Best Precaution–Complete avoidance.
Second-Best Precaution–Crimson Creeper blooms can be made into a tea which acts as one of two known antidotes to the Creeper venom; however, the vine blooms only once every three years. Blooms can be dried and preserved for up to two decades.
Note: Whether it intends to consume your mind, body or soul, fauna in the Netherworld is ninety-nine percent carnivorous, in one form or another. So keep in mind that if you see a creature, it probably wants to eat you.
Hellions
Location–Everywhere. Anywhere. Never close your eyes.
Description–Hellions can look like anything they want. They can be any size, shape or color. Their only physical limitation is that they cannot exactly duplicate any other creature living or dead.
Dangers–Hellions feed from chaos in general, and individual emotions in particular. But what they really want is your soul—a never-ending buffet. Since souls cannot be stolen from the living, a hellion will try to bargain for or con you out of it. If you refuse—and even sometimes if you don’t—the hellion will either kill you for your soul or torture you, then kill you for your soul.
Best Precaution–Complete avoidance.
Second-Best Precaution–Pray.
Harpies
Location–Found in large numbers near thin spots in the barrier between worlds, but individual harpies can live anywhere they choose, in either the human world or the Netherworld.
Description–In the human world, harpies can pass for human at a glance, as long as they brush hair over their pointed ears and hide their compact, batlike wings beneath clothing. In the Netherworld, harpies appear less human, with mouths full of sharp, thin teeth, claws instead of hands and birdlike, clawed talons instead of feet.
Dangers–Harpies are snatchers. Collectors. They will dive out of the air with no warning to grab whatever catches their eye, which can be anything from broken pots and pans to shiny rings—often still attached to human fingers. Also, they’re carnivores and they don’t distinguish between human and animal flesh.
Best Precaution–Complete avoidance.
Second-Best Precaution–Stay inside or keep one eye trained on the sky and get ready to run.
Note: The best way to escape a Netherworld threat is to leave the Netherworld, though that won’t keep certain species, such as harpies, from crossing into the human world after you. If you are incapable of leaving under your own power, eventually something will eat you. But to help put that moment off as long as possible, here is a list of the most effective evasion tactics:
Find a shelter in rural areas. Netherworld creatures are attracted to heavily populated areas, where the overflow of human energy they feed from is most concentrated.
Fibers from the dissimulatus plant can be woven together and worn to disguise your energy signature and keep predators from identifying you as human and thus edible.