Type Habitat Strength Dexterity Endurance Intelligence Instinct Pack
Intermittent Plains Walker 4 7 4 1 8 12
Athletics (co-ordination) 1, Melee (claw) 1, Survival 1 Teeth (1d6), Leathery hide (1). Number Encountered: 4d6
Normally not dangerous these creatures are now capable of frightening ferocity in their attacks.
Thus far this little excursion your boss decided to take has been dull and uneventful – just the way you like it. While attacks against CEOs were pretty rare these days they still happened. It was doubly more likely when said CEO had just announced plans that left a great many special interest groups less the pleased. It was one
reason he had opted to head out into the country – to get away from the furor.
You are staying a discrete distance from your employer, giving him the privacy you knew he
was after out here in the
middle of
nowhere.
Far enough he could pretend
to forget
you were there but close enough that you could intervene in the unlikely event that something did happen. The consummate professional, your eyes were scanning the woods nearby costantly searching for signs that something was amiss. That was when you noticed the movement.
Your hand instinctively closed around the pistol inside your coat as you discreetly moved closer to your employer. He was still walking calmly along the treeline oblivious to your heightened state. Your eyes bored into the darkened woods searching for the
source of the movement. Then you saw it, something moving parallel with you. It stopped suddenly, almost as though it could sense you had seen it. Straining to see into the darkened woods your eyes grow wide when you realize the creature is about to pounce.
With a yell you dive into your employer as the creature sails through the space he had
just occupied. Turning quickly your whip out your gun then stop as you
fi nally get a good look at the creature.
At fi rst you think it is a panther or
some other predatory cat but you
realize it isn’t. It
moves like one
but the
proportions are all wrong – almost alien like. It front legs are small, almost malformed when compared to the powerful looking rear ones. Quills or spines, quivering in agitation, run along the back of the creature. Its head is long with eyes sitting on either side of it and one large one dominating the top. Long, sweeping ears sit behind the eyes. The creature twists its head side to side as it studies you, sizes you up. Then it lets out a low, haunting growl.
You can see the creature’s teeth, wicked jagged things. The the bottom jaw splits down the middle as the growl grows in volume. Your training and instinct madk you raise your weapon to fi re but not before the creature leaps...
chupucabra
Overview
The Chupucabra is a creature that has been rumored to exist in a number of cultures across the planet though every culture has its own name for it. The slaughter of livestock in less developed regions have often been attributed to the mythical creature. Even so the rumors of the creature have always been scoffed at as nothing more than the tales of superstitious, backward people who saw the boogieman in every shadow. Unfotunately for those same ‘enlightened’
fellows the existence of the Chupucabra has become a proven fact.
These aggressive creatures exhibit the behaviors of both predators and scavengers though they seem to favor the traits of the former. They are indiscriminate killers who relish both the hunt and the kill but are also more than willing to feed off the work of another.
Often they will chase or kill another creature to get at his meal – almost as though simply to prove their superiority. There are few things on Earth that will get a Cupucabra to back down from a fight making most encounters ones the end only with the death of either the Chupucabra or his foe.
Sightings of these creatures has been on a slow increase over the last decade. When the first one was seen by reliable sources the academic community was beside itself in giddiness at having discovered that the age old myth was actually true. In the years since however scientist have grown alarmed as some have begun to point at the creature as evidence that life on this planet may not have evolved in the ways formally accepted as fact. They simply have no way of explaining the creatures existence that fits into any of the traditional molds. Even its evolutionary tract is a mystery with some believing that the creature has not changed in thousands, if not tens-of-thousands, years.
Variants
Across the solar system creatures similar in form and behavior have started appearing. The most common example are the Dececebra, more commonly referred to as Dust Demons, that have been appearing in a number of remote regions of Mars. Thus far they seem to have been avoiding regions with a heavy human presence but there have been a number of attacks against isolated expeditions.
On Callista the Genekbra is another creature with too many traits similar to its Earthbound cousin to be a coincidence. As a result some scientists are beginning to pose uncomfortable questions about where these new creatures are coming from and how they may be
related to life on Earth. The theory that life on Earth actually originated elsewhere in the solar system has begun to appear once again in academic papers though most of that community treat these papers as nonsensical drivel with no scientific foundation to support it.
Mindset
T
he Chupucabra is an ancient predator - perhaps the oldest on Earth. It is a creature that seem certain in its dominance over others. Even the way it moves exudes confidence and certainty of its superiority over anything, or anyone who happens to have crossed paths with it. Even when confronted by an obviously stronger and more powerful foe the Chupucabra shows no fear, no concern that it may have bitten off more that it can chew. This agressive and highly assertive nature often leads to the other beast backing down and fleeing the area. Unforutately that is precisely the wrong move to make as it simply emboldens the Chupucabra who will give chase and often down the now fleeing antagonist. When faced with one of these creature a return of aggression is the best course of action.In a stark contrast to this aggressive behaviour the Chupucabra is incredibly gentle with its own kind.
While the creatures are generally solitary in nature they seem to hold no ill will towards others of its kind.
When mated both will defend the other, as well as any young, from any threat they may stumble upon.
Foes tend to already be hesitant to fight one of these creatures so encountering two almost always ends in the death of the unfortunate beast after is has turned and fled.
Unlike many predatory species the Chupucabra is not territorial. Instead they range far and wide only stying in one location while actively mating. They ignore any signs of territorial marking that is common with other predatory creatures seeming to believe that the warnings do not apply to them. To a Chupucabra the entire planet, or at least the continent, is its territory and everyone else should leave.
Finally, despite their overtly aggressive nature the Chupucabra seem to limit their actual hunting to creatures that fill the traditional role of prey in nature. While they are perfectly willing to fight other predators or chase down those who flee they will rarely initiate these encounters and will actually work to avoid them if they are aware of the other predators presence. When they do fight other predators it is rare for the Chupucabra to find itself on the losing end of the encounter.