GHILAM

Bestiary ~&~ Liber Monstrorum ~&~ MONSTRI VOLUMEN ~&~ World of Darkness -- Pax Romana ~&~ Lore: Ghilan

LEGENDRY

And so the ghul said goodbye to its father and left the
Darkness to wander the world in search of man-flesh. It kept to
the lonely places where man's wrath could not find it, and it
ventured out only when the hunger became too much to bear.

In time, this eater-of-dirt came on a traveler skirting the
green river-land. The ghul could smell his sweat and hear the
rumblings of his voice. It followed the scents and sounds and
watched from the shadows as the traveler set up his tent.
Dressing itself in the raiment of a nubile, perfumed woman,
the ghul wept so that the traveler would hear and come out
to comfort "her" with caresses and tender words. So perfect
was the ghul's disguise that the man did not see its hooves.

Impassioned, the traveler knelt beside the ghul and
implored her to cease her tears. The deceiver spoke of dead
husbands and lonely, fearful nights. The traveler beseeched
God Himself to grant her comfort. At length, the "woman"
bent to kiss the man and his heart melted like butter at her
caress. As he rose to his feet, the ghul drew the human close
in an oaken embrace.

When the ghul returned to its father, there was naught but bones
to mark where the traveler had stood.

DESCRIPTION

A mortal and his companions went to the Underworld in search of one they
had lost. They foolishly trespassed where the living should never go, and the
creatures of the Darkness descended on them. Once they had tasted mortal
flesh, the ghilan were no longer satisfied with chewing on the souls of the
damned. These children of Iblis, Prince of Darkness, went out among
men to tempt and feed. At first, these spirit-things wore the skins of
the mortals they had slain. In time those disguises rotted, so the
ghilan procured other, finer garments. They roved the land on
a killing spree that took many lives. Soon the shah sent his
warriors to capture the ghilan, thinking they were merely
men with dark hearts. The warriors never returned, but the
ghilan learned that they must hide their natures and
stalk their victims with secretive care.

A ghul knows that emotions drive men.
With cleverness, it changes its form, creating
a disguise that lures a victim by preying on
his passions. The creature can become
anything, though its body mass remains
the same, and it can never transform its
mule's hooves. The night-beast cleverly
hides them with flowing cloth or strapped -
on shoes, but cannot change them as it can the rest of its body.

This pestilential thing survives by eating flesh — any kind
of flesh. It is the succulent taste of betrayal, however, that
makes the grandest meal. To prepare such feasts, the ghul
creates a disguise, fosters trust in its victims, then tortures
them when they're at their most vulnerable. These connoisseurs
of misery seem to enjoy the emotions that seep into the
flesh of their victims. A ghul can often be recognized by the
distinctive killings associated with its favored "flavor."

A ghul sometimes stalks its victim for weeks or months in advance,
breaking into the victim's home and looking through his belongings. A
methodical predator, it seeks to learn everything it can about its
target in order to perfect its intended disguise. It may steal a picture
of the one it plans to emulate — a lost love, a dead relative
and practice until the illusion is perfect. With sadistic plea
sure, the ghul chooses the person its victim would most like
to see, then begins its dance.

A ghul's patience has no bounds; the creature takes its
time, giving its victim glimpses of itself, leaving hints, smells
and memories to taunt the victim. Gradually, it spins its
betrayer's web, drawing the victim in, making him believe that
his beloved has returned. Then one day, the ghul shows itself in its
disguise and spins the final strands of the trap. It says all the right words and does
all the right things. It has prepared. Once the victim is caught, the ghul toys with him
for a while, extending its own anticipation, delaying its satisfaction. In the end,
however, the ghul reveals itself for what it is. With bony, pitted claws, the spawn of Iblis
turns its web of deceit into a cradle of pain. The longer the dying, the sweeter the feast.

As a creature not of this world, a ghul has special regenerative abilities. The only way
to kill one is with a single blow. If the attack takes more than one strike, resistance has come
too late. The ghul's powerful connection to the Underworld invests it with new life and the
hunt begins again. Only by incinerating the body can the curse of the ghul be denied.

Though originally hailing from the lands of the dead, ghuls have
adapted to the demands of survival and expansion in the living
world. The foul things procreate by lying with a recently dead
woman. In three days, a new ghul emerges from the corpse.
Three days after that, the "child" has grown to maturity.
Fortunately for the world at large, a single ghul may reproduce
only once each century. Allah is merciful indeed.

FUTURE FATE

They're still out there, rare but hungry....

IMAGE

A ghul's shapechanging ability allows it to
take any form, though its hooves—symbols of its
demonic origin — never change. In its natural
demeanor, a ghul has ruddy skin lined with
pulsing veins. From the creature's waist down,
thick coppery hair covers the legs of an ass;
those limbs end in hooves that shine like razor-
sharp obsidian. Whether it be male or female,
a ghul's sexual organs stand out, bloated and
vulgar, in the midst of all that hair. Even the
female of the species has a penis of sorts (though
smaller than the male's) that it
uses to impregnate dead bod-
ies. Tall, pointed donkey
ears frame the creature's
sculpted, angular face.
Gleaming red eyes, irised
like a cat's, see through the darkness
and into the hearts of men.

MENTALITY

Stolen back from the edges of
Hell, you walk the night feeding on
the passions that led you to that
realm in the first place. You could
call it revenge, I suppose, to feed on
the bodies of sinners like yourself, but
such pathetic rationalizations make for
a poor repast. The fact is, your brief stay in the
Underworld taught you of the appetizing banquet to
be had from human passions. Like any connoisseur,
you have learned that the most
savory dishes mingle the spices.

Judging by your foul habits and grotesque
appearance, a bystander might call you crude.
The truth is quite the opposite. Not ghost, demon
or man, you take the best and worst attributes of all
three. In the beginning, it's true that you may have
been a sewer-rat and a fucker of corpses, but these days you
have learned the joys of sophistication. One cannot eat all
the time, and the hunt (and its attendant dance steps) has
taught you the joys of masquerade. Oh, some of your kind
may leap out and gnaw the faces off their dinners, but you
have cultivated a sense of human achievement. It's fascinating
what you learn when digging about in the remnants of a
human life.

Perhaps the real charm in becoming another person lies
in the assumption of identity — in taking on, if only for a
little while, the trappings of a new life. Or in submerging your
dream-memories of Hell and the horror of your own reflection
beneath an endless tide of new faces, stolen passions and
fresh, deluded meat.

Common Traits

Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 7, Charisma 1, Manipulation 5, Appearance 1, Perception 2, Intelligence 3, Wits 4

Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Empathy 1, Subterfuge 5, Survival 2

Element: Earth (Relentless connoisseur)

Willpower: 4

Health Levels: OK x 2, -1 x 3, -3, -5, Incapacitated (An attack must do all 8 Health Levels of damage at once, after soaking, to Incapacitate a ghul — otherwise, it remains at -5 as long as it continues to consistently take damage. An Incapacitated ghul will rise at the -3 Level once combat is over if it isn't destroyed.)

Armor Rating: 0

Attacks/Powers: Bite for 3 dice, kick for 4 dice; Alien Appearance (4), Bizarre Hunger (4; Human flesh), Human Speech, Rapid Healing, Shapechanger (5), Soul-Sense/Death-Sense