Fear // Phobia
"Everyone in this prison has fears, weaknesses I am tasked to exploit to slowly but surely break them all.
And if they have no fears then they have all the time in the world to get implanted new ones.
So many fun phobias to choose from.~"Cabsi Astl, Ghaster of Blackstone
Ghasters are frightening people nobody wants to have as their personal enemies. Unless they are ascended sorcerers, meaning having merged fully with their symbiotic partner, will said arcane spirit encourage them to spread chaos and terror. Sadism runs in the veins of a Ghaster even if the host was the most docile person in the world prior to symbiosis.
The more crafty and ruthless the sorcerer, the more powerful their mind magic.
Illusion // Paranoia
Fear magic was a despised tool of war, but none of the noblemen of Scorzosa would shy away from abusing it to gain an advantage. Important prisoners of the eternal war with Nemthi usually received a certain prison treatment, which rendered them useless to ever return to the frontlines without proper treatment. Ghaster were the usual method of quiet torture, masters of the manipulation and amplification of fears, phobias and traumata. And traumata was the prime target of the tormentors of Scorzosa. Cutting mentally into the cruel memories of war and amplifying every ever so slightly present fear to unbearable degrees. The usual fears to get reinforced like that are the fear of losing someone dear or losing oneself to their own bloodlust. A mental lobotomy that conjures dulling illusions of the frightful past whenever certain conditions were met. In Scorcosa's case re-enlisting in the army. They forced their prisoners of war to the state of a civilian before exchanging them slowly robbing Nemthi of their best men.
Memories are a delicate tool to meddle with. Stomping on them and churning them to a fine paste would fall under the definition of cruelty. Rebuilding the mess with new links, altered details and pressing triggers torture. If a Ghaster invades the mind and spreads their foul seed of fear using weaknesses to their advantage can seriously mess up any living being. If they have access to the fears of a person, having figured out how they tick can they attach trigger illusions to these fears.
A fear of sharp things for example could get enhanced to the eyes recognising such spots with a tainted vision as true menaces, with illusions further sharpening the rusty nail, letting fake memories of infections and pain overtake them or cause a numbing phantom pain as if the nail already dug itself under their flesh.
While these fears still require a visual trigger to bellow up, can especially sadistic arcanists even nurture a paranoid trigger to turn fear into a phobia, causing their victims to actively avoid locations where there would be a possibility for the fear to kick off.
"The usage of Fear magic in the means of war has to be regulated strongly. The crippling aftereffects of mental torture go against everything my teachings of humane wars were meant to accomplish.
The Eternal Counsel sets the usage of Ghasters to cripple soldiers on the list of war crimes."Vigor, god of War
Phobia // Paraphobia
The weak mind is susceptible to new experiences, even weird ones. But only the strongest Ghasters can even nurture this entry point. If the mind falters to these powerful mages can they introduce new custom-made phobias into their victim's life. From phobias that prevent the victim from reaching a set goal to fears that disable problematic abilities all the way to just plain mean nonsensical phobias are everything possible. As they are however alien to the mindscape of the victim can they get removed by any Ghaster psychologist or vanish sometimes even through acceptance. In many magic countries which can't rely on Zabrit to depower criminals, due to the majority of the population being mages as well, are Ghasters used to lock the prisoners in that way out from using their powers.
Considering the results this is a humane use of these powers and therefore allowed by the gods.
But Ghasters can not only do bad things; their ability to amplify fears and phobias gets sometimes used by psychiatrists to treat existing mental issues. Working closely together with a Ghaster, they strengthen phobias in a controlled environment for a limited time. Letting the patient experience hell for a few minutes before resetting the amplification once again. Such overstimulating sittings gradually help in rendering the patient to be able to bear the existing phobia on the basic level much better, sometimes even treating the phobia altogether.
"My psychiatrist has suggested treating my algophobia with the aid of a Ghaster, but I am still far from ready. The traumata of my accident are still way too fresh. Raising my fears would be dangerous, I am already risking passing out when I even imagine somebody getting hurt. But I heard great things from this method ... one day."
Aquired Through
Symbiosis with a wraith
General Name
Ghaster
Symbiosis with a wraith
General Name
Ghaster
Related School
Exotic manifestation of the gate of devastation
Related Element
Strong association with water / strong association with wind
Effect Duration
Depends on the victim's psyche.
Range
In audible reach / touch-based for more intrusive effects.
Physical alternations
Unlike most other symbiosis metamorphs are getting Ghasters at least in this department the short end of the stick. Their body essentially doesn't undergo any change at all to support their quite broken abilities, as they need no support. The only thing that will change is the general personality of the user.
Wraiths only very rarely even consider undergoing symbiosis with a humanoid, being one of the few exceptions of arcane animals, who are not eager to experience completion. Most who manage to become a Ghaster did that via annoying one sch wraith to a symbiosis of spirits.
As the merging is only rarely footed on actual trust and attraction does the wraith everything to actually make them think alike, turning the Ghaster into a sadistic shadow of themselves. But it can work in a different way as well.
Cabsi became pals with a wraith while being stationed in Blackstone to become a warden of the prison. The dark-scaled kobold did everything with the wraith, scaring the prisoners of the levels that are not too sated with zabrit. The relationship between the kobold and the formless mist of pure fright surprisingly deepened so much that the wraith not only desired to become one with Cabsi but that their symbiosis was so perfect that they became one new soul, merging into an ascended mage. And while the new and combined Cabsi was now arguably more sadistic than the freshling warden, turned she in the end more into a prankster and nuisance than an actual threat. As one soul there was nobody left who would have a desire to further corrupt her sadism.
Rarity
Ghasters are rare and highly valued due to the laziness of the already exceedingly rare wraiths. Most fear mages working for kings and leaders to become their torturers are not suited for that kind of free reign over living imprisoned beings. They only become what they get asked to due to the ongoing mind-shift raising their sadism.
Most notably the Ghasters working in Scorzosa to torture the war prisoners of the endless war don't follow any rules but the words of the heads of nobility.
They are unhinged and cruel because their surroundings let them get corrupted down that path.
Ghaster torturers in other countries follow the laws of the gods and are therefore unlikely to actually turn their victims in non-functioning husks of their former selves.
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