HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
- Image: Taken from DeviantArt, a piece called Shadow by artist Cageyshick05 (Link here)
- Name: The Withered Smoke
- Designation: Sentient
- Homeworld: Deep Space, Wandering Asteroids, Abandoned Ships
- Language: Common
- Average height of adults: Up to 3 meters
- Skin color: Black and White smoke
- Hair color: Black and White smoke
- Breathes: Does not need to breath
- Strengths: Spatial Warps: The greatest strength of the Withered Smoke comes from their ability to conduct Spatial Warps. It is a form of movement from one point to the other by folding the fabric of space using the Force. It is conducted in a manner similar to which Aing-Tii have used their Fold Space ability to transfer other objects through space, however, where Aing-Tii could transport other objects and beings but had difficulty in doing so on themselves, the Withered Smoke are able to fold space in order to transport themselves, to a point that is within their line of sight, but cannot transport other objects or beings.
- Three States of Matter: Withered Smoke have the ability to switch at will between the three major states of matter, gaseous, liquid, and solid. In their gaseous form they cannot be hurt by physical objects, only energy weapons like lightsabers, blasters, fire, or the sun itself, but in turn they cannot hurt a being unless they are inhaled, but any gas-mask or a breather should be able to help with that. In their liquid state, they are still only able to be damaged with energy weaponry, but it is much easier for them to escape by dropping through a grate or disappearing in a sewer, or perhaps blending in as a puddle on the cave floor. In their solid state, the Withered Smoke can be struck and damaged with physical weaponry, like a durasteel blade or a slug, but in turn they can damage and break most armor as well. Their ability to manipulate their molecules to shift through the states of matter allows them to sharpen or dull their limbs at will in a manner similar to that of an amphistaff, striking through flesh and most armor like it was nothing (Durasteel armor ineffective in any armor rating, Beskar and Phrik armor is still able to stop them).
- Negative Nancy: The Withered Smoke live off of negative feelings and the Dark Side. As such, they do not require traditional sustenance, like foodstuff, as long as they can find a victim they can terrorize. Their close ties to negative emotions allow them to find any prey in their proximity by being called out to them through negative feelings, like fear or anger, that is especially true to Force Users, whose presence and emotions in the Force are stronger to detect.
- Cough, Cough: As beings that can live in the vacuum of space, the Withered Smoke do not have the need to breath, as such they cannot be strangled or affected by gas-attacks. They also do not need that much sustenance if they are not moving, entering a "Slumber" period, especially useful when they are trapped all alone on an abandoned ship or an asteroid, they can just enter this "slumber" and wait without wasting energy for their next pray to arrive, allowing them to, hopefully, recharge and spread.
- Weaknesses: Kill It With Fire: As beings born of the Dark-Side and the Darkness itself, the Withered Smoke are highly vulnerable to energy weapons and radiation. This includes as faint energy radiation as a muzzle flash of a blaster or the glow of a lightsaber, and especially, fire. However, this does not include lightbulbs or electric flashlights, only ultra-violent light from an electronic source like that would be able to harm a Withered-Smoke with its glow.
- Stationary: Their ability to create Spatial Warps is the only way in which the Withered Smoke are able to move around their environment, and that is still restricted by what is in their line of sight. Otherwise, the Withered smoke would not be able to move or fly around, even as a smoke, at least not of their own will. As smoke, they can always let the air currents move them about, such as being sucked into ventilation shafts, or as a liquid, they can allow the gravity, or lack of gravity, to move them about.
- Dementor Rip-Offs: The Withered Smokes have the uncanny ability to cause a sensation of coldness to other beings in their immediate area. While it is not something done directly by lowering temperature, it is a sensation they bring about automatically to beings in their vicinity who can be touched by the Force, for example, if there is a Withered Smoke behind a doorway, on the other side a human would begin to feel sensation of cold overcoming him while a Vong would not be affected. This could be used by beings who experienced Withered Smoke's presence to identify that there is one nearby. Just as well, the presence of the Dark Side can be sensed from the Withered Smoke, as they are beings of the Dark Side, and this presence amplifies as the number of Withered Smokes in the area increases. An asteroid that would house a large number of these creatures could be clearly identified by a Force user through the pressing sense of Dark-Side emanating from it, enough of a warning to steer away from it.
- Light-Side Vulnerable: As beings born of the Dark-Side, the Withered Smoke could be, potentially, disrupted and destroyed by strong presence of Light-Side. This involves objects and being that give off an aura of the Light-Side, like Light-Side imbued relics or Force-users strong in the Light-Side of the Force, or powers like the Force-Light, which can more or less instantly vaporize a Withered Smoke.
- Distinctions: Lack of movement outside of spatial warps, ability to shift between three states of matter, beings born of the Dark Side.
- Average Lifespan: Undetermined if provided with proper sustenance over time.
- Races: None
- Diet: They gather sustenance from the Dark Side, including negative emotions like anger, fear, death, or jealousy.
- Communication: Capability for verbal speech in raspy whisper, telepathic and empathic communication between other Withered Smoke beings
- Culture: Withered Smoke are Dark-Side Sith Spawn Constructs, they are incapable of conducting much culture on their own. They do not make songs, nor create paintings, they have no poems, or rituals even when killing their pray. They exist simply to spread the Dark Side through terror and pain, that is their only goal. Only thing coming close to a ritual is the way these beings reproduce. This is done by killing their prey when their mind is filled with fear or anger, any negative emotions. Once their prey is dead, the Withered Smoke would descent on the corpse, pressing its shadow-smoke-head to the deceased's mouth, as if planting a kiss and then straighten up, conjuring another Withered Smoke from the corpse as a result.
- Technology level: None
- General behavior: The Withered Smoke are vicious, aggressive creatures. Once they spot a prey they wish to hunt they will persevere and stay on their task until it is done or they are destroyed. The preferred tactic of a Withered Smoke is to warp behind their victims, silently, surprising their pray in quick, deadly attacks. The Withered Smoke can also mess with their victims in order to cause to them more delicious-delicious terror by appearing in a dark room first or somewhere where a light flashes, making their appearance just for a blink of an eye in front of their prey before disappearing.
- When hunting, whether the Smoke hunt in groups or not depends on the numbers of them in them location and the numbers of prey they are hunting. When there is more prey than the Withered Smoke, they will hit alone, picking out the prey one at the time, that way each Smoke has a chance to feed at least once during the hunt, and the slower process would make their presence more difficult to be noticed until they have advantage over their prey. Once there is more Withered Smoke, or each Smoke had a chance to feed, they will start attacking in groups, attempting to swarm over their prey via large numbers to quickly befell the defenses of their targets and finish the job.
- History: The Withered Smoke were created in ages long past by a murderous Sith Sorcerer who wished to unleash a plague of monsters on the Galaxy and spread the Darkness. Utilizing his strong powers of the Dark Side and his Sorcery, the man was able to create the first of the Withered Smoke beings, however, his creation turned against him the moment it was created. The first Withered Smoke killed its master, feeding off his Dark Side energies and all of the negative feelings, able to create masses more of its brethren in a blink of an eye.
- The Withered Smoke overrun the ship-laboratory the Sith has conducted the experiments on and massacred the crew, reproducing into an army of shadow-beings. However, their reign did not last long, nor did it truly ever begun as the sun was always there to push them back. Their existence restricted to life in the darkest places of this world, deep caverns or mines, wandering asteroids, abandoned ships. Seldom did they wandered surfaces of planets, and then, only at night and to feed off of their victims.
- The Withered Smoke are beings who thrive in absence of light, they were not made to conquer a planet and rule it, but to hunt others from the shadows to make sure that terror will never truly leave this Galaxy.
- Notable Player-Characters: Not for use as Player Characters, cannot be controlled due to murderous streak of killing anything, including the Sith Lord which created them, and any other Sith Lord, no matter the power or abilities.
- Intent: To provide the Omega Protectorate, as well as other factions, with interesting NPC monster enemy to use during their threads.
