Talyxian Lurkers

“In the darkest zones of the Zess infestations, if one is to encounter a light that is not of one’s own; Avoid it at all costs for a Lurker is near.”

* Red Gardener Handbook.

## **T-Lurkers: What are they?**

Lurking within the deepest sections of the Talyxian biomes, from which even the eternal mother’s light cannot reach; these beasts lie in wait for those foolish enough to enter their domain whilst the eternal mother is awake; though whilst the eternal mother slumbers, they come out from their domains to come visit the Eltus with malice in mind.

## **T-Lurkers: Biology**

T-Lurkers are a black type talyxian, coming in of course black shades and hues. They possess a roughly humanoid form, though quite monstrous at that. The average height of an T-Lurker can range from a short 4’6 to a massive 6’5; their general appearance isn’t fixed though the only reasonable way to describe it is “Monstrous and straight from the bowels of Zess insanity.” T-Lurkers are “edible” if you are able to down the disgusting taste and almost rubber-like texture they have, along with the possibility of becoming the host of several diseases and parasites never seen by humanity.

One of the more unique aspects of the T-Lurkers, is their bioluminescence, often displaying simple white and grey colors, and occasionally lovely blue and red colors. This bioluminescence will often cover the entire body of a T-Lurker, masking it as if it was just a light in the distance. Though as one gets closer, it’s colorful yet monstrous appearance makes itself known and by that time, even if you do run, the entire pack knows you’re there.

Their reproductive system is mostly limited to simple rumors due to the lack of those willing to try and study these creatures. One of the theories around their reproduction cycle is that they convert Eltus beings into more T-Lurkers along with rumors that their Origin point was “Eltus who stayed in the dark and feared the light, becoming one with the dark.” The conversion theory is one of the more possible theories, as during T-Lurker raids; they try to kidnap as many Eltus as possible. Another theory suggests they simply appear and disappear at random times, perhaps only appearing when the forest requires them, acting as a self defense of a kind.

They have a moderate to high intelligence, displaying the ability to create and make simple weapons, and tools along with making simple structures. There is a high chance that these creatures are self aware, though due to being simply unable to communicate with them, this is yet to confirm this. The T-Lurker communication system can be boiled down into two separate types; “A symphony of screaming and screeching” and “Low unintelligible gurgling.” Trying to translate either into anything cohesive, even with the help of T-Rooters has yielded nothing, suggesting that this communication is simply a cover for another form of communication; more wilder theories suggesting things like psionics and such being involved.

T-Lurkers have a tendency to stick to darker areas, seeming to avoid sunlit areas and in general bright areas often. They seem to have a strange fear of sunlight, though perhaps it’s best they have this abnormal fear and along with that their vision’s quality degrades greatly in sunlight; thus they prefer to stick to Talyxian “Dark zones” during the day, and become more active during the night.

The diet of a T-Lurker is practically anything that’s edible, though they have a very heavy preference for Eltus beings. So if the possibility arises to sate their diet with the Eltus red of the three races, they’ll stop at nothing to get a taste of it.

The life span of these creatures, at least from what few samples the gardener's association have managed to gather of these creatures, the oldest of these beings so far can age up to 85-90 years. Though with time, the Gardener association and other research groups hope to discover more about this strange creature.

## **T-Lurkers: Behavior**

The behavior of these creatures during the day is often simply limited to either wandering around their respective territories, or sleeping. T-Lurkers may sometimes “Socialize” from the very few observations of them during their “Inactive state” though the extent of this “Socialization” is unknown. During the night they enter an “Active” state, where they actively hunt and gather materials for their nests. Other than that, they do not perform any particular activities, though it has been observed some T-Lurkers possess enough intelligence to make basic weapons and armor out of the materials they find and sometimes simple structures.

They usually will congregate in groups/packs, working together as a collective to achieve the current goal of the group. There are sometimes Lone actors, though often will join a group soon enough, the few that remain independent actors will mostly stick to the dark zones for both the night and the day.

A more concerning behavior, seen in mostly T-Lurker colonies along the Magaci-Magoe border is their formation of raiding parties. It’s concerning enough already that they have the smarts, and organizational power to form simple raiding bands, though it seems that these raids do have a peculiar goal in mind rather than just burn, loot and murder. Mostly this goal is limited to just kidnapping Eltus, though the smarter end of the T-Lurkers perform more tactical decisions such as; raiding armories to gain better gear for later raids, scouting beforehand, sabotaging food and water sources to weaken a village’s strength and other things. If one hasn’t already inferred this, T-Lurkers are naturally hostile to both Eltus and other Talyxians.

## **T-Lurker: Interactions with the Eltus peoples**

The most known interactions with T-Lurkers and most documented of these incidents are the fatal raids which took place during the World war; as many villages were left to fend for themselves whilst their respective armies fought on the frontline, T-lurkers took advantage of this. The most known cases of these raids are along the Magaci-Magoe border, as any help from the Gold ring and Reono were diverted to help with the war effort of either taking, or defending the salt city; leaving the swamp villages to fend for themselves. Initially able to fend off the first few waves of attacks, these Swampers would soon find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer relentless attacks and will of these Abominations of the dark.

The attacks have died down in recent days, as more resources by independent actors has increased the security in those areas; however they still remain a threat nonetheless. Other than that, there haven’t been any documented cases of friendly interactions, though perhaps this will change in the future.

## **T-Lurkers: Misc**

1: I heavily based and inspired these fellas off of the “Sweepers” from the Library of Ruina/Lobotomy corporation universe.

2: Originally they were named T-Anglers due to bioluminescence and hunting behavior, though as their behavior changed, the association responsible for giving these creatures their designations, soon changed it to Lurker, instead of T-Anglers.