Altere Deshald

Physical description:
between 9 and 11 feet tall when on all four limbs the creature appears to be made of Muscle and bone, but implanted with various devices simply embedded into what is left of it's skin. The devices often include blades embedded in their fingertips, pistons and aether devices attached to their joints and often some sort of helmet or faceplate. The one common thing they all have is a recording device implanted somewhere in their chest cavity.

Mentality:
These are exceedingly devious and intelligent creatures. If possible, they will lure you into an ambush spot using the recorded cries and pleadings of their previous victims. They feed on living tissue, and while they will resist doing so, will resort to cannibalism if there is no other source of food available.

Dangers to watch out for:
1)They have recorders embedded in their chests. they use these to record and playback the sound of their previous victims begging for help. they use this recording to lure other unwary explorers into ambushes. 2) they are not only immensely strong, but they often augment their strength and speed by adding machinery to their joints. They also often add blades, maces, and spikes to their bodies with the intentions of causing more harm to their victims. The good news is they never use ranged weapons, they prefer their kills to be personal in hopes of recording the victims last screams to use to lure in their next meal. 3) They are cunning and ruthless creatures. They will follow a group and plan there ambush sometimes for days before they will finally begin to pick off their victims one by one. 4)   Their blood is actually a powerful virus that alters the DNA in each cell. it literally turns every cell into a copy of it's own. Most beings will not survive this process, and the ones that will, after being driven mad by the pain, will become an Altere Deshald themselves.

Excerpt from the Captains log of the Trafalgar-
To whom it may Concern, I am sending this log along with coordinates in hopes that this pit that we have found will never be visited by another human being. The demons infesting this place deserve nothing more than to wither and starve. By the time you receive this, it will be too late for the Trafalgar, don't come looking for us, there will be nothing left. While riding the aether on a standard shipping run to Isis, we were set upon by a group of damnable pirates. The Trafalgar fought back, but a mere cargo ship was nothing compared to the cruiser attacking us, so we fled further into the aether. After a while I suspect the pirates decided there were better pickings closer to the shipping lanes so they turned and headed back from whence they came. Thats when we discovered the rudder of the trafalgar had taken a hit, and turning was no longer an option. Our steering mechanism had been hit in the bastards final volley and they left us to die. It took us three days just to get that fixed, and believe me, hanging in the aether holding a rudder steady is not an experience I would recommend to anyone. That's when we had the misfortune to spot this cesspit. It rose out of the aether like a city in the clouds. we were rather excited to see it, and I remember bringing my family out to show them our exciting discovery. It was a huge monolith of a structure just floating out there, the lights from the corridors looked like jewels. As we pulled closer a hanger in the side opened for us and it looked like the most inviting place ever to rest and get repairs. we limped inside and could see a man waiting on the dock for us. He waved and pointed us where to go. and when we docked he continued waving and nodding. I tried every language I know, and so did Joseph our first mate. Then his wife tried and mine as well. Finally we Tried charades and he seemed to get the idea we wanted to set up a temporary camp. I left my dear carolyn there to entertain him while we did a quick check of the grounds around us, in afterthought I should have looked up, but nothing to be done about that now. My brave carolyn just jabbered at the man, heh she 8 years old and she's the one he finally talked to. As soon as it happened she tried to grab his hand and bring him to us. that's when we discovered he was only an image and not a man at all.... He told us he was the city, and that he was here to help. I was mildly skeptical but Joseph said he heard of a city like this on another station once and Joseph has been at this a long time. The mans led us to food and water and cautioned us to not go anywhere else. He also told us no there were no other humans on the station, and as far as he knew none had been here in recent times. We thought we'd hit the jackpot in salvage. That night we decided to see if we could find any good salvage. Our crew had 40 men women and children. We broke up and spread out to search. That night all but ten of us didn't come back. My family and Joesep's family came back along with an engineer, a marine, and an accountant. We worried about it but figured they would be fine. When we awoke the next morning the man was back. He said that we needed to leave as soon as possible, the sooner the better. We said as soon as our crew came back we would. The man became agitated, and told us we didn't understand the crew was already dead and we needed to leave now. We sent the women and children for water and food to resupply the ship, while myself and the men armed ourselves and told the caretaker to lead us to our dead. We still didn't believe him. After much cajoleing he said he'd bring us to some of them, but then we really must leave. We agreed. We found 7 of them, 6 had died from bite wounds, but the seventh seemed to have been altered somehow. It was a painful death. We headed back to the camp with all haste, when the women weren't there we ran to the place with food and water, there was nothing. we decided to split up and search the area. I ran down the hallways desperately searching for my wife and daughter. They were nowhere to be found. When I had just about given up hope, I heard a cry from my precious carolyn, she sounded frightened. I drew my sword and gun and ran towards the sound. As I ran I heard it get higher in pitch, then she screamed "daddy!!!!" And began screaming. Suddenly it was cut off. I stopped at the corner and cried her name and listened for the sound. She was crying off to the left. I turned down the corridor and heard her get frightened again. She had to be right here! Where was she? I heard something drop from the ceiling directly behind me. I've no idea what it is, but as it stood up on all fours I could see the fusion betwixt man and machine, and could hear my daughter screaming. "where is she?" I shouted at it. It smiled and I could see pieces of bloody pink fabric in it's teeth. Then it reached up and touched the device in the skin on it's shoulder and my daughters voice simply stopped.... It stood there on all fours in front of me face to face with that wicked grin, and I realized the fabric was from my daughters dress. Rage filled me. I shoved the sword through the creatures throat and into the wall. I felt the blade snap and pushed all the harder. The creature squealed in pain and surprise as I emptied my gun into it's head. after that I don't remember much, when I finally calmed down enough, it lay before me dismembered and almost unrecognizable. My sword was nothing but a handle with maybe 3 inches of blade left. but my daughters murderer had been avenged. I stood up to walk back to the ship. As I turned behind me I heard the recording of my dear carolyn's last moments begin to play again. I looked down at the corpse but realized it wasn't making a sound. Down the hallway to my left I could see another creature hanging from the roof. While looking that way I heard another one begin to my right. Then another.... and another.... I ran back to the ship as fast as I could. And now as I write this I can hear multiple versions of my daughters screams and my wife's. I can hear Joseph and his family begging for mercy off in the distance... God why don't they stop..... I'm sending this to you in hopes you will take the message to heart and never come here. The Trafalgar is gone. These creatures are insidious, and I get the feeling we would never find them all. This place is NOT safe. Please for your own sake, heed my warning! the only thing I can promise you is that my wife and daughter will be avenged... This log was found in the emergency beacon coming from bearing (redacted).