These baby-like creatures are physically weak like the human counterparts they resemble, but have exactly none of the innocence.
The Berniunt, or as we would call them, heart-drinkers, come from an at-this-time unknown plane, to some small place of water near where a mother who has recently lost her child has cried out with pain for her baby back. The heart-drinkers need human warmth and life to sustain themselves while here, and to grow stronger for when they return home.
I had just lost my own baby to a miscarriage a few weeks ago, when I saw something floating in the washbasin. Bless the stars, its a baby! Oh goodness me, youre still breathing, love.
Oftentimes the water in which it has landed, so to speak, starts out filthy, but if not, it soon becomes so as the Berniunts body starts shedding decomposing skin in order to attract notice.
There are little gills behind its ears, so it can breathe just as well underwater as in air. This indicates that it comes from an amphibious, if not aquatic, plane.
But, what is wrong with your eyes? Just little slits.. Perhaps the healer can do something about that. Or a priest.
With the eye-slits it possesses, the heart-drinkers do not see shapes and colors, but rather see heat and can trace the veins and arteries in a humans body. The ears are similar, with small, thin cartilage and a crescent-slit, that does not hear most sounds, but can hear heartbeat and breathing superbly.
But, come here, you. Lets see if we can get you warm and dry, and maybe fed something.
-mmm this one smells good-
The Berniunt arrives near mothers who have lost because they know the women are particularly receptive to them, regardless of their appearance. If they are hungry enough, when a human picks up the creature and cuddles it, it will latch on to exposed skin within reach, with the largest vein or artery it can, and a roughly 5 inch long toothed tongue will pierce the skin, draining blood.
Youre hungry, arent you? Well, lets see if we cant do something about that
If they can wait, however, they will, until the female tries to nurse it. Then it will employ the same method to dig through the chest, to where to heart is. Wrapping its tongue around the heart, the Berniunt will pull it out, still beating, and swallow it whole. It will then continue to drink as much or the womans blood as it can before it congeals or the body cools.
In many places, these heart-drinkers are treated as simple myth, or a childrens horror story to keep them from playing with strangers children. In others, it is known all too well how real these creatures are, though little is known about how they come about.
Killing them seems possible by most normal means besides drowning, though the preferred way by most is to burn the foul tainted thing!
It has pale, almost white-blue skin, like that of a drowned human, and some small amount of blondish hair.
When it is burned, it lets off a tremendous cloud of thick red steam, which takes it back to its home. Unfortunately, no one has any reason to suspect this, and are just glad to have it gone from them.