Harpies [In english]

Harpies


The Harpies are the City's scavengers that clean the streets from corpses and wounded people. Occasionally hunting down militia soldiers for their much needed equipments and technology.*

They are a pack of creatures that roam occassionally and without a spesific pattern to the utter horror of the citizens and particularly to the junky zombies. And they are never spotted alone.

Their movements are fast but silent. Their appearance creates a surrealistic atmosphere, like a broken mirage in the victims eyes. Reminding of fluttering ravens, a mass of gliding fabric without a shape, the eeriness of the site is halting. You can wake up in in the middle of the night, just to comprehend the staring classy eyes of a dark figure standing in the shadows at the end of your bed. Imagine the boogieman from your worst nightmares coming for a visit, without breaking any windows or doors. Harpies are frightening in their agility. Moving like a harvestman on vertical surfaces and forceful leaps, the creatures are able to overcome rooftops and long-distance jumps.

The encounter with them is fatal to the misfortunate ones that are ill, under substance or most especially injured. Harpies seldom attack healthy, fit people that can fend themselves. They are unpredictable in their acts for sometimes they seem to only sleuth and observe their possible targets (some junkies tell about these horrific moments).


Some survivals (yes, there are few of them) tell about an organised religion which looked up on knowledge, universal awareness of self and "the nine secret gateway mirrors to Hell" which were the steps on their path to conquering their humanity and it's physical boundaries. Those were the measures from god-centered worship to collective entity.

Acceeding to the first step contains the so-called "arrival" releasing the worldly burden (lust for material, hedonisitc needs and individualistic self -image) and promising compliance to the packs unified will.

The First step is stripping off unnecessary signs of sex and individuality (shaving of the hair, cutting off the tattoos etc) and drinking purifying chemicals that detox the body from the waste of the City. The drink encompasses acids that affect the persons bodychemicals and cause heavy nausea, dehydration, scout, violent spasms and temporary blindness. If the "arrival" survives this perilous treatment, the Mirror has been passed.

There are only two of the nine steps know to the outsiders. The First and the Fifth. There is sort of an metamorphosis between them as the harpy gains it's most notable feature: it's siren song. The bloodcurdling high-octave voice that pierces through the streets as the pack moves in on it's prey.

The other known rite is the Fifth step. This is the infamous "Human hunt" that the citizens thread the most and whisper tales about. The hunt includes proving to the pack your unity as a collective entity and deep devotion to the destination. The Mirror lies in the lower subconcious beings that litter the City. As some of the victims disappear, the most dreaded of their fates is being eaten alive in the rite of the Human hunt. It is heard that the poor unfortunate souls caught are torn into pieces and their face are used as part of their ritual masks.

The development harpies undergo in their metamorphosis seems slowly make their outer appearence resemble each other, most notably darkening of the skin and eyeballs, and blackening of teeth, making them almost completely invisible in the night.



*As it was widely known, the Militarists have been equipped with biohybrid bodyparts that enchance strenght, definition and stamina. High technology combined with a human body.
Harpies take their share from the random remains of the disfunctional and killed in combat, which suggests that the scavengers are operating on biohybrid spying and reusage of the heightenned limbs. The information is not fully confirmed for the varying sources are vague and unreliable.