“I’ve seen ‘em before, long and gangly shadows upon the walls… Most creatures would respect anything’s home or nest, but they’re evolved for their sketchy infiltration. They don’t make any noise, and only take whatever their strange little hearts desire. Food, trinkets or tools… they always vanish before I understand what it is they’ve taken.”
— Hazzi Persa on her local population of Robbers.
Chimeric, kleptomaniac monster ascended and distorted from flatworms, bearing traces of pelican and- indeed- human. Anatomical absurdities for a mostly muscle body, followed by bony limbs and hands with a similarly exoskeletal head. Incredibly reflective eyes on a horizontal “track” in the skull allow it a great range of vision.
Their specialized mucus is a thick, sticky and transparent black slime that absorbs sound and dries up into dust mere moments upon being left behind by the parent Robber. This mucus also dries upon exposure to UV lights, notably turning the creature a pale white if it’s directly exposed to such light. Due to this and their nocturnal eyesight getting blinded, Robbers will avoid sources of light and be immensely distressed if caught or cornered in one.
Low scavenger diet, feeding off rotting carrion and bones while opportunistically raiding other animal’s unprotected nests. They make their own nests aswell, typically in dark and damp places with shallow caves and abandoned buildings or basements being their perfect environments.
Wholly nocturnal, they sleep in these nests most of the day and leave to search for food upon nightfall, sometimes not returning for days and having to rest in less desirable environments like in the center of trees. It’s not impossible for one to mistakenly hide in a less shaded spot, like bare poles thought to be trees, and ultimately get caught in the light.
Named as such for their behavior of breaking into urban homes, sometimes not even stealing food but only objects of interest. These objects aren’t swallowed but are instead stored in a flexible, robust pouch between the bottom jaw and the neck to be spat out upon returning to its own nest. Hoards can be accumulated and each Robber has its own preferences for worthwhile objects, and said hoards are similarly uniquely and meticulously sorted by shape, material, texture and size.
Robbers are famous for being terrified of confrontation, dropping their slow and calculated movements for mad scrambles to an exit if they merely think themselves compromised or outmatched. Though their teeth are sharp and their jaws strong, they do not use them in combat (or even non-scavenging consumption) and will purely look for an opening for escape. No credible records exist of Robbers ever harming a sapien.
Robbers grow as they age and eat, slowly gaining new segments from their tail which can then unfurl with new limbs. They reproduce through a kind of ‘mitosis’: upon reaching a certain size, usually 6 complete pairs of arms, they will gnaw themselves in half upon the perfect midsection in their own nest. The original Robber will then leave, the bisected end healing back into a tail and continuing growth, while the discarded half will heal itself a new head and inherit the nest as a brand new Robber.
Being first recorded within the turn of the millennium, they are a more modern monster with a highly speculated origin. One theory suggests they are much like other chimeric monsters; an escaped specimen from a lone Wizard’s study, perhaps created as a servant specializing in infiltration. Their stealthy and evasive nature, asexual reproduction, overall unnatural physiology and previous non-existence have supported this idea.
Generally seen as frightening-but-ultimately-harmless pests, though some deal with them by leaving offerings out at night so they may leave satisfied while not entering the house itself. Simply leaving windows and doors locked and exterior lights on is a good deterrent, with modern motion-activated floodlights proving exceptional in catching their slow approach and flashing them with light.
Their public perception took a turn however, with one incident where a Robber had entered an urban family household through an unlocked window and immediately made its way to the infant toddler’s room. The Robber got so far as to pick the child up from their cradle and begin puzzling how to fit them within its jaws to swallow whole, and mercifully the child was dropped and the Robber scared off when the family’s Hound awoke and began to howl frantically upon detecting the Robber’s presence.
As Robbers in the wilderness will ingest eggs or defenseless creatures whole, it is long assumed that the child would have been eaten had the family not had their Hound companion. The family confessed to leaving overnight offerings for local Robbers upon their porch, and from there it was determined the Robber had been emboldened by having had repeated easy findings there. The incident now stands as a reminder of the dangers for allowing Robbers to get comfortable and see what they can get away with.
You are alone, hiking in the woods..you see a figure who is sitting in the middle of the woods.. you see... they aren't human... they are about (8'3ft), colorful.. with a tail and having ears... they stare into your soul while thick blood is smeared across their face..
