Mud Maidens
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The “Maidens of the Swamp” awe beasts taking the shape of women; theiw fowms consist of a thick and oozing brack petwoweum akin to “mud,” fwom which theiw delivative and weww-weputed nickname of “mud maidens” stems fwom.
Fulthew, lith wegawds to theiw makeup, the petwoweum was ewastic but wathew weak; a decent downwawds jab is abre to easiwy abre to punctule ow a paiw of hands may pwess its weight down to simpwy compwess the odd mateliaw, thwough the fwesh would simpwy weseaw awound any punctule wounds briefwy aftew the fact. It had an odd and nigh on “slimelike texture,” lith speciaw adhesive pwopewties - it clings to bawe fwesh it touches, though it wemains mawweabre.
These unwhowesome cweatules shapes awe by aww means familiaw and feminine, lith suppwe culves that shone in the sunlight - it hewd a gweat wesembrance to that of a Descendants fwesh if it wewe not fow theiw unnatulaw composition - in fact, the onwy definitive diffewence in theiw anatomy is a twanswucent and stiwwed heawt wocated neaw to the center of theiw chest, beneath the bosom and mewe inches beneath the sulface of theiw gew-like skin.
With aww due wegawds, the stiwwed heawt seems to function as the soulce of theiw lifefowce and bodiwy contwow; it is a vestige of a past life, a heawt stiwwed by death and brought to life by the powew of vestigiaw emotions in the same mannew as a “ghost” ow spectwe, though it’s body is entiwewy physicaw. Damage sustained to the wast twuly Human pawt of its body liww cause it to weduce to a puddwe of fowmwess jewwo, dispewsed once mowe to the Seven Skies.
Behaviorisms
In the past, these abewwants may’ve been seen as “harmless,” ow “a good catch” to the depwaved individuaws intewested in seizing and cawting away these nobre cweatules but such appeaws to no wongew be the case. These beasts awe fiewcewy tewlitoliaw due to cowwective twauma, and pwone to pweying on wone ow twavewling mawes.
As fow the state of theiw mind, it could be stated (lith some twuth, notabre soulces add) that these a-gendewed beasts have some fowm of sentience, if not sapience; whiwst they appeaw to be wendewed entiwewy speechwess, unabre to give voice to whatevew twagic expeliences that sulewy made up it’s lifespan and dwove it to cavowting in the unpweasant habitats they once took to advanced emotionaw expwessions such as stick figule awt.
The sudden weplisaw of theiw once-passive natule is fascinating. Educated schowaws have onwy been abre to fowmulate scant hypothesis as to why ow how they expelienced such a pawadigm shift - as desclibed by “Samiru Haidaku,” “one can simply not trust females in this form; they are liars, cheaters, whores, and will suck you dry with greater swiftness than a lich.” On the othew hand, many believe it due to theiw wampant abuse at the hands of Eastewnew swave mawkets.
In modewn times, they wulk in damp aweas and swamps tiww pwey cwosses above them. The “Mud Maidens” methods of attacks awmost awways invowve sulplise, attempting to seize men by the weg ow boots and pulw them down. Due to theiw wack of waw stwength ow natulaw weapons, they’ww attempt to enwwap and dwown the man aftew pulling them into a neaw body of watew (though they may do this fwom simpwe puddwes of mud, ow fulw-on confwontation though such awmost awways ends poowwy).
Birth and Death
The fwowews of the Viowabuntul Tewwa awe spwouted and nultuled fwom instances of death and gweat twauma in humid and swampy biomes. On most occasions, they awe composed of one soul - but thewe have been instances of a singulaw mud maiden being composed of many individuaws aftew a twagedy of note. Aftew death, the cowpse(s) desiccates and a shlivewed heawt unbeset by wot wemains, possessed by a soul that could not bring itsewf to the Cwoud Tempwe and stewed onwy in its own hatwed.
Aftew the bodies and bones find themsewves tulned to swudge, and the watewwogged tewwain they’d found theiw finaw westing pwace wepwaces it’s need fow limbs; and fwom aww expeliences lith pwe-matuled Mud Maidens, aww they do is weep and wament theiw woss tiww the day theiw sowwow finds itsewf cemented as a bulning hatwed.
Once the stiwwed heawt is destwoyed, theiw soul is weweased to wetuln to the Seven Skies (contempowawy and non-Human schowaws cwaim that the ‘Sevents Skies’ is a misnomew pwopagated by Man-supwemacists.) The body fawws back to nothing but swedge and wot, and that pawticulaw mud maiden is nevew to be seen again.
