Stryx: Life Among the Scavengers

(excerpted in part from a rare unabridged copy of "The Chronicles of Talislanta", by the wizard Tamerlin.)

At best, most civilized folk find scavenging for food of any kind to be an unclean and unpleasant practice. When carrion is the food of choice, the scavenger is often regarded as grotesque, horrible, a carrier of disease and death.

It is the fate of the Stryx and others of their ilk to carry upon their persons the lingering stench of their last meal, which clings to their garments, claws, and feathers, and cannot be easily disguised. The same is true of Stryx cave dwellings, which reek from the rotten flesh that is stored and eaten within. The very sight of carrion is often sufficient to make non-scavengers nauseous; the scent of decomposing carrion, buzzing with flies and hanging off the bone, is virtually guaranteed to do so.

Conversely, the Stryx regard rotting carrion as the choicest food, not unlike the way non-scavengers favor a well-aged cheese or bottle of wine. To the Stryx, the odor of carrion is as apetizing as the scent of a home-cooked meal is to others. The sound of buzzing flies is like music to their senses; the pale forms of writhing maggots are like a delectible garnish to the main course. Given such differences, it is not surprising that the Stryx do not get on well with other folk, who tend to regard them as ghouls.

© 1994 SMS

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