UNKNOWN ENTITY SPOTTED
PROCEED WITH CAUTION
An admonition brought to you by Level 452's local council.
Image sketched courtesy of a Level 452 denizen who, among others, claimed to have encountered the entity. No verifiable images exist at the present moment.
Date of First Report: 13/2/2028
Origin: Unknown
Periods of Appearances: Uncertain, presumed to be entirely random. All appearances have been made during periods of nighttime over the course of four weeks.
Location of Appearances: Uncertain
Frequency: Pending
Count: Pending
Sightings: 11
Casualties: Unknown
Mortality Rate: Unknown
Danger Level: Green
Justification and Safety Measures: Thus far, the entity has not shown any outwardly hostile or persecutive behaviour, even to residents who have claimed to be in very close proximity to it. Despite this, people are still advised to exert caution when around the entity, as it may still be a threat.
For complete safety, the council advises all citizens of Level 452 to stay inside of their residence should the entity approach it. If you are caught outside, ignore it, and find a place to hide. Do not provoke it or get too close.
Physical Description: All accounts of the entity have described it as being around one and a half metres high and two and a half metres long (these are rough estimates based on the described surroundings). Its body is quadrupedic, muscular, and has a yellowish-brown colouration. No real head or neck is present — instead, a white, porcelain mask with a blank stare drawn on it stands in their place. It is particularly distinctive due to its extremely large nose, which juts downwards like a spike from the centre of the mask.
Perhaps the most interesting quirk which the entity possesses is its blade-like limbs, which are unlike those of any identifiable organism both in and outside of The Backrooms. The term blade-like here does not simply refer to the structure of the limbs, rather, the entity's legs (which seem to have two knees each) seem to have a metallic protuberance in the area where the second knee ends. These appendages seem to serve no use other than locomotion, which is odd, considering they seem to cause several issues in the entity's general maneuvering skills rather than aiding travel.
The entity lacks any other limbs and appendages, and save for general discolorations in its skin, it seems to not possess any other notable physical qualities which can be evaluated and described at the present moment.
Behavioral Description: In terms of its regular behaviours, the entity walks methodically through the streets of level 452 at a snail's pace. It has not engaged any wanderers which it has encountered so far, and is generally silent save for the sounds of its steps.
Extranormality Description: So far, no anomalous or dangerous behaviour has been observed in all eleven encounters with the entity, leading some to believe the entity may be harmless seeing as it does not possess any dangerous traits. Its peaceful nature is not confirmed however, so people are not advised to treat the entity as harmless despite its lack of inherent danger.
We thank you for your time and your cooperation
It wasn't uncommon for young Elijah to hear of the monsters that came out late at night when he was asleep. He heard hey were dangerous, scary, mean, which was why mummy and daddy would come into his room before he slept, lock his windows, recite the safety rules together, and put him to bed. They did this so he could feel safe. That was their routine, every night, and he was comfortable with it. Happy. Protected. He loved his mummy and daddy both, lots and lots.
But it also wasn't uncommon for young Elijah to doubt what he heard about the monsters. His friends from Level 11 would tell him about all the friendly monsters back at their home, and he always wondered what difference the monsters here had from those there. Maybe they were friendly too, but people called them monsters, which would hurt them and make them angry. Maybe they needed a friend. He would like too have a monster friend - maybe they wanted a human friend too?
Tonight mummy and daddy told him of a new monster that was in town. They said he was big, that he walked on four legs, like a cow, and that he had big knife hands. "It also has a very scary mask," daddy had said. "Don't approach it if you see it, we don't know if it's dangerous, but it might as well be."
This uncertainty frustrated Elijah. They didn't even know the monster, but they just thought he was evil. It was simply not fair! Maybe he would like to play with him at the park, or play princess with his sister. Maybe he was not like the other monsters who liked eating people, and he was nice and funny. Elijah wanted to know the monster better. He would show people how wrong they were, and that not all the monsters in town were dangerous.
This was why Elijah was halfway out of the window tonight. He had woken up late at night, and he couldn't go back to sleep. He went to his window, and coincidentally, he spotted the new monster daddy had told him about. He walked on his legs very slowly, like he was going to fall down all the time. It reminded him of his dog, Chewy. He was very clumsy, and he always fell down. Elijah felt sorry for it.
He knew that the window was locked, and that he wouldn't be able to go out, but he tried to open it for good measure, not expecting much, but- oh! Daddy had forgotten to lock the window! He was going to befriend the monster after all!
Now, he stood on the sidewalk, a bit dazed from the fall from his window onto the pavement. It was wet, and the air was very cold, even though he was in his favourite dino onesie - but he was warm with a passion in his heart to make the monster happy. Right now, he was a bit further away, close to Aunt Gina's house near the fork in the road. Elijah began running towards it, the sound of his pitter-pattering on the sidewalk echoing around the silent street.
Finally, he got to the still-walking monster, which paid him no attention. Daddy wasn't lying when he said it was big - the monster was humongous compared to him! Elijah, amazed by the monster's knife legs, touched one of them gingerly and not strongly, so he wouldn't hurt him. It felt cold, and very pointy! But it didn't hurt the monster, so Elijah kept touching his leg as he kept walking onwards. Elijah focused then on the monster's skin, which was very similar to the cow his grandpa had at the family ranch, except for its strange colour. He had never seen anything with the strange, dark-yellow hue of the monster, and he was amazed by it. Of course, he was thrilled at finally meeting him, but Elijah would be lying if he said he wasn't a wee bit nervous now that he was in front of…
"Wait a moment," he said to nobody in particular, as one of the entity's legs landed on the ground with a small 'clink'. "If we are going to be friends, I can't call you just 'monster'! That would be very rude…"
Clink. Another step. The monster probably didn't hear him.
"What's your name, new friend?"
The monster lifted his foot, and placed it on the ground. This time, he landed a bit oddly, and the monster's balance was now in jeopardy. Elijah grabbed one of his legs to hold him up so he wouldn't fall - though he didn't think he made much of a difference anyways. A few moments later, the monster was back up and stable, looking like he hadn't even lost his balance a few moments ago.
"Maybe you can't speak… it's ok! I'll give you a name. Jeff sounds nice, doesn't it?"
The monster- no, Jeff was not moving right now. This was worrying Elijah. Did he make him mad?
Hold on… this whole time, he had been behind the monster, talking to him from the back. Maybe the monster wasn't listening to him because he couldn't hear or speak, but he could see?
"Oh, wait, let me come in front of you!" he said. A cricket could be heard chirping in the background. "I'm so sorry Jeff!"
Elijah walked up to the front of the monster, and saw the white mask that daddy had told him about. He wasn't lying when he said it was a bit creepy. Jeff had a very weird look on his face.
"Jeff! Jeffy! Look at me, down here!"
Elijah jumped up and down in front of his unresponsive friend, to no avail. Elijah was getting a bit frustrated now.
"Do you not want- you don't want to be friends, Jeff?"
Silence. Even the cricket has stopped now. The area around Elijah seems to have gotten a little bit darker, though maybe Elijah was just sleepy and imagining things. Was Jeff even real in the first place? Was this a dream?
"If you don't want to talk, tell me. I'll go home and come another day, maybe when you're happier. Is that ok for you?"
Silence at first, but suddenly, movement! Elijah opened his mouth as Jeff slowly began to move his neckless head downwards to look at him. Maybe Jeff was going to speak to him?
Hands on his chest, Elijah looked up at the Jeff's face in excitement, ready to talk to his new friend.
And then it looked into his eyes.
Database Name: 027-PRWL
Nickname(s): The Prowler
Status: Active
Date of First Report: 13/2/2028
Origin: Unknown
Periods of Appearances: Nightly, usually appears and disappears between 1pm and 4pm.
Location of Appearances: Urban areas in Kabira.
Frequency: Once nightly.
Count: One.
Sightings: 25
Casualties: 3
Mortality Rate: 12%
Danger Level: Green
Justification and Safety Measures: Whilst not expressly hostile, The Prowler is still dangerous, as has been evidenced by some unfortunately fatal encounters. As accounts of the creature's behaviour and inherent danger vary from wanderer to wanderer, the general rule of thumb devised by the council so far is to not interact with The Prowler at all should it be in your general vicinity.
Just like the originally issued admonition, it is suggested that citizens of Level 452 stay inside if the entity approaches their home, and additionally, they are to cover all their windows lest the entity's effects be triggered via ocular interaction. The suggestion for wanderers who encounter the entity outside to ignore the entity holds true even more now that more information has been gathered about it. They are also advised to hide if possible, and to not look at the entity should they encounter it.
Physical Description: Verifiable claims have shown that The Prowler is around 1.6m tall and 2.43m long. Its body is quadrupedic, muscular, and has a leathery, yellowish-brown colouration. No real head or neck is present — instead, a white, porcelain mask with a blank stare drawn on it stands in their place. It is particularly distinctive due to its extremely large nose, which juts downwards like a spike from the centre of the mask.
Perhaps the most interesting quirk which the entity possesses is its blade-like limbs, which are unlike those of any identifiable organism both in and outside of The Backrooms. The term blade-like here does not simply refer to the structure of the limbs, rather, the entity's legs (which seem to have two knees each) have a metallic protuberance in the area where the second knee ends. These appendages seem to serve no use other than locomotion, which is odd, considering they seem to cause several issues in the entity's general maneuvering skills rather than aiding travel.
The entity lacks any other limbs and appendages, and save for general discolorations in its skin, it seems to not possess any other notable physical qualities.
Behavioral Description: In terms of its regular behaviours, the entity walks methodically through the streets of Level 452 at a snail's pace. It has not actively engaged any wanderers which it has encountered so far (albeit, it has caused casualties before. See Extranormality description) and is generally silent save for the sounds of its steps.
Extranormality Description: On a lesser scale, it was discovered that The Prowler cannot be photographed or recorded by digital media. Attempts to record it during its nightly treks have resulted in corrupted footage, all-black images/recordings, and other such inconveniences that render the media unviewable. This is, however, not the biggest concern of the council when dealing with The Prowler.
By some means, the criteria of which are unknown, The Prowler occasionally kills wanderers which come into its general proximity. This has never been recorded in media due to the aforementioned anomalous property, however, it is inferable that it is the root cause of several deaths via the mapping of the paths travelled by its converging victim. It is unknown what exactly happens during the process, but all that is left of its victims is a shrivelled up pile of charred meat, which permanently retains a wet, fleshy texture despite what its appearance suggests.
Research is ongoing as to what this process may entail, but all dives into the topic, no matter how detailed they are, have turned up empty-handed.
Relevant Documents
Name: Excerpt of 'The Penninsula' (The most popular newspaper published in Level 452)
Origin: Level 452, 'The Penninsula' HQ
Date: 24/2/2028
Local family horrified by son's mysterious death. Recently documented entity blamed for their death.
25/02/2028, Phineas Bakirtzis
On the night of the 23rd of February, five year old Elijah Admerman, son of Bjorn and Hayleigh Admerman (aged 29 and 27 respectively), was found dead in St Paul's Avenue, a few blocks away from his home.
The burnt corpse, which was found early in the morning by a local taxi driver who has requested that they remain anonymous, looked nothing like a human, which originally lead the driver to assume the corpse was mere roadkill. To their shock, curious inspection lead to them finding human bones and other organic remains within the pile of flesh, which prompted them them to contact local authorities.
Upon the awakening of Elijah's parents, they were dismayed to find their child was missing from his bed, and that his window had been left open the entire night. Their hopes went out of the pan and into the fire when they caught wind of the corpse found in the street near their house, and they were utterly devastated to learn later on that it was indeed their son, Elijah.
The death has not been attributed to any human or well-studied entity, rather, it has been attributed to the newly documented entity (colloquially known as The Prowler by many) since it is the first death of its kind. Once believed to be a possibly docile beast, the now terror-inducing monster's presence seems to be far more distressing than when it was initially documented. The information has cast the entity into a brand new light, and it is not one that is brighter than the one it was previously in.
As research into the entity's ins and outs continues, Bjorn and Hayleigh mourn their lost child Elijah. The service, which will be held at the Greater Tip Chapel, is due to take place early in the morning at 8:00 AM next Sunday. Family, friends, and locals who have spoken to the grieving family beforehand are urged to attend the service in order to support the Admermans in their hard journey onwards.