Murk-Fangs
Murk-Fangs are the unseen hunters of the Scourge, the most feared of its Apex Predators. They strike from darkness, feed on fear as well as blood, and are seldom seen even by those they kill.
Appearance
No one has seen a living Murk-Fang clearly in the dark, where it hunts; it cannot be seen there at all. In blinding light, or dead, it shows as a lean, long-limbed body about the size of a big cat, with skin like charcoal and no fur, a long, narrow head with a mouth full of fine needle teeth, and no eyes that anyone can find. Its limbs end in soft pads and hooked claws. It moves without a sound. Those who have survived an attack remember a sudden cold, a smell of smoke and blood, and a faint, breathy clicking just before it struck.
Habitat and Range
They hunt wherever the Scourge is dark: in ruins, thorn thickets, smoke-choked valleys, and in the hours when the plane’s light is absent. They are rarely found in the open under glare.
Behaviour and Temperament
A Murk-Fang follows its prey in darkness, closer and closer, and seems to wait until the prey is afraid before it strikes. It takes its kill into the dark and feeds on blood. It prefers lone prey and frightened prey, and will shadow a group for nights, picking off whoever falls behind.
Abilities
In darkness a Murk-Fang cannot be seen at all. It feeds on fear as well as blood, and seems to sense fear the way a Blood-Hound smells blood; a calm traveller is less often taken than a frightened one, though not never.
Life Cycle
Nothing is known of how they breed; no one has found a young one. A dead Murk-Fang becomes visible, as if death were the only light it cannot hide from.
Uses and Dangers
Its hide, which keeps some of its power to hide in darkness, is worth more than gold to the Scourge-Born, who make cloaks of it. Its danger is the attack no one sees coming.
Lore and Belief
Travellers' tales give Murk-Fangs the power to walk through walls and to steal a man’s shadow; neither is true, but the tales grow out of a beast no one can see. The advice that comes back from the Scourge is to keep a light burning, keep company, and keep calm, and all three help.
Sellswords who served a season on the Scourge say the worst of it was not the battles but the nights, when the sentries were taken one by one without a sound; the companies that came home learned to post them in threes.