Spirit Eater

For the Spirit Eater and his victims, death is not the end. There are worse things to lose than your life. -- Tuyar's Spirit Guide

The Spirit Eater is an undead abomination formed when a soul resists death through ritual or sheer will, never departing for the Void and instead possessing its own now-deceased body. While animists may intentionally become Spirit Eaters to avoid death, the birth of a Spirit Eater may also occur spontaneously when a willful individual avoids death through the consumption of another's soul. Over time, the Spirit Eater's original soul begins to wither away and must be fed with the souls of other sapient, willful creatures that supplement the Spirit Eater's will.


The Spirit Eater must, therefore, hunt and consume the living. Spirit Eaters are often cunning, intelligent and magically powerful, using illusions and guile to ensnare unsuspecting prey. Spirit Eaters often can shape-shift into animal forms, enabling them to spy on and hunt their victims. Depending on their culture and the means which they used to become Spirit Eaters, they may take on more specific forms such as that of a Wendigo, Vampire, Ipshala, Varkolak or Tzitzimitl.


The origins of Spirit Eaters likely go all the way back to Ebokani of Storlikar, as ancient depictions of such practices exist on the Ebokan Shards and are foundational to the myths of several ancient cultures. The manifestation of animist ritualism These rituals, both latent and deliberate, have become increasingly influential since the many deaths of The Fall.


Spirit Eaters are known to make their lairs in the ruins of the old world, and they are skilled at setting traps to ensnare their prey and stop would-be visitors and hunters. They have a particular affinity for collecting valuable items and trinkets from their victims, reminding them of their conquests, which they hoard in their underground dens. It is thought that these nests give the Spirit Eater some residual power from their former victims, fueling their magical powers.

All Spirit Eaters share weaknesses which can be exploited by those who hunt them. Spirit Eaters thrive in darkness and are weakened by natural and supernatural sources of sunlight. They are afraid of fire and harmed by its effects. Separating the head of a Spirit Eater from its body will incapacitate the body of the Spirit Eater until it can be reattached, making a Spirit Eater's head a kind of 'phylactery.' Spirit eaters are afraid of divine seals and sources of divine power. If banished, they will die the true death, allowing the souls they've consumed over their unlives to enter the Void in some form or another. Disturbingly, this implies that Spirit Eaters are composite entities made out of the souls of their victims, trapped in a sort of false Void in which they are slowly consumed over centuries.

Type: Undead
Subtypes:

• Wendigo
• Vampire
• Ipshala
• Varkolak
• Tzitzimitl