Ethros

## **Visual Description**

Ethros in their natural state look ethereal and roughly Astorianoid in appearance, due to their general appearance in this form they are often mistaken for lost Astorian spirits, however they do have some distinct differences;

In their ethereal form, Ethros do not have a defined lower half of their body, instead it tapers off from their waist into something similar to a tail. Other defining features which would present on a majority of lost spirits such as a face, are missing on ethereal Ethroses.

Even though lost spirits may come in a larger range of colours based on the circumstances of their death, ethereal Ethros may only come in pale white or blue.

When possessing a living being there is no physical change to the host, making it almost impossible to identify when an individual is possessed.

## **Known Abilities**

Ethros are for the most part helpless in their ethereal form, being unable to interact with the physical world or communicate their intentions, their main abilities while in this form is to become invisible or pass through objects.

Ethros are adept at taking complete possession of a single Astorian through a technique similar to Occumancy, where the Ethros encases the host’s soul with its own body and effectively puppets them. Although they can see through their host’s eyes Ethros can also see out of any location on the host’s body, making it difficult to ambush them.

When in possession of a host the Ethros can access any of the host’s memories manually and is able to utilise any abilities they have, such as weapons expertise, technical skills, or casting ability. Similarly Ethroses can view, or hear the current thoughts of other individuals though skin contact.

A majority of Ethroses have keen memory recall which allows them to retain knowledge from previous hosts, and this gives them the ability to mimic voices accurately while possessing a host.

## **Typical Behaviours**

Ethoses have a natural drive to feed off of negative emotions, either from their host or from those around them, they are able to do this even when in their ethereal form.

They are only able to possess those of a heightened emotional state, most commonly stress or shock, as this state causes an individual’s soul vessel to become compacted, allowing for a more successful attempt at smothering the host vessel with their own vessel-like body.

Possession for the host has been described as a sensation of intense burning that subsides after the initial possession, but still remains partially present throughout the duration. The host is conscious and aware throughout the possession, this is mainly to allow for the Ethros to access memories on demand, which has been described as a sensation of extreme cold, and for the Ethros to consume the negative emotions the host may be feeling.

Once in possession of a host an Ethros will attempt to take over the life of their host and over time destroy it. Depending on the understanding of their host, and the Ethros’ personality, destruction of their host’s life may manifest in different ways, such as giving away all their possessions may invoke a negative response in a host who has strong attachments to material goods, or murdering of family members.

Ethros often form attachments to their host, these attachments are usually one sided, and almost always toxic, but some hosts have been noted to reciprocate the attachment if they are joined for a long period of time. If the Ethros is attached to their host they will be less likely to risk them being killed, however if they are not attached they may look to orchestrate their host’s death once they have served their purpose, to then seek to possess someone else.

## **Reproduction/Creation**

The natural way in which Ethroses are pulled from the Under realm when a vengeful Astorian passes away. Revenge can over time stain an individual’s soul vessel, and this staining acts as a beacon which ignites once they pass away, the beacon provides a path for an Ethros to follow into the physical world.

A ritual of malice can be done to force a beacon on a living Astorian’s soul vessel, which attracts an Ethros to possess them specifically, however this practice is highly illegal across all three kingdoms and the knowledge is forbidden.

## **Weaknesses**

In their ethereal form, Ethros can be banished by using most types of offensive casting and runes with an essence draining effect. Additionally, an ethereal Ethros’ invisibility can be bypassed by techniques which allow the viewing of soul essence as they appear as a back and yellow entity.

When an Ethros is possessing an individual, the easiest way to banish it back to the Under realm is by killing the host, as the shock of losing its grip on the now broken soul vessel will force them into being banished.

However, removing the Ethros from the host non-lethally requires the host to be drained of their soul essence to the point of severe soul burn. The draining will force the Ethros off of the host’s soul vessel and back into its ethereal form where it can be dealt with before it is given an opportunity to possess another individual.

Identifying when a host is possessed by an Ethros is extremely difficult due to its lack of physical tells, however trained Spire Seekers may be able to sense the emotional disparity between the Ethros and the host, or notice through essence viewing techniques the slight darkening of the host’s soul essence, as it is being filtered through the Ethros.

## **Trivia**

* The longest known instance of an Ethros possession is 5 years within the Astorian Ferra Preacher, who created a fervent sect of the Earth Maidens whose main goal was rooting out ‘evil’ individuals.
* Ethroses when in a host have dulled senses of touch, and instead rely on their host’s reactions and memories to differentiate pain from pressure.
* While Ethros only seek Astorians for possession the soul capacity of the host does not seem to affect the likeliness for possession.