[Spirit of Carnage]

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The Book of Spirits: Spirits of Carnage

Origin and Powers

Spirits of Carnage visits those of troubled and tainted souls and whisper words of evil and wickedness. They can come in different forms, but all Spirits of Carnage are characterised by the multitude of eyes on their wings, and their ability to lend their hosts the power of foresight. The spirit offers the host the power to glimpse the future of a person in the lense of its many eyes. The more the host is willing to forfeit his body, the more eyes (and therefore more power) they are able to harness. Tread carefully however, as the more frequent one borrow's the spirit's power, the more they sacrifice their bodies until the spirit completely devours the soul and take complete control over the vessal. Although the spirit possesses such power, they themselves are not able to use it as they do not have a physical body. They are only able to seek out potential hosts through feeling their essence of chaos (the dark energy they emit). Cunning and successful Spirits of Carnage are able to fully take over and possess their hosts body to use as they wish (until the host's body dies, in which they will have to repeat the process over again). The more bodies a spirit has possessed in their lifetime, the more powerful they will be (and therefore the more power they can lend to their hosts). Though not much have been documented of these spirits, there have been a few cases where they are observed to be able to control and harness dark energy itself. Some of the eldest spirits are so powerful that a single high priest will not be enough to exorcise them, and often powerful spirits in possession of a body require a council to the most powerful priests and warriors to defeat them. 

Weaknesses

Although they may be powerful, these spirits also have many weaknesses. Though there are no sources that indicate their origin, these spirits are also far and few in between. It is rare to see two spirits appear in the same decade, and a simple novice priest is enough to exorcise a young spirit without harming the host. Those of strong willpower will also be more resistant to a spirit's possession, and without a body to possess (to feed off their dark energy), a spirit can grow weaker and weaker until it eventually disappears. That is why when a powerful, elder spirit of carnage appears, the phenomena is often represented as a sign of calamity. However, if a spirit of carnage is not able to be fully exorcised, they can inhabit another host and feed off their dark energy until they fully recover. This can often happen without the host noticing if the spirit does not exert it's power or influence over the host, and side effects of energy drain are often not obvious and passed off as physical ills. Once they recover, they are guaranteed to return to wreck havoc once more.

How to identify possession

One can identify someone who is possessed by a spirit by their sclera (the whites of the eyes) and the colour of their iris. When a host is using the spirit's power (or when a host is fully possessed by a spirit), their sclera turns black, and their iris will glow an eerie crimson. A less obvious characteristic is an odd change in behaviour exhibited by the host whenever they are being possessed by a spirit or borrowing a spirit's power. Cunning hosts can identify when they have been possessed by seeking out missing/lapsed memories.

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