Sleepless Soul

Though rare, ghosts are not unheard of, though in truth most are not worth mentioning here and are harmless and not really of note. Such is the nature of the Aether. However, lost souls are a different beast entirely. Lost souls, lost spirits, are not merely those whom perhaps just were not ready to cross over, having unfinished business or simply were not yet ready. No they are generally those whom have waited to long and without a physical form have no protection from the taint of the Void within the Aether. Or they are corrupted souls whom were to weak to be welcomed to the Void to become eternal servants within their chosen master's Nightmare Realm. However this does not mean they are weak by our mortal standards and even the most basic spirits are very dangerous. This variety, known as Sleepless Souls, are those whom tried to serve, and have since been abandoned by, Ignavus, the Endless Lethargy. These souls appear as rather basic apparations, appearing as they mostly did in life, though unarmed even if they died armed in combat. They may appear to have armor if that is what they died in, though it has no real effect. The key to identifying them however is the darkened almost empty black sockets wherein lie the barest of pupils and eyes. The sunken hollows of their eye sockets are what give them their name and indicate whom they failed. They seek to feed upon the energy and vim of living creatures, seeking to fill a hole within themselves, a hole they can never fill, and in doing so, can force people into deadly comatose spirals, and even kill them via lethargy.

An introductory paragraph in regards to hunting spirits, and the entry for Sleepless Souls in particular from a religious codex authored by the church of Boran the Bloodhound

Basic Information

Anatomy

How does one discuss the anatomy of a spirit, a ghost. Well there is not a whole lot to discuss. Ghosts, as with all undead entities, have a uniquely high amount of Lobhadh on an Aethyric and magickal level for how they are formed, however they are highly unique according to most magister for they are uniquely also spirits, showing a quite large volume of Meanma, of soul energy, despite the fact that they seem to have an innate vulnerability to radiant energy harming them. They generally are the shape of some sort of humanoid, looking more or less as they were in life, though with sunken eye sockets and looking generally and terrifyingly exhausted. They are almost always in a slouched condition, and for spirits they move very heavily, kind of slowly, as if struggling against their own tired 'body' even though they have no physical muscles to be tired.

Genetics and Reproduction

Sleepless Souls are born of dark and foul practices, indirectly. Specifically from cultists whom do not grow to enough prominence or power under the banner of Ignavus, however only those directly magickally inclined. No mere fanatic or Void-worshipper these, these are the wanna be shamans, want to be paragons of the Endless Lethargy whom simply did not rise to enough prominence and standing, whatever the rules and heirarchy used to measure such things may be. Those with arcane talent whom swear themselves to service to Ignavus, accepting the boons of its power that do not, whilst alive, garner enough respect and attention. Or those whom displease the fickle whims of their chosen Void God. When such peoples die, there is a chance, no more, merely a chance that if the clashing of the Aether and the Void do not rend their soul apart, as they are rejected passage through both, but somehow not consumed, the tain of the Void alters what is left of the spirit energy that once made up the essence of the person they were, and this wretched undead entity is born.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Sleepless Spirits feed off the energy of those fool enough to rest or sleep in their presence, and in fact can attempt to cause people to drift into comatose like sleeps and naps. They feed off the restorative nature of sleep, feeding off the energy it would normally gift one partaking in it, and can just send someone into a comatose death spiral from raw exhaustion from lack of rest. They seem to do this, one would think, trying to find some sembalance of rest they never found in life, given the foul and dark oaths they made. However of course, in proper and twisted fashion when making deals with such twisted entities, once the body has died, there can be no relief for the spirit unless it is utterly destroyed. Only suffering. It is even theorized that vanquishing such a creature damns the essence of their soul to eternal torture in the realm of Ignavus, though this is likely merely only story-telling and theory craft.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

They are not capable of speaking or engaging in most other activities that sapient beings would reference as a measure of true intelligence, however small glimmers of that former sapience do show themselves in how such spirits behave, the largest indicator and example how they can process and determine where they hunt, where they seek their victims. Besides what is outlined earlier in this entry, they often show some remnants knowledge and understanding from the lives lived by the mortal who died to see them born, willingly traveling to haunt and hunt in places that are likely places to find prey for their needs from the memories of that mortal life.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Sleepless Souls do seem to have a penchant, though no real scientific understanding do we have of how or what allows them to do so, but they have this...sensitivity to be drawn to energetic peoples or groups. The rare times one arrives in populated areas, they oft begin haunting areas of high traffic, where people will also sleep. This makes them notorious for becoming problems for inns and bunkhouses, and most ghost stories of such creatures that exist, most rumors that might lead to encountering such an entity do oft lead to some less than reputable, or at best of middling quality and reputation, inn or bunkhouse.

Scientific Name

Necromanius Soulis Lenargii