The Immortal Naturalist's Guide to Cryptic Creatures: The Hidebehind

This post is part of the Immortal Naturalist's Guide series. The explanation for that series can be found in this post.

    The dry, rocky outcrops of the Scarceness are home to many creatures small and large. Of these creatures, none seem quite so strange a the Hidebehind, a skinny, flexible creature able to contort itself to hide behind pretty much any object. The creature measures about six feet when stretched out, but it is rarely found in such an obvious posture, if it is found at all. Instead of food and water, the Hidebehind seems to gain its sustenance from the psychic energy produced by people in a state of shock. To get this energy, the beast will stalk its prey for days until just the right moment, at which point it will jump out from its hiding place, make a high-pitched, ululating shriek, and then hopefully its prey will be thoroughly surprised. After a successful hunt, the Hidebehind returns to its home in the cracks and crevices of a particularly large rocky outcrop.

    This creature appears to have some kind of magical sense for the psychic energy of surprised people because I was able to lure it for observations by drawing a crowd and telling them shocking facts about the wider world. The people of the Scarceness are few in number and very superstitious, so it is fairly easy to surprise them, which also makes them ideal victims for the Hidebehind. Local legends claim that the creature is a psychic vampire that will drain your thoughts until you become its mindless servant, but this is a falsehood. Although it is harmless, the Hidebehind seems to be allergic to cinnamon, and can be warded off by hanging dried cinnamon bark in an area.

    In order to maintain its high degree of flexibility, the Hidebehind has flexible bones that somehow provide the same strength and support as standard bones when not flexing. If this effect could somehow be studied or replicated, it would allow for the creation of much more durable machines and tools. While I am not sure how one would replicate the effect in metal, it would be one of the greatest magical and technological triumphs of all time.