Where it hunts, we may find sustenance. If we follow its example and never cross paths with it ourselves, we might yet have a chance of surviving this hell.

Many fanciful epithets are used to denote the qualities of the God of the Underworld - not least of which is "The Merciless". Much like the monsters of the deep sea, the Hand rarely feasts, and so never passes an opportunity and never lets go of its prey. It will pursue for as long as it senses movement, and it will kill with no regard for pity or satisfaction. It drags off corpses and impales them on rocks to eat later. It tears and twists them in grotesque displays because it understands the fear of the little hairless monkeys that seem so paradoxically familiar.

And it uses it.

...

Be quiet.

Lie down slowly. In a tight space, if possible. Stay still.

Away from the fire - it will search around it.

Hold your breath. Listen to its footsteps - it will try to wait you out multiple times.

Pray the earth swallows you and then lets you out alive.