Editing Ghoul (section)

==Nature==
Ghouls are usually thin, resembling addicts or anorexia victims. They have an air of obsession or addiction in their eyes.<ref name=":1">A fat man, with two women and a man in his company, occupying a bus shelter when the buses had stopped traveling their routes ''days'' ago. All four wore winter clothes, but they had a demeanor like some of the sketchier homeless I’d run into, once upon a time. Little details that made me think of meth-zombies, cokeheads, or anorexic people. There was a kind of look in their eyes, as far as I could make them out, a dark gleam that had a way of working its way into people’s eyes when one single idea dominated their existence.<br><br>Except these things were Others. Their purpose was simple enough.<br><br>The fat one carried a dismembered arm, raising it to his mouth periodically to take a bite.<br><br>“Ghouls are supposed to be ''thin'',” Rose said.<br>[...]<br>The Other stopped in its tracks.<br><br>It drew a charm from its pocket. A necklace or macabre rosary, dangling with finger bones.<br><br>It pointed at the ghoul lying on the ground, the one I’d cut with June.<br><br>The body moved.<br><br>Maggie stepped forward, swinging the sword, taking the head of the ghoul before the undead necromancer could do anything with the corpse.<br><br>Without waiting, she swung again, the blade biting hard into the pavement, and she took the ghoul’s head.<br><br>The braver of the two remaining creatures stared at us. The fat one, still bearing stubble on its face.<br><br>“If you attack,” I said, “We take you to pieces. If you run, I’ll come after you and take you to pieces. Can you communicate?”<br><br>It nodded.<br>[...]<br>It held up two fingers.<br><br>“Second choice?” I asked. “Agree never to harm another living soul?”<br><br>“I swear,” it managed. Even from ten feet away in the blistering cold, I could smell the breath. It was the aroma I might expect from a coffin being opened.<br>[...]<br>The fourth ghoul turned to go. Maggie stepped forward, swinging the sword with both hands. She took its head.<br><br>I met her eyes.<br><br>“It was a danger too, and weaker ghouls can’t communicate on that level.”<br><br>“What was that thing I just talked to?” I asked.<br><br>“Process of elimination says it was a ''greater'' ghoul.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/06/10 Excerpt] from [[Void 7.5]]</ref> They have fangs<ref>The skinnier male ghoul grasped in my direction, trying to get a grip on my coat, baring his fangs. I leaned out of the way. He stumbled forward, and I caught his neck with June.<br><br>The wound froze as I cut through flesh.<br>[...]<br>It drew a charm from its pocket. A necklace or macabre rosary, dangling with finger bones.<br><br>It pointed at the ghoul lying on the ground, the one I’d cut with June.<br><br>The body moved.<br><br>Maggie stepped forward, swinging the sword, taking the head of the ghoul before the undead necromancer could do anything with the corpse. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/06/10 Excerpt] from [[Void 7.5]]</ref><ref name=":2">The fat one carried a dismembered arm, raising it to his mouth periodically to take a bite.<br>[...]<br>The ghouls noticed us, stirring. The fat one had been gnawing on the arm, and when he turned his attention to us, I saw the gleam of white fangs stained with blood. The bone of the arm had been gnawed, a little more pointed.  Maggie wouldn’t necessarily have a problem, but the makeshift knife coupled with his natural reach threatened to let him fight me with more reach.<br>[...]<br>“I don’t know if that’s a concern. These guys don’t look maddened with hunger,” I commented.<br><br>“The contraction of the city is pushing locals out of their usual haunts,” Rose said. “They’re probably trying to find their way back, maybe grabbing some food to keep nearby while they’re at it.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/06/10 Excerpt] from [[Void 7.5]]</ref> and claws that if they are healthy they can conceal, if not these become larger and ever more dangerous. 

Greater Ghouls are comparatively fatter and capable of communicating, with some difficulty, and 'Lesser' Ghouls are thin and can't talk.<ref name=":1"/>

They are essentially dead bodies; they have an immunity to cold, don't need to breathe and have an undeathly stamina.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":2"/><ref>[Chloe] was fortunate she didn’t get tired anymore, exactly.  Not since becoming a ghoul.  She got numb if she was too repetitive and damaged her body, but she was strong and she was tenacious, and [cleaning] was the right kind of mindless activity that worked for her right now.  If she’d eaten more she’d get bored and if she’d eaten less she’d be too feral.
<br>[...]<br>She avoided the thoughts of the church in the same way she would avoid a hunter in real life.  She retreated to safe hiding places, moved carefully and with focus, and she retreated to fight, flight, and freeze.  Freeze was first; she made herself stop hissing and growling with every breath, then stopped breathing altogether.<br>[...]<br>They were faster, probably faster at a run than he was.  A benefit of being a ghoul, and one she was glad for.  Her clawed toes sank into soil and wood without discrimination, finding grip to propel her forward into her next step.  Rough branches and tree bark scraped at her and her tough skin resisted it.<br>[...]<br>They stuck to the darkness in the trees, and she held her breath, drew all Life and energy she could into herself, shutting off some levels of thinking to become a stalking observer.  All of these things flowed out of key points in her, different degrees and types of Life and Self visible and obvious when they came from the peak of the head, throat, heart, gut, or groin, or any of the other spots.  She thought of it as going quiet. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/04/06 Excerpt] from [[One After Another 10.c]]</ref> Some have flesh-rotting bites that never heal.<ref>For ghouls that… well, they pretend to be soldiers that die like anyone might, but when you let your guard down and search the body, they bite you and get a hungry kind of death into the wound?”<br><br>He raised his hand, showing off the cast.<br>[...]<br>The ghoul’s bite had never healed completely. Flesh had necrotized, turning black, and even now, bone was visible in places. He could cut at the rot with a knife, and it would be a red hot agony, or he could let it linger, and he would feel his strength slipping. It didn’t get worse, it didn’t get better, but the dilemma remained. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/05/27 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 6|Histories (Arc 6)]]</ref> Some Ghouls (possibly limited to Greater Ghouls aka Necrophages) retain the [[Necromancy]] they knew in life, which enables them to make use of more abstract ways of feeding, as well as necromantic magic like raising corpses.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":0"/><ref name=":3" /> They tend to have senses relating to Death and Life sensing their presence through smell or sight,<ref>We took them on because they are fairly effective in a scrap, and they can see Life and smell Death.  Their ability to see Life means they can notice many of those who might try to slip through the perimeter.  The smelling of Death means they may notice the aftermath of any trouble caused by any intruders: bodies/dead residents/dead animals. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/new-other-correspondence-1/ Excerpt] from [8.a Spoilers] New Other Correspondence #1</ref>. or being able to tell when someone might die soon.<!--all musette appearences-->

=== Hunger ===
Ghouls can cycle between months- or years-long periods of convalescence (although they will still snack on humans if they encounter them) and brief bursts of mad, rabid hunger that must be sated or they will perish.<ref name=":0"/> Depending on where their personal balance is sitting, they eat either corpses or they scarf down bits of still-living victims they’ve found in isolated spots.<ref name=":2"/>

Most ghouls will have a hunting cycle of some sort, variants can change this pattern of course. If a ghoul is healthy enough they can be active at all times.

=== Weaknesses ===
They can be staved off temporarily by reintroducing them to the cycle of life, using menstrual fluids, using plants connected with life and death like [[Holly]], or funeral rites, done over the prone body or at a distance if you have the ghoul's name.<ref>“Conventional wisdom is that you stave them off by reintroducing them to the cycle of life.”<br><br>“Meaning?” I asked.<br><br>“The go-to answer is menstrual fluids,” Rose said. “Drawn on their forehead, fed to them, ‘poison’ a weapon with it.<br>[...]<br>“Some plants are tied to the cycle of death and rebirth. Holly.”<br><br>“We used holly against the Hyena,” Evan said. “See? I know stuff. You can tell me stuff. No need to leave me out because I’m a kid.”<br><br>“No holly near here, as far as I can tell,” I said. “Not sure how that would work, either.”<br><br>“Funereal icons,” Rose said. I heard her turning a page. “Either done over the ghoul’s prone body or you can do it from a distance if you have the full name of the ghoul. Not going to work. Don’t have any of that.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/06/10 Excerpt] from [[Void 7.5]]</ref> Eggs may or may not be unpleasant to them.<ref>“Ugh,” Evan said, then before I could reprimand him, he said, “What about ''eggs''?”<br><br>“What?” I asked.<br><br>“When my mom told me about that stuff, I remember not ''getting'' it, and she said something about it being like chickens laying eggs. It confused me ''more.''”<br>[...]<br>whipped an egg at the first one to step outside of the bus shelter. I missed, hitting the edge of the glass enclosure.<br><br>The ghoul stopped in its tracks, and the one behind it collided with it.<br><br>It was hard to say whether it had worked.<br><br>Maggie landed a dead-on hit.<br><br>It seemed to startle them more than anything. Part of it might have been our relative lack of fear.<br>[...]<br>Maggie egged the thing, holding three eggs in one hand and whipping them at him one after the other.<br><br>“It’s not really working,” I said.<br><br>“I think it’s working a ''little'',” Maggie told me. She flashed a grin, not taking her eyes off the Other. “He doesn’t like it.”<br>[...]<br>“The eggs totally worked, didn’t they?” Evan asked.<br><br>I wasn’t so sure they had, but it was hard to say. Maybe the other stuff worked because it was human, and the ghouls were closer to humans than not. Were eggs too far removed?<br><br>“Maybe,” I said. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/06/10 Excerpt] from [[Void 7.5]]</ref> Beheading them or cutting their throat also does the trick.<ref name=":1"/> Ways to deal with ghouls aren't necessarily well known.<ref>“We should do something about that one first.”<br><br>The eater.<br><br>“What do you want to do? Kill it?”<br><br>“You can’t kill something dead.”<br><br>“Then birth it or…?”<br><br>“I have no idea how you’d do that.”<br><br>“Yeah,” Verona said. “Bind it?” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref>

Their individual strength is largely dependent on their diet, its stability and regularity. They will have to have some place to sleep unless they don't have a hunting cycle or don't exist while they're hunting.<ref name=cg/>