[OUTLANDER’S CODEX: FIELD NOTES] SUBJECT:
Bestiary: The Riftspawn (Or, Why You Never Trust a Familiar Shape)
The first mistake a city-dweller makes is calling them “mutants.” A mutation is a random error. An accident. There is nothing accidental about a Riftspawn. They are not just warped; they are re-engineered. The Amber Blight finds a host—a wolf, a scavenger, a person—and acts as a catalyst, forcing a horrific, accelerated evolution into something new, something purposeful. They are our world’s life, contorted into shapes that honor an alien geometry.
Know what you’re hunting. Your survival depends on it.
The Grazers (Common Prey)
These are the herds, the most common signs that the Blight has remade the world. You’ll see the Amber-Stags, their hides laced with shimmering, crystalline growths. You’ll find the hulking, insectoid Scrabblers digging for lichen under the snow. Don’t be fooled by the name. They are your primary source of sustenance, but they are territorial. A cornered grazer will fight with an unnatural, furious purpose you won’t see coming .
The Stalkers (Dangerous Predators)
These are the true hunters of the Pale, and they don’t follow the rules of biology. You’ll be hunted by Static-Hounds, canine horrors that can phase for a split-second, appearing as a visual glitch to bypass your aim. You’ll be terrorized by Shriekers, bat-like things whose cries can overload your audio receptors with pure, maddening static. Hunting a Stalker is a duel. They use the world’s glitchiness as a weapon.
The Abominations (Walking Nightmares)
These are the high priests of the new world. Creatures so saturated with the Blight that their very presence distorts reality. They are walking Warp Zones, living manifestations of the Rift’s will . You do not hunt an Abomination. You witness it, and you run. To even be near one is to feel the laws of physics start to fray. They are the ultimate proof that this world is not ours anymore.
Roleplay Hook: How to Fight a Blasphemy
Remember this, and you might live. Riftspawn are not mindless beasts. There is a terrifying logic to their forms and actions. They are purposeful, intelligent beings operating on a level of consciousness that is utterly hostile to our own .
When you fight one, you are not just fighting an animal. You are fighting a living theorem of a hostile geometry. Watch how it moves. See the alien efficiency in its hunt. The true horror isn’t just that it wants to kill you; it’s seeing a sliver of familiar life twisted into an unknowable, intelligent purpose.
[TRANSMISSION END]