GALLYTROTTER

[ANDREW WADE]

Name: Gallytrotter
Nickname: Black dogs, hellhound, ghost dog, spectral hound, Gytrash, Black Shuck
Colour: Dark Red
Origin: Folklore
Mortality: Immortal
Lifespan: Potentially, they can live a limitless amount of time as they never age. However, most can only manage a few hundred years before being discovered and exorcised, expelled or otherwise removed.
Creation: Born of a combination negative energies and death, may also be born to other Gallytrotters through sexual reproduction with humans but this is a rare occurrence
Diet: raw meat of sentient animals- wildlife and farm animals may suffice, but human meat or bodily fluids (blood and such) is preferred
Abilities:

- Able to shapeshift into an animal form, usually a dog or wolf-like creature, though some have been described as being more cat-like. Animal form is always of a significant size (about the size of a small car or truck) and is almost exclusively black in color. A very rare few are white in animal form.

- Though not able to really wield or control it as an element, they are immune to the affects of fire. By contrast, they are extremely sensitive to cold.

- Able to travel through solid objects willingly, which earned them the title of "spectral" hounds. They may also teleport by disappearing in one location and reappearing in another a moment later. This is technically a form of interdimmensional travel: the demon plane from which they come is 8 times smaller than the distance of the surface of the earth and points between the two correspond. So travel in the demon plane is 8 times faster, and they can step to and from it at will, leaving behind a small puff of sulfuric smoke. Their smoke is toxic to mortals and burns the lungs if breathed in so teleporting must be done with caution. Gallytrotters themselves are immune to the smoke, obviously, as well as most other types of poisons.

- Supernaturally quick and agile in all forms. They are said to have an average top running speed of 50 mph and can easily keep up with cars and bicycles on country roads.

- Masters of language, they are born knowing how to speak every human language in existence, from Latin to Chinese dialects. They are skilled liars and can often tell with ease when a mortal is lying to them in return.

- They are born to serve masters and anyone, mortal or otherwise, who learns and then speaks a Gallytrotter's full real name will instantly have complete uncontested control over said trotter's actions. The gallytrotter in question will obey all spoken and written commands not stated as a question or with any sort of humor or sarcasm, particularly if their name (real or the name they commonly use) is spoken beforehand. Multiple trotters can be controlled by one or multiple people at a time. Conflicting commands result in no action taken.

Weaknesses:

- Sensitive to holy relics, including crosses, holy water, and any sort of church or sacred ground. They cannot touch these things without burning and cannot step onto church grounds without bursting into flames. Reading from religious passages will cause them physical pain but is usually harmless unless kept up for a long period of time.

- Sensitive to cold weather and colder temperatures. Any weather below freezing is dangerous for them, unprotected, even in animal form.

- All Gallytrotters are born with a latin name or title that is supposed to go unspoken. Anyone who learns of their true name and says it outloud will have immediate, uncontested control over said Gallytrotter and their action, of course completely against the trotter's will. This control is permanent once enacted and can be held by multiple people at one time.

- Pure iron or silver objects repel them from a space, emitting an obnoxious white noise that hurts their ears. They cannot physically engage anyone wearing an item made of pure silver or pure iron and hitting them with an iron or silver weapon will usually make them disappear involuntarily, but otherwise not seriously injure them. It's the most successful way of deterring them.

- Cannot cross running water more than six inches in width, most typically rivers, unless teleportation is used.

- True/animal form is revealed at all times in mirrors and reflections. So, no matter what form they may be in, in a reflected surface, they will always appear as large, frightening black animals with glowing eyes.

- Can be kept at bay by closed circles of rock salt. They cannot cross or touch the line of salt, and can be kept either inside of it or outside of it. This works on buildings if salt is simply piled up by the doors and in front of windows.

- They are weak to any form of light or holy based magic, and anything in the shape of a cross can be used to burn them on contact, even if the shape is a shadow or made of fire or what have you.

- Rely on fresh meat and blood to live. Like vampires, they must usually feed on something at least once a month, though are much happier and more powerful the more frequently they feed themselves. Animal meat can satisfy but human meat and the meat of other immortal creatures is preferred. They tend to look upon others as food, predators watching their prey, and can be terribly unnerving for this reason.

- Gallytrotters cannot be killed so much as they can be "exiled" or sent back to the demon realm permanently. They do not go to the same place as mortals when they die and are sent to the afterlife, and can be sent quite easily using exorcisms and holy rituals and relics. They can also be killed by a stake through the heart, by being beheaded or by using one of a variety of banishing circles found in common sources of demonology (which will vaporize them on contact). They are killed quite easily by hypothermia and mortal diseases, but it takes a lot of physical damage to endanger their existence. They are not the kind of creature to be defeated through brute force.

Strengths:

- Skilled liars, speakers and storytellers, they are masters of the tongue. They can often easily detect lies when they are told, and are extremely well known for being verbally manipulative and intelligent.

- Keen animal-like senses, they have a strong sense of smell and hearing with average/mediocre vision. They can see supernaturally well at night and in the dark, but not with perfect clarity. They are simply designed to function at night. Conversely, they tend to be lethargic, sleepy and irritable during the day time.

- Able to teleport very quickly from place to place without the need to travel. This means of travel is dangerously toxic to humans though and must be avoided to keep from rousing suspicion.

- Immune to most poisons and toxins, though they can be sensitive to human and canine diseases (rabies is a real concern with them).

- Able to shapeshift at will. Can also partially shapeshift to take on only certain traits of animal form. Some are even able to shapeshift into multiple things, even other people, as they are illusionists by trade. However, mirrors always reveal their true nature, no matter what their shapeshift.

Looks:

Gallytrotters may take on almost any form that they have seen for themselves with their own two eyes, even going as far as to take the form of specific people when needed. However, most opt for the simplicity of a generic human form, which may have any number of normal human traits. Their eyes are always red in color, though the tint and shade may vary in darkness and lightness, from brown to red-orange to pink if it will help hide themselves. Their hair and skin may be any color.

Gallytrotters' true form is that of a large, black dog notorious for its large, pupilless eyes. The eyes are often described as empty sockets will small balls of red light in them that may act as pupils. Their eyes are sensitive to light, designed for use in low light. Their fur is usually long, somewhat shaggy or scraggily, and can sometimes be described as being constantly wet or even tar-like. Many gallytrotters leave black inky pawprints in their wake.

Because their shapeshifts are all illusions, they can shift with their clothes on and return with them still intact. They can also "magic" away their clothes when necessary or change clothes with a flick of the wrist. The only item of clothing they cannot remove is the collar that appears on them whenever they are owned/controlled by someone. This collar will appear on its own and will not go away until the death of the mortal who has control of them (though it may be hidden by clothing).

Traits:

Known for being dark, mysterious, mischievous and secretive. They gain power and strength from negative energies, so they are not usually well-mannered or wholesome people. However, due to their bad reputation as being omens of death (which is not true), they tend to prefer to keep a low profile to avoid being exorcised or attacked by anyone. Instead, they are usually quiet, loyal to few but protective of most, with a silent appreciation for wit, humor and any form of intelligence.

Manifestation:

Gallytrotters are notoriously immortal creatures. They are not "born" so much as created of negative energies, usually in place where great tragedy has happened. A lot of times, someone is killed in a horrifying way and their spirit or their essence becomes the gallytrotter, which is then reported to haunt the location. However, not all trotters are tied to a specific location and even those that are can do an extensive amount of wandering (as mentioned above, the demon plane from which they come is 8 times smaller than the earth, so any land that they claim in the demon world, they possess 8 times that in the human world).

Very few gallytrotters are actually "born" physically of a mother and father. Most simply "fall", as they describe it, into being. Whatever physical age they are 'born' at is the age at which they die. A gallytrotter who is born in the form of an 18 year old will not age a day in their life, neither younger or older.

Occasionally, male gallytrotters will mate with humans (males or females). The act of mating creates a third soul or essence that eventually manifests into a new trotter based on the two parents. This only occurs with humans, and is most commonly done with female humans, as they are more "spiritually capable" of spawning a second soul. The immature soul is often called a "wisp" and appears magically outside of both parents, often floating nearby one of them for a few days before disappearing to become a new trotter. The newly formed trotter may appear in their parents vicinity or far away from them. Many trotters are born to parents and never truly meet them, for they can spawn literally anywhere on the planet thanks to their ability to teleport. Trotters spawned in this way are almost always physically mature, between the ages of 18 and 25. How old they look exactly differs between individuals and some may actually change their apparent age as part of their shapeshifting powers.

Culture:

Gallytrotters are socially independent creatures. They live alone among mortals, whom they use as a food source and for entertainment. Many find humans amusing and exciting and like to "play with" or manipulate and scare them, but this is a purely personal preference. Some Gallytrotters live their lives completely as animals and never use a human form.

They are untrustworthy in nature however, so they are predominantly solitary unless hunting or owned by someone.

History:

A species of demon, Gallytrotters have always lived alongside humans on a parallel plane of existence, able to occasionally step from one plane to the other and back again. It is suspected that demons mated with humans to create gallytrotters that could permanently dwell in the human world but, as this happened in prehistoric times, it is unlikely that the truth will ever be known with any certainty.

Legends of Gallytrotters go as far back as the 1600's.

Other:

Alias: Jumpstyle
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