UNDERWANDERERField archive
Case file E-001EntitiesLevel 0High

Stalker

The third patrol creature, silent, with no fixed habitat and no reliable witnesses. The archive records it so the gap doesn’t look like an oversight.

Testimony

“They say it’s there, but nobody has seen it on the usual patrols. Seems it comes out if someone calls it, I don’t really know how.”

The Stalker is the third patrol creature of Level 0 and the only one of the three the archive has not been able to track in the field. Like the Prowler and the Grille, it emits no sound. Unlike them, it is not part of the populations wanderers routinely meet.

What is known

  • It is a stalking creature and it moves to position itself near whoever is walking, not to patrol a stretch.
  • It has no sound, no footstep, no breathing, no warning.
  • It does not appear in the usual distributions for each zone of Level 0. Those who say they have seen it place it in circumstances that don’t repeat.

How to survive

There is no trick of its own. The habits that already work against the other two serve:

  1. Look back now and then, especially in long corridors and on landings.
  2. If something follows you at a constant distance, don’t run. Change your pace and check again.
  3. Warn your group in a low voice, because the Pulse tends to mark the moment a silent creature stops being a rumor.

What people say

In the shelters it is repeated that the Stalker doesn’t appear on its own, that it has to be called, and that whoever does it knows. Others consider it a mere shelter legend, a name for the silence that stays at your back when everything is too quiet. There is no floor note that mentions it (see floor notes).

The entry is kept so the gap among the patrol creatures doesn’t look like an oversight.

See also

Prowler, Grille, Stalker, Prowler, Grille, creature comparison.

Mentioned in

P-017 · PhenomenaThe Wanderer’s GlossaryThe words wanderers repeat until they stop explaining them, with the entry where each one is told.E-008 · EntitiesProwlerA silhouette that goes back and forth along the same stretch of corridor. It doesn’t chase you, but if it sees you on its patrol it lunges at you.E-015 · EntitiesGrilleA bundle hanging from the ceiling bars or a service staircase. Still while you look at it, and a step lower when you look away.E-002 · EntitiesHow Creatures SoundAlmost no creature in Level 0 makes a noise, so silence is the warning, and what makes no sound is usually what is closest.E-024 · EntitiesField Guide: CreaturesHow to recognize each Level 0 creature, what it does if it reaches you, and what to do before you find out.E-025 · EntitiesTraces and Visible SignsFootprints and dust. What each creature lets you see before it arrives, and what an attentive wanderer learns to read in the carpet.