Canker Beast (Basic Lore)

Canker Beasts are vile abominations which look like walking masses of oozing, infected flesh. Their appearance is horrifying in the extreme, and the conventional wisdom is that Canker Beasts are normal animals, such as cows, horses, deer, pigs, dogs, etc, who have become afflicted with some awful malady.

In truth, this may be the case, but Canker Beasts are considerably more complicated and awful than some mere disease.

Canker Beasts are incredibly durable. Indeed, the common belief is that they are immortal, since they can withstand a level of abuse that would destroy any 'normal' animal a dozen times. Adventurers (those who are strong enough) confidently proclaim that nothing is really un-killable, and it is best to leave Canker Beasts to adventurers of that sort, or mobilize many squads of Town Watch with siege weapons to beard them in their lairs.

It has been proven that Canker Beasts can arise when a normal wild animal or farm animal succumbs to...something. Far more awful is the proven fact that Canker Beasts can and do mate and breed with one another, and the offspring of these ghastly couplings appear to be normal animals...until at some point, inevitably, they change. This means that any animal, at any time, could transform into a Canker Beast. Indeed, it is commonly observed that there are 'molting clusters', wherein one to several normal-seeming animals burst out in vile buboes, swell to bloated size, and a herd-pack of Canker Beasts is born. There have even been reports, thankfully rare, of entire vast herds of animals, both wild and domestic, converting into Canker Beasts. Hundred or thousands of the vile monstrosities can arise in this way, the Canker affliction seeming to leap and spread through the population with awful speed. In lands where Canker Beast eruptions are common, it is not unusual to see entire counties and nations where no animal larger than a chicken is allowed to live for even a moment, for fear they will become an un-killable monster.

Canker Beasts are obviously not undead, as they are intelligent, thinking beings, albeit of usually animal cunning only. Their appearance is disturbing, as they have scabrous sores, welts, scars, fistulas, and less savory malformations. The beasts appear to be in some discomfort, although they do not seem to be in utter agony, as their appearance would indicate.

The discomfort of their condition is speculated to be the reason that Canker Beasts are aggressive and vicious, attacking and killing most things that they meet. Canker Beasts can survive for considerable lengths of time, and some lost territories have stable endemic populations of the awful things. Combined with their tremendous, eldritch, durability and strength, this savagery dictates that Canker Beasts must be confronted and destroyed as soon as they can be tracked down and cornered.