Hubric Death

"I'm going to get my horns shortened soon, and I can't say I'm pleased by the prospect. But I'd rather go through that pain then die by their incessant growth towards my body's vital organs."

— Older Victracki citizen complaining about his next horn cutting

One of the most distinguishing parts of the Victracki people, beyond their unusual quadrupedal bodies, are their two bio-electric horns. These long protrusions from their bodies are their primary means of communication, as they send bands of electricity between them to speak their language. As they grow older so do their horns, continuing to gain length and curvature throughout their long lives. Unfortunately, due to the nature of their growth, their horns have a project path to completely curve back into the body and begin to grow through it. This process, if not prevented, will cause irreversible damage to their internal organs and lead to an agonizing death. Fortunately, proper maintenance of these horns can be done to prevent such an end to occur. Those that witnessed beings not going through such a basic process of bodily care in their later years, leading to their avoidable deaths, have given a name to the condition based on this sheer arrogance, the Hubric Death.

Symptoms

As the horns continue to grow in length, during the later stages of Victracki lives they begin to curve towards the body simply due to gravity. If not shortened during this time, they will begin to grow into the body of the older Victracki and will continue to do so until exiting the other side and eventually killing the being in question. This death is completely preventable, and only in the oldest days of Victracki society was this a common demise.

Treatment

While rather painful, and leading to a short period of relative muteness, the process to curtail the growth of these bio-electric horns is quite simple. A Victracki simply must go to a physician trained in the process, and have their horns either cut or ground down to a safer size. After around a day of healing, usual with the aid of medicines designed to aid in this process, they will regain the full capability to communicate, with only short term signs of the medical procedure implemented.

Type

Physiological

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Common

Affected Species

• Victracki