Ghouls

Ghoul's are a species of undead that are exclusively human prior to their death. Compared to both Zombies and Vampires, Ghoul's have a complex society within human countries and are the only undead species that can reproduce to create more of itself, meaning if a ghoul parents a child, the child will be a ghoul.

## History

Not much is known about the history of Ghoul’s and it is widely debated where they came from and when they were first created. They were discovered in the year of 3050 AF but were not classified until 6100 AF due to low numbers of Ghoul’s until that point and a perceived population boom in the 6090’s. This so-called population increase was actually not such but actually a war between two opposing factions of Ghouls which lead to the exposure of the larger Ghoul population. In reality the Ghoul population in the area of the war decreased by 50%.

A common and frequently accepted theory is that the Ghoul curse was created during the Naether explosion in the year 15BF that caused the pouring of dark magic into the world and eventually lead to the destruction of the Elven empire. It is assumed that along with the Zombie curse, the Ghoul curse poured into the world to infect those who died with sorrow in their hearts.

Though no one truly knows who the first Ghoul was, historians theorize that the first recorded Ghoul was Franchesca Dumont, a noble woman who was diagnosed as being possessed. Upon trying to exorcise her, the priest actually stopped the woman’s heart. She was later revived, though with a changed personality. A few months later her husband discovered her eating the heart of a servant girl. This lead to Francesca's imprisonment and execution by burning. The official story states that Franchesca was never successfully exorcised and still had the demon inside of her when she was burned at the stake, though with modern medical sciences and research in  psychology, scientists believe that Franchesca was likely just psychologically ill after the death of her twin brother and after her heart stopped during the exorcism, she was revived as a Ghoul.

## Physical Attributes

Ghoul's are undead and therefor do not need to breath or even drink water. They do, however, have to eat human flesh to survive-unless they have the sewer taste mutation. Ghoul's, due to slower blood flow, do not naturally heal as fast as humans, usually about five times slower. Ghoul's also do not require most of their organs, only the heart and digestive system. Ghoul's, due to a slow metabolism only need to eat about once a month but a full meal for a ghoul is an adult human.

### Human Food

Technically, Ghoul's can eat and digest human food, though it gives no benefits, causes mild to severe stomach aches that can include vomiting. Human food also causes Ghoul's to become more hungry as it saps up their energy as opposed to providing it. As far as taste goes, human food is rather bland.

### Weaknesses

Ghouls have certain weaknesses, like the fact that they are incapable of eating human food and that they have very slow natural healing. They are also weak to dark magic and can be mind controlled by vampires unless they have the mind wall mutation. Ghoul's also have an addiction to eating human flesh and this addiction can easily spiral out of control

## Ghoul Mutations

Ghoul's are able to gain mutations after they turn into Ghoul's. These mutations are completely random but for the sake of character creation, you can pick what the mutations are. Each mutation costs points and every ghoul has 50 points to be spent on mutations. After this you can buy more points by subtracting from the characters mental state. every point is worth one mental state point. A Ghoul can have a maximum of 90 points. The top row of abilities each cost 5 points, the second costs 10, the third costs 15 and ultimate's cost 30. A character may only have one Ultimate and in each category they can only go down one tree. (Meaning if they have Thick Skin, they can not have Holy Immunity, but they can have Mind invasion)

Thick Skin (1) Ghoul can still be harmed by Krissi blessed weaponry and other ghoul's or sufficient force, such as a punch from a vampire.

Blood Shield(2) Can defend against normal weapons and even high powered guns but enough hitting will eventually break the shield.

Greater Healing(3) a paper cut or mild abrasions will heal in seconds whereas a flesh wound that may require stitches will heal in hours. major organ damage heals in days.

Sewer Taste (4) To sustain themselves on rats alone, the Ghoul needs to eat double the volume of rats as they would humans.

Blood Tracker(5) Cannot see through concrete, lead, or a wall thicker than 7 inches.

Dreadful Thorns(6) Target must be picked before fight and damage is only done to the target by half. The Ghoul still takes half of said damage as well

Shadow Stalker(7) Cannot switch victim at will and must kill victim before they can pick a new a new victim. They also obsess over their victim.

## Psychology

Ghoul’s are pained individuals, whether it be by physical torture, extreme sadness or extreme anger. They usually aren’t going to be happy and tend to have pessimistic views on the world. They tend to have resentment towards humans and even other sentient species and oddly enough a strange kinship with other ghouls. Ghoul’s all have the strong craving to devour human flesh and go mad if they do not sustain themselves.

## Culture

Ghoul’s numbers range from 10 Million to 100 Million in all of Surra and have a general culture that most of them at least somewhat follow. Ghoul’s often do not respect humans or other sentient creatures as they are seen as the reason Ghoul’s exist and why the Ghoul’s suffer. It doesn’t help that these species often hunt down and kill Ghoul’s. There’s certainly a mutual resentment between humans and Ghoul’s. Often times Ghoul’s will even abandon their human family. Ghoul’s tend to care for one another, however, recognizing that they all either died in a state of extreme sadness or were born into having to cannibalize to survive and be hunted down for existing. This is not to say Ghoul’s do not fight as Ghoul’s typically set up boundaries and territories where they determine if other Ghoul’s can hunt there or not. This Territory is often respected and Ghoul’s will ask the owner of the Territory for permission to hunt in feed in that area. These Territories are often the size of Neighborhoods, though if a strong Ghoul or group of Ghoul’s can keep up a larger Territory, they will. Territories can be disputed and if a stronger Ghoul wants to take Territory from a weaker one, they often can successfully do so through brute strength. There are, however, safe zones made by groups of Ghoul’s that allow Ghoul’s to feed or even provide food for other Ghoul’s. These groups of Ghoul’s also tend to mediate Territory claims around the safezone.

Ghoul’s have different words for certain things. For example monster hunters are often called wolves for their tendency to hunt in packs. They also have names for male and female Ghoul’s. Female Ghoul’s are Ghulah’s (Guh-lah) and males are Ghul’s (Guh-l). Calling a male Ghoul Ghulah or visa versa is considered extremely rude. Another Ghoul insult is calling a Ghoul a Gravedigger as it insinuates the Ghoul is not strong enough to hunt and kill but instead robs graves or finds recently deceased humans to eat. A similar insult is Zombie as Ghoul’s despise being compared to the shambling, rotting, corpses that are Zombies. Zombie for Ghoul’s is a very very severe racial slur. They, obviously, do not mind calling actual Zombies such, however. Being called Vampires -rare as it may be- is usually not minded or could even be considered a compliment as Vampires are the apex predators of undead.