Journeyman
From Mizahar Lore
| "So far, yearly casualties from 'Journeyman' visits are in the dozens. The number climbs to over a hundred if suspicious or controversial deaths are taken into account. Given the lack of systematic countermeasures against these random attacks and the potential threat to morale among the population, this committee advises to MAINTAIN the current stance, DENY their existence and BLAME Alahean infiltrators." - Suvan Bureau of Internal Security, Journeyman investigation committee |
| Fragment | |
 Knowing you, ending you. | |
| Frequency | Very rare |
|---|---|
| Threat level | High to Very high |
| Major features | Mouthless, androgynous, fascinated with learning |
| Abilities | Razor-sharp filaments, regeneration, rapid evolution, self-Summoning, quasi-telepathic |
| Most common in | Anywhere |
Journeymen are Fragment monsters from the world of Saqqria. Believed to be shards of an extinct god of magic and wisdom, Journeymen are merely husks driven by an unhealthy desire for 'total understanding'. The object of their knowledge is invariably destroyed in the process of understanding it, usually through instantaneous dissection by the Journeyman's mass of medusa-like filaments that spreads from their bodies. Journeymen are highly dangerous and restless hunters that prey upon those they deem interesting enough to understand.
Contents |
History
Legends about deadly visitors from the stars abound in Mizahar, but whether they refer to the Journeymen is difficult to ascertain. The first documented cases of Journeyman interference date back to the second millennium BV, though the authorities always denied any extra-planetar activity. The Journeymen themselves are probably much older, but it took them a long time to get to Mizahar, since this world is not accessible via Summoning from other worlds. They had to wait for a Mizaharian Summoner to unwittingly call one, most likely hidden within an innocuous-looking host while in a pupal stage of its lifecycle. As Journeymen can engage in teamwork, this allowed them to Summon more of their kind from their home world on Saqqria.
Journeymen are careful never to cause too much destruction around them. They do not seem to want to exhaust their reservoir of things to understand. As such, their presence was unopposed by the Suvan and Alahea governments, both of which had more pressing concerns at the time. For a long time, after the Valterrian, they were unheard of, those present on Mizahar probably annihilated in the cataclysm and the rest unable to return due to the lack of a portal from this side. This seems to have changed in the recent past.
Apperance
The appearance of a Journeyman is not set in stone. Thinking of the Journeyman as a single species is, in itself, misleading; each creature will experience a number of phases throughout its lifecycle. Some of these phases are 'adult', others are 'pupal' - the latter being transitional stages between two radically different forms. More than twenty phases have been observed, but not all Journeymen go through the same phases in the same order, and some develop uniquely depending on the environment.
The humanoid forms are the adult phases most frequently encountered, though hybrid animal-like forms are possible. These forms are androgynous, resembling gangly humans with female genitalia and hips but the muscle development of a man. There is no hair on the head and their smooth skin ranges from pure albino to alabaster. In all forms, Journeymen have dark, pupil-less eyes and no mouths. The skin can be shed and replaced at a moment's notice, allowing them to regenerate shallow wounds almost instantly. Often, they hide their greatest weapon underneath a layer of skin, only to reveal it at the very last moment: their filaments.
A Journeyman's filaments have the width of a hair but are much more elastic and each seems to have a tiny muscle inside that allows the creature to lash out with great strength and accuracy. The length of these filaments is an indication of the creature's state of development and relative power. More ancient Journeymen can stretch them to incredible lengths, though accuracy is sacrificed in this case. Each filament is sharp and can cut flesh with ease, cleaving limbs with the grace of a papercut. Entering melee with a Journeyman without some sort of protection or heavy armor is suicidal; however, the creature will generally only perform a few attacks at a time with "strands" of filaments, as the appendages can easily cut each other if care is not taken. Surprisingly, filaments are the hardest part for a Journeyman to regenerate.
Pupal forms are literally birthed from the Journeyman's genitalia after a brief inception that lasts a few days. These are usually small, sometimes as tiny as a pebble, and resemble brightly-colored eggs. Once the Journeyman has given birth, the creature's vital signs stop and the body starts to crumble. The pupa is, for all practical purposes, the creature in a different phase of its lifecycle. It still conserves the ability to move by rolling. Once the egg breaks, the new stage in the Journeyman's lifecycle begins and the creature can grow to its full size in a matter or hours or days.
Behavior
A Journeyman is an obsessive hunter. Sometimes, it will lay dormant for months, studying patterns in the nature around it and carving geometric figures in the environment. Seemingly at random, it will then start looking for prey. A Journeyman will generally avoid cities and crowded places, though it will not hesitate to enter one in the middle of an ongoing hunt. A Journeyman will not select just anyone as a victim; sometimes, people can run in front of them and be totally ignored (though, depending on the individual creature, they might get summarily butchered instead). It is believed that Journeymen pick their prey among those they find interesting and worth studying.
Their hunting routine is most unique. Where most predators would go for the throat, the Journeyman's purpose is understanding. As such, they will try to learn everything about their target before they finally decide to learn what their insides look like. A Journeyman hunt is a slow, torturous thing. They like to toy with their victims to test their reactions. If they are curious about the victim's love dynamics, they might kill their love interest in front of them just to see how they respond to it. As usual, all their learning takes place by means of destruction. A Journeyman is methodical and knows no guilt or morals. They will stop at nothing except hurting their fellow Journeymen, which they still recognize as parts of the same whole.
These creatures are stealthy and will try not to be seen by those they do not plan to kill. While they have one primary target at a time, they can also pursue minor victims in the process. The hunt goes on until the victim dies or the Journeyman does (which is rare, but occasionally happens). In the wilds, it can last for weeks or months.
All Journeymen seem to be connected somehow. They will not hunt the prey of their fellow Fragment, and will know if one of them has fallen. The nature of their connection and whether they are driven by a single hive-mind is unknown due to their rarity and the objective difficulties in studying them.
Abilities
A Journeyman is a Fragment monster, meaning that it possesses a spark of divinity. This fact alone makes them formidable opponents, giving them powers that defy normal magic. It probably explains how they sometimes seem to move faster than they should be able to, but only when nobody's looking. It also justifies their fast regeneration and the ability to live without ever feeding or sleeping.
A Journeyman is naturally attuned to Summoning and knows a large number of astral coordinates for moving across worlds. Some new coordinate sets were actually discovered upon spying a Journeyman in action. They also possess a very large aura, so intense that others around them may be able to tune in to their thought processes. This form of quasi-telepathic communication is often not voluntary at all. When expressing itself in such a way, a Journeyman has no concept of 'I' or 'you'. It will simply state a series of deductions, conjectures and things occupying its mind at the moment. Its speech patterns will seem entirely alien to a Mizaharian.
Other
Those who investigated the Journeymen often wondered why they appear to be mouthless. No fully satisfactory answer was ever found, however some quote an ancient myth in which the old god of magic was killed by his fellow deities because he had shared forbidden arts with mortals and threatened the very stability of the world. According to the myth, the god had his mouth sealed before being killed, so he would never leak any more secrets. This property may have been passed on to his Fragments.