Journal Entry #01
Professor Yaroslav of the Faculty of Natural History of the Oxenfurt Academy, Year 1274
With the war with Nilfgaard going on in the south lands, such as Velen, ample opportunities have arisen for Necrophages to feast on corpses. For the intended purposes of this study, which are to gain a better understanding of the way Necrophages behave, I myself have chosen to focus on the behaviour of ghouls, which are the most commonly found type of scavenger on battlefields after armies have passed through.
Appearance
The ghoul possesses an body structure close to that of a human, but being quadrupedal instead of bipedal. The ghoul's head resembles that of a human exceptionally, but for the clear lack of a nose.
The upper body seems to be bulkier than that of a human, and the pelvis and hip bones seem to be more pronounced. The back limbs tend to resemble the back limbs of any other quadruped. The front limbs are long and end in long sharp claws.
In some parts of the country, they've also been known to walk on two legs, rather than four, but I suspect that might've been a different subspecies, yet I cannot say anything for sure, as I have yet to observe a bipedal specimen.
Diet
Their diet consists exclusively of meat of human carcasses. They seem to dislike fresh meat, and prefer it when it has stayed for several days in the sun.
Behaviour
Ghouls are indeed a very peculiar being. They travel in packs, much akin to wolves or wild dogs. One could venture to say that this is some form of intelligent hunting. They prevent themselves from being potentially outnumbered by always travelling in groups of around 5 specimens.
Through inspecting the battlefields on the far south parts of Velen I have come to realise something intriguing. Upon catching sight of a living target, the ghouls attack, as one would expect. But then, after the target is killed in a manner most brutal, they leave the body to lay there in the sun. In a couple of hours or days, the Necrophages come back to feast on the carcass.
This leads me to believe that they see living humans as raw, unprocessed meat, and they take it upon themselves to mangle and mince the meat. To that end, they utilise their sharp long claws and fangs to shred the meat. After which they leave it to ripen in the sun as if it were a bottle of fine Toussaint wine in a cellar.
With their body structure, it comes as no surprise that one of their main forms of attack is lunging at their prey, propelling themselves with their strong but short back limbs, and clawing at their victim with their front limbs. With their front limbs being so elongated, they can also slash at their enemies from not too close, keeping themselves relatively safe in the short range.
Once they have feasted, they retreat underground, to what I can only guess at being a constantly expanding series of underground tunnels through which they navigate until they catch sent of blood, or at least so I assume. At which point they resurface in the hopes of a surprise attack, assuming that there are also living among the dead.
For further research into their physiology, I might have to find a way of obtaining one's carcass for dissection. It might provide me with an insight as to how their vision and scent work, and how they utilise those to their own benefit.
Professor Yaroslav of the Faculty of Natural History of the Oxenfurt Academy, Year 1274
With the war with Nilfgaard going on in the south lands, such as Velen, ample opportunities have arisen for Necrophages to feast on corpses. For the intended purposes of this study, which are to gain a better understanding of the way Necrophages behave, I myself have chosen to focus on the behaviour of ghouls, which are the most commonly found type of scavenger on battlefields after armies have passed through.
Appearance
The ghoul possesses an body structure close to that of a human, but being quadrupedal instead of bipedal. The ghoul's head resembles that of a human exceptionally, but for the clear lack of a nose.
The upper body seems to be bulkier than that of a human, and the pelvis and hip bones seem to be more pronounced. The back limbs tend to resemble the back limbs of any other quadruped. The front limbs are long and end in long sharp claws.
In some parts of the country, they've also been known to walk on two legs, rather than four, but I suspect that might've been a different subspecies, yet I cannot say anything for sure, as I have yet to observe a bipedal specimen.
Diet
Their diet consists exclusively of meat of human carcasses. They seem to dislike fresh meat, and prefer it when it has stayed for several days in the sun.
Behaviour
Ghouls are indeed a very peculiar being. They travel in packs, much akin to wolves or wild dogs. One could venture to say that this is some form of intelligent hunting. They prevent themselves from being potentially outnumbered by always travelling in groups of around 5 specimens.
Through inspecting the battlefields on the far south parts of Velen I have come to realise something intriguing. Upon catching sight of a living target, the ghouls attack, as one would expect. But then, after the target is killed in a manner most brutal, they leave the body to lay there in the sun. In a couple of hours or days, the Necrophages come back to feast on the carcass.
This leads me to believe that they see living humans as raw, unprocessed meat, and they take it upon themselves to mangle and mince the meat. To that end, they utilise their sharp long claws and fangs to shred the meat. After which they leave it to ripen in the sun as if it were a bottle of fine Toussaint wine in a cellar.
With their body structure, it comes as no surprise that one of their main forms of attack is lunging at their prey, propelling themselves with their strong but short back limbs, and clawing at their victim with their front limbs. With their front limbs being so elongated, they can also slash at their enemies from not too close, keeping themselves relatively safe in the short range.
Once they have feasted, they retreat underground, to what I can only guess at being a constantly expanding series of underground tunnels through which they navigate until they catch sent of blood, or at least so I assume. At which point they resurface in the hopes of a surprise attack, assuming that there are also living among the dead.
For further research into their physiology, I might have to find a way of obtaining one's carcass for dissection. It might provide me with an insight as to how their vision and scent work, and how they utilise those to their own benefit.