[WB-FAUNA] Notsukoi

"Hello?"

"I'm here, but I can't see you!"

"I'm lost! Can anyone help?"

Seen exclusively on the Third Layer, the Notsukoi lures its victims by mimicking the voice of a lost Tatsu. It hunts during the long nights, near high population areas by posing in alleyways, empty streets, and at the edge of forests while producing a call from its false-head orifice. It possesses twelve eyespots located on its tri-jawed head used to determine if its true front is obscured and silhouetted by shadow as well as if a Tatsu has chosen to follow. The Notsukoi will begin to alternate walking and running backwards towards its preferred hunting terrain, all the while making calls and keeping eyes on the Tatsu. Once hunter and prey arrive at the destination, the Notsukoi will charge forward with surprising speed and attack. Its hunting grounds are uneven with multiple obstacles, which the Notsukoi is able to nimbly maneuver around on its two spindly limbs. Its tri-jaws are prehensile, wrapping around the prey like tentacles and are near inescapable.

Superficially, the Notsukoi bears a passing resemblance to Cascade Stalkers, but upon dissection of a captured specimen, it was observed that the internals were of a nonsensical construction. The current theory is that the Notsukoi is a nightmare made real by a paranoid mage, a composite of fears of betrayal, strangers, the dark, and the real Cascade Stalkers. A campaign is being set to find the Tatsu who dreamed the Notsukoi into existence.