By: Dr. Rosa Valdez,Lead Researcher, Arcane R&D
It is common knowledge that Netherwatch organizes all known Demon Traits into five primary categories: Physical, Behavioral, Environmental, Special, and Weakness. Most agents prefer to focus on Physical or Environmental Traits in the field, as they tend to present clearly and respond well to direct tactics. Weaknesses can be trickier to observe as we often see what we want to see, and in the field it is only natural to investigate for every possible advantage. Behavioral Traits, by contrast, are notoriously difficult to classify. They shift with context, and worse, with intent.
Three Demons in particular – the Leshy, the Vetala, and the Strzyga – consistently demonstrate this Behavioral overlap, in that they each show both the Traits of Aggressive and Stalker. Due to this, they are responsible for a disproportionate number of failed early-phase engagements. Understanding how their conflicting Behavioral drives interact is crucial for anyone hoping to live long enough to need a debrief.
The Leshy, referenced in Slavic woodland folklore, presents outwardly as territorial and violent. This fits the Aggressive profile. However, Leshy-class entities regularly disorient agents through misleading calls, rearranged trails, and false auditory cues before launching a physical attack. According to Behavioral Codex Fragment 4B: Leshy Entities in Forested Zones (Netherwatch Archive, 1922), “The Leshy does not pursue out of instinct. It invites, then leads, then strikes from the side.” One could almost call this approach a beautiful choreography.
The Vetala is well-documented in Indo-Himalayan mythology and is frequently mistaken for a possession-type Demon. This is incomplete. Vetala-class Demons exhibit prolonged observation cycles, mirroring of speech patterns, and staged emotional manipulation before any aggressive act. Their strikes are rare, calculated, and often occur when the target has dropped all psychological defenses. In the restricted training reel Session Footage: Operation RED LATTICE (Netherwatch Training Archive, 2017), one appears behind an agent only after mimicking their deceased sibling’s speech for nearly eight minutes of unbroken audio.
The Strzyga, despite its folkloric roots in vampirism, resists physical classification. It disappears when confronted, but returns later to target the same agent again and again. The pattern is obsessive, yet never chaotic. In Field Assessment Memo #67-STRZ (Operations Bureau, 2019), an agent writes, “She let me see her. She wanted me to. Then she vanished. She knew I would look again.” This Demon combines the direct intent of an aggressor with the patience of a hunter. As Strzyga-class Demons often bear the physical traits of real-world strigiformes (“owls” for the less erudite of you), there has been speculation if this entity is truly borne of the darkness, or has simply been a natural force that we rarely could observe. [Ed. Note – Archive Compliance – We would like to gently remind Dr. Valdez that sarcasm is best reserved for footnotes, not species clarification. – A.C.U.]
What links these entities is not their power, but their use of time. They wait, and then they do not. They retreat, and then they charge. They confuse aggression with pursuit, and pursuit with hesitation. That pattern is the pattern. Understanding it requires abandoning the idea that Demons are static personalities with fixed behavior sets. They learn. They adapt. And the ones that combine traits do it better than most.
We recommend the Behavioral Convergence tag be added to all operative briefings involving known or suspected hybrid patterns. I will continue submitting requests to update the field trait chart, even though the latest version still looks like it was designed by someone who’s never left a briefing room.
—Dr. R. Valdez
Lead Resarcher, Arcane R&D
Internal References
Netherwatch Archive. Behavioral Codex Fragment 4B: Leshy Entities in Forested Zones. Classified Field Documentation, 1922.
Netherwatch Training Archive. Session Footage: Operation RED LATTICE. Restricted Media File, 2017.
Operations Bureau. Field Assessment Memo #67-STRZ: Strzyga Encounter Debrief, Agent Reitner. Confidential Report, 2019.
Comment from Research Analyst C. Darby, Archive Node 6:
For those wondering, yes, Dr. Valdez has once again used MPA citation formatting. Yes, she has been asked repeatedly to follow the standard Chicago style for internal posts. No, she does not plan to change. When asked why, she claimed it provides “cleaner typographical rhythm” and “respects the emotional space of the footnote”, which I believe is the scholarly equivalent of digging in her heels.
As Lead Researcher, she has the leeway to make citations that best suit her needs, but all other operatives are reminded that Chicago style citations are the norm.
—C.D.