Heralds are special subpuppets spawned by Howitzers and act as dedicated spotters, distractions, and otherwise supports. A group of Heralds is known as a front or an outbreak.

Heralds are sizable subpuppets, standing at 2' 4" (71cm) with a middleweight build. Their most defining trait is the scaled crest that runs from the tip of their snout to around their eyes. These scales actually continue subdermally, covering a majority of their body aside from the extremities of the legs. Heralds have (relative to most subpuppets) highly developed muscular systems, giving them the ability to partially dig into cover or throw hooves with nearby opponents. Heralds also sport thick mucosal layers in their nostrils, mouths, and throats; they use this mucosa as an attack, but it also protects them from the acrid smoke produced by burning bodies.

In combat, Heralds are the best spotter that nature has to offer. Howitzers will never spawn more than one Herald at a time, but a single Herald can get a staggering amount done. Heralds are durable enough to survive hoof-to-hoof combat with many creatures, but their sneezes are far more impactful, spraying a cone of thick mucus with such force it causes abrasive damage to many common materials.

The mucus that sticks to the target also mixes with the pyroclastic slurry that Howitzer shells contain, mixing and propagating rapidly into a natural napalm. This combines with the accuracy boon that firing within a Herald's range usually provides to Howitzers; a Howitzer with a Herald is more accurate, more protected, and more harmful.

Heralds never leave the direct command of their Howitzer parents, even during peacetime. They are loyal to their parents to the bitter end. They often are used as communications relays, but will occasionally help with the loading of nonstandard payloads, or act as communications relays to improve coordination.

Heralds bear a striking resemblance to Pustules in terms of their epigenetic triggers, with some extra triggers not found in Pustules that explain their distinct looks and different parentage. Attempts to make a Reconcilant spawn a Herald by brute force genetic manipulation have never succeeded, though the similarities in epigenetic trigger structure is usually considered evidence that the Howitzer itself influences the spawn's development, potentially being the cause of the Herald being so genetically similar but so physically different.

Heralds are a bit of a strange case in that they were always just an idea; an alternate specification for Howitzers to make them a bit more interesting. The idea has matured a bit over time, going from "subpuppet again" to being a special one-spawn-wonder that acts like an extension of the Howitzer. Agents have arguably encroached on this identity a bit, though the ways Heralds go about supporting their hosts is still different.

Heralds, like Howitzers, haven't seen many changes over time. They came out fairly well fully-formed, though their support abilities have had clarifications and rewrites as to how they work (for example, Howitzers have gone from just seeing through their Heralds' eyes to having flawless and instantaneous communication with them regardless of distance or conditions). The core concept has remained the same, though: The perfect spotter and frontline support.