Ghoul
Starving Sathiid become ghouls. Their bodies enter a starvation mode and they become frantically ravenous. Feral. Predators. Mataglap. Their skin is sallowed and jaundiced, their eyes wild. Whatever hair doesn't fall out is wiry. Their muscles are lean. Sathiidism has taken over on an entirely physically level and you are still in faculty of your skills and memories but your personality is overriden by how hungry you are for blood and live flesh.
You will go for the easiest prey.
Families beware.
If you are stuck too long in this mode, you may get lost to it entirely, becoming more animalistic with every kill as the Sathiidism continues to warp your body into the shape of a predator.
And that can split off into all sorts of shapes since that basically enhances whatever physical attributes the Sathiid had before that. For people without many physical attributes they become ambush hunters, or pack hunters/shufflers (zombies).
Zombies walk around very slowly and quietly, conserving energy and relying on strong night vision. Once close to you, they will move with freakish speed. Well, unless they're so hungry that the sathiidism has started to eat skin and muscle.
Ghoul's movements are characterized often by long, slow searches and pacing and stretches and almost dancing -- not quite elegant but instead shambling: clenching in anxiety and swaying with exhaustion.
Their head snaps up when they see you, and their demeanor changes. They go for the kill with primal draw, to the fullest of their adrenaline and the hazy memories of how to fight from their life. Many zombies hunt in different ways. Few consistent behaviors because they still have some Sophontic ingenuity.
Comments