The Khalimae are one of a several little known races referred to by the Faunae (and their disciples at Fyrelight) as the “Dark Fey”. In the more colloquial legends of Idryllia, they are oft referred to as Death Masks.
Stemming from the Fey plane, the Khalimae's appearance in Akrylonor is that of a wooden mask. Heavily attuned to Earth Ether, they are able to form bodies out of malleable dirt, often favoring swamps or loosened earth as habitats (again, folk tales attribute the Death Masks to grave dirt specificially). Its is unclear whether they possess a chameleonic ability, or some form of hypnotic suggestion, but they are often able to appear in the disguised shapes of other creatures, to hunt their prey. When revealed however, a Khalimae can, with a good supply of suitable earth, swell up to sizes of twelve feet or taller.
The Khalimae feeds on the life forces of creatures, presumably in both Akrylonor and the Fey Plane. NI its most direct form, this results in a fairly rapid death of the victim. Khalimae also can create replicas of their masks, placing one on a victim that is buried alive in the Khalimae's home soil, and by the next nightfall, its energy has drained to the Khalimae, leaving an empty husk to serve as a thrall. In periodic cycles, the Khalimae can also form a new mask, which can form an offspring in a similar fashion.
The most obvious way to battle the Khalimae is with magic, but failing suuch measures, their masks can be burned in the same fashion as any wood (thoguh folk tales also give mention of ancient Death Masks, whose wood has hardened or even turned to stone). Whether this.destroys the creature outright, or simply banishes its immaterial essence back to the Fey Plane is unkown. A less perilous venture, if not so permanent, is to escape across running water, as the softened forms of Khalimae can not cross such without washing away.