You smell of regret, and desperation, and sorrow. Soon, you will shatter, and I will feast on the ruined remnants.
— The Nar-Narolis, whispered into the mind of a rare survivor before their escape.


Overview

One of the legendary Great Beasts, the Nar-Narolis is a monstrous force known to ravage vast swathes of land, devouring entire villages - houses and all - if left to wear itself out. It disappears for periods of time just as vast as the space it destroys... but silence should never be mistaken for absence, as it will appear again without warning and immediately lay waste to the area around it.

A Brief History of Encounters

701Y
The Nar-Narolis appears in Astrum, causing rampant destruction until it is driven out by a group of Deities.

1323Y
The Nar-Narolis appears in Gaean and is defeated by the first Chosen, killing him in the process of the battle.

3158Y:
The Nar-Narolis is subdued by an alliance of Demon Lords, lead by Laelea Kanete, the Imperator of the time.

3267Y
A Cave Expedition Ends in Tragedy when a group of young demons stumble across the recovering Nar-Narolis.

7672Y
The Nar-Narolis appears in the Sea off of Yarrow's shore. It devours a nearby Maero city and causes an ecological disruption by devouring most of the local fish population.

13543Y
The destruction of an isolated region in Vebel is believed to be the doing of the Nar-Narolis, though it is never confirmed.

19651Y A group of humans form a cult dedicated to the Nar-Narolis. For some reason.

19654Y
The Nar-Narolis cultists travel to Incaendium and never return. It's generally assumed that they found the Nar-Narolis and were devoured.

28972Y
An alliance of Amayan Archdemon houses subdue the Nar-Narolis in a mission attended by Samael Asther and Astaroth Dracothis.

If it has a motivation beyond satisfying its hunger, that is unknown.

If it has a physical form beyond the void it creates and the teeth that line that void, that is also unknown.

But, body or not, brain or not, it is wise to always bear in mind that the Nar-Narolis is not a mindless beast. It is, in fact, highly intelligent - capable of manipulating as well as it annihilates, using animals and people as puppets, as toys, and as snack-bringers who become the snacks, themselves.

A Brief History

The Nar-Narolis originally manifested inside Astrum in Y701, during the Caelestise-Sura War. At the time, it was unclear what the thing was, and so equally unclear how to stop it; ultimately, it took several days of battle and the destruction of three Fey villages before Anakke was able to gather several younger Dei in an ultimately successful attempt to drive it off... though that effort was not without casualties on the Celestials' side.

Once driven out of Astrum, the Nar-Narolis traveled to Gaean. In its weakened state, it retreated into isolation to recover. In 1323Y, it re-emerged, devouring a forest and a small settlement nearby to replenish its strength. Shortly thereafter, it began to travel through Gaean, wrecking havoc and leaving ruins in its wake, before the first of the Chosen of Gaean, Zollyon Zamro, came forward and led a charge against it. Ultimately the Nar-Narolis was severely injured, but not until it killed and consumed the vast majority of the the combatants, including Zollyon himself.

Following this encounter, the Nar-Narolis appeared in Incaendium, where it has resided since, occasionally showing itself to feed. Its last major appearance was approximately 3,000 years ago when a large alliance of Amayan Archdemonic Houses (including future Imperator Samael Asther, then Legat Regas of Amaya waged a multi-day war against it, driving it back underground.

Habitat

The Nar-Narolis has no normal habitat -- or at least none known. It has been encountered in forests, in cities, and in the darkness of cave systems. That said, when injured, it is to cave systems that it is most likely to retreat.

Appearance

The Nar-Narolis appears as a hole in anything, filled with sharp teeth that resemble those of a shark. This hole extends from one side of the object targeted to the other, meaning that it can be a hole with a single row of teeth (for example if it appears in a sheet of paper or flat board)... but it can also appear as, essentially, a tunnel full of teeth. If the Nar-Narolis appears in the ground, it manifests as a seemingly bottomless pit full of teeth.

It has no known body aside from the hole and the teeth. It can also appear at various sizes - though it prefers to manifest in a larger form so that it can devour things more effectively.

It may surprise some to know that the Nar-Narolis is both verbal and rather articulate. That said, it rarely actually speaks, and when it does its dark, raspy voice is somewhat disembodied, lingering in the area but not coming directly from the mouth. It is quite cryptic in its way of speaking.

It has no scent.

The Gnashing Maw in Yarrow's Waters

The Nar-Narolis appeared outside Yarrow in 7672Y with far-reaching consequences to the ecology of the area.

Behavior

Not unlike other Great Beasts, the Nar-Narolis goes inactive for years or even decades or centuries at a time. It's unclear where it is when it is dormant - or, indeed, if it is anywhere in particular. Once, a group of cave explorers stumbled on it "sleeping," but it was quite injured at the time and so may not have been able to disappear as effectively as usual... though it's also possible that it just buries itself too deep into cave systems or forests to be located easily.

Upon waking, the Nar-Narolis will manifest, preferably near some center of life such as a village or a colony of animals and begin devouring everything in the area. This includes people, animals, plants, even some inorganic material such as stones or dirt.

It will continue to travel from place to place destroying everything in its wake until falls back into dormancy in its own time (about 6 to 12 weeks) or is trapped or depleted of energy and forced to retreat.

While it can speak, it may not choose to do so even when addressed directly.

Abilities

As with any Great Beast, the Nar-Narolis is both highly intelligent and immensely strong. However, in this case, those abilities are somewhat less obvious given that the Nar-Narolis does not have an obvious body.

Movement

Due to its unique nature, the Nar-Narolis moves in one of two ways:

Moving across surfaces: This entails sliding across a surface as though being pulled. When it moves in this way, the entirety of it moves at once - a tunnel simply moves across the stone side of a mountain, for example, leaving the stone behind it untouched as it moves. It can also slide onto a new surface that is in contact with the first - for example it could slide from the floor to a wall.

Leaping Across Spaces: With this movement style, Nar-Narolis disappears from its original location and reappears in another place. The other place could be... anywhere within several miles, making it quite difficult to corner or catch up to.

Calling Prey

Being a creature incapable of grabbing prey or hunting normally, the Nar-Narolis nonetheless has several ways of obtaining what it craves.

The Calling: this is the primary means through which the Nar-Narolis obtains living prey, particularly when manifesting in a larger form. It emits a call that settles in nearby animals, mortals, celestials or demons as a compulsion to travel to the Nar-Narolis's location. Once there, they feel a strong desire to enter the tunnel or hole, which of course is their doom.

The Induction: As with the Calling, the Nar-Narolis broadcasts a compulsion for living beings to gather items and animals and bring them to the Nar-Narolis's location, at which point they are compelled to throw those things into its maw.

The Sacrifice: This is the primary means through which the Nar-Narolis obtains living prey when in a smaller form. It calls to nearby living beings, as in the Call and Induction... however, when nearby they begin to hack off smaller parts of their body and toss them into the hole.

Shows of Force

The Mouth Itself: The hole that is the Nar-Narolis moves not unlike a monstrous mouth, rending and grinding anything that steps into its space, leaving only bits of blood and flesh, splinters of wood or crushed pebbles behind. There is no known substance that cannot be crushed by the teeth of the Nar-Narolis.

Rending Bite!: The Nar-Narolis projects the effect of its teeth outward - essentially redirecting the effect of their movement to another target. This essentially means it can bite someone in half from a distance - the pieces of the bitten creature or object disappear as though swallowed despite never having been in physical contact with it.

Siphoning: The Nar-Narolis "inhales" and the force of its breath is not unlike intense storm-winds dragging everything nearer until they are sucked into the hole and torn to shreds by the teeth within. The intensity of the suction experienced is greater - and faster - the closer something comes to the actual Beast.

Pressure Manipulation: This may be a psionic ability, or it may simply be a unique ability. Either way, the Nar-Narolis can increase the pressure in an area or around a target. This is not unlike being sucked into the depths of the ocean. It typically uses this ability to incapacitate attackers.

Defenses

Near Invulnerability: Frankly, the Nar-Narolis has no body, which makes it remarkably difficult to damage. Indeed, it can only be hurt from within the hole itself. This means that if it can close its mouth, it becomes impossible to damage until such time as it opens again. In other words, in order to fight it, its mouth must be held open, and attackers must go into said mouth without being devoured.

Misc.

Communication: As previously mentioned, Nar-Narolis can speak, though it generally chooses not to. It can also communicate telepathically; it is unknown whether it communicates this way more often than it speaks, as it is exceedingly rare for those it contacts to survive.

 

Status Quo

Currently, the Nar-Narolis is inactive, having gone into hiding after its tussle with an alliance of Amayan archdemons in 28,972Y.

Threat Assessment:

With impressive abilities and a keenly intelligent mind (though it's unclear where the mind is stored since it has no head), the Nar-Narolis would easily be a Vallus+ level threat. However, its durability and near invulnerability makes it infinitely more dangerous.

The Nar-Narolis can be considered a Vis level threat.