Cowering Souls

Another type of lost soul, similar in nature to the Sleepless Souls but these poor souls made the terrible mistake of pledging their service to Timidus, the Lord of Nightmares, and then failing to live up to their end of the bargain in some way or another, not managing to garner enough power or position to simply cross into the Void. Instead these souls are trapped here, caught in the eternal nightmare of unlife, lost spirits stuck in the mental nightmare of their own existential crisis at the state of their existence, and the fears of the last moments of it. They will often seem the shape of a cowering, terrified person, a facial expression twisted in fear. It is impossible to know what they see or saw in their last moments that traumatized them so. However despite this visage, and the desire it might create in some to attempt to help them, these souls are cursed and cannot be helped. Their cowering visage is in part a predatory trick, for they seek to feed on the soul, the courage and bravery of those whom make the mistake of coming to close to them, to try and overcome these fears that they will never be able to beat. Such is the curse of their existence, the only release that can be offered to them is forcing them to cross over to the fearscape of Mount Terror, as they eventually must.

The codex entry in regards to hunting Cowering Spirits from Hunting the Dead, a religious text and treatise of the church of Boran the Bloodhound.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Similarly to Sleepless Souls, there is not a lot to discuss about anatomy in regards to a ghost or spirit. Like all fellow undead entities, Cowering Souls have a disproportionately large amount of Lobhadh within their essence, the manna of Entropy, which is trapped and forced to not undergo its natural cycle of decay and rebirth, the type of manna changing. Entropy is meant to be fleeting after all, not permament. A fleeting state all energy experiences.

Cowering Souls generally have some sort of facial visage and expression of terror or fear. It might be a face caught mid scream of fright. It might be something more subtle, the wide eyed, shocked, lips pursed sort of quiet panick one might experience when they stumble upon something they weren't supposed to see or are suddenly surprised or caught off guard. Or it might be other expressions of fear and terror. Whatever they might be, that is the visage they present as, a terrified, cowering individual, scared beyond reason.

Genetics and Reproduction

Cowering Souls, much like Sleepless Souls, are not born of mere fanatics or cultists, but are born of dark and foul practices, though indirectly. They are born from the souls of those whom swore service as shamans and sorcerers, would be paragons of Timidus, the Lord of Nightmares whom simply did not live up to their bargains for power, and thusly were not granted free passage, or in fact any passage, into Mount Terror. Since the Aether will also reject them, they are left, the mangled, Void tainted remains of what once was their soul, lost and wandering, damned in flux, living with naught but terror and hate for those whom do not feel fear as they do, wishing to shed their fear unto others.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Cowering Souls do not need sustenance as we would recognize it. Instead they simply wish to sap the courage and bravery from others, via their presence, their psychic will, sharing and inflicting the constant terror they feel unto others. They will do this seeking to scare and terrify their victim to death, at which point they will feed on the last bit of their psyche, not destroying their Meanma, their soul energy, but scrubbing the memories of this life from it forever, feasting upon them.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

They are not capable of speaking, as no Lost Soul can, however in the case of a Cowering Soul there remains no real remnants to suggest any functional part of the sapient being whom died to birth them remains. The fear, terror and the hunger and drive to shed them, to try and strip any mortal being they can of bravery, courage and confidence, stripping their essence bare and leaving naught but a screaming and dying exposed nerve, is all that drives them. They are about as mindless as Lost Souls get.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Cowering Souls are seemingly attracted to places associated with fear and terror, places people often would be want not to go. Graveyards, crumbling tombs or long abandoned and decrepit buildings. Thick overgrown marshes or swamps can be another haunting ground of such lost souls. They are drawn to people they sense have bravery, courage and confidence, this insatiable desire to break those traits, to strip them bare and destroy them.

Cowering Soul Base Reference Sheet

Scientific Name

Necromanius Soulis Timor