Tarnwalkers are unnatural monsters, a carnivorous plant/fungal hybrid created by Aelvian life-sculptors. 'Tarnwalker' is something of a misnomer, as 'tarn' refers to montane pools and these creatures are only found in lowland bogs, bayous, swamps and marshes.

Aelvians used tarnwalkers as ‘bloodhounds’. Given a scent, the tarnwalkers could track it for weeks or months, slowly closing in on prey. They also patrolled Aelvian estates, snacking on intruders who did not have the proper ‘password scent’. The secret to training tarnwalkers, and forcing their growth, was lost with the destruction of Aelvian culture. Possibly it must be done before they have sprouted.

Appearance

Tarnwalkers are upright bipeds vaguely human in shape, although their legs are too short and their dangling arms too long, the limbs seem malproportioned and oddly jointed and the small head sunken down on the shoulders. Its damp, mottled green, gray, and brown flesh appears to be made of thick, ropy vines tightly twisted together and overgrown with moss and lichen. Large spikes adorn the head and shoulders and fringe the arms. Clusters of writhing tendrils serve as fingers, and the toes are knotty roots that dig into the soil with every step. Its camouflage is absolutely perfect when standing still, and when moving its swaying shamble serves to disguise its form as it slips soundlessly through the underbrush. It is slow, but its pursuit is relentless, as it never stops to rest.

The only obvious sense organ is the cyclopean eye - lidless, pupilless, filmy grey and scrawled with veins, it takes up most of the face. In fact, this organ is more akin to the mucus membrane of the nose, and is used by the tarnwalker to detect scent. It has no distinct eye but is vaguely able to sense light levels with every portion of its skin, and can detect sound vibrations via the hairlike filaments covering it. The tarnwalker can breathe in air or water, and three vertical 'gills' gape open and closed on the chest, revealing their moist interior and releasing a burst of dank, moldy scent. Otherwise, the tarnwalker smells of peat and growing things, strong but not unpleasant. Cutting one open would reveal an interior of spongy white flesh threaded with a network or hollow tubes carrying a clear, sugary sap, tough twists of fibers pulling on an skeletal framework of woody material. The creature is entirely mute.

Ecology and Habitat

Tarnwalkers are sanguinivores that require to blood of animals to live. Ambush hunters, they snare prey with the tough, flexible tendrils of their fingers, plunging the tips into the entrapped victim's flesh and rapidly suctioning out blood and bodily fluids, leaving the dry husk behind to rot. They only require a meal every few weeks or so, but the bigger they grow the more blood they need. The largest known tarnwalkers, at ten feet tall, require the equivalent of a cow or horse at each meal. No creature is known to specifically prey on them in return, not surprising as they are not a natural part of the ecosystem. Some insects are drawn to tarnwalkers, possibly by scent, and a small bat species takes advantage of this by staying nearby the creatures.

Tarnwalkers require a warm, dark, humid environment to thrive, and do best in areas where the soil is heavily saturated. They are able to tolerate brackish water. Excessive sunlight, dry air and cold cause them to dry out, turning brown and making their tendrils dangerously brittle. For obvious reasons they have a strong aversion to fire, but seem oddly drawn to foxfire (marsh gas).

Growth and Reproduction

In order to procreate, two or more tarnwalkers will set down roots and wrap their limbs and tendrils around each other, growing rapidly, their flesh blending into a single, massive intertwined tree-like organism. After the individuals have become fully merged (which can take up to a year), the ‘tree’ will develop several hundred hard-shelled seed pods, which grow to the size of a man’s fist before dropping to the ground and splitting to release tiny, perfectly formed tarnwalkers that immediately begin preying on frogs, newts, mice and other such small game. Tarnwalkers grow roughly a foot every six months until they’re about seven feet tall, at which point their growth slows down dramatically. It can take them up to a century to reach top size, although frequent meals will speed things up considerably. The biggest tarnwalkers are relics of the very first Aelvian experiments; it is not known what their natural lifespan might be.


Notes

I like killer plants, from Swamp Thing to Audrey 2, which is where I suppose this came from. There was some movie, I completely forget which, where a tree-monster sticks branches inside someone and you can see the branches under the skin. It was extremely freaky. Hell, I don't even like getting a splinter cause it freaks me out.

Background photo by AristableStock on Da.

Also, no relation to  Takewalker