Nighthowler

The dark of night is often when the people of Theros feel most close to their gods, allowing the starry sky of Nyx to illuminate the land with its brilliance. But the nighttime also brings danger, as monsters become more populous and aggressive, hunting prey in the dark. In particular, Therosians know that if they hear the keening wails of a fox, it's best not to risk setting foot outside. While the sound might just be an everyday fox, calling out to its brothers, it could also be a sign of a nighthowler nearby.   Free from the Underworld Like some twisted cross between a hound and an eel, the nighthowler looks like a grizzled dog riddled with mange, whose hindquarters stretch into a long and serpentine body. Though it doesn't look like it, this terror is actually a servant of the gods, and the shadows of its body twinkle with the same star-stuff as the rest of their creations.   The first nighthowlers were created by Erebos shortly after the first mortal escaped the Underworld. As more and more of the dead escaped their bondage and joined the ranks of the Returned, Erebos sought more drastic measures to keep them in place. Eventually, the god created the nighthowlers, who were made to draw strength from the presence of the dead, and whose terrifying howls could keep them from approaching the Underworld's gates. Unfortunately, Erebos never expected the nighthowlers own curiosity to also drive them to leave the confines of the Underworld- or perhaps he simply didn't care if it happened.   Born from Dreams Once the first nighthowlers left the realm of the dead to terrorize the living, they became a guaranteed fixture. To ensure their ranks never ran low, Erebos designed the horrors to propagate from the dreams of those they terrified into submission. Each time someone has a nightmare about the nighthowlers, often due to the sounds of their cries, another nighthowler spring into existence nearby.   If you are lucky, a nighthowler will move on after it's created, seeking out more of its kind and fresher minds. But sometimes a nighthowler might choose to stick around, tormenting a single family for days or even weeks, leading to a whole pack taking up residence right outside of a village. While a nighthowler can be tamed, doing so is a risky proposition at best. It's usually better to find someone to clear out the horrors, or worst comes to worst, move away and hope they don't follow.