Soul Siphoners
Often conflated with vampires, Soul Siphoners are a type of accursed being that perpetuates its existence by consuming the life energy of others.
Description
Soul Siphoners retain the appearance of the host, and are generally difficult to distinguish by someone unfamiliar with the possessed. Typically they are given away by behavioral changes rather than a change in appearance. Because the greatest threat to a soul siphoner is the host's loved ones, they are often the first victims though the creature does not need to feed often if it is not expending tremendous energy. Often, these victims will suffer apparent accidents, appearing to die of unrelated causes.If not recognized early on, a soul siphoner can exist for quite a long time, even theoretically living forever. The largest limiting factors are its regulation of energy, and its ability to maintain anonymity. Despite sometimes being called energy vampires, soul siphoners are not affected by the typical weaknesses of other vampires, most notably they are unaffected by sunlight. The more the siphoner makes use of magic, the quicker it depletes its energy. If the siphoner's energy reserves are depleted too much, they can become petrified and the evil spirit is trapped within the body, effectively dead.
Names and Classification
People across the world have given different names to the soul siphoner phenomenon. In the Jade Sea, they are known as Ki Stealers, a name by which some continental monastic traditions have also recorded them. Among the Norskans and Frorlendings they are known by various names which can be translated as soul-killer, breath-stealer, thief-from-Heolster, and others. They are also referred to as hollows in archaic writings, and vampire-related nomenclatures are commonly applied to them as well (e.g. energy vampire, soul leech, etc.).Accursed Existence
Soul siphoners are thought to arise when a living humanoid is possessed by the spirit of a deceased humanoid, often a mage, which then replaces the host's soul sometimes killing the host rather than creating a soul siphoner. Such a transformation is not universal, and it is not widely understood what actually causes someone to become one. Certainly, specific conditions must be required, because records of possessions not resulting in the creation of a soul siphoner abound in religious and historic record—not to mention the anecdotes of adventurers and tomb raiders.Current scholarship suggests some kind of relationship between likelihood of accidental possession resulting in the creation of a soul siphoner and factors such as magical potential of the host and whether proper precautionary measures were undertaken when conducting arcane research or contacting the dead. Such risks were believed to be among the list of reasons for the imposition of the Edicta Imperatoria Magii by Emperor Marko Octavius.
Cure
While many types of curses have had methods developed to lift them, this has not been the case with the soul siphoner. There is to date no reliable procedure to remove the curse of the soul siphoner. Even exorcism carries the risk of death for the host as the proper soul is no longer tethered to the body due to the nature of the curse, and subsequent attempts to resurrect the afflicted cannot be guaranteed to call the correct soul forth.Hunters
Because of their dangerous nature, when a soul siphoner is recognized, they invariably become a target for monster hunters. An order of monks dedicated to destroying soul siphoners and similar creatures have their skin covered in a magic script as white tattoos which glow in the presence of their quarry. These tattooed glyphs are said to protect against possession. Some unscrupulous slayers will attempt to force a soul siphoner to expend a lot of energy in order to deplete its energy to the point of petrifaction.Rumors and Legends
- There was at one time a belief among a sect of mystics that a benevolent soul siphoner could achieve an eternal existence by harmonizing their internal flow of energy.
- Some superstitions hold that petrified soul siphoners can live on as stonecursed statues or gargoyles and that if one touches such a statue, they can come under possession by the evil spirit of the soul siphoner.
- Despite soul siphoners generally being indistinguishable from their host, some stories do tell of loved ones being able to tell through a difference in the eyes or other unique feature.
- Soul siphoners were once believed by scholars to be akin to a type of lich, and perhaps this explains why they are almost universally evil; few good souls would seek to seize control of another by force.
- There is some speculation over whether an animal could also become a soul siphoner, though there is insufficient evidence.
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