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Description
"Pale and blotchy things scamper about this night, not a hint of courage among them. Show them no mercy. When you are weak, you are prey."
-Quote from an unknown warrior.

Many adventurers have heard of them. Through song or sight, information finds a way. A bustling in the underbrush, a long slender body climbing or scuttling far out of sight. They dive from the arrow, duck from the sword, run from the warrior and the archer and the mage. Yet they are mercilessly, pitilessly evil. Their attempts to retreat, it is said, are only so that they may return when one is weak. They'll cut the throats of sleeping soldiers, poison the water supply of towns, wear down a stronger enemy that may never know their foe. Bravery is not part of their vocabulary. Cowardice and trickery are their greatest tool. An informed adventurer knows all of these things, and that the rail thin creatures are all one being.

Vakkaxis is a faction all its own, a single vast consciousness exerting unwavering influence over its own personal masses of arms and legs, bodies and brains. Its metaphorical hands and feet are millions of scampering organisms it directs like chess pieces on a board. It is not a god, nor angel, nor demon, only a magical monstrosity, a rogue experiment of self-aware sorcery. Vakkaxis's nefarious plots and schemes are driven by its primary desire to perpetuate, and its secondary objective to eliminate all who may pose a threat to itself. Vakkaxis takes meticulous stock of its physical bodies and takes pains to avoid losses. It will not engage a physical battle unless it is doubly sure its "army" can win, or that its loss will be minimal. Since the entities it controls are already so thin and fragile that a mere peasant could dispose of 3, nearly all of its battles are won with cheap tactics or dishonorable methods.

What Vakkaxis loses in strength and defense, it makes up for in cunning, adaptability, and a very special form of attack. Its many bodies require very little food and water to sustain themselves, allowing them to easily retreat into a forest and live comfortably on a diet of bugs and moss, or deep underground on mineral water. Its many bodies are fast and light, easily scaling trees and even cliff-sides that afford them safety or strategic advantage. While Vakkaxis's bodies can use weapons, its preferred method of attack is to gather groups of bodies in one place and physically project its consciousness in the air. This manifestation of Vakkaxis is nigh invulnerable and can wield devastating ranged magic that only increases with the number of projectors. Unfortunately for it, its projectors can easily be disposed of en masse, making it a very "glass cannon" scenario. Vakkaxis's bodies can not reproduce, but with 20 or more present, it can perform a complex ritual on a sufficiently sized portion of fresh meat that transforms it into another unit.

Vakkaxis is not an ancient being, and a recent legend tells of its first one-sided battle. It is said that the newly formed Vakkaxis was not a wise creature, and gathered up many of its bodies for a frontal assault of a capital city. Rows after rows of pale soldiers marched their way to the palace walls, summoning an enormous manifestation of Vakkaxis that desiccated anything in its path. It was immune to any retaliation, but when the town discovered this, they turned to its projectors. Bodies fell under volleys of arrows, armored men cut through the swaths of marching white and pink, fireballs and explosions cut through the invading forces like so much tissue paper. In less than three minutes, Vakkaxis's manifestation was weakened to nothing, and it had lost more than 3/4ths of its total mass. Vakkaxis withdrew its forces (and by extension itself) as quickly as it could, and from that day learned the full extent of its weakness. Since then it has never allowed itself to be brought so close to death. Some assume Vakkaxis is primarily motivated by hatred, or a desire to trick and undermine. In truth, Vakkaxis is motivated by fear and fear alone. It does not know what will happen if all of its physical bodies are brought down, and it lives in eternal horror of finding out.

Description
"Pale and blotchy things scamper about this night, not a hint of courage among them. Show them no mercy. When you are weak, you are prey."
-Quote from an unknown warrior.

Many adventurers have heard of them. Through song or sight, information finds a way. A bustling in the underbrush, a long slender body climbing or scuttling far out of sight. They dive from the arrow, duck from the sword, run from the warrior and the archer and the mage. Yet they are mercilessly, pitilessly evil. Their attempts to retreat, it is said, are only so that they may return when one is weak. They'll cut the throats of sleeping soldiers, poison the water supply of towns, wear down a stronger enemy that may never know their foe. Bravery is not part of their vocabulary. Cowardice and trickery are their greatest tool. An informed adventurer knows all of these things, and that the rail thin creatures are all one being.

Vakkaxis is a faction all its own, a single vast consciousness exerting unwavering influence over its own personal masses of arms and legs, bodies and brains. Its metaphorical hands and feet are millions of scampering organisms it directs like chess pieces on a board. It is not a god, nor angel, nor demon, only a magical monstrosity, a rogue experiment of self-aware sorcery. Vakkaxis's nefarious plots and schemes are driven by its primary desire to perpetuate, and its secondary objective to eliminate all who may pose a threat to itself. Vakkaxis takes meticulous stock of its physical bodies and takes pains to avoid losses. It will not engage a physical battle unless it is doubly sure its "army" can win, or that its loss will be minimal. Since the entities it controls are already so thin and fragile that a mere peasant could dispose of 3, nearly all of its battles are won with cheap tactics or dishonorable methods.

What Vakkaxis loses in strength and defense, it makes up for in cunning, adaptability, and a very special form of attack. Its many bodies require very little food and water to sustain themselves, allowing them to easily retreat into a forest and live comfortably on a diet of bugs and moss, or deep underground on mineral water. Its many bodies are fast and light, easily scaling trees and even cliff-sides that afford them safety or strategic advantage. While Vakkaxis's bodies can use weapons, its preferred method of attack is to gather groups of bodies in one place and physically project its consciousness in the air. This manifestation of Vakkaxis is nigh invulnerable and can wield devastating ranged magic that only increases with the number of projectors. Unfortunately for it, its projectors can easily be disposed of en masse, making it a very "glass cannon" scenario. Vakkaxis's bodies can not reproduce, but with 20 or more present, it can perform a complex ritual on a sufficiently sized portion of fresh meat that transforms it into another unit.

Vakkaxis is not an ancient being, and a recent legend tells of its first one-sided battle. It is said that the newly formed Vakkaxis was not a wise creature, and gathered up many of its bodies for a frontal assault of a capital city. Rows after rows of pale soldiers marched their way to the palace walls, summoning an enormous manifestation of Vakkaxis that desiccated anything in its path. It was immune to any retaliation, but when the town discovered this, they turned to its projectors. Bodies fell under volleys of arrows, armored men cut through the swaths of marching white and pink, fireballs and explosions cut through the invading forces like so much tissue paper. In less than three minutes, Vakkaxis's manifestation was weakened to nothing, and it had lost more than 3/4ths of its total mass. Vakkaxis withdrew its forces (and by extension itself) as quickly as it could, and from that day learned the full extent of its weakness. Since then it has never allowed itself to be brought so close to death. Some assume Vakkaxis is primarily motivated by hatred, or a desire to trick and undermine. In truth, Vakkaxis is motivated by fear and fear alone. It does not know what will happen if all of its physical bodies are brought down, and it lives in eternal horror of finding out.