Classification: Cordispectre
Designation: Skinless
Type: Ag’nagaruth Possessed — Flaying / Shock Assault Form
The Skinless are among the most visually disturbing forms of Ag’nagaruth possession.
They look unfinished.
As though whatever transformed them simply removed the boundary between body and world.
Their most obvious feature is the absence of skin. Muscle, tendon and connective tissue remain exposed across much of the body, giving the creature a raw, wet appearance even when standing still. In places, flesh may have fused into hardened cords or fibrous bands, creating a grotesque lattice over the chest, shoulders and limbs.
Nothing about them looks stable.
And yet they move with terrifying control.
Unlike Brutes, which rely on mass, or Striders, which depend on speed, Skinless combine aggression with relentless close-range pressure. Their bodies are leaner, tighter and stripped of anything unnecessary. Every movement seems built around contact.
Their fingers often elongate into hooked claws capable of opening armour seams, dragging defenders from cover and ripping through exposed flesh. Their musculature remains permanently visible, flexing beneath the air as though the creature has been peeled alive and then taught how to keep fighting.
Some specimens display pulsing cords around the neck and sternum, suggesting that the transformation places unusual emphasis on circulation and cardiac output.
That may explain the name.
Cordispectre.
A spectre of the heart.
The designation Skinless is simpler.
And much more accurate.
Their presence on a battlefield has an immediate psychological effect. Even experienced soldiers have reported hesitation when confronting them at close range. Not because the creature is unknown.
Because it is too recognisable.
That recognition lasts only a moment.
Then the Skinless attacks.
They are particularly dangerous in confined structures, where their ability to force close engagement becomes an advantage. Corridors, access tunnels and ship compartments leave little room to manoeuvre once one closes the distance.
And unlike Husks, they do not simply press forward.
They stay close enough that firing becomes difficult without risking everyone nearby.
Some outbreak reports suggest Skinless forms may also act as shock troops immediately behind Brutes, exploiting breached defensive lines before survivors can regroup.
Their exposed anatomy should make them fragile.
It does not.
Ag’nagaruth corruption appears to compensate for lost protection through abnormal pain tolerance, reinforced tissue and biological redundancy. Damage that would cripple a human may barely slow them.
They are already stripped down to violence.
And when a Skinless reaches you, the worst part is not what it looks like.
It is how familiar the hands still are.