#hostile creature

Hey

Hostile Creature.

A tall, unsettling, tree-like creature, the Creaking is the first ever instance of a naturally occurring Golem, and the first of its kind to be summoned the way they are. they are, for the time being, a mysterious anomaly in the biological mind, and have an appearance to match. taller than most anything, it sports a bark-like exterior as ash-gray as the trees around it, with a lopsided stance, lichen growing up its legs, and three glowing orange eyes peering out from the hollow log we call its head. as mysterious as they look, that's one of the things we know the most about, as it freezes any and all movement the moment it is stared at.

the Creaking makes its home in the rare patches of ghostly dark-oak forest variant we call the Pale Garden. it is heavily argued over whether or not to classify it as a plant, animal, or golem, but with my classification of golem as 'block-summoned creature', i will be referring to it as a golem. they appear when a block known as the 'creaking heart' forms inside a Pale Oak tree, surrounded above and below with the wood of that particular tree. oddly, the Creaking seems to have a 'clock', as they will only appear at night and subsequently vanish as soon as day hits. the heart itself glows with an orangy light when the stars shine, and will produce resin on the rest of the tree if the creaking is attacked for some reason. a glimpse of the glowing energy keeping both the heart and the golem alive can be seen connecting one to the other when the creature is hit.

perfectly still until you look away, the Creaking will sprint at anyone who has their back turned to it in a terrifying gait that is only halted by something staring it down. for some odd reason, it is rendered completely unable to attack if you are watching it, though you should still be careful, as one glance away will set the creaking in motion again. we have no idea why it acts like this, but it is my theory that the creaking is attempting to 'protect' its silent, eerie forest.

due to the nature of the creaking, we have little to no knowledge on how or why they function, as completely disappearing in daylight doesn't exactly make studying its physiology easy. frustrating, yes, but it adds to many's resolve to study the things in captivity, creating their own, artificial creaking hearts to summon creakings outside the Pale Garden. this has… led to some accidents, and several cases of injury and respawing.

the Creaking are not very nice pets. their habit of appearing at night, attacking anyone who doesn't give it attention, and general danger levels just makes them difficult to keep in captivity and frankly a bit silly to unless you for some reason need the resin the Heart produces. this has not stopped particular people from not only keeping Creakings as pets, but gathering so many that i don't even know how they have stayed alive with their sanity. my best assumption is they are used as nighttime guards, but since they pretty much ignore most mobs and only attack sentient beings as far as we've observed, i think this particular individual is just… crazy. why they have several stacks of creaking hearts active under and around their house i will never know, nor do i want to.

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[infinite health points; the only way to kill a creaking is to destroy the heart.]

Hostile Creature.

every naturalist worth their salt has that one specific creature they are incredibly passionate for, despite the public opinion of said animal. likewise, i have a certain fondness for the Phantom. phantoms are large, winged creatures, a bit like a giant bat, though upon closer inspection their physiology is much more reptile-like, with some converging traits of arthropods, such as a dark blue exoskeleton 'shell' covering most of their frame, along with bony protrusions that both act as extra back and belly protection as well as a frame for the thin but powerful wings to attach to. they have no visible legs, and a trail of gray smoke follows each wing-tip for reasons still unknown.

phantoms, as far as we can tell, are a species of sky-drifters, flying far too high to be seen even by those who have built to the very top of the world when not actively hunting. if they detect someone weakened by lack of sleep, however, they will descend to an observable height. this.. may be a reason i am so familiar with their kind. i have spent many a night sleepless, recording the creatures of this world, and have attracted many a phantom on account of it.

the phantom has a strange sense, an ability to detect when someone has not slept for three or more days. they use this detection system to hunt, preying on those already weakened by insomnia by swooping down and biting. hard. they have incredible jaw strength, and paired with the fact that they are excellent trackers and tend to hunt in packs of two to four, have gained a reputation as somewhat of a bother for your casual insomniac. obviously, having to deal with phantoms can be avoided by just… sleeping, but let's be honest. most anyone complaining about phantoms will view rest itself as a tedious chore. fortunately for some, and quite unfortunately for me, phantoms burn in the daylight, withering away into nothing if in contact with the sun.

now, i have a bit more understanding of phantom anatomy than most, partly due to my own adversarial relationship with sleep, and partly due to a close friend of mine keeping one as a pet in her base. it is a very wild thing, as most people-hunters are, but it has led to some very fascinating discoveries of the species as a whole. for example, the more bug-like physiology. to most encountering a phantom, they would look like nothing more than great, gray-blue bats, but upon closer inspection, they seem to have some convergent traits of creatures such as the silverfish or spider. throwing invisibility onto one, for example, doesn't extinguish their eyes. and of course, the exoskeleton mentioned earlier. they do not seem to be a member of the arthropod family themselves, as Bane of Arthropods has no effect on them, and they are mildly fuzzy underneath their hard plating and along those wings. it was more akin to a warm-blooded reptile than anything. they have little ear nubs, too, which was a surprise, and this particular one seemed almost fond of my friend despite the perpetually wild nature of the creature. i also discovered their ability to 'fly' through water just as well as air, most likely due to the similarity their wings have to flippers.

phantoms drop a sort of membrane upon their death, some foamy silver gel that comes from the rib-like structure along its tail. the phantom itself most likely uses this gland for mating rituals, as it has a very odd smell and is probably a pheromone of some kind, but it has the added utility of repairing broken elytra. something about this gland reacts to the mysterious metal of these gliders, and when placed on it, will fuse any cracks in the wing like a scab, effectively 'healing' the elytra. as for farming… well, it's quite difficult to do, given their nature as hunters of the sleepless. they fly far too high to catch, typically, so… the best bet for getting this valuable resource is staying up late and hoping for the best in a battle with these winged wonders. keeping one as a pet is similarly difficult, possibly even more so given their sensitivities to sunlight. you would have to lure one into a pre-built enclosure, tag it with a name, and make sure it cannot be hit by any wayward rays of sun. it has of course, been done before, but it is tricky, and building an enclosure that would be suitable for them is in and of itself a task that would eventually attract phantoms with how long it would take. and of course, their naturally wild nature and diet of respawning beings does pose some issues. as much as i adore phantoms, they do not make very good pets.

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[20 health points.]

[deals 2 hearts on Easy and Normal mode and 2 ½ hearts on Hard on java.]