Volkira
"I followed the trails into the cave. They seemed odd, not like normal human or monkey trails - I figured they had carried something heavy! I was so sure I had finally found the place where the pirates hid their goods. I was still on the fence whether I should just rob them, or rather explore the nooks and crannies of the place and go home to Celsa so we could rout them altogether. Blasted monkeyhunters... Some said they didn't even care if their victims were dead or alive when they skinned them! No creature deserved that treatment! I was so deep in those thoughts, at first I didn't even notice the splashing noises behind me. I don't even know if I had paid them much attention if I had noticed. After all, the sea reached far into the cave. In hindsight I gotta say, that should have been a warning sign. Why would a pirate worth his sea legs carry stuff inside if there was an inlet going into the cave?"A dreaded sight for any explorer of seaside caves, the Volkira are a spine-chilling sight to behold if you've never seen them. Most have a pallid white skin color, though if they were born with fur it may be difficult to tell. Their eyes turn milky-white and they seem to lack a sense of sight, with no one being quite sure how they sense their surroundings. If encountered alone, they seem to shamble around mindlessly, not caring much for their surroundings until attacked. The widely accepted theory about where they come from is that people afflicted by Water Weakness will over time turn into a Volkira. The desire to eat raw, still wiggling fish is usually one of the first signs of the affliction, with the victim being completely oblivious as to why this is weird - even if they knew about Water Weakness before. Light starts to hurt them and they prefer dark places, with their skin drying out and getting itchy unless the air is really humid. Their mental function becomes unreliable, with them forgetting things more and more, and their moving becoming more clumsy. At some point, if they haven't been driven away by their peers, they will just leave in search of a dark, damp place. Volkira are usually found in caves close to the sea, preferably if there is an inlet of water reaching into the cave. The more their turning proceeds, the less likely they are to be found on dry ground, and over time they seem to lose the need for air to breathe, causing them to hide in those inlets.
"Anyway, only when I felt the cold iron grip of those nasty, slimy fingers on my arm did I realize what was going on. Thank the sea I still had my senses about me! I just turned around and slapped the torch into the face of the creature grabbing me. I swear, I will never forget the sizzling sound and stench - oh, the stench! It stumbled backwards against its buddies, and I just high-tailed out of there. I was lucky they are so clumsy and slow! With my carelessness, I would never had made it out alive..."Often in those caves, colonies of Volkira assemble, as if they are being driven there from a mind not their own. If that's the case, the cave usually becomes a deathly trap for any explorer, since in groups Volkira attack indiscriminately and also consume meat. Taunts or threats mean nothing to them, and it is unclear if they are even able to hear. Even gunshots going off close to their head evoked no reaction from them, and pain or even partial dismemberment have proven similarly useless.
– "Next time you encounter them, go for the legs and destroy them, Ellory. You were lucky your punch had enough force to push it back, but even burning their face most likely wouldn't have stopped them. They don't react to pain."The examination of dead Volkira that had been lurking underwater for their prey showed they have developed gills, which explains why they can leave dry ground for the sea. Other than that, little is understood about them, other than that they should be killed on sight for the benefit of all.
– "What ARE those things even?"
Basic Information
Anatomy
It depends on which species turned into a Volkira, but milky white eyes and pallid, white as well as slimy skin that turns flaky when it dries are typical traits of a Volkira.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Seemingly no sense of sight or hearing. How they perceive their surroundings is unclear.
Inktober 2019
Prompt #2: Mindless
Conservation Status
Too many
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