Water Hag

Water Hag was a term Humans used to describe an advanced race of alien creature native to the planet Strepto.

Biology

Water Hags looked like Humans, but with a few differences. They had talons "as hard as iron" instead of fingernails, which were sharp enough to slice someone in half and even carve out solid rock. This killing method was a characteristic marker of a Water Hag killing. Their skin was emaciated and the colour of mud and their eyes were yellow with black slits for pupils. Despite their savage attitude, they were intelligent as (and possibly even more than) a Human and the ones led by Sally Blackteeth were able to navigate the rift through unknown means.

Water Hags possessed many superhuman abilities, even from birth, that made them difficult to evade or kill. They had strength superior to a Human's, were incredibly quick (to the point where their motion becames highly blurred to the Human eye), could fly using a cloud of water, had the ability to breathe both underwater and on land and could possibly dissolve into water. (TWN: Something in the Water)

Life Cycle

The Water Hags appeared to be a female-only species, and their only method of procreation was to infect Humans with a virus of sorts.

Whether this method of reproduction was normal is unknown. Possibly, it was only used after Sally Blackteeth lost her planet.

This "virus" acted in the oesophagus, where it caused the development of a foetus-like organism made of phlegm and vegetable matter. At this stage, the creature was called a "Homunculus" and until maturity it would incubate and grow in the throat. The final stage was marked by unconsciousness caused by the Homunculus draining all the energy from its host (and probably a a mild case of oxygen starvation due to the Homunculus' size). At this point, the Homunculus would attempt to extract testosterone from the host in order to catalyse its growth. If it succeeded, it eventually bursts forth from its host's throat. They can then reach maturity to Water Hag form within a day.

However, if the Homunculus does not get the required amount of testosterone, then during the host's short spell of unconsciousness, the Homunculus will die and be vomited by the host, "stillborn" as it were. This means that it is nigh on impossible for the homunculus to procreate inside a female Human unless it injected with testosterone. Likewise, if the Homunculus has chosen a male host and that host is injected with a mix of oestrogen, emetics and antibiotics, then the parasite will die and be thrown up. (TWN: Something in the Water)

The infection has the following list of symptoms:

Sore throat
Minor coughing
Coughing continues, gradually worsening
Cough gets progressively more painful
Increase in temperature
Coughing up blood
Mucus begins to be coughed up along with the blood
Loss of strength
Unconsciousness. During this point, the Homunculus begins to extract testosterone for growth catalysation.
If there is enough testosterone in the patient's body, the Homunculus grows to the point where it escapes from the host. Otherwise, the Homunculus dies and is coughed up.

History

At some point in their history, all but one of the Water Hags (Sally Blackteeth) disappeared when their planet was lost. At the time, she had been travelling off planet. When she returned to where her planet should have been, it had vanished. She later came to Cardiff during the 21st century using the Cardiff Rift. (TWN: Something in the Water)

Possibly, Strepto was one of the Stolen Planets.