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'''//: Feeders'''

Red | 2/10/26
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'''Overview:''' The “Feeders” are a reclusive and highly xenophobic Proto-Nälkän sect whose formal name — if any such name exists — has not been identified; the sect appears to be wholly non-literate, and what few recorded vocalizations of the Feeders that there are have yet to be matched with any known oral language. The Feeders are based solely on the Indonesian island of Flores, and everything that is known about their history and culture is derived almost exclusively from the secondhand accounts of the Nage, many of whom believe the sect to be a resurgence of the ''ebu gogo'' — a population of short and hairy hominids thought to have once inhabited Flores’ limestone cave networks. The purported features of the ''ebu gogo'' are highly characteristic of both the individuals described in most anecdotal encounters with the Feeders and seen in the only conclusive photograph of a Feeder known to exist (top right).

'''History:''' The Feeders’ early history is still hotly debated among anthropologists of the Nälkä, with some even having gone so far as to posit a hypothetical subspecies of ''Homo floresiensis'' (dubbed ''Homo floresiensis ramidus)'' that might have persisted up to 38,000 years after the species’ presumed extinction date and from which the Feeders could have descended, while others maintain that the Feeders are of Proto-Malayan ancestry — having undergone generations’ worth of troglodytic habitation and later carnomantic modifications. As Flores’ primate fossil record is still woefully incomplete, there is no tangible evidence in favor of or against either claim. It is, however, generally accepted that the Feeders’ first exposure to the Nälkän faith was facilitated by now-extinct sects of Austronesian Nälkä who migrated to the island sometime in the years prior to 1500 BCE; said exposure is correlated with a gradual rise in reported encounters with the ''ebu gogo'' — formerly presumed by most Nage to be near or totally eradicated — over the course of the latter centuries.

'''Culture:''' Feeders are most commonly described by the Nage as being nocturnal hunters and gatherers, with sets of 2-4 individuals at a time emerging in the twilight hours of the day to track wild game and collect smaller fauna. These groups are sometimes heard communicating with one another via a series of low-pitched mouth clicks that the Nage refer to as ''sara 'imi-ko'o'' (“their language”) but are more colloquially called "throat-knocking". On the rare instances that the Feeders themselves are spotted, they are seen carrying various iterations of spurred bone instruments that appear to have been fashioned through carnomantic means, which indicate at least a moderate degree of mastery over the art of fleshcrafting. The Feeders' clothing, meanwhile, has only been known to consist of waistcloths and midriff tops, which themselves are without status symbols of any kind; as such, it is unclear to what extent, if at all, the Feeders continue to recognize traditional Nälkän hierarchy. It is however believed that the Feeders are non-nomadic and possess one or more sedentary Kiraaks hidden among the undocumented limestone cave networks of Flores, and if there exist any Feeder equivalents of Karcists or Võlutaar, it’s unlikely that they will surface for quite some time.

'''Relations:''' Due to the exceeding amount of elusivity and xenophobia exhibited by the Feeders, there has yet to be a successful first contact with the sect on the part of Nälkän anthropologists, and further diplomatic efforts have, at least for the time being, been deemed a needless waste of resources and quite possibly a lost cause. Outsider organizations such as the SCP Foundation and Global Occult Coalition have yet to find adequate proof of the Feeders’ existence, and as such have not classified the sect in their own databases.