snàgadh

The snàgadh are described in Cruthi oral tradition as malicious faeries that inhabit the bodies of mortal folk and for a time live as the person it possesses while feeding of both spiritual and physical energy. It is unknown how these creatures gain possession of the body, though as with other hostile spirits they are reported to be attracted to people who are overcome with intense negative emotions. such as regret, resentment or hatred. When they gain control over a person they are able to act almost exactly like their victim. However their very loose understanding of mortal folk leads them to oft times let their deception slip. Some have reported witnessing possessed individuals to be very subtlety acting strange. Such as smiling, laughing or shouting at unusual moments, mispronouncing words, being unable to complete basic tasks or saying things they would never otherwise say. For the first two weeks of possession the physical form remains unchanged, after that however as the mortal energy begins to sap away shifts begin to happen. In some tales they begin loosing hair or teeth. In others their limbs begin to contort or skin begins falling off, or in one tale when a man's back became black and segmented resembling large insects. Victims tend to grow aggressive at this stage and will often attack people nearby in order to transfer to a new body. It is possible to remove these spirits with the aid of a specially trained shaman in an intense ritual that can last days. Those who are saved retain only fleeting memories of it, as though it was but a bad dream. They resemble black, malformed winged insects in their truest shape, and can easily be dispatched by throwing them into a godsfire. What remains of those who are not saved is seldom forgotten no matter how those who witness it would try. Twisted husks stripped of life in all ways from body to spirit. When cut open they were left with a hollow blackness covered in oily black growths hard as stone.