Stew Hogg

A bristling ball of fury and hunger, the Stew Hogg is a frightful monster of the Gafhi lands. Appearing as the hunched form of a dwarf, covered in bristles and fur and with the jaws of a slavering boar, the Stew Hogg is surrounded by the stench of rot and waste. A cursed creature, the Stew Hogg hungers but cannot be sated. Forever it seeks the sustenance denied to it in its final hours, and the only thing that can deter a Stew Hogg from food is the sight of its hated enemy, the one who could feed it but did not. Among the Gafhi, among the greatest crimes is to leave your brother hungry, and the Stew Hogg is supernatural retribution for the crimes of the selfish. Said to spawn from dwarves dead of famine, the Stew Hogg is a feral beast, but retains enough awareness to know that it was abandoned to a cruel fate and seeks vengeance against those who chose not to save it. Stew Hoggs have become more common as of late, as the Gafhi lands have been stricken by repeated famines.

Behavior

The Stew Hogg first and foremost wants food, and it is particularly attracted to prepared food, wanting to eat as it did in life. In the case of Stew Hoggs in the Gafhi lands, they even follow the Gafhi custom of eating only with the right hand. However, the Stew Hogg will violently attack anyone who attempts to prevent it from food, and will eat everything in sight until nothing is left. Sometimes, the monster will then attack any onlookers that remain, but other times will leave them alone as it searches for more food. An exception is if somewhere within its dim awareness it recognizes the one who abandoned it, in which case it will pursue those with single-minded ferocity until they are dead.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A Stew Hogg stands about the height of the average dwarf, though is commonly hunched over slightly. Its body is covered in stiff bristles, and its face is warped into a boarlike visage. Though not immediately apparently due to its covering of bristles and hair, the Stew Hogg is a creature of the grave, already in the process of rotting away when it first rises. Although emaciated, the fury and hunger that animate it grant it strength and endurance beyond a mortal's capabilities, making it exceptionally dangerous. It is also claimed that they can smell food over great distances, even over kilometers.

by Midjourney

Related Ethnicities

• Gafhi