“They don’t hunt like beasts. They wait. They learn your voice. Then they call for help like your mother would. That’s how they find the lonely ones.”
Whisperkin are nocturnal mimics, often mistaken for children or wounded travelers until it’s too late. Their habitats are ruins, deep forests, places marked by tragedy. Their name is always said quietly, never at night. Some say they’re born from grief itself—souls twisted by abandonment, now seeking company in the only way they know how.
Physical Characteristics
Reports of sightings typically describe them as such:
- Stature: Small, humanoid (child-sized or crouched adult), 3–4 feet when standing upright.
- Limbs: Overlong arms, multiple digits with callused or split tips (aid in climbing or crawling).
- Skin: Leathery, pallid or ash-colored, often mistaken for tree bark or decaying cloth in the dark.
- Head: Elongated, with a slit where a mouth might be—this splits open when it mimics speech. No visible eyes.
- Sound production: Its mimicry is not vocal—it is auditory illusion. Victims report the sound originating from within their own skull.
- Scent: A strange mix of earth, decay, and sometimes flowers—possibly used to disarm or confuse prey.
Behavior and Feeding
Lures prey by mimicking voices of loved ones or internal thoughts. Feeds not just on flesh but something else—dreams, fear, or the soul. Victims found dead appear unmarked, or with expressions of terror. Pack behavior rare—usually solitary, but when they do congregate, entire villages vanish. They don’t chase. They wait. If you don’t follow the voice, you survive.
Folklore Notes
It’s said they cannot cross running water. Villagers hang bells or whisper stones at night to “tangle the voice” and drown out the call. Children are taught never to speak a loved one’s name after sunset, or the Whisperkin will learn it.