Phantoms
Type: Nihil
Phantoms are spirits of the dead powerful enough to manifest in the physical world. They are typically solitary beings, driven by some unfinished business to defy the very laws of nature.
- Abilities: Phantoms are spectral beings. Their physical bodies are dead. Oddly enough, they usually appear completely solid and alive, and can easily be mistaken for a living person. It is only when they begin manifesting their powers that they take on a more deathly visage. As incorporeal entities, phantoms can float, pass through solid objects, and become invisible. Many have limited telekinesis, allowing them to move objects from a distance and to make their bodies feel just as solid as they look. Some can conjure nightmarish hallucinations, assault victims with fear, sorrow, or despair, or drain life force. Most phantoms require a memento to remain manifested in the world of the living; a significant personal object, a part of their body, a person they loved or hated, or a place that was important to them. Many phantoms also discover that they can sustain and empower themselves by feeding on strong mortal emotions — usually negative ones, like terror and grief. Like demons, they are sometimes able to possess the bodies of the living.
- Origin: When a mortal dies, their spirit passes into the shadowy realm known as the Night Sea, where it lingers for a time before moving on to its final destination. These lingering dead are known as ghosts. Phantoms are no mere ghosts, however; either by sheer will or by summoning, they have pushed back into the world of the living. This process is known as manifestation. Because of this, phantoms always have some sort of reason why they haven’t passed on - something that tethers them to the living world - even if they don’t realize it themselves.
- Varieties: There are as many kinds of phantoms as there are living things. Usually, a phantom will still bear the physical signs of their manner of death, such as injuries, but these are often not visible unless they are manifesting their power or emotionally distraught. Some phantoms have monstrous forms as a result of being warped by the extreme emotions governing them. This may be a sign they are in the process of transforming into a demon.
- Personality: Phantoms usually have a singular obsession that keeps them in the world of the living. They aren’t always fully aware of this, however, and may seem listless and lost. With the dark tide of the Night Sea constantly trying to drag them back into oblivion, some phantoms become desperate and deranged, twisting into cruel parodies of who they were in life.
- Visibility: Secret. To most people, ghosts are just superstition.
Phantoms are limited by their overwhelming need to feel alive. Using abilities that reveal their spectral nature, most notably their intangibility and invisibility, make it undeniable to them that they are dead, and quickly sap their will. Most can only use these abilities for short bursts, else they drain themselves completely. While they cannot take physical damage, successful attacks against them also reveal their spectral nature to them, causing a will-draining dissonance. When a phantom’s will becomes too badly weakened, they begin traumatically reliving their moment of death, losing awareness of their surroundings until they vanish back into the Night Sea. They may manifest again when they have recovered.
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