The Cerebrean Puppeteer



The puppeteers evolved on a cold, dark world orbiting a dying star. They started off like anglerfish, using a humanoid lure to trick the primitive primates there into getting close enough for the puppeteer to drop from the ceiling and consume the poor creature. Eventually the creatures grew wise to the puppeteer's tricks, so the puppeteers had to evolve new ways of hunting. It started off with lures that shook around, like a person in distress. Then they started mimicking the voices of their prey, luring them in with promises or cries for help.

Eventually the puppeteer's puppet became practically a second body to the monsters. Most of the creatures on their homeworld used a form of thermal imaging vision to see in the frigid darkness. So by necessity the puppeteer's puppet is warm like the body of a mammal, while it's main body is cool, so to most creatures of the planet they appear as humanoids with a faint shadow behind them. Their ability to mimic voices eventually developed into an ability that allows them to emit strange inaudible sound frequencies that affect the emotions of creatures around them.

Eventually the puppeteers far outstripped their original prey in terms of intelligence and ability, building great civilisations in the darkness. They no longer hunt, but instead travel the universe, manipulating and controlling other races with their natural abilities and intelligence, puppeteers in an entirely different sense.