~Threats~

Since the world started to crack, other things have also started appearing, not just the types that had, for years, been masquerading as human. Other things, things that people naturally began to refer to as 'monsters', the things that go bump in the night. Some of these were already there, just in the remote places, or the other places, locked in other realms and only now have been able to escape to this world. Others weren't there before. Some things people just genuinely don't know which is the case - whether they are new, old, or just here for the first time. There is a whole lot that people don't know at the moment.

Bunyips

Creatures that live in and around water, Bunyips, it turns out, are actually quite common in the U.P. They're large, amphibious, and have behaviors quite similar to alligators. They just happen to be around here. They're strong swimmers, and are built like beavers the size of greyhounds, only with a set of sharp teeth in an elongated muzzle. They have sharp claws, are very fast in the water, but not quite so good on land. They just make going for a swim a possibly hazardous activity. Generally Bunyips are solitary, rarely ever traveling together.
note: Superior is a very big lake, and there are tons of smaller lakes and rivers, etc in the area. Not every swim would result in an attack.

Fiends

Fiends are small, imp-like creatures, usually around 4 ft high. They have powerful back limbs and shorter, more stumpy front limbs. Though a fiend can walk or run on all four limbs, most fiends have a tendency to walk on the back limbs only, though this does give them a very forward gait and they cannot fully straighten their spines. Fiends have a long tail and scaly, dark skin.

As a species, fiends are loners - both in regards to each other, and other species. Fiends do not like being seen, or caught out in the open. They leave their mothers as soon as they are able to do so (or the mother abandons her offspring, nobody is sure which way round it is), and only come together to mate. The male leaves the female soon thereafter and the female raises offspring alone.

Fiends are mainly scavengers, and can only eat flesh (anything that isn't meat is unpalatable to them). Their preference is for human flesh, and they have been known to feast on the bodies of accident victims that die alone. They have also been known to 'arrange' the accidents beforehand - for example chasing lone hikers off cliffs in the wilderness. They generally, however, will only stand and fight if cornered, angered, frightened (including injury) or if the odds are massively in their favour.

Fiends are very agile, and can jump several yards in one go - though they cannot actually fly and do not have wings. Fiends are also very resilient creatures, highly resistant to most physical types of damage, as well as fire. They are hard, but not impossible, to kill.

Flocke

Flockes are not a common sight, but they do appear from time to time. They are solitary creatures and will only ever be found alone. A Flocke is much like a large type of bear in appearance and is a creature of the Dreaming. They are uncommon because they only ever appear in the mortal realm when they mistakenly walk through a gateway. Whilst Flockes in the Dreaming are not overly aggressive, entering the mortal realm leaves them confused, disorientated and angry. This is not helped by the fact that all Flockes are completely blind and rely upon their other senses to survive. A Flocke in the mortal realm is aggressive and highly dangerous. They also possess exceptional hearing and sense of smell which combined make up for their lack of sight.

Garoupe

Garoupe cats are thought to be only found in the UP area, though they have begun to spread as they breed and are beginning to be found elsewhere on the American continent. Garoupe are an engineered breed of cat (a mish mash of genetic engineering and magic), slightly larger than a house cat and a mid-grey in colour. They first appeared in the UP last summer and have been spreading ever since. Garoupe are particularly aggressive and mainly hunt at night. They were engineered as a threat to angelic beings and their bite is poisonous to angels - most of the time, the bite of a Garoupe will make an angel very ill, and if the attack if sufficiently bad, it can kill an angel. There is no known antidote for angels from the bite of a Garoupe - they just have to suffer through the sickness and hope for the best.

Goblins

Goblins are small in stature, only topping out at the size of an average monkey. They're hairless, with leathery like thick skin, large dark eyes and pointy ears. They've got claws on both their hands and feet, and while they don't have a tail, they move a lot like monkeys as well. Either way, these things aren't friendly. While they don't generally go on the offensive, or try attacking full grown humans(children and infants it will), they will if threatened. Generally solitary, they only live in groups of more than one while mating and when they have their young for the first few months before maturity is reached.

Goblins are carnivorous, and like to live in small, enclosed spaces. They can live in the woods, but generally choose populated areas, living in abandoned buildings, attics, chimneys, etc. It is not known exactly where Goblins come from, but they are thought to be creatures escaped from the Dreaming.

Gremlins

Although gremlins almost exclusively live in urban areas, they tend to live in rundown, decrepit parts of towns and cities. Gremlins area pests and scavengers and they ‘feed’ off mechanical and electrical devices, draining them of power and function. Of no direct threat to human life, in active and well maintained cities, they tend to be dealt with as pests and exterminated accordingly (though often to the bemusement of exterminators who were never sure exactly What they’d just got rid of!). If left, however, they quickly feed and breed, spreading throughout an area and accelerating urban decay. In appearance, gremlins are about the size of a small house cat, with brown leathery skin and large ears. They bear only a passing resemblance to their movie counterparts though and are, in reality, much more animalistic. Although they do not directly attack humans, they will actively defend themselves if attacked first and they have sharp teeth and wicked claws to do so. One gremlin is of little threat (unless one gets into your car whilst you’re driving...), but once they have started to spread, they can be vicious as they defend themselves in pack.

Kobolds

Kobolds(named by gamer geeks) are creatures who live in fairly large packs, generally in wooded areas. They're the type of creatures who nest, and only spread far from said nest when they've not got an active food source. They are fairly large, bigger than wolves, green, and covered in spines. Their teeth are several rows, and needle-like. Generally speaking they're animals, just not clearly mimicking any known species. They will attack anyone encroaching into their territory, and are carnivores. They do like to eat people.

Oni

Another type that has been named for a resemblance to a mythological creature, the Oni are large, almost giant-like, and, so far, very rare.

A full-grown Oni is around 8-9ft tall, with horns and deep red skin. Their appearance is ogre-like and they live in the wilds, in the deep woods and remote places. Semi-intelligent, Oni can use simple weapons and usually attack their prey using clubs (though often these are merely fallen branches rather than hewn weapons). Given their size, Oni are unnaturally strong and a formidable opponent. They also have the ability to deceive their prey and can create mild illusions to confuse and disorientate.

Oni are very family-orientated and only leave their familial group to mate. Any mating is for life and forms a new familial group.

Rakshasa

Rakshasas are semi-intelligent creatures that were named for their resemblance to the demons of Hindu mythology. Not seen for many years, they started to reappear in remote places last fall. Rakashasas are often found in small groups or family units, but these rarely exceed five or six members at any one time.

Rakshasaa have inky black skin and long black hair which falls in waves down their backs. They walk upright and, skin colour aside, resemble humans, though their eyes are either red or yellow and they never exceed 5ft in height. They lack the ability to talk, though they have a very cat-like growl.

Rakshasas are carnivorous, and have a particular liking for human flesh, though they do not actually have to eat more than once a week. They tend to hunt alone, though sometimes will be backed up by their pack when facing a group of prey. Their hands end in long, pointed, claw-like fingernails which are imbued wth a poison. A scratch from a Rakshasa, whilst not deadly, will make an adult human weak and will paralyse a child, rendering them unable to move for one hour. If a Rakshasa actually manages to get their claws into an adult human, they can paralyze them, but only for a short period (5 minutes at the most).

Rakshasas cannot walk on blessed or sacred ground without injury, but they are drawn towards places of religion and tend to target priests, clerics and other representatives of religious groups. They are constantly testing the theory that they cannot walk upon sacred ground without injury, and they will attack a victim on sacred ground regardless, even though they will be attacking from a position of weakness.

Shroud Eaters

Shroud Eaters are understood in some way to be gatekeepers. They're a race of creatures that either have a hive mind, or are simply set on 'automatic' to carry out their task, because no one is having long heart to hearts with them. If people are not in violation of their 'laws' then they'll simply be ignored. If someone is in violation, they'll likely have a fight on their hands. They don't speak, don't react to things others do, and for the most part look like moving shadows with wicked claws. Their state of physicality changes between realms--their most corporeal form existing in the Inbetween. In the mortal realm, they are mostly non-corporeal. They dissolve if they're caused enough harm(say shooting one in the head), and 'bleed' if caused minor harm(stabbing). Dissipating and bleeding both look like ink in water, threads of 'ink' drifting upwards until the Shroud Eater is 'dead'. No one knows if it's actually possible to kill a Shroud Eater permanently. Mostly, it's thought that if they're 'killed' all it means is they get popped back to the Inbetween.

There is no amount of bargaining or reasoning that will get through to Shroud Eaters. It just doesn't work for them. Their goal is to keep people where they're 'meant' to be. Which means if you're heading someplace you aren't meant to be, then you're in trouble. For instance, Fades have a chance of encountering them if they travel the Inbetween. Dreamwalkers have a chance to encounter them when they dreamwalk. The only exception seems to be the Fae - Shroud Eaters will not attack a Fae for being in either the Dreaming or the Mortal Realm. It seems that in the opinion of the Shroud Eaters, they belong in both.