Art by  Jen-Foxworth

Underworld is a world that me and my girlfriend built in RPs together. It is a world completely isolated under the surface of a planet, many individual biospheres able to be accessed through an ancient teleportation system that has remained in place for millenia. The Night Stalker is one of the most dangerous of the creatures in this planet.

All animals in the Underworld are able to accept a rider: A humanoid intelligent being with which they will link into their nervous system and cooperatively operate a single body. The Night Stalker is the only one which dominating the subject through normal means is impossible. It is roughly human intelligence, perhaps a little less, and extremely vicious. They are able to swoop in, grab a victim with their tendrils and drag them into their pairing chamber whole. The pairing chamber also functions as every creature's stomach in the Underworld, but the Night Stalker is unique in that digestion happens quickly unless it has chosen you as its rider.

A successful pairing means that you will share a mind and hear each others thoughts. If you are intended to be a meal, however, its tendrils link in such a fashion that you cannot control its body. Your mind is absorbed into the creature and any positive characteristics that it wishes to pass to its offspring are saved, the rest are thrown out.

There are a few instances where a Night Stalker will begin exhibiting mannerisms of a consumed victim, but they are rare and far between, and may just be them attempting to lure in their next meal rather than the alternative...