Hojijiran, Of Embracing Emptiness

Summary

In a world without a sun or stars, darkness is a way of life, full of wonders all on its own. Yet, even it has its own nightmares and fears, none more so than the vast emptiness living within the Underworld. A wrong turn here, a sudden disappearance there, one who was with another now suddenly not; such happenings come swift and without warning. Endless turns, twists, pitfalls, and ever more predators, quieter than a whisper when they steal their prey away. A life once warmed by purpose and kindred, now empty and terrified of what may be there.
Such fear had a name: Hojijiran.
The zoaen‌ spoke of it first, recounting tales of a shifting, living darkness that desired their faces. It would kidnap them, taking each face with a wondrous awe and gleeful ecstasy. But, no matter how many it took, no face ever suited it for long. Hojijiran would come again, stalking the lonesome souls who dared leave the safety of their homes. Woe be to those who left without a friend or lantern, for they might never return again.
Other tales paint it differently, a visceral force rushing through caverns and tunnels with ravenous abandon. Howling with delight at finding prey, Hojijiran rampaged after people, one hand after another, a thousand armed body launching across stony floors and ceilings. Grabbing any part of a person it could, it dragged whatever them found into itself, enveloping them in its endless embrace. The few to escape can only sputter in terror, foretelling of a void colder than the coldest stones, empty yet full of desire.
It neither bled nor wept, hurt nor joyed, yet lived all the same. No warrior could defeat it, and no weapon could harm it, and so it came to be its power swelled all the more. Did it feed upon fear itself? Or did it need their flesh and blood? None could agree on why it did what it did, but all knew it had a reason for doing so.
Some spoke of Hojijiran as a broken child, a misbegotten pregnancy not kind enough to kill. Why else did it have such simple desires, unmarred by anything else? A few foretold of a lonesome wanderer, delving into the deepest, emptiest of places, only to be overtaken by the unrelenting truth of such a place. Driven with a need to find themself again, they came back, but nothing they found filled them again. Perhaps that is why it wears the faces it does?
No longer flesh, those it took could be found in its ever-shifting stony visage; the only discernible part of a body otherwise made of nothingness. One eye; two; four; sixteen: it mattered not, for there wasn't anything at all to see in them. All the same something stared back out, a powerful will without words to speak, but everyone understood what it wanted. Why, then, were there those who went to it willingly? An unspoken deal made? A misplaced kindness that foretold only doom and despair? They all became fools, for no one but Hojijiran knows what it desires.
So all who see it fear, and tread lightly beyond the boundaries of their home.
It can lurk in any unseen corner and unfelt air, eternally patient.
Always looking.

Physical Description

Body Features

All of Hojijiran's body is defined by two aspects: the stony mask of its 'head', and the rest of its amorphous body. The pure-white void of its body shifts and churns, becoming a thousand-armed monstrosity, or taking the guise of a tall, lumbering humanoid. Perhaps it becomes something inbetween, turning into an ever expanding root-work of veins and tendrils across every surface. Others still may be likened to spiders, centipedes, or other bestial bodies found on Veltrona.

Facial Features

The stony mask itself can be thought of a marble, ceramic, or porcelain-like substance. The actual face it depicts changes randomly, and most presume it to be prior victims taken by Hojijiran itself. There is one face it is usually seen more consistently with, however. A person-like one with two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, sculpted in such a way it is neither a woman nor man. Gylphs cover it, depicting varying scenes of families, people wandering together, and gathering around.
By its very nature that cannot be its 'normal' face, but Hojijiran displays it regularly when it doesn't have another to wear. It may, in the end, just be a favorite–if it even has those.

Special abilities

Forsaken – Hojijiran is Forsaken.
Willful Void – The void is nothingness; but nothingness, is itself, something. Hojijiran embodies this idea fully, an entity so unfathomable to mortal existence.

Mental characteristics

Gender Identity

Genderless (it/they)

Intellectual Characteristics

Hojijiran is a perplexing being for it displays both cunning and cruelty, either together or by themselves. It stalks the living with utmost care and silence, meticulously thorough in every exacting detail. Barricades, gates, barriers–it can surmount all these things, as if they never bothered it in the first place. Those caught in its machinations will do all they can to survive, fleeing for their lives. Yet, invariably, they end up in a trap it'd orchestrated long before.
Other times it brings to bear a howling, voiceless cry, barreling through the darkness. It'll slam against stones, cracking them under weight, clawing and scraping for perch. Without any sense of care, it'll take blow after blow, shrugging them off. So long as it can catch its prey, it'll do whatever it needs to with wild abandon. In such ways, it is the ultimate beast, divorced from reason, driven by primal hunger.

Trivia

The Faceless

The faceless are Hojijiran's victims. Those who retain their bodies are deprived of their faces, leaving featureless molds of flesh, scale, chitin, and so on. Most succumb to death immediately afterward, reanimating as a unique kind of returned. These undead are driven insane by their encounter with Hojijiran. Unable to consume anything, they search endlessly through the Underworld, trying to find their faces. Those unfortunate enough to meet them are viciously attacked as the faceless themselves try taking theirs instead.
There are rare few who do not die, as they usually receive help quickly. Those in groups attacked by Hojijiran have the best chance of surviving, but their condition is nearly permanent. Whatever is done to take their faces away defies healing magic, and divine magic struggles to even return basic features like lips. Of all peoples, they are the most committed toward hunting down Hojijiran.

Honorary & Occupational Titles

Darkness is, itself, 'something'. It possesses character; for those in the Underworld, emptiness is the true terror they fear. Even one without eyes can feel and understand emptiness, and so that is what Hojijiran is. Hence, a void is not 'darkness', it is 'nothingness'.

Gender

N/A

Eyes

Vacant, empty black holes

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Predominantly a colorless white, empty void; it can sometimes be a black void as well.

Height

Variable

Weight

Variable