H'Skela, children of H'Skel

    The H'Skela look like standard humans, who are able, by concentrating, to change their appearance. No clothing or equipment will change, only facial features and hair and skin color. They can only mimic features that they are aware of, so if they impersonate a person that they have only seen clothed, they will not be able to mimic any features of that persons torso or legs. All stats will stay the same and the H'Skela's voice will remain unchanged. They will not receive any of the skills or abilities of the person that they are mimicking.

    H'Skela have two ways to reproduce. The first is the conventional way, between two H'Skela, this will result in a full-blooded H'Skela child, either male or female. A normal human who impregnates a H'Skela woman will produce a H'Skela child. The second way hat the H'Skela can reproduce is far less conventional. The sperm of a male H'Skela acts as a virus to change the DNA of the recipient. Thus, anyone, of either sex, who gets H'Skela sperm into their bloodstream runs the risk of turning into a H'Skela. The change starts out as a bad fever and usually takes about two weeks to run its course. There is a small chance of dying, (roll a quick contest of HT vs 6), but if you survive you are now an H'Skela. You will still have the same personality at first, soon however, you will feel a sense of oneness with the clan, and you will also start to feel the Murder Addiction. Some new H'Skela will commit suicide at this time, but most will simply start to rethink their personal philosophies to justify their new addiction. In addition to the new disadvantages, the newborn H'Skela's WL drops by 2 as well, but they are now able to change their appearance.

    The H'Skela live in tightly knit clans of up to 20 - 30 people. They are usually led by a single charismatic individual, usually a male who is often the "father" of many of the members. Members of the clan will often try to emulate the leader and the clan he leads will often mirror his personality.
    Occasionally non-H'Skela will be part of the clan, either not realizing or not caring that their friends are "different". These hangers-on are treated as clan members only as long as it is convenient, if necessary they are the first to go.

    The murder of a single individual is sufficient to feed the murder addiction of all the H'Skela that are involved in it. This way a clan in a populated area can avoid detection, as 20-30 murders every four days would quickly draw attention.

    Men and women share the same responsibilities, though the leader rarely does anything except command. If attacked, all the clan will fight to defend it.

    Occasionally a clan will be unable to find any victims to slake its killing need. In such cases, a member of the clan will be chosen by the leader to be slaughtered. In such a case the leader, followed by the rest of the clan will start to heap abuse on the "volunteer", former friends and companions will tell them that they have always hated them, that they were never trusted, etc. When the "volunteer" has become emotionally distraught by this vicious betrayal, the clan will set on them and murder them. Once the person is dead the clan will mourn the loss of their friend, and each person will eat a small portion of the victims’ body. This is viewed as a religious act and is done with a sense of reverence. This is the only time that organized cannibalism is practiced.

    H'Skela are usually nomadic, though some clans will often live outside large cities and prey on the dregs and outcasts of society.