Mavka

**Mavka**, known by humans as **Duskwalkers**, are a species of vicious humanoid soul-eating creatures that roams the Veil in Austrális. They are the children and descendants of the Witch Owl and the Spirit of the Void.

Mavka means “forest creature” in the Demon language. Mavka get their human title by being one of the only creatures from the Veil that are capable of being exposed to sunlight.

## Characteristics

Mavka are animal-skulled, have a horn-like protrusion on their head, have black-coloured fur over their body, have bone-like protrusions over their chest and hands, and are taller in stature than humans. They have void-like eyes, with a coloured orb which serves as its pupil. The colour of their eyes change depending on their emotional state.

They acquire their skull from the first animal they consume and their horns from the first horned animal they consume. Mavka are capable of sentience and human-like thought, but only by consuming humans and absorbing their humanity. They are incredibly intelligent and are capable of human speech.

Mavka have a purple coloured penis that is surrounded by four tentacle appendages.

### Eyes

Mavka's eyes change colour depending on their emotions. It makes it very hard for them to hide their emotions, like a human can.

* **Red:** This colour represents anger or whether or not a Mavka is hunting. This is Merikh's natural eye colour.
* **Orange**: This colour represents guilt or regret.
* **Yellow**: This colour represents joy, happiness, or curiosity. This is Faunus' natural eye colour.
* **Green**: This colour represents jealousy, envy, or possessiveness. This is the natural eye colour of Magnar and Fyodor.
* **Blue**: This colour represents sadness, depression, and rejection. This is the natural eye colour of Orpheus.
* **Purple**: This colour represents lust and desire. This is the natural eye colour for the raven-skulled twin.
* **Pink-Red:** This colour represents embarrassment.
* **Flamingo Pink**: This colour represents love and adoration. This is the natural eye colour for the bat-skulled twin.
* **White**: This colour represents fear, worry, or anxiety.

## Death

Mavka, like all living creatures, can be killed. The method to kill a Mavka is by breaking their skull, so that a part breaks off.

Duskwalkers can be brought back to life in special circumstances, those being mending their skull within 24 hours of their death and the Spirit of the Void interfering. Mayumi desperately attempts to bring back Faunus after the Demonslayer attack on her home. She welds his skull back together using the *kintsugi* technique. This only brought back a shell of what Faunus was, causing him to become a mindless creature. The Spirit of the Void placed Faunus' soul back into his body after Mayumi pleading for his life and giving Faunus her soul.

## Abilities

**Soul Eating:** Much like the Spirit of the Void, Mavka are soul-eaters. They can only consume one soul in their lifetime. Most Mavka will not take a soul nonconsensually, but they are able to take a human soul without permission. Once the soul is consumed, the Mavka is permanently bonded to the human and their permanent hunger is removed. There does not need to be love or a previous bond between the Mavka and humans to be given a soul.

**Magic:** If a Mavka consumes enough Priests or Priestesses, they are able to express their magical powers.

## Trivia

* Mavka is a type of spirit in Ukrainian folklore, that had their spine and ribcage exposed.

## References

1. ↑ *A Soul to Keep*, Chapter 38
2. ↑ *A Soul to Keep*, Chapter 15
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *A Soul to Keep*, Prolouge