Vulg

Vulg's Black Bite Slays At Night
— Children's Rhyme

Vulgs, also known as Vulks, were the horrific bestial companions of the Dark Elder in the tales of old. Rage-maddened wolves the size of a modern pony that hunted alongside the slayers of the Elder. Ever-present companions in the horrific retellings of the cruel fate held in store for those who were chosen as prey in an Elder blood-hunt. Vulgs have an oppressive and constant presence throughout tales of the Dark Elder and tthe battles against them. Many are the accounts of this huge predators harrying the flanks of Rhuanon's forces and those of other belligerents. The Vulg became a watchword for terror in the night through these campaigns. Warriors and companions would stand just on the edge of darkness and disappear with a flash of deeper dark and knife-sized fangs. Even a single bite from a Vulg is allegedly fatal either owing to a foul poison in their bodily fluids as Elder or through the constant decaying flesh that littered their ever-hungry mouths.

The existence of Vulgs is not considered legend or myth as numerous body parts remain as evidence. Skulls, claws and teeth still survive to this day in the collections of antiquarians, dweomercrafters, noble houses and the rare lucky tavern that boasts a time-yellowed lupine skull the size of plow.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Depictions of Vulgs convey a stockier, fouler manifestation of a wolf though such a comparison is said to pale in comparison to the real thing. Many tales speak of the approximate size of commonly encountered Vulgs in those days as being the height and weight of a pony. In addition to this increased size and widened lope through longer legs, the Vulg's skull is known to be far larger and thicker bone than even a pony-sized wolf may develop naturally. The jaws are twisted gnarls of thickened bone wherein sit the needle-like canines, if needles were as wide as a dowel and long as a man's hand, further back the grinding and tearing teeth sport malformations and spurs that force an involuntary shudder in all who imagine the hunts of old with them as prey.

Growth Rate & Stages

There is no knowledge of the life cycle of a Vulg. Tales speak of the dark bloodletters having eternal life so long as they continue eating. Even to this day, there are constant sightings by folks all over the continent of Vulgs. Whether these are Vulgs or, more importantly they exist and are breeding or are merely immortal leftovers from the Elderwar is unknown.

Another oddity is that manuscripts disagree on the use of the word Vulk as a synonym for a Vulg. Some of these writings speak of the Vulk as an older, more powerful and infinitely crueler beasts that are merely related to Vulgs. The others present a worse explanation in that as Vulgs live forever they also grow and become more intelligent. According to these scholars, a Vulk is the apex of the Vulg pack society; cunning creatures with minds twisted like those of dark men and strange powers and conditions that surround them and those who seek them ill. Some writings even suggest that a Vulk could speak and even learn the dark arts of sorcery at times.

These writings are not dismissed off-hand but lack relevance as the depredations of Vulgs are a thing long in the past. The only existing scrap supporting these writings in some way is the The Legend of the Pale Vulk. A massive Vulk with a gleaming green eye, a white fur coat smeared with its enemies remains and who brings howling winds and ice along with it on excursions down the mountain.
Dark Elder Hunting Beasts

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