Ghoul

Ghouls are a species of cannibalistic humanoids featured in several of H. P. Lovecraft's works, where they feed principally (but not exclusively) on the bodies of the dead. They are first mentioned in "The Hound", although ambiguously, as the word "ghoul" in that story might be intended as just a synonym for "graverobber". The story also mentions a corpse-eating cult based on the Plateau of Leng.
Ghouls are first patently depicted in the short story "Pickman's Model", where the eponymous main character meets with the beings regularly to paint them in various poses and activities. It is revealed in The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath that Pickman is in fact a partial or full-blooded ghoul, and now resides with them in the Dreamlands as a chieftain.
Like the zoogs, ghouls know passages between the Waking World and the Dreamlands that allow them to cross from one realm to another, rather than visiting the Dreamlands while asleep like humans do. In combat, ghouls are known to use items such as headstones and were unfamiliar with other types of weaponry up until their battle with the Moon-beasts. It was here that they first discovered, and quickly mastered, the use of spears and of javelins. With this newfound technology, they were able to annihilate the garrison of Moon-beasts on the nameless rock off the coast of Sarkomand in the Dreamlands.
==Overview==
The word "ghoul" or "ghul" originates from Arabian folklore, where it denotes a creature that dwells in graveyards and devours corpses, sometimes considered a type of jinni. Due to the association with graveyards, many writers have come to use the word in connection with the undead, including Lovecraft himself (: "The Outsider"). However, the creatures most often referred to as "ghouls" in Lovecraft's fiction are mortal beings: a species of canine-like humanoids with rubbery skin, scaly claws, and hoof-like feet, which live in groups and scavenge for corpses, but also hunt live prey occasionally (: "Pickman's Model", The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath).
In Lovecraft's works, the ghouls are an independent faction that have no allegiance to Nyarlathotep and the Outer Gods. Instead, they have treaties with the Night-gaunts who serve Nodens, and side with them in battle against Nyarlathotep's forces (: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath). Conversely, Lin Carter went on to depict the ghouls as servitors of Nyogtha (: "The Stairs in the Crypt", "The Descent into the Abyss").
On specific planets they worship a number of gods such as Baoht Z'uqqa-mogg (: "Mysterious Manuscripts" RPG Module Thomas M. K. Stratman) or Mordiggian (: "The Charnel God" Clark Ashton Smith).
Lovecraft also depicted Yogash the Ghoul as a descendant of Cthulhu (via Shaurash-ho) and an ancestor of K'baa the Serpent and Ghoth the Burrower (: Selected Letters of H. P. Lovecraft), possibly hinting at genetic ties with the Serpent People and the reptilian Little People (Ghoth's species).
Like the Deep Ones, ghouls appear to be related to humanity in some mysterious way. In "Pickman's Model", they abduct human children to raise as their own, and leave "changelings", i.e. ghoul children, to be raised by humans. Like Deep One hybrid children, these ghoul "changelings" look completely human at first, although they might start to transform into ghouls later in life. "The Nameless Offspring", by Clark Ashton Smith, goes as far as to imply that ghouls can also reproduce with humans.
===Biology and sociology===
Loathsome humanoids with rubbery skin, hoof-like feet, canine-bestial features, and long claws, they dwell near crypts and graveyards, traveling via underground tunnels to feast upon the unspeakable delights of rotting remains. 
Due to their appetite for corpse flesh, ghouls are never far from human settlements and live in secret at the edges of civilization. During times of strife and war, when the number of human dead rises, ghouls gather to enjoy the bounty of misfortune. The ghoulish delight for dead flesh is considered by some scholars to arise from an ability to consume the memories of those devoured—the remains of a person containing their essence and memories of life— which are sweetmeats for ghouls.
While ghoul tunnels crisscross the soil beneath human feet, certain deep tunnels go beyond the Waking World and enter the Dreamlands, with ghouls able to pass physically between the realms. Such tunnels, in the main, connect to the Crag of Ghouls that lies above the dark and bone-filled Vale of Pnath where it is best not to tread.
Ghouls have an uncertain relationship with humanity, as, much like humans, each is an individual who may or may not want to entertain a dialogue. Certainly, some are known to have commerce with witches, sorcerers, and those seeking unspeakable pleasures, while others see humans as nothing more than an unprepared meal and readily attack anyone who foolishly ventures into their dark domain. Such curious relationships may in part stem from the lore that suggests humans may transform into ghouls over a prolonged period if certain conditions are applied, and if certain unwholesome foods are consumed. If this lore is to be believed, then in any population of ghouls, a number may consist of those who were once human. If there is a distinction between “true” ghouls and those who were once human, the secret remains unknown, as some speak of all ghouls once being human. Given their propensity for longevity, those who were once human would, after many centuries, would be indistinguishable, with little of their original humanity left. 
Whatever the case, ghoul-tongue comprises sounds best described as “meeping” and “gibbering,” although some—perhaps those of human origin—are able to articulate human tongue when it suits them. 
===Ghoul Cults===
Human ghoul cults exist, offering their members access to “special” banquets where they can partake of forbidden foods. Such cannibal cults seem to operate at all levels of society, from elegant and sophisticated soirées for the jaded and wealthy elite to the dark and earthy gatherings of those at the bottom of the social order, who have little option but to dine upon the free meat available in any graveyard. Most cults of this kind are close-knit and do not readily accept new members, others may be comprised solely of a family unit for whom cannibalism is a tradition. Of course, some groups have dug deeper and become intertwined with real ghouls, developing a symbiotic relationship, with each providing something the other wants: humans can provide protection and discretion for a local ghoul community, while the ghouls can provide access to illicit gastronomical pleasures. 
For some humans, the eating of corpse flesh is the spark that sets them upon the road of transformation into a ghoul. 
For others, it appears the consistent proximity of ghouls alights the change, perhaps aided in part by the consumption of meat “prepared” by the ghouls. In some locales, long-standing ties can be found between humans and ghouls, and who work together to ensure no one interferes with the arrangement they have.
==Gallery==
Category:Sapient Species
Category:Earth-Native Species
Category:Other Supernatural Beings
Category:Species Originating From Lovecraft Circle Works