Torn Soul

Causes

It can develop only in Halfbreeds , that carry both the soul of Shadowkeepers , including their divine powers and Nocturnis ' shadows, and the soul of Humans. It is caused by extreme stress, both mental and physical, being put on the affected half breed or excessive use of their divine powers, up to a point where it starts damaging their human body, negatively affecting their physical and sometimes even mental health.

Symptoms

It starts out with the affected Halfbreed unwillingly transforming into their demonic formand not being able to transform back into their human form. They end up being stuck in their half-human-half-demonic form, resembling the species of their father, the shadowkeeper. However, they do not posses the elevated strength and unusually fast speed of recovery and healing they usually possess when in their demonic form. Their bodies actually get much weaker and less likely to recover from injury, due to them putting all of their strength into fighting the shadows that are slowly disrupting their souls.
If they continue to use their powers or keep being put under enormous amounts of stress, they start developing more and more features of their species animalistic form, while their mind slowly becomes more like that of a wild animal. They are easily irritated and tend to get more aggressive as the disease progresses. They lose their ability to communicate with other humans or Shadowkeepers like before, and most often forget their emotional ties, even to their closest loved ones. At this point their human souls has already lost control of their body and it is only a small step for them to either turn into shadows of Nocturnis, also referred to as "The Torn Ones" , or full-fledged Shadowkeepers. Horrible nightmares are also not uncommon at any stage of this disease.

Treatment

Treatment is rare and difficult. The only ones that can help the affected half breed to turn into a full-fledged shadowkeeper and regaining their human consciousness and control over their own body are the Veil Reachers, a coven of witches that have developed a huge amount of knowledge about the shadows of Nocturnis and are actually able to control or influence them to a certain extend. However nowadays, the only tribe that still has contact to the witches are the Stormhawks, who are also currently the only ones who still know that half breeds in the process of turning into "Torn Ones" can actually be helped.
More often than not, however, the help comes to late and it is not possible anymore for the half breed to be rescued.

Prognosis

Almost all of those who's souls had become infected with this, have fallen victim to the shadows consuming and controlling their human soul and eventually died, but usually not by the disease itself, but by others that usually end up killing the affected Halfbreed to protect the ones around it.
Some however managed to integrate the shadow into their human souls, which makes their divine powers grow stronger and keep the shadow under control. This is when they turn into full-fledged Shadowkeepers, after going through a complete transformation into the animalistic form of their species and eventually turning back into the more human form of Shadowkeepers.

Sequela

The final stage for most affected shows itself, when their bodies start transforming into a creature of Nocturnis' shadows, still somewhat resembling the animalistic form of their species, turning them into one of "The Torn Ones". Their human consciousness is completely gone, they start acting more like a wild animal and get afraid and aggressive, attacking anything and anyone that might be a threat to them.
If the affected half breed manages to turn into a full-fledged shadowkeeper, they end up much like those who were born as one. The only big difference is that their lifespan is much shorter than that of "natural" Shadowkeepers, while still living almost twice as long as normal humans or half breeds.

Affected Groups

Most often the affected Halfbreeds are those who have not been taught to deal with and use their powers in a proper and safe way. Since most Halfbreeds have been persecuted, excluded from tribes, or even killed, those that get born in current times more often end up falling victims to a torn soul, since no one teaches them the proper use of their powers and the dangers connected with them.

Prevention

The only real way to prevent this disease from developing in a Halfbreed, is educating them in the dangers of their powers and to teach them how to use them to such an extend, that it will not hurt their soul or their body.

History

Back when there were many more Halfbreeds and they were not yet persecuted and supposed to be extinguished, there where both many more cases of torn souls, but at the same time a Halfbreed was much less likely to end up with this condition. This is due to both the fact that the sheer number of Halfbreeds was much higher, but they were also generally more educated and trained in using their powers responsibly.

Cultural Reception

The most common steps to deal with "Torn Ones", developed to be either to kill them or to confine them and keep them looked away somewhere they can't hurt anyone. It is generally accepted as a fact, that once a Halfbreed has reached this stage, there is no way back and they will be stuck in this state of being until they eventually die, either by their physical bodies breaking down, effectively turning them into shadows of Nocturnis, or being killed by others. Many, both humans and some Shadowkeepers already see being a Halfbreed as a disease, which is why to them "The Torn Ones" only represent a natural progression and end-state of this "disease".

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Halfbreeds