Tel'ah

Visual Description
Tel’ah look generally Astorianoid in their appearance, specifically female presenting Astorians, the main differences being their skin, which is tinged a pale blue and partially scaled, horns protruding from their forehead and shoulders, lack of eyes, and bioluminescent sacs along their neck.

Known Abilities
While in their original form Tel’ah are able to use their voice to lure both animals and Astorians into their lair. If an Astorian is lured in close enough they will be compelled to sing with the Tel’ah, during this duet the Tel’ah swaps bodies with the Astorian. They are able to sing continuously until something is lured as they do not need to breathe.

Once the Astorian is trapped in the Tel’ah’s body they are unable to speak, rather they can only exclusively sing set notes. When in an Astorians body, animals ignore their singing abilities and their new body requires them to breathe.

Typical Behaviours
Tel’ah live in secluded caves, often by the coast or in mountains, but always avoid living near large populations of Astorians. They have been spotted hiding near camps where singing can be heard, presumably to learn new or relevant songs.

If a Tel’ah feels threatened or thinks it has been exposed they will attempt to swap to another body by enacting their alluring duet. If this duet is initiated in a group of non-vocal individuals, the weakest willed will be the target to swap with. Swapping between Astorians typically renders the target in the swapped body unconscious temporally.

When undetected the Tel’ah will attempt to take the swapped Astorian’s life as their own.

Reproduction / Creation
If a Tel’ah in a swapped body has a child they are always another Tel’ah. Before giving birth the Tel’ah will return to their original cave, if the Astorian in the Tel’ah’s body is still there they will return both parties to their bodies, allowing the Astorian to give birth, then kill them for the infant Tel’ah to consume.

Infant Tel’ah take half a year to reach maturity, during this time the mother Tel’ah will teach them songs and how to use their abilities to hunt.

Weaknesses
To those able to see soul essence a swapped Astorian/Tel’ah body will give off a faint thread that if followed will lead to the Tel’ah’s original body. Tel’ah hate loud, high pitched noises and can effectively be crippled by them, similarly, as a Tel’ah can only swap on a one to one basis if a group of Astorians sing the duet is negated.

The only way to return all parties to their correct bodies is for the Tel’ah to sing a song of release, as it is unlikely this would happen without prompting, the Tel’ah may need to be bargained with or otherwise forced.

If the Tel’ah’s original body is killed before the song of release has been sung, all swapped parties are then trapped in their current bodies.

Trivia

 * Tel’ah are one of the few Devoid who have a concept of modesty and will commonly make rudimentary clothes from any available materials when in their original form.
 * It is believed that the Tel’ah use a special method of hearing to compensate for their lack of eyes.