Saying a botchling's ugly is like saying shit's not particularly tasty: can't say it's a lie, but it doesn't exactly convey the whole truth either." - Lambert, Witcher of theWolf School
Botchlings are perhaps the most repulsive creatures a Witcher will ever have the displeasure of meeting. Born of dead, unwanted babies discarded without a proper burial, their appearance is that of a partially decayed fetus, their unformed flesh twisted with hate, fear and malice. These hideous creatures feed on the blood of pregnant women, driven by mad hunger that most often leads to their victim's death.
A Botchling emerges from its lair at night to lurk by the bedside of an expectant mother, draining the strength and that of her unborn progeny as she sleeps. A women thus beleaguered first suffers from troubling dreams, then fever, delirium and general weakening of the flesh. After a few such nights she is enfeebled and unable to defend herself- it is then the Botchling attacks directly, sinking its long, sharp fangs into her body and drinking her blood until mother and fetus perish together.
A Botchling stands around a foot and half in height, but, when threatened and if gorged with blood, it can change form. At such times it grows into a deformed man, hunched over and striding ape-like, on its forearms. Stronger and fiercer after this alterations, it hurls itself into direct, physical contact, gnashing at its opponent or attacking him with sharp claws.
A Botchling's curse can be lifted by transforming it into a lubberkin- a guardian spirit of the hearth that watches over the family it never knew in the house it could never call home.