Profile
Ghoul characters
Uhlir • Pawley • Jacksonville • Gummy • Naled
Physiology Ghouls are warm blooded marsupial like creatures which also display avian traits. They are primarily hairless but can sport thick dark feathers or thin wire-like hair, or both. Ghouls with thick fur or feathering often do not survive as they overheat and essentially cook themselves alive. Their genetic make up varies wildly giving ghouls an incredibly diverse range of features, parent and child can look totally unrelated, or sometimes appear to be different species all together. They can have featherless stubby wings for legs, a thick tail similar to a kangaroo, beaks or muzzles or more often a mixture of the two, ears like an opossum, birdish holes, and many more traits. They can be quadrupedal, bipedal, or most commonly able to switch between the two modes of locomotion. In the past ghouls had a more standardized appearance as only those built for their harsh lifestyles persisted, but in the modern era there are recessive characteristics emerging especially among those who take to living with humans. Some species wide characteristics include elongated limbs and fingers if they are present, dark bird-like skin on the hands and or feet, deep impressions in the arms between the tibia and ulna, fingers tipped in black varyingly hooked claws, large glassy eyes with dark sclera, and prominent but mostly ornamental keel bones. The females will always have a pouch, but occasionally males will too. Their coloration tends to be earth toned with varying levels of brightness, most are rather dull. Occasionally a ghoul will have nearly translucent skin in which one can see their inner workings. Patterning or markings are the norm. Their skin is wrinkled and loose with a great amount of elasticity. It's possible for a ghoul to store fat but the vast majority are primarily sinew with visible skeletal structure. In the past a trademark of the species was grotesque flesh erosion, especially around the face. Ghouls can survive perpetually with open wounds and infection and the smell of festering rot used to be a hallmark of their presence. No one is quite sure how the body continues to function with such grievous injuries, but some suspect it has something to do with their lavish microbiomes and robust immune system which operates as though they are always sick but without causing damage from inflammation. Their high body temperature is a result of this. A ghouls most confounding trait is their metabolism. Their body burns through calories faster than they can consume as it maintains their immune response, causing a ghouls characteristic appetite. This metabolic system increases as they age, leading them to consume more and more as they grow. As a consequence of their unique immune system constantly regulating the bacteria within their body when they die, the buildup of gas from the unmaintained microbiome is so rapid the corpse explodes leaving only scattered bones and flesh behind. This has prevented study of their unique metabolic situation for decades. The spread of bacteria from their bodies is another reason why many species consider ghouls a biohazard of sorts. An interesting facet of their adaptations is the fact that they do not sleep. They enter a state of torpor where most of their biological functions cease and as a result ghouls do not dream. In their human shape, they retain some of these features such as the impressions along their arms, elongated limbs, some patterning, big appetite and high body temperature. They however lose their sharp beaks or teeth and have incisors, rarely they will keep a small vestigial set of canines but long flat teeth is the norm. They lose their dark sclera and gain muddy looking humanoid eye coloration, their eyes have a strange matte shineless quality to them. Ghouls also tend to have thicker nails than the average human which are typically a brown or yellow color. The exact mechanisms behind the change in appearance is not known but it's suspected the differences are to make them look more friendly to humans but the uncanny qualities tend to have the opposite effect. They lack secondary sex characteristics and typically pick whatever gender identity and pronouns they are presented with not caring much about it, though this isnt always the case and its still impolite to assume. Social behavior Ghouls are asocial and react to one another with aggression and territorial behavior. The vast majority of their injuries are caused by a member of their own kind. It's entirely normal for them to attempt to cannibalize one another on sight. Centuries of harsh living conditions have made ghouls staunch individualists, having no benefit from living in groups they often simply cannot understand social species. They lack the ability to read subtle body language or unspoken rules. They do not know how to pick up on sadness or joy, but are adapted to detect signs of aggression across species. Most ghouls are distrustful and hostile to strangers of any species but in the modern era more and more are beginning to make genuine attempts to integrate into various societies, most often human because of their unique relationship with them. They are a minority and are met with harsh scrutiny from other ghouls, as they occasionally gossip in passing when full and reluctant to fight. Relationship with other known species Humans: Ghouls have the most impact on humans and vice versa. Due to the closeness of the two species they are sometimes grouped together in modern era documentation. Ghouls have historically been considered parasites but more recently new behaviors are emerging that is causing some to debate this classification. See reproduction for in depth information. The ghouls who have integrated into human societies display asocial behaviors and higher levels of aggression than the humans surrounding them, but they are capable of redirecting these urges and living relatively peaceful lives. Ghouls without supportive services provided don't last long among humans, the gap between the species can be just too great, but ones with them adjust incredibly well. Ghoul emergence cases are given high priority. Kelpies: Considered a pest species, ghouls are known to stalk waterways with kelpie populations and consume their scraps. This normally wouldn't be a problem but ghouls are known viral and bacterial reservoirs and kelpie populations can be easily decimated by contagious disease. To make matters worse ghouls attempt to prey on the bodies of kelpies which is a MASSIVE aggression towards the species. Particularly desperate ghouls have been known to ambush funerals as they know kelpies are reluctant to touch them. Ghouls are not welcome among kelpies. Vampires: Mostly neutral as vampires themselves are social butterflies on average and will try to blend in with other species. They do not have the issue of grave robbing since vampires cannibalize their own kind during funeral services, whatever is left behind is simply indigestible to them and ghouls are welcome to it. Banshees: One of the species ghouls outright avoid. Banshees live in areas normally inhospitable to ghouls and also are one of the few creatures capable of preying on them. They cannot understand the whims of the banshees and fear them. Bogeymen: These species have a strange relationship as ghouls fear the bogeymen as most species do but bogeymen can either treat the ghouls as pests that prey on their humans to get rid of or another responsibility and treat them rather warmly. At times ghouls' parasitic relationship with humans is weaponized by Bogeymen into getting humans to behave according to their whims. Encounters between these two are rare and poorly documented. Diet Ghouls are adapted to be able to consume nearly anything. They seek out fats and proteins which are most easily found within a carnivorous diet. Ghouls are scavengers more often than active hunters thanks to their ability to endure bacterial siege and need to keep metabolically heavy activities to a minimum. Historically they have been known to raid graveyards, creating many myths about them among other species especially humans and kelpies. They have little to no sense of taste, food tastes "good" to them if high levels of fat and or proteins are present and otherwise bland if they aren't. They will eat anything though and are not picky, they literally cannot afford to be. Because of their rapid metabolism it is nearly impossible for them to be poisoned, which adds more variety to their diets. In the modern era the advent of fast food has quite literally revolutionized ghouls' lives. It is similar to the discovery of penicillin for humans. Cheap, widely available, and easy to obtain sources of both fat and protein is not something they are used to especially in winter months. Despite being voracious eaters, ghouls produce very little waste as their bodies use the majority of whatever is put into it. As ghouls age the demands of their bodies increases until it becomes unsustainable causing erratic behavior in an attempt to keep up which results in their deaths through a variety of means. This is an unavoidable aspect of ghoul aging. Reproduction While being an asocial species, ghouls will put aside their territorial behavior when it comes to the reproductive season. They engage in courtship by goading one another into wrestling matches, without the usual attempts at cannibalism or threat of death. If the male cannot match the female in strength they will be rejected, but if they can the two will agree to coupling. Sometimes less physically active males will bring food in an attempt to win over the female, this has a high chance of working as well. The two part ways shortly after. Ghouls find themselves becoming more antsy as the season nears and can choose to self isolate if they don't wish to participate. Ghouls living in human societies have a similar option and it's not uncommon for them to focus on sports instead of reproduction. Ghouls are brood parasites, instead of rearing their own young they have other species do it for them. In this case, the host species is human. They lay a single large egg that is visually similar to a leathery water balloon and keep it in their pouch, the egg is translucent and one can actually see the fetus inside growing. The egg and pouch combined function as an external womb. Initially young resemble human infants and function similarly to them. Ghouls possess no breasts and their young are born helpless and unable to digest carrion or withstand the infectious touch of their parent. The pouch acts as an effective womb but is poorly designed to protect a newborn from injury without the egg casing. Once the offspring is developed enough to survive outside the egg the parent ghoul finds a human town and slices the egg case open which they store to later consume. They sneak their offspring into the homes of humans or leave them in places humans congregate. They do not spend any time with the infant as it will begin crying immediately to draw in potential caretakers and prolonged touch will introduce harmful bacteria to the baby. Once the infant is accepted by a human it grows as any other human child does. During their childhood ghouls will imprint on whoever cares for them and act out affection even if they do not biologically crave it. They play and laugh and display emotions relatively normally but are incapable of crying as ghouls lack the neurological links to allow emotion based tears. When upset they instead shake and need to run around to get rid of the excess adrenaline in their system. They are often outdoorsy children. A major point of contention with human parents unaware their child is a ghoul is the dietary requirements for the baby. They need approximately 3 times the amount of food as a human baby which can create a financial strain especially in multiple children households. Unfortunately this has led to mistreatment of ghoul children throughout history but it is especially well documented in recent times where the unattended infants are placed into foster care facilities when no parents can be located. Ghoul children stay with their human families for 10-14 years before they undergo a metabolic change that allows them to change into their ghoul shape and run away. If they are neglected, this can happen much earlier and severely impacts the child's chances for survival as well as creating psychological problems for them. Thanks to support and education provided to both human parents and ghoul parents there has been a rise in ghouls who end up staying with their host families until adulthood as well as ghoul parents who are given the opportunity to try to raise their own child. The advent of sanitary procedures and baby formula means ghoul parents now have a choice in what happens to their offspring. This subset of ghouls are a minority but in recent years have been growing in numbers. Human parents who are found to be harboring ghoul children are given the option to keep the child or relinquish it to another human or vampire family who has agreed to take it in. Ghouls almost always only have one child at a time but rarely twins will form in the egg, both come out somewhat runty and need extra care in these circumstances. Lifespan Ghouls mature at the same rate as humans until they hit adulthood at 20 or so and their bodies stabilize. They then age much slower and can live for hundreds of years, but once they hit senior status they rapidly deteriorate and typically die within a few years. Overall they're considered a long lived species, especially those who live among humans with ready access to food and climate controlled dwellings. Near the end of their lives they have a tendency to self isolate. Preferred habitat Ghouls are extremely sensitive to weather, heat and rain causes their bodies to rot faster than they can maintain, and arid conditions dry them out causing their skin to crack open and weep. They prefer cold climates and mid humidity, they thrive during mild summers as it best agrees with their unique bodies. They are found in close proximity to humans or other species which bury or discard their dead. The popularization of both climate controlled structures as well as food availability in all climates means ghouls have more options than ever before. |
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