[Day 09] The Colo Colo

[This is a creature from Chilean folklore which I've altered a bit to suit my diabolical purposes]


The colo colo is a creature like a large rat coated with greasy gray feathers in place of fur. Its eyes are black and matted, and its mouth is a beak with serrated bone ridges. It makes a sound that is uncannily like that of a crying baby. It is most commonly found in Sarkash.

The colo colo will enter a home quietly, and will proceed to suck the blood from the inhabitants while they sleep, and at the same time inject its own saliva into their bloodstreams. This induces a light kalopsia in the victim (the delusion or hallucination that things are more beautiful than they really are).  The effect is cumulative, and victims will likely have a very skewed view of reality about a week in.

The inhabitants of the house will become listless and weak, but will also become increasingly euphoric. That, along with a smell of carrion with no apparent source, are the surest signs of colo colo predations.

The creature will sometimes kill off any infants in the household and take their place. As the parents become weaker and more delusional they will often accept the colo colo as a replacement for their departed child. Parents have defended their 'child' against well-meaning investigators, and mothers have died smiling from blood loss, breastfeeding the monster.
In East Sarkash a wholet hamlet worships a colo colo as an infant demigod. They are weak but filled with true joy - vermin spittle.

Some sorcerers will know wards and rituals which repel the colo colo. Others may know dark magicks which enable them to curse a household with the colo colo's attentions.