False Banshee

The curse of wailing injustice

False Banshees are undead spirits that rise in the distorted image of a true Ban-Sìthe, which is a Fae being. Unlike a true Ban-Sìthe, which can only ever be female, False Banshees can be either male or female in appearance, and often rise as a result of terrible injustice, such as murder. The Fey consider their own variants of these undead to be a type of Fuath, and call them "Ban-Sìthe-brèige", or Deceiver Banshees. Like a true Ban-Sìthe, False Banshees are famous for their horrifying screams that have the ability to deafen or paralyse their foes.

Description

False Banshees are undead spirits trapped by their need for vengeance and justice. They look as they did in life, but are emaciated and with clear evidence of their cause of death upon their spectral form. If they were poisoned or otherwise killed in another invisible manner, they will have darkened veins upon their forms where the injury or poison was inflicted, such as around the mouth. They appear before observers as blue tinted, translucent apparitions wandering their previous home with little to no awareness that they are being observed. However, upon the hour of their death and for one hour after, they become malevolent. Their apparition turns to a sickly green and they attack any living person that dares to approach them, all the while regularly screaming with an unearthly, deafening screech.

Destroying or Cleansing

False Banshees inevitably disappear once their vengeance or justice has been achieved, either by revenge killing the focus of their hatred or by others enacting that justice for them. Destroying a False Banshee's ethereal form is only temporary; they inevitably reform up to twelve days later, and are usually much angrier in their active phases than before. False Banshees must be cleansed by a Cleric and their essences forced to pass on to the otherworld. This generally involves a ritual invoking purification or cleansing Gods to settle the spirit's troubled emotions, and the Gods of Death and their psychopomps to collect the wayward Soul.

Behaviour and Abilities

False Banshees generally haunt the place that they lived in life, though some will haunt their place of death or attach themselves to an object that they valued in life. For the most part, they wander their area of activity in a trance-like state, completely harmless to and having little awareness of those around them. Attempts to communicate with them during these times will inevitably fail, though some False Banshees occassionally speak in unintelligable whispers that echo through the place they inhabit. During their "Active" periods, which take place upon the hour they died and for one hour afterwards, False Banshees become openly hostile to the living. They actively hunt out those responsible for their demise or downfall, and should that person be found within their abode, they will in turn seek to kill them. They will also attempt to harm, though not necessarily kill, others in the vicinity, perhaps as a way to unleash their rage and frustration at not being able to enact their vengeance.
False Banshees' physical attacks deal cold and necrotic damage, while their scream deals sonic damage, as well as being able to deafen or paralyse their foes, often leaving visibly bleeding ears even if their secondary effects do not take hold. Creatures that cannot hear the screams are immune to these secondary effects. Like all spirit-type undead, False Banshees are ethereal in nature, meaning that they can levitate and fly, as well as pass through solid objects. They are also capable of hiding in the Ethereal Plane, where it is possible to communicate with them.

Ecology

Habitat

False Banshees can be found anywhere that a Sapient can commit unjust acts that lead to tragic death. However, the most famous of False Banshees tend to inhabit large castles or mansions associated with nobility, where treachery and betrayal feature quite heavily as part of daily life. False Banshees can also inhabit objects that they valued in life, particularly if they died near or wearing it. If a False Banshee seems to be following an individual from place to place, it is likely that the being is inhabiting something in their possession.

Diet and Feeding

False Banshees do not need to feed, though may spend time in the Ethereal Plane in order to boost their energies.

Reproduction

False Banshees are wayward Souls bearing grudges and seeking vengeance. They are created when a Soul refuses to follow their assigned path through the Afterlife and instead manifest back in the Material Plane, twisted by the anger and resentment in their hearts. It is rare for a False Banshee to create other False Banshees, though theoretically possible if the False Banshee is able to apprehend the Soul of a person who died by the same hand as they did, before that Soul can make their way to the Afterlife.

Taming, Harvesting and Taxidermy

False Banshees, like most other spectral spirits, leave behind an ectoplasm upon temporary destruction or excessive interaction with the Material Plane. This ectoplasm can be used as a trap lure for that specific False Banshee, or as a component in spells or potions.

Locations of Known Specimens

Meadowhold Manor, Meadowhold, Curtana

The abandoned manor just outside of Meadowhold is said to hold a male False Banshee created by the unjust killing of a stablehand by the former manor owner. The story states that the aristocrat's wife was having an affair and was found out when she got pregnant. Not wanting to name her lover, she claimed that the stablehand had raped her, and the aristocrat killed the innocent man as a form of "justice", leaving the young man's siblings to suffer and die as well. However, the stablehand returned as a False Banshee and the inhabitants of the manor fled, leaving the now-haunted mansion empty. Nobody knows where the aristocrat's family fled to, and the manor has remained empty for the last 70 years, after being relinquished to the city of Sempervirentis by proxy.