I promised my thoughts on monsters and now that I have given dragons their fair due I can move on to other creatures I’ve written about that go bump in the night. My favorite creation (thus far) has been the altaww’am.

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In the world of Jangbahar, the altaww’am is a creature capable of taking the form of another, simply by digesting their blood. It is difficult to truly say what one looks like in its original form as they only take this form when feeding or before death. The term feeding is used loosely as the alaww’am do not need blood to survive, merely to hold on to another’s form for an unspecified amount of time. Some even argue that the altaww’am were once human in their original form before the perversion of their blood magic shaped them into the creatures they are today.

The most notably famous altaww’am to date is the one discovered in Ignited. This creature is the dominant “big bad” in the first two books of the DOTE series. We are fist made aware of her presence at the end of the book:

…a tall, slim, hairless creature with tightly stretched, gray skin and unnaturally long arms choked the life from the Third. The Third flailed his arms, desperate to gain hold of his assailant when the creature suddenly bit into the Third’s neck and drank deeply.

Jura, Ignited

I think there is just something so creepy about another person or thing wearing your face and pretending to be you. Add the element that the creature has to suck your blood in order to do so and you have an altaww’am.

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So what do you think about altaww’am? Do you think their powers are as creepy as I do? Share your thoughts in the comments below!