VOIDLINGS
Voidlings are more well-known than the Void itself. They are it's 'representatives', after all. Only something so enigmatic could manifest nightmares such as these.
They are amalgamations. Mangled, twisted, most barely reminiscent of any known life. The Void takes the DNA of what has rotted away, and mixes it together in a sickening brew. Sometimes, they come out half-baked. Others, fully formed nightmares. It doesn't matter how complete they are before the Void spits them out of its maw, every last one is a threat to be killed on sight.
Kill one, two more come.
Kill two, five more come
Kill five, a million more come.
The void is alive.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Voidlings can consist of any species, and thus, can take on essentially any trait. From horns, multiple ears, antlers to tails, fur and scales, one leg to seven heads, countless eyes or even zero, it is all on the table. There is no limit, not even imagination hinders what the abyss can spawn.
Biological Traits
Voidlings seem to be immortal in a sense. They do not die to age, but some do show signs of old age, and they're shown to grow and develop at the same or similar rate as their non-void companions. How their aging works is unknown, as well as life expectancy.
There is no average among voidlings; it's all dependant entirely on the species they take after, and whatever the Void decides will be their rough anatomy. Voidlings lack any genitals, and because of their hybrid nature, do not typically come out looking like a particular gender (if you can even tell).
Genetics and Reproduction
When something decomposes, while their soul would go untouched, the "matter" of their body dissolves and is sent into the void. When enough "matter" is formed, it constructs an amalgamated being from the leftover remains and energy from the void. This is how voidlings are created. They cannot reproduce, and have no reproductive organs, meaning they are genderless and without familial relations. Well, unless you count who they were made of. Because of shared genetics, any data scans will show the deceased peoples as their family... but, these beings are so complex and so many that it is obviously messy.
Growth Rate & Stages
Depends on the voidling, and sometimes as well the species they take after. For example, things such as metamorphosis do go on, and often times at a far slower pace. Some voidlings age similarly to most living things, growing over a course of time, but their maturity tends to stay the exact same. Sometimes, they are stuck at a particular age physically, but it never hinders their mental maturity or understanding.
Ecology and Habitats
Their habitat is a silent, chilled, desolate wasteland of pure lonely darkness. Their territory is much like them - an amalgamation of decomposed territory from the real world, inconsistent and rocky with twisted trees and impossible mountains. Deep oceans home the aquatic who lack legs, and the empty, endless sky holds the aerial bird-likes who soar and scout. There are caves and cliffs, but one must be careful - you never know if it is an endless pit with no land below. The Void is a twisted place. There is nowhere a Voidling is not.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Voidlings don't have to eat very much, as the void usually sustains them. They are very territorial, but there is rarely any in-fighting, and they never eat another one of their own. Generally, they'll eat plants and flowers, but some more carnivorous will feed on unlucky corpses that were spat out of the void's maw and never had enough matter to generate a full, developed being. It's hard to say how long they can go without eating because of the bizarre flow of time, or how long they can go without drinking.
Biological Cycle
There are no seasons in the void. Not only that, time flows strangely. It can go faster or wildly slower, depending only where you step. Some voidlings who take after species with hibernation habits become sluggish at varying times, but never truly fall asleep. It is unknown whether, if they were given access to the real world with stable time and seasons, they would act differently.
Behaviour
They are extremely territorial. Towards one another, voidlings usually couldn't care less, but when something unfamiliar steps foot into the void? It is like it sends a shockwave through the void, a boom that disturbs everything, plant and animal. They are hostile, and they will kill anything and everything that disturbs their land. It is likely this is the reason they are so hostile when they break out of the void; it thinks they it is still in the void, and that everybody is trespassing. This is why they must be killed as quickly as possible.
Voidlings are exceptionally docile with each other, even if they rarely stumble across each other, and do not display typical playful behaviors with others, similar species or not. They are all very reclusive.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Voidlings are not often seen in one place, unless they are heading after prey. Overall, though, they are very reclusive. Voidlings communicate in unintelligible murmurs, sometimes via echolocation, but thanks to their hivemind relationship it's very rarely ever needed. They live in silence, and rarely ever exhibit playful mannerisms.
Facial characteristics
Species dependent.
Most times, facial features come out morphed and distorted. Eyes too small, large, or merged. Multiple mouths with seven layers of teeth, heightened cheeks or uneven features.
Average Intelligence
It is hard to place this, as no studying has been done.
However, the one and only Voidling they know of to come into society possessed knowledge leagues beyond their similarly aged human counterparts. They absorbed information at an incredible speed, and showed exceptional efficiency. By the time they were 7, they showed intelligence of somebody in their 40s, and they have only gotten better with age.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The voidlings, at least when in the void, have little need for senses. Many have eyes, but their sight is poor, for it is not needed in the ptich black. Most of the time, voidlings use a sort of echolocation. Being intertwined with the environment, it is all a hivemind, and thus if anything foreign steps within, everything in the void space is alerted. In the void, everything is dead silent, and they can hear things from countless kilometers away in this desolation.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Parasites do not exist. They live in harmony, for they are one. Parasitic species resist their instincts---or, more specifically, have it snuffed out in creation.
Civilization and Culture
History
Voidlings, as is known, are spawned by the Void. Hence, they have a very similar history to the void. How do they form? How do they exist? What do they think of their world, and the surface world? What are their motives, if anything goes on beyond the hivemind? How are they a hivemind? Nothing makes sense. The voidlings are beyond reality, the laws of nature in every way. Not even somebody's imagination could create the freaks of nature the Void spawns. They're something that can make demons cry. Literally.
They are the manifestation of the Void, and hence carry out it's will. Or, perhaps it is even the opposite. Who knows? Maybe not even the Gods know that answer to that question.
People have no idea just how much of history has happened thanks to these living terrors. Lucid Amartya's sacrifice, it was not just some ordinary monsters. No. All monsters of that day and age were voidlings. The rips had been everywhere for many years, before the Council rose to the challenge of sealing them. Three thousand years later, they have resurfaced. And three thousand years from now, if they have not taken the world over, they will rise again.
Over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
Forever.
Scientific Name
N/A
Origin/Ancestry
N/A
Lifespan
It seems they can live for an infinite amount of time, and they halt ageing at a seemingly random time.
Conservation Status
Absolutely not. They are to be killed on sight.
Average Height
Can be anywhere from slightly larger than normal insects to leviathan class levels of enormous. Species may have influence on this, but it isn't confirmed.
Average Weight
Species has an affect on this, but it seems it's a coin toss whichever species it takes after.
Average Length
Can be anywhere from slightly larger than normal insects to leviathan class levels of enormous. Species may have influence on this, but it isn't confirmed.
Average Physique
N/A. Dependent on the type of species that they're hybridized with.
However, it's noted that most voidlings have frightening levels of strength. Even some of the smallest can overtake dragons.
Why do you think the Gods fled when they reared their amalgamated, ugly heads?
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Species dependent.
Age dependent. It seems that the younger voidlings retain the coloration of their particular species, taking after their 'parent's' DNA. However, as they age, their forms are slowly dyed solid black. Voidlings thought to have been alive for over a hundred years still have splotches of color, yet other far younger specimens have been entirely consumed. It's unknown what causes this, or what influences the spread.
Geographic Distribution
