The Strzyga are a race of demons that live outside of normal time. Usually found close to apertures; they feed on personal timelines of linear beings, harvesting the life force and untapped futures of their victims.
Once they have absorbed the life history, the Strzyga can take on the appearance of its prey and can live for months within normal time, but they must consume hosts regularly while within the Continuum. The detrimental effects of time on their physiology cause them to age at an accelerated rate, making them decay internally and producing the most horrific smell.
The Strzyga are a matriarchal society tending to hunt in groups of ten or more; their leader will usually be a Queen of some considerable years, and her pack consist mostly of her daughters and grand-daughters.
There are a number of ways to destroy a Strzyga; beheading is by far the most reliable of them, but to do so means the end of all those it has consumed. However, Strzyga can be contained within an allotropic circle of carbon or coal which will drain their energies temporarily, and an attempt can be made to retrieve the most recent locus of their victim and revert to a time before the attack took place.
Monads are one of the Strzyga’s only natural predators, but it is not advisable to be anywhere near such a confrontation.
The Xenobiological department of the Antiquarians are the only members of the Order authorised to deal with Strzyga.