Hell Hound
Hell Hounds are, in a sense, a form of werewolf. They were created after the first wolves rebeled agained their creators. As-designed, it was hoped that werewolves would help the demons and creatures of the underworld. When that fell through, a new creature was needed. This time, there would be no humanity involved. They would be exactly as their name sounds: a canine built for hell, with a thirst for blood and souls. They were made to thrive in eternal damnation. They had some predecessors, wolves adapted to the realms of damnation, but they weren't quite the same.
These monsters are more like the demons. Their bodies are made of rock, their blood is lava. They breathe fire. Each of them is an immense monster in its own right, none coming in smaller than a pony. They're formidable beasts that will pursue their victims to the end of time.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Hell Hounds are massive, stone canines. They weigh several hundred pounds; move with the speed, strength, and ferocity of large cats; and their blood is essentially lava. Cracks across their bodies often glow with the laval-blood within them. This ends up making them awful for stealth, dangerous to touch. The rocks and lava of their bodies is typically several hundred degrees. They have glowing, angry yellow eyes. As they grow more injurred, their eyes will slowly fade, becoming red as they weaken before going dark altogether. Interestingly, they have no eyelids either.
They have tall, pointed ears atop their heads. This gives them an almost jackal-like face. Some observers believe they may have been involved in Egyptian mythology, Anubis as the god of the dead, a jackal.
Each paw is tipped with razor sharp, crystaline claws. They're bright, shiny, and reflective. Some legends say they can use their claws to rip the soul clean out of their victims. There is no firsthand experience to confirm this. It may be only a scary story. Maybe there's more truth to it. It is believed their claws are able to pierce the ethereal bodies of ghosts, making them exceptionally deadly, even to the dearly departed.
Biological Traits
The perhaps most interesting thing about hellhounds is their body. They are almost literally living lava. Inside their rocky forms, there's essentially nothing but lava. No organs. There's some rocks and channels to direct the blood around. At the core of their abdomen and in the center of their skull, there's precious gems. These gems, essentially contain the creature's soul, or what passes for a soul in a hellhound. Destroying either is crippling. Destroying both will kill the beast outright. Draininga way all their lava and significant bodily destruction will also kill the beast.
Dietary Needs and Habits
As Demons, they feed on human souls. When injured, they can use a human soul to heal themselves. This typically involves capturing and extracting the soul, or having a human offered up to them. They have no interest in the actual body of the human they're consuming, only their soul. Ghosts are a fun substitute. Each soul tastes a little different. Their demon masters are able to identify which humans will taste like food, and which will come across more as treats. It's probably a factor of their sins, the lightness of their soul.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Hell Hounds have very weak vision. Their eyes are mostly attuned to seeing the damned. They can almost 'see' the electromagnetic waves created by living bodies, by the souls of the departed. This gives them a limited form of night vision, in that the environmental lighting has minimal effect on what they do and do not see.
Their diminished visual abilities is a significant weakness to use against them. They'll miss small objects, small weapons, and even fast moving objects. They'll never miss a human or a living thing. They could run straight through bullets, never seeing them. With sufficient planning, they're easily tricked into traps due to their diminished senses.
Being designed for Hell, they weren't expected to deal with exploitative humans on the surface world.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
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