Purge Wraiths
Purge Wraiths are large migratory avian creatures that were once affected and mutated by the Starfall that befell Dujuku, the original homeland of the First Settlers of Shindus. They are thought to have originally been a domesticated breed of bird used by the Dujukans as beasts of burden for air travel, but after the Starfall, they were left without a home and also without a steady source of food. This led them to slowly disperse away from Dujuku to find hunting grounds and 1200 years later they can now be found nearly everywhere, although they are rare. They are highly competitive predators and are capable of flying great distances in a single day, so one nest will usually claim hunting grounds within about 50 miles of their roost and will defend it fiercely. They prefer to roost in very elevated places that can serve as good vantage points to observe their territory, particularly in mountain caves. This fierce protection of their territory makes them serious threats to people traveling through uncharted mountain passes as well as any small communities that settle too close to the many mountain ranges of the Shindusian Valley. However, perhaps as a leftover of their history as domesticated creatures, they will actually tend to show restraint towards communities like that, intentionally claiming stock animals rather than townspeople, so that the communities will be more sustainable food sources.
Their size alone makes them formidable hunters and threats, but the most notable threat they pose is in the remnants of Star Dust that cling to them. The Star Dust appears as a deep blue fog that drips from its mouth, eyes, and deep blue sores on its back. The fog seeps into everything that it touches, poisoning and spreading the Star Dust. Brief exposure to the fog does not have long term effects but it is enough to make living things deeply ill. Extended exposure will warp both living and inanimate things, permanently mutating or killing them. Affected items will tend to take on the blueish hue of the fog, and given enough time will produce the fog on their own. This is an important part of Purge Wraith roosts, as the caves they tend to roost in will be constantly exposed to the fog, absorbing it into their walls, taking on a deep blue color and becoming poisonous to living things even when the Wraiths are not present.
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