Nicolae

A Ghoulish Nature

• A ghoul is generally classified as an "an entity that feeds upon human remains." There are many legends regarding such a creature - however, despite differences in lore, there are many aspects of a ghoul that cultures can agree on.
  
  They rob graves, eat the flesh of the dead, and feast on the children that they lure away. A ghoul tends to live within burial grounds or other uninhabited locations. They are shape shifters by nature and frequently take on a humanoid form - sometimes even bewitching and marrying unsuspecting men! Given their obsession with death and their haunting behavior, they are often called spirits, but due to their dissection and disregard for the dead, they are also called demons.
  
  Somewhere between mythic, demonic, and mutant variations of ghouls. The particular island ghouls which his father is descended are living creatures rather than corporal undead - degenerate and feral fae that have gradually twisted into something unrecognizable over the generations and possibly initially, by alchemical tampering. They were very potentially once of jinn nature, but now are tortured shadows of their former selves after centuries of consuming flesh and consummating with the darkest primal forces.
  
  They are a primal race driven by eternal hunger and longing – greedy, spiteful, and envious by nature. A ghoul will take an uninhabited location where there was once civilization and make it their own – highly protective of their plot of land, buildings, and landmarks, they will attack trespassing travelers. They are most fond of graveyards as primary scavengers and carrion eaters, highly attracted to death and decay – rotten flesh is a delicacy difficult to pass up!
  
  

  Ghoul Features

  
  Fae Affinity
  
  Weak To Iron
  
  

  Deal Bound

  
  
  When Nicolae makes a deal, even so much as uttering "sure, I promise", he is bound to keep it. When bound to his word, he must carry out his end of the bargain in order to be released. Until he does so or the bond is broken through interference (e.g. someone dies before he can kill them), he is in the servitude of the individual who took out a contract with him.
  
  This is the only way, however, often the only way Nicolae can come into contact with children – the only method of sustaining his eternal youth.

  
  

  Positivity Allergy

  
  
  Nicolae is “allergic” to light-based magic. This means that not only does he have a great weakness against it, but even something like healing magic would cause greatly adverse affects. Such an ability or spell would heal his injuries, but also bring about a temporary comatose and extended illness.

  
  

  Supernatural Immunity

  
  
  As a demifane, Nicolae has immunity to the majority of "dark" supernatural powers, but not to magic.

  
  

  Functional Immortality

  
  
  This is highly factor dependent and can only be sustained through the lives of innocent children. Nicolae ages and can die like any mortal, but can hold off the process via extending his life span through a form of energy consumption. This also gives him the ability to sense where his life energy sits in terms of lengthiness and health.
  
  While Nicolae appears to be in his early thirties, he is in actuality somewhere closer to eighty or even ninety years of age. When he accepts children as payment in deals (the only way he can ever touch an innocent), he absorbs their life force in order to remain young - he does not grow older as long as he is rich in lengthy life force. When he begins to feel himself aging again he tends to grow frightened and nervous and is compelled by instinctive to seek out a victim. Nicolae strongly fears death.
  
  It would be easiest to view Nicolae's "life force" as an hourglass - an appropriate visual aid, given that when it runs out, he begins to age at a normal mortal pace. While this time keeper trickles normally at a steady rate, the sand on the top being what he has gathered (the youth of a child isn't so much in terms of years as it is a richness, which varies from child to child), there are times when more energy is used up due to the neck of the glass widening as a result of inner or outer forces. There are times when his body or mind, which could be viewed as the lower bulb, require more energy - usually supernatural in circumstance, be it defense, healing, or being drained. There are some methods of weakening or injuring him which will lace the metaphorical hourglass with cracks. This is typical of every mortal, but Nicolae has the ability to actually feel the state of the “hourglass”.

  
  

  Night Enhanced

  
  
  The ghoul side of his nature grows strongest during the dark of the moon. He is perfectly normal physically by furre standards in daylight hours, but the darker it gets and the less source of natural light is shining, the stronger, faster, smarter, and more impulsive he gets. The dark of the moon is when Nicolae will display his peak supernatural strength with every ability and sense heightened.

  
  

  Sickness Expulsion

  
  
  While he isn't as susceptible to illness as a normal mortal creature, especially given his dietary habits, he is not invulnerable to sickness. However, due to his ghoul nature, he has the ability to expel sickness from his body by throwing it up as an extremely viscous black substance. If any creature were to make the mistake of consuming this material before it hardens and begins to decay within a matter of days, they would bring the sickness expelled into their own bodies. The act of expelling illness in this way will leave him severely weakened and in need of a lot of rest for days to weeks depending on how poor his health had been.
  
  NOTES OF IMPORTANCE:
  
  The definition of a "sickness" in this sense is limited to poisons and infectious disease. This would not include non-infectious disease or natural immune responses. It is also very important to note that Nicolae must consciously expel illness; he would not be able to do so if unconscious or if he does not will himself to.

  
  

  Rise from the Dead

  
  
  This focuses on the integrity of his skull, which must not be reduced to ashes. As long as his skull remains safe, his soul will remain contained within and he'll be able to rise from the dead after a full year has passed. Unfortunately, his mind will be damaged in the process.
  
  It takes some time for Nicolae to regain his memories of life before death and he will wake up ravenous. Unfortunately, he does not always regain all of his memories and knowledge - much of it is lost each time he revives, usually the oldest memories and less utilized pieces of knowledge. The remains are left in tatters that feel like confusing and distant dreams, and every time he subsequently revives his mind is damaged further and needs longer to repair. Basically, when returning from the dead after the passing of a year, Nicolae is disoriented and temporarily rendered practically retarded with significant mental damage. It takes him weeks to recover and compose mental stability and proper function. However, there will still be a long remaining confusion due to loss of memory and knowledge – comprehension of language and even skills can be lost.
  
  This has happened more than once in his lifetime! In his ninety or so years Nicolae has been killed at least four times – once by hanging, executed for murder. His revivals are a fascinating, but highly unpleasant process visually involving dark regenerative power; earth, stone, wood, vegetation whatever is at hand at the time of rebirth, will dissolve and become flesh and bone in place of what has long been dust and ash. This strongly appears to be something of an alchemical process.

  
  

  Supernatural Charisma

  
  
  This is a moderately powerful seduction through eye contact, similar to incubus. It is less control and bewitchment and more of a strong suggestion. This won't work in high stress situations!
  
  

  
  

  Bewitchment

  
  
  As though weaving a spell through music, which the alpaca does through a combination of haunting fiddle skills and a surprisingly gifted voice for song, Nicolae can bewitch and lure someone lacking the willpower to fight him. However, he can only focus on one person at a time and it takes someone with a particularly weak mind to fall under his spell entirely – a weak person or a combination of his charisma and his music. If eye contact is made while an individual is falling into bewitchment the results become dramatically reinforced. The sound of his song from a distance will at least sooth and calm, but the closer an individual gets the harder it can be to pull away.
  
  In some cases on the darkest of nights, Nicolae has been able to play a person like a puppet.
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