The Skeal

The Skeal are among the most foul of beings in the world. They are creatures of death and destruction, and they are born of pain, and murder.
It is believed that they were first created by the Ynue Yfnar, the dark lord of madness.
His motivations for creating such dark beings are unknown, but it is known that many of the Skeal have since been meddled with further by another Ynue: Orog, the dark lord of vengeance, who corrupted them further.

Reproduction

Skeal are infertile and cannot reproduce on their own. Instead, they need to convert other corporeals. This is done by implanting the soul orb of a fallen comrade under the ribs, next to the heart. This is most often done to newborns, who are the most pliable and vulnerable to the change, but it is possible to do it to an adult.
If done to an adult, it helps if that adult is already a killer, is ruthless, or has a tainted or corrupted soul, depending on what Ynue, if any, was responsible for said corruption.

When the implantation is complete, the recipient will start writhing and convulsing violently, while the soul crystal evaporates and fuses to their soul.

If the change fails, the body of the recipient will turn to ash, leaving only the soul crystal intact.
If the change is successful, the recipient will slowly turn into a full-blown Skeal.

Transformation

This transformation happens differently depending on the age of the recipient.

Infant Transformation
In most cases, the recipient will be an infant. In this case, the transformation will not happen until the recipient is fifteen years of age. During this time, the change in personality can already be observed. The child will be aggressive, ruthless, and have killer instincts.

When they reach the age of fifteen, their bodies will start to change. First, they will lose their fur, if they have any, and then their skin will blacken. Not normal black like the skin of certain regular corporeals with black skin, but the color of soot and grime. Their irises will lose their colors, and their pupils, until their entire eyes have become an even, cloudy white.
Then, what hair they have left will bleach to a pale white.
All these changes will happen before the age of twenty, and when they are complete, the following changes will slowly start taking place: First they will develop thick, tough scales, and then, they will also start growing horns.

They will keep developing throughout their lives, with their skin growing more and more scaly and tougher over time, and their horns bigger and more plentiful.

Adult Transformation
An adult will only undergo this transformation if there is a lack of available infants or if the adult in question volunteers. So only in very rare cases.
The changes they will undergo are the same, but they will happen at a greatly accelerated pace, which is why this has such a higher chance of failing. Most people's minds fight off the changes, which causes death, or their bodies break under the pressure.

Types

There are two types of Skeal, those who were able to escape the changes made to them by Orog and those who did not. Of those discovered on Armir, most of them have been of the latter type.
No matter what race they were created from, they all more or less end up looking the same, and it will be impossible to tell the difference from appearance alone, except if they were born Baskth, on account of the extra set of arms.

Black Skeal

The elder skeal they are identified with all previous markings and signs. Their soul crystals are perfectly round and smooth, and a deep black, with perhaps a slight hint of purple within them.
Skeal are powerful beings, they are all able to access to magic, which will be the type of magic they would have been able to use if they stayed their birth race, and they have greatly extended lifespans.

Red Skeal

The younger Skeal are those cursed by Orog. They are much the same as their black counterparts, and have all the same attributes and more.
Their transformation is much the same as the standard, but their bodies deform as well after the age of thirty. along with scales, they develop tough growths. And as they get older, their lust for blood grows. Whenever they kill, their eyes become a little redder, and the redder their eyes, the longer they will be able to stave off their maddness, but the red fades slowly. By the time they are fifty, if they have not killed, they will have completely lost themselves to insanity, and by the time they turn one hundred years old, they will need to kill at least one person per year to stay sane. At one hundred and fifty, this is one per month, and at two hundred, it is one per day.
Still, it never wards the insanity off completely, and especially at older ages, red skeal suffer greatly from a degrading mental state, involving hallucinations, tantrums, and seizures.
Their soul crystals are also distinctly different, they will be a dark red color, and while smooth, they will be flat and have a seemingly random shape.

History

It is believed that the skeal were frst created millenia ago by the Ynue Yfnar, for the sake of sowing chaos, and they were then cursed a long time after that by Orog, for some unknown reason. It is believed that they were first created for the Felmer, because there are meny sects of Skeal who see it as tradition to kidnap Felmer newborns, and swear that the tradition is as old as memory goes back.
They do now also take Nalsai and Baskth infants though.

Home

They have several bastions, but all are hidded away deep in the mountains on tall peaks, where none can ever hope to defeat them. The most famous is located between Lanisai and Nalsai'ia, and is called Uskh'Afar