A I: Skulker

Written by Neons-Mindrealm

Skulker
Shadows of Decay of Alterna I: The Lands of Paradise

Origins:

After managing to survive and adapt to the toxic changes taking place in the Living Decay, it is said that a few packs of Prowler who were fortunate, or may even unfortunate enough, to withstand its almost acidic poison, turned into mutated versions of their former selves.
Now known as Skulker, these almost undead looking predators roam the swamp with a malicious gluttony that can only be trumped by the eerie way they hunt down their prey.

Current Habitat:

Having fully adapted to a life in the toxic mist and sludge of the Living Decay, Skulker have become unable to survive in any of the more clean environments of the Lands. Which is believed to be caused by a highly developed, or rather mutated, detoxification system within their bodies, that needs to be constantly exposed to the harmful substances found within the Living Decay to break them down. Or else turn into a highly aggressive, autocannibalistic immune system, that would even dissolve their own bodies from the inside out.

Average Size / Height:

Much like the Prowler, Skulker average a height of around 60 centimeters tall, with a long body reaching up to 1.6 meters.

Diet:

As both scavengers and carnivorous predators, Skulker feast ravenously on any kind of meat they happen to come across.
Whether it is still alive, already heavily decayed, or even the flesh of one of their own kind, a Skulker will always try to claim and consume it.
Despite their ravenous hunger, however, Skulker also seem to be quite patient hunters, and appear to even manage to survive without food for several days.

Physical Appearance:

Sharing an almost identical physique to their ancestors, the body of a Skulker is also like a tailless, long flexible tube, carried by four rather short legs that are able to almost bend down to ground level.
Their necks also seem like an extension to their already long and flexible bodies, with a strong reptilian snout, able to easily break the bones and muscle tissue of most of their prey.
Where Skulker do differ from their ancestors is in their fur, claws, and way of communication. As unlike Prowler, they do not possess long, narrow ears to communicate with each other, but instead just show heavily corroded skin flaps where their ears otherwise would be.
Instead of being covered in a thin brownish pelt, a Skulkers body also shows more similarities to an already decaying corpse, with a murky skin tone covered in rotting scars, and only a few scraps of darkish fur to adorn their forms.
Furthermore, the claws on each of their paws are also way more advanced than the ones of a Prowler. As they not only seem to possess barbed ends to firmly anchor into their prey, but also appear to be double-edged, to easily tear free after sinking into something's flesh.

Behavior and Social Structure:

Roaming the Living Decay in small groups of either 2 or 3, Skulker have shown to be eerily aggressive towards any other being that is not part of their group, and will see them as either prey or a potential rival without exception.
This behavior goes as far as parents even consuming their own young closely after birth, if they do not manage to escape fast enough to form their own pack.
Should two or more packs come across one another, the result would most likely be a bloody turf war where only one group remains alive.
However, despite their ravenous nature, after defeating another pack of Skulker, the victors would rarely fully consume their victims, but instead leave their corpses behind in a heavily mutilated state, possibly aimed to assist them in future hunts.

Role in the Food Chain:

Ranking amongst the top predators within the Living Decay, Skulker are only trumped by the fearsome Lurker, who dominate the open areas of the mist covered swamp.
Within the mangrove forests, however, Skulker are feared as perhaps the most dangerous predators of the Living Decay. As they not only possess a devastating arsenal of natural weaponry, but also a highly unique ambush tactic to trick their prey.
Aided by their undead appearance, Skulker have learned to perfectly blend in with the death and decay of the swamp, luring any passing by creature into a false sense of security, before striking out of nowhere like a reanimated corpse.
Now, whilst this tactic may appear to work almost flawlessly against a vast majority of beings roaming through their swamp, it has also been proven to carry a high fatality rate when attempted on the wrong creature. Such as the gluttonous Boghogs who will mostly just end up scooping up and swallowing their lurking bodies whole, or quickly repel their ambush attempt with a quick release of their highly potent, hallucinogenic gas. As not even the heavily mutated detoxification system of a Skulker can work fast enough to fully negate the gas from a Boghog wart.

Special Abilities and unique Physical Traits:

Known to possess a heavily mutated detoxification system within their bodies that renders near any poisonous substance useless against them, Skulker are also believed to be able to repurpose some of this toxic waste to turn their saliva mildly acidic.
Whether this is a byproduct of their hyper aggressive immune system breaking down harmful substances within their bodies, or a form of primal Channeling, can't be accurately said.
However, what is known is that their saliva may not be capable of fully dissolving flesh or skin through mere contact, but rather serves as a very effective reagent to weaken their prey through a quite painful corrosion of their tissues. So that their fangs can sink in more easily.

Additional Insights:

Feared mostly for their eerie ability to perfectly blend in with the rotting flesh scattered throughout the Living Decay, it became a common tactic for most adventurers to always bring live bait when heading out into the swamp.
Most commonly, adventurers would use False Wyverns for this task, as they not only appear to be just big enough to trigger a Skulkers ambush instinct, but also fast enough to survive for at least a short while before getting ripped to shreds by these fearsome predators.
Naturally, with a prey as small as a single False Wyvern, the lured out pack of Skulker wouldn't stay occupied for long, and soon after consumption set their eyes on the party of adventurers anyways.
But, with the pack now being revealed, one could say that the odds were at least evened out into an open fight.
And that those who would still get overwhelmed didn't even had a chance to survive the Living Decay to begin with.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• A I: Prowler