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Published: 2022-02-13 21:13:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 10910; Favourites: 135; Downloads: 9
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Description
Nephilim carry the illusion of jaws just as Atrox Sapients carry the illusion of eyes. Their true mouths are extensible, prehensile tongue-like proboscises that allow them to eject digestive juices into flesh and siphon out the sweet remains. This was initially an adaptation for feeding on pillar-tree sap and subterranean prey but, with the advent of their sapience, Nephilim usually target big game. While this seems like an inefficient way to process flesh, one must remember that human teeth seem suited for grinding plants, yet much of our diet is meat.The "lower jaw" is a bony sheath housing this revolting organ, while the "upper jaw" is a resonating chamber to amplify their musical calls. Against smaller prey this can be weaponized, allowing a hungry Nephilim to rupture the eardrums of small worms and hogs. They are incredibly strong, with large adults weighing close to a thousand pounds and fully capable of tossing boulders and tree trunks. Their intelligent and strength allow them to coordinate hunts against various large game that would otherwise outwit them. Immense, sloth-like claws are used to rip apart prey and fungal branches for kindling alike. There are different varieties of Nephilim, seeing as they selectively bred themselves for different traits. The one above is a hunter-type breed, selected for prominent tusks and stouter "jaws". While he more closely resembles their ancestral form, others are commonly seen with elaborate, curving resonating chambers and smaller facial shields, these serving more as orators and craftsman. Unlike ants this is not a eusocial kind of caste division, more so something like what is seen in domestic animals today.
Like the biblical giants to which they owe their name, these roving predators attain great feats of intelligence and strength. Far stronger than all but the largest of creatures and far smarter than even humans, they seem predestined to conquer the world. However, this supposed blessing of incredible power and wit is actually a curse. Nephilim need an ungodly amount of food simply to stay functional. A single, average-sized adult needs about fifty pounds of liquified meat a day to keep itself in good condition. For growing adolescents, such as the brute featured above, the requirement is often twice this. Their massive brains and active, muscular bodies demand near-unending sustenance, a fatal flaw in a dark world where the food is very seasonal, and meals are few and far in-between. While a thousand-pound Drumjaww may go a week between kills, the Nephilim's brain forces it to forage daily. This is an exhausting requirement to impose upon their huge (and as such prone to back/joint problems) bodies, meaning most Nephilim die at about two decades of age. Rarely is it a natural death, more so their tortured bones and tendons simply fail them, leaving them to be cannibalized out of desperation by former family and friends.
One may ask why they, with their vast intelligence, simply do not invent agriculture. They tried and proved quite good at it. For a few thousand years they formed the world's first civilizations, erecting monolithic stone pillars and walls that can still be seen today. Many times, their handiwork was done purely for artistic pleasure, as their huge bodies produced enough heat to not need much in the way of shelter. However, that was a better time, and the growing dark and cold means growing food sustainably is near impossible. What little meat they can breed is not enough, they eat more than they can produce, and with the pillar forests dying off there is nothing else to turn to. The promising halls of these flesh and blood gods soon emptied, their occupants forced to roam the lands in small tribes, always hungry, always tired, forced onwards by their own wretched biology in an unending bloodlust culminating in their untimely deaths.
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Comments: 3
LordKaizen [2022-02-15 05:54:40 +0000 UTC]
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poo-stinker In reply to LordKaizen [2022-02-15 06:49:09 +0000 UTC]
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LordKaizen In reply to poo-stinker [2022-02-15 14:30:35 +0000 UTC]
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