Bestiary - Flicker Godspawn
Overview
When the Veil flickers, fragments of divine frequency leak into reality. These lesser entities are not full godspawn but resonance mutations — remnants of divine code infecting mortal biology, machinery, or memory. They prowl alleys, sewers, and ruined factories between major Flickers, feeding on stray Aetherlight, dreams, or sound.
The @Aether Guilds classify them as Residuals, but Wardens call them simply: The Leftovers.
Classifications
Class I – Parasitic Aberrations: Small, instinctual feeders born of Veil radiation.
Class II – Echo Entities: Sentient echoes of emotions, memories, or deaths.
Class III – Industrial Symbionts: Corrupted Aethertech or constructs turned feral.
Class IV – Urban Predators: Hybrid beasts — partial Awakened mutations, partially divine.
Class V – Environmental Phenomena: Living weather, light, or resonance.
Common Entities of the City
Whisper Rats (Class I)
Small rodents fused with strands of Aetherlight.
Their bones glow faintly, and their squeaks mimic human whispers.
Feeding on sound, they swarm during Darkphase, gnawing on speech itself — victims go mute afterward.
Weakness: High-frequency sonic bursts.
Note: The Reclaimers hunt them for their crystalline skulls (“Echo Glass”).
The Staticborn (Class II)
Humanoid silhouettes flickering in and out of reality; once people caught mid-Flicker.
They wander near conduits and transmission towers, repeating their last thoughts in broken radio chatter.
If touched, they drain memories, copying the victim’s voice and continuing their sentence.
Weakness: Direct exposure to bright Veil light re-stabilizes them briefly.
Warden Directive: Contain, do not kill — “they are still partly us.”
Veil Leeches (Class I–II)
Pale, worm-like parasites that cling to Veil-powered cables and drain radiant current.
If detached, they latch onto humans and inject molten light through pores, causing Resonant Fever.
Weakness: Fire or electric surge (they overcharge and explode).
Common Zone: The Girdle — near Aether conduits and reactor waste tunnels.
Echo Mimics (Class II)
Residue of Delirium events — reflections that forgot they were supposed to stop.
They copy passers-by but lag behind by several seconds.
If engaged, they advance, overlap, and replace their counterpart, leaving a hollow double behind.
Weakness: Complete darkness breaks mimic link.
Containment: Destroy mirrors after incidents.
Bleeder Seraphs (Class III)
Defunct medical drones corrupted by Mercy resonance.
Now animate, their frames leak radiant fluid and whisper comfort while injecting molten Aether into victims.
Weakness: EMPs disrupt control nodes.
Behavior: Seeks wounded or desperate; “healing” always fatal.
Sound: Soft lullaby chime — if you hear it, you’re already marked.
Ashwraiths (Class IV)
Human corpses reanimated by overexposure to Aetherlight flame.
Bodies of workers who burned near reactors now glow like dying coals, endlessly mimicking work routines.
Weakness: Water or Hope resonance (clears their pattern).
Warden Policy: Burn remains entirely — residual ash sings at night.
Memory Leeches (Class II)
Invisible until fed.
They attach to the base of the skull and absorb short-term memories, manifesting as glowing tendrils in photographs.
Victims lose hours or days and sometimes wake humming unfamiliar songs.
Weakness: Mirror exposure forces them visible.
Treatment: Truth Order implants restore memory fragments, though voices of the leech remain audible.
Lumen Moths (Class V)
Beautiful and deadly.
Born from Veil dust near Hope districts, they emit hypnotic patterns of light.
Touching their wings drains vitality; they die if held too long.
Weakness: Shadow or despair field (they starve without admiration).
Civilian Advisory: Do not chase lights during Flickers. They are watching you, not the other way around.
Aetherhounds (Class IV)
Mutated service beasts infused with radiant plasma.
Once used by Wardens for tracking, now feral, hunting anything that bleeds.
Their howls destabilize weak Awakened resonance, causing panic attacks and light burns.
Weakness: Sonic inversion grenades.
Behavior: Territorial; attack Veil breaches first, humans second.
The Hollow Choirlings (Class III–IV)
Lesser fragments spawned from failed godspawn manifestations.
They appear as child-sized figures of luminous dust, humming incomplete hymns.
Their song drains stamina and erases dreams, leaving victims listless for days.
Weakness: Direct truth statement (“I know what you are”) destabilizes them.
Containment: Non-lethal; dissolution produces usable Aether residue.
The Veil Spiders (Class I)
Tiny crystalline arachnids that spin webs of hard light between conduits.
Their silk transmits resonance — Guilds harvest it for wiring.
During Flickers, webs hum at dangerous frequencies, cutting through metal and bone alike.
Weakness: Vibration disruption — whistle or shout to confuse them.
Bonus: Properly harvested webs sell for more than a year’s wage.
Behavioral Overview
Activity Cycle: Highest during Duskphase → Darkphase transition.
Attraction: Drawn to strong emotions, sound, or exposed Aetherlight.
Communication: Many lesser monsters share harmonic “calls” — if one shrieks, expect others.
Mutation Rate: Doubles each Flicker; city cleanup crews rarely keep up.
Field Survival Notes
Never fight near reflective surfaces; Delirium residue multiplies threats.
Stay silent during Veil hum fluctuations — sound breeds echoes.
If your shadow starts moving differently, run toward light, not away.
Fire cleanses corruption; water carries it.
When in doubt, sing a simple song — not prayer, not hymn — just something human. The Veil listens, and the small ones fear memory.
Cultural Impact
Children collect “Aether husks” — dead Veil Leeches that glow faintly for a week.
Street priests bless food stalls to ward off Echo Mimics.
Entire gangs in The Husk base identity around hunting specific species.
Common saying: “A quiet street is lying.”