Astem

[Miliardo Red]

TITLE: // Astem
RANK: // Anti-Human
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: //
Shaped like oversized lions, composed entirely of what appears to be bloody, shattered bones with bronze knives for a lion's mane. The ankles of their "paws" are encircled with a large, crudely formed bronze bangle. They lack true eyes; their sockets are circled by large bone ridges, and the holes glow with a dim, white light, and they never blink. When Astem move, they make clicking and cracking noises, like the sound of bones popping and snapping.

Astem bleed nigh-constantly, despite being composed of nothing but bone and metal. They leave trails of blood drippings as they move, though the blood rapidly dissipates once it's separate from them.

INFORMATION: //
Astem usually hunt in packs of 3-5 (Though a "lone Astem" would not be strange), and coordinate very effectively, much like actual lions. Their attacks are simply to bite and claw, like a large animal would be expected to do. Though the knives that make up their "manes" are very sharp, the Astem do not use them offensively, though it does serve as an effective defense (Ever bother to hug a porcupine made of sharp, bloody metal?). Astem can stay still for long periods, and prefer to "ambush" rather than to "hunt"; their clicking, cracking movement noises makes it hard for them to be subtle while stalking a target.

Astem possess Mystic Eyes of Bind, which they will often attempt to use at the onset of their attack, or once they have their target pinned.

Despite the fact that they seem to be made entirely of broken, jutting, bloody bones, they apparently can be hurt the same as any other large animals. Cutting weapons will have issues (Again, bone), but guns or bashing weapons will still be effective. While it doesn't make a lot of sense, destroying the area the "brain" or "heart" should be at will kill an Astem.

Despite looking like something that crawled out of a nightmare, Astem are rather mundane. A human would be in deep trouble fighting one, but aside from the Eyes of Bind, it's largely for the same reasons they'd be in trouble fighting a giant lion. To a magus, the biggest danger would be that they generally hunt in packs; individually, a magus with any sort of combat spell can probably kill an Astem, but dealing with five at once will be hectic. To a Servant, they're not really a threat at all.

Astem prefer to attack mundane humans when possible, but also are drawn toward unrealized masters, for whatever reasons.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: //
Mystic Eyes of Bind
These function just like the artificial Eyes of Bind that magi can create for themselves; You stare someone in the eyes and they're paralyzed. Against any sort of magus or Servant, these are useless; Resistance makes them largely immune. Instead, the Astem prefer to hunt humans. They will paralyze humans, then either maul them to death or simply crush the front of their skulls with a strong bite.