Hybrid Devourers
* This articles refers solely to Hybrid Devourers, the ones who, once humans, were turned into devourers through the process known as the Blessing. Click on these links if you wish to know more about Pureblooded devourers or the Forsaken.
HYBRIDS.
Despite sharing a genetic ancestor, humans and devourers have changed so much from each other that they are, for all intents and purposes, two completely different species. Humans are not able to generate genetic offspring with devourers through sexual reproduction, nor are pure-bloods able to create more of their own kind through humans. That said, at some point lost in time, an unknown pureblooded devourer discovered a way to grant some abilities inherent in devourers to humans, giving rise to the Forsaken. A little later, a Pureblood known as Messenius improved the process, giving rise to the Hybrid Devourers. As those of Purebloods, Hybrids' bodies are infinitely stronger, faster and resistant than those of humans, also possessing the same menacing regeneration their forefathers bear. That being said, it is still possible to break through their regeneration - unlike a Pureblood's - by completely destroying a hybrid's body down to the celular level. As humans didn't know what granted them their regeneration, it became commonplace to burn a devourer in order to kill them permanently. With that in mind, Hybrids are also susceptible to the venom all of their species carry, adding another disadvantage to their list when compared to Purebloods. While much more powerful than normal humans and forsaken, neither Hybrids nor Purebloods happen upon that power instantly. Purebloods have, of course, the advantage of being alive for millions of years, which grant them their immeasurable power. Hybrids, however, need to get older in order to tap at even a fraction of that power. At the moment of the Blessing, a Hybrid devourer is barely twice as strong, fast and resistant than a human. As a rough estimate, it is possible to assume they get around 1.5 times more powerful by each century they live.Basic Information
Anatomy
As Purebloods, Hybrids closely resemble humans, though with potential to be infinitely stronger and more resistant than them. Much like humans, a devourer's body is comprised of a head, neck, trunk (which includes the thorax and abdomen), arms and legs ending with arms and feet with five digits each.
Biological Traits
While they do possess the potential to live infinitely, that is considering they feed on blood in a weekly-basis and that they replenish their Ether by "devouring" a human's. Unlike a human's, their bodies do not produce Ether normally, and it is required for them not to simply die once their Ether runs out. It as if they consumed a person's life expectancy, adding it to their own, each time it is running out.
Hybrid devourers that have fed recently are warm to the touch, being warmer even than humans, while those that starve would be cooler, hovering around room temperature. Furthermore, if a hybrid does not feed on blood for long periods of time, their body will begin to decompose, producing the characteristic odor of rotting flesh, and the body's systems, such as regeneration, will stop working as they should.
Prolonged periods of starvation are dangerous, for their very body relies on their regeneration capabilities to function, as they possess far too much strength and will often damage their bodies with very simple movements - if they are unable to regenerate, it would be a short period of time before they were unable to even function normally, and that isn't even taking in consideration any outside-inflicted wounds.
Genetics and Reproduction
Unlike Purebloods, some Hybrids might retain some capability for sexual reproduction, but even that only on the first years or months following the Blessing - which remains their main means of reproduction. The knowledge is closely guarded, as is the process of Blessing, and mentioning it to the wrong ears might cause someone's death.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Hybrids feed similarly to Purebloods, though they do so for different reasons, due to effects left behind by the Blessing process. They need to drink human blood, not for nourishment, but to prevent tissue rotting; they also consume human Ether, to serve increase their life spans infinitely and prevent them from dying permanently.
Biological Cycle
While devourers have no need of sleep, they are able to shut down their conscience and enter a state of dormancy akin to it, known as Lethargy. Some enter this state willingly to escape the ongoing onslaught that is immortality, and may just disappear for centuries as they rest their minds.
Others are forced upon it by grave injuries as their bodies go into a last ditch effort to keep them alive. A devourer who entered Lethargy due to injuries is at a grave risk, as their bodies are vulnerable and unable to regain consciousness until they are properly healed.
The use of Ether is limited to the maximum during this state, and devourers may extend their life-span to hundreds of years before needing to wake up and replenish their Ether in order to stay alive. That being said, it is still a form of suicide for devourers, who may choose to remain in Lethargy until they die.
Behaviour
Upon the completion of their transformation, most Hybrids have suffered great degradation of their humanity, alongside many of other baser emotions - only the greatest components of their personalities remain, in adition to the Hunger, an everlasting desire that accompanies every descendant of the Purebloods. While some devourers retain other emotions than what was stated, they eventually come to lose them as they live through the years, humanity breaking down further and further until none may be found. Some of them may cling to their emotions and try to keep to a resemblance of humanity, though these individuals are known as eccentric: Nora Hawthorne is an example of an eccentric devourer.
Most devourers feel no remorse at all for feeding upon humans and the eventual deaths that it entails. Even a devourer who does not look down upon humans for their weakness and short lives, or doesn't consider them to be anything but food due to the need to feed on their blood, may eventually come to disregard and hold them in contempt due to seeing human mistakes being repeated over and over again over the centuries. As they are the majority among devourers, the Pureblood being chief upon them, those who do not conform to this "law" are held in contempt as well.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Devourers' blood: Being the most common devourer subspecies, hybrids are the go-to source of devourer blood, as finding and getting a pureblood to bleed may prove like an impossible endeavor. Their blood carries high concentrations of chronite radiation, and also the capability to channel their regeneration trait upon any human beings that consume it. That being said, it is not simple regeneration - a wounded human being wouldn't simply heal from ingesting devourer's blood. The injured cell, tissue or system would be remade following the devourer's from which the blood was taken, as that is the base the blood has available to follow.
That being said, if a human with a broken bone were to consume the blood of a particularly old devourer, the regenerated bone would be as strong as that of said devourer. There is little difference in between the tissues if someone were to ingest the blood of a young devourer - they would be stronger still, but not noticeably, as the young hybrid is still similar to a human in many ways. The knowledge about the regenerative factor contained within a devourer's blood is, as most things about them, a tightly kept secret. It is no wonder humans would try and exploit it should they find out about it - as hunters have done through millenia, and have been hunted out themselves for it.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
A Hybrid's body is as similar to a Pureblood's as one can be, and that means they share the sharper senses of their forebears - however, as with their capabilities, this is a trait that evolves with age. This means that, while affected by the amount of light on the surface, a younger devourer might still be able to walk under the sun.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
They depend upon humans for both blood and Ether, and while the first one may be obtained without killing the host, there is no alternative regarding the second. That being said, Hybrid devourers are as good as parasites for humans, for they need what humans produce in order to function normally. Were humans to cease to exist, surely it wouldn't take long for devourers to die out as well.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Purebloods and Hybrids agree that nomenclature is primarily a human construct, and they have little use for it within their societies. That being said, the younger a Hybrid, the more close to a human they might feel. While some of them only adopt names as the need arises, changing them with no preoccupation, some will even go as far as to adopt a permanent name and surname for themselves, which may even be taken from their older life in order to preserve their humanity. Purebloods and older Hybrids are known to look down on this Hybrid practice, thinking them to be clinging to a useless habit.
Major Organizations
The Society.
The Order.
The Order.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Soul Devourers are diverse enough that there are conflicting views among their kind. Older hybrids have a tendency to distance themselves from humans, younger hybrids, and the Forsaken as they try to get closer to purebloods, whom they see as examples to be followed. These would see humans only as food or potentially candidates for the Blessing, other hybrids as competition and Forsaken as their lowly servants. Younger hybrids have a more humane position, feeling closer to humans and Forsaken than older hybrids and purebloods. Many may even see maintaining relationships with humans and Forsaken as a way of rebelling against the ruling Society, which is one of the reasons older hybrids often look down to younger ones.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Homo sapiens perpetuus
Lifespan
Infinite.
Conservation Status
Hybrid devourers are on the rise, as they are the only ones capable of reproduction. Not nearly as common as humans, though much more than Pureblooded devourers.
Related Ethnicities
Related Materials
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
