Crooks

Crooks are a tenacious species and are known to fight ferociously; being more vulnerable to perma-death, they have a much stronger instinct to fight for their lives. Their body plans are in many ways optimized to do as much damage as possible to their enemies. The most dangerous enemy to a species that is built to fight and kill is its own kind, and because of this any fights that break out between Crooks are usually deadly. 

Crooks have structured themselves to be extremely strong fighters, and compared to other Skireans are far better at waging powerful attacks and striking enemies down quickly. The Crook's strategy to strike fast and deal as much damage as possible does have its flaws though. In a battle, a Crook may expend too much of its energy at once, hindering its ability to heal and recover. It is not unusual to see a Crook collapse from exhaustion even if their wounds are not severe. 

In the untamed regions of Skire where hunting is necessary to survive, many Crooks hunt in packs called 'Protections'. These Protections can be impersonal, but more commonly a Protection consists of close-knit individuals. These groups might all be close friends, found family, or romantic pairs and polycules. It is almost upon instinct that Crooks form groups of 3 or more to go anywhere rather than go alone. 

During The Banishment, Crooks hunted other Crooks for sustenance, as any other source of energy was extremely scarce. It was commonplace knowledge that a singlet Crook would eventually be preyed upon. Some Crooks would enter a Protection only for the promise of safety, but the need for complete trust often resulted in the Protection's members growing very close. Even after The Banishment this phenomena has not ceased, as many Crooks still work to overcome the instincts the Alter World ingrained in them.

Crooks need to eat resources in order to sustain themselves, however it is usually proportionate to the energy they spend magically. A Crook can go an extended period of time without needing to eat if they maintain a relatively simple lifestyle and do not spend much time casting magic. Some Crooks with extremely relaxed lifestyles have been able to  almost completely remove their need to eat at all. They need to be careful if that is the lifestyle they desire, as anything that may borrow magic from the Crook will drain bits of their essence, which would need to be replenished eventually. 

Mortality

The lifespan of a Crook is normally hundreds of years. As long as they do not take substantial damage that they cannot heal themselves, or become unable to properly cycle their magic, they could potentially live forever. Compared to CCCats, a Crook's healing ability is not as powerful and mortal wounds are far more common.

Crooks have the ability to reconnect and reform their bodies after death if not properly disposed of.  Even the removal of the body part that houses the cluster eyes is not enough to fully kill a Crook. If a Crook loses a limb where the cluster eyes were, they will regrow the cluster eyes at the nearest possible point. Until the cluster is regrown, a Crook will be incapacitated; unable to fully control its host body without the cluster. The most commonly believed way to truly end a Crook is to dismember the body into a multitude of pieces. However, to fully kill a Crook one must go to extreme efforts to destroy the head and true eyes via powerful acid or intense flames. Once this is done, the remainder of the body should be scattered far away. 

Lifestyle & Socializing

Crooks are not ones to follow the norms in any aspect of their existence. Rather than mimic the culture of the place they live, they might often become contrarians, and challenge expectations of those around them. They are commonly found in the wastelands or cities, but many Crooks have been known to embrace the wild. Unlike CCCats who have powerful connections to each other and wish to not harm one another, Crooks have been known to readily slay their own kind, especially those outside their immediate Protection. It is not seen as odd or evil to do so, as many Crooks saw it as a way of life for many many years in The Banishment. The 'Kill or be killed' mindset persists in them to this very day. 

Despite a Crook’s lack of external lips and inclusion of an inner mouth, they can still speak and form words easily. Their speech often echoes in dual tones; the inner mouth causing resonation and repetition of words and sounds. Another apt description would be as if two voices were speaking over one another at the same time, though one voice usually sounds clearer. The second voice will usually sound quieter and a bit hoarse, as if being heard from the end of a long tunnel. It is very easy to discern a Crook speaker from any other Skirean due to their unique speech patterns. 

Crooks are known for their particularly horrifying ability to create ear-piercing screams. These screams have been described as 'wails of death'. This unique scream is only used by Crooks in dire situations like a call for help, a battle cry, or to hopefully scare whatever is attacking them away. Skireans have claimed to be able to hear a Crook's scream from miles away; the fading cry sounding similar to an eerie whale call. 

Crooks borrow their written language, Caster Speak, from CCCats. Their titles and ways of referring to themselves follow similar patterns to their sister species because of this. The main difference is that they entirely rid words and symbols that refer to their species as a whole entity due to their removal from the Hivemind. Their written titles often borrow from 'Unique Life" or "One's Own Story", however they often stick to simple adjectives or descriptors mixed with their personal name. 

For example, one might write Myir's Caster Speak name to literally translate to "Myir-Dangerous" or "Myir the Dangerous" rather than just spelling out Myir. These emotion-based surnames are usually added by the person writing about the individual. If a Crook has never met the subject of their writing, there is no emotional adjective/descriptor attached to the name. 

On the other hand, it is often seen as disingenuous or self-fulfilling to give oneself their own emotional surname. In the case that the same emotional surname is often used for a Crook, then it is more acceptable to include it when writing about oneself, so that they are more easily recognized. 

Individuality is extremely important to Crooks; they are neither part of the Hivemind nor a species in their own eyes. They would rather be seen as an individual alone.

Using a Crook’s name or “you” is an indifferent praise for them, as they care a lot more about sound inflection when speaking of them, to them, or about them. Since Crooks have two voices when speaking, it is very easy to slide in a literal undertone of distaste or displeasure, and they listen very intently for it. When speaking to a Crook, they normally prefer you speak their name and/or call them by “you” in a smoother manner, ideally where both sounds of the voices almost sync together.

Skirean Relations

After the finalization of The Truce, the relationship between CCCats and Humans began to stabilize and become peaceful. However, Crooks still believed in the old ways of their Seer predecessors; protecting Skire (Landmass) being their strongest priority. This caused unease and fear between them and Humans. Humans believed that a Crook Wormling would devour a human host alive, and all that remained of them was the screaming mouth of the human victim trying to claw its way back out. Humans also believed that Crooks followed the desire of their predecessors and wished to dismantle The Truce. These beliefs made the species far more intimidating to humans than their CCCat counterparts. This fear was short-lived, however, as not much time passed before all of the Crooks disappeared into the Alter World during The Banishment. 

Following their release from the Alter World, the question began to surface; what did Crooks think of the other species? Some Crooks still hold a grudge or hostility towards CCCats and Humans, believing that they were responsible for their imprisonment. Others came to terms with or suspected that their banishment was far beyond the capabilities of Humans and CCCats, and that there was a higher power involved. Over time, most hostility from Crooks regarding The Banishment has turned towards the Skirean Gods. 

Due to the length of time that Crooks were banished, many Humans and CCCats didn’t know Crooks existed until they returned.

There are some who have pieced together that the Space Mage known as Faceless Guide had a leading role in locking the Crooks away for 200 years. To this day there are Crooks who have made it their soul motive to hunt Faceless Guide down and make him pay for what he did. Depending on which Crook you ask, the opinion on Faceless Guide varies. They either despise him, consider him a tool and/or toy for the Skirean Guardians, or pity him for seemingly being forced to work for the Guardians against his will. Whether it was against his will is still up for debate.