Editing Ghoul (section)

== Variants ==
*Standard Ghoul, Ghoul Scion, Branch Ghoul, Family Ghoul, possibly Lesser Ghoul<ref>Faith. Became a ghoul after getting infected by another ghoul. The Death that runs through them can leech into a person who doesn’t have enough Life (because hurt, because other reasons).<br>[...]<br>Sometimes called the standard ghoul, the ghoul scion, the branch ghoul or the family ghoul. Pyramid scheme type power: it flows uphill, you get anchored more if you create more ghouls. At the bottom/if you’re new then existence is hard. As you get higher you get the really strong/dangerous necrophage types. I think they should be called ghoulfathers. No really obvious strengths/weaknesses except the ghoul scion is even better than regular ghouls at making more scions and gets stronger by doing it - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/28 Excerpt] from New Other Correspondence #1</ref> - the most well known type of ghoul with the communicable condition.
**Necrophages, Ghoulfathers, possibly Greater Ghouls - ghouls that are incredibly strong and have access to [[Practitioner]] knowledge.
*Brine Ghoul - an aquatic variant,<ref name=":4">'''Terrence Hegh''' is not an anecdote drawn from ancient times, but a relatively modern example of the unconventional relationship. Awakened, Terrence was forbidden from taking a familiar without family approval. Driven by a fascination with the sea, in part due to his belief that he could reunite with a drowned lover if he could find her body, Terrence met and forged a deal with a Selkie, Graeme. [...] Terrence was ultimately interrupted by the Selkie in the midst of the ritual to revive his partner. Death energies carried him to the edge of death, where he was left suspended, turned into a brine ghoul. The Selkie, too tired to withstand the onslaught of the loose energies, was slain. Before he could come to his senses, Terrence devoured the waterlogged corpse of both Selkie and lover, sealing his fate as a lonely undead creature. - excerpt from [[List of Books#Famulus|Famulus]], quoted in [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/29 Bonus Material: Famulus Text]</ref> presumably having resistance to salt and water.
*Couch Ghoul - those who have stopped living as the natural light of their lives as been eclipsed by the artificial light of some screen, they can scrape by soley on this light with no need to sleep as a typical ghoul does.<ref name=cg>Nibble spent too long on the cusp of barely surviving while sitting in front of a flickering screen. Life gave up on him & Death was not alerted to claim him. Legal authorities eventually wrote him off as dead. The power shut off and when the screens went black he lost his last light and connection to the outside world. Was thrust into Undeath. This is fairly standard for couch ghouls with only some minor differences in context & circumstance.<br>[...]<br>Nibble as a couch ghoul leans more heavily into light/dark dynamic than some other ghoul types. [...] Unlike other ghouls he doesn’t sleep like the dead outside of the hunt phase and is thus easier to contact. Good for us!<br><br>Nibble Gets low level of sustenance from games/TV/artificial light. Like plants & sun. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/new-other-correspondence-1/ Excerpt] from New Other Correspondence #1</ref> Aren't as tied to Death as a typical ghoul is, as a result they're vulnerable to ghosts and similar death based Others.<ref name=Ech><nowiki>[<nowiki/>[[Nibble]]] had gotten walloped by a ghost.<br>[...]<br>Ghouls were creatures of Death, and many ghosts were as well. There were symbiotic relationships in some ghoul clusters with the ghosts of their areas. Being around a ghoul could sustain an ghost well past its usual expiration, and the ghosts could themselves deter [[innocent]]s from the ghoul’s hunting ground.<br><br>Nibble wasn’t so great at that part of things. Chloe had a better sense of the things, and felt more comfortable around them. As last night’s issue with the ghost tearing into him had proven. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/04/06 Excerpt] from [[One After Another 10.c]]</ref>
*Dreck Ghoul<ref name=":3" /> - dreck can mean trash which may mean it is some form of [[Peddler]] ghoul or similar.
*Eater of Unborn - as the name suggests, does something unspecified and grisly to pregnant women. Unlike most ghouls, tied to both birth and death energy. <ref name=":5">His face emerged from the darkness. It was an old man’s face, but it looked like someone had taken the old and baked it in a bit too much. Like those little details that made an old person look old, wrinkles aside, had multiplied. Too many liver spots, too many broken veins. Too many old scars, too much yellowing of the teeth, which were a bit too long as he fixed his eyes on her and smiled rictus-wide.<br>[...]<br>“A variant on a ghoul,” Matthew said, behind her. “Eater of Unborn. He causes women who were pregnant to… have you taken health class?”<br>[...]<br>“The details don’t need to be dwelt on. Ghouls can range from weaker than a kitten to impossibly strong, depending on how well they eat. Most tie themselves to death alone. He ties himself to birth and death both.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/10/06 Excerpt] from [[Back Away 5.2]]</ref>
* ''Ghul obitus -'' more spirit then visceral and able to spend time ''in'' ''potentia'' without wasting energy or leaving itself open for attack.<ref>“A digression: those of you who have attended lectures on the habits of Others may recall that we can have Others who only exist in the context of their nature. The ''ghul obitus'' is more ephemeral than many other types of ghoul, fleeting and vague, with a wide hunting ground and prerequisite for hunting that increase in scope as it gains power. It simply does not truly exist in a real, physical capacity when it’s not active, with no hiding place and no bed, grave, or hovel it rests in where it may be hunted. It is potential energy, an apple held in the air, waiting to be dropped, at which point it will take action for a short span of time, often days, before it makes its impact. [...] The ''ghul obitus'' holds off on existing, hibernating until someone passes through its sphere of influence. This particular ''ghul obitus'' looks for young people who are slowly and inevitably dying and sufficiently detached from everything else. It could be considered a vulture, circling. Some unnerve or terrify the victim in their last moments. Others simply watch, a recurring figure that eases the dying into the realization of what’s coming as they realize nobody else can see this dark figure.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/12/15 Excerpt] from [[Gone Ahead 7.5]]</ref><ref>
We don't know but we can work it out [what makes a Ghul Obitus].<br><br>Ghouls are formed when someone is brought perilously close to the threshold of life and death, and doesn't come all the way back.  We know they're more ephemeral (immaterial), and we know they tend to orbit around targets who they stalk.<br><br>I'd say you could get one from something like someone who loses a loved one and can't let it go, to the point they get dragged toward Death themselves, or even not losing a person, but spending so much time around someone that's dying or on the threshold themselves that you yourself can't have a life and are a shadow of your former self.  That kernel of desire to escape, to have rich experiences, that hunger for the visceral?  Becomes the hunger for flesh. - Wildbow on Discord</ref>
*Near Death Experience (NDE) Ghoul<ref>Second possibility is she is a NDE ghoul or Near Death Experience ghoul. Same story but without the curse. If she nearly died or came to the razor’s edge of Death’s embrace (by being hurt enough or a metaphorical hair’s breadth from hanging/being shot/other execution) and stayed there long enough that could push her to become a ghoul. This state/Otherhood may have allowed her to fight her way free and deal with her captors. I can’t remember the specifics about NDE ghouls. Resilience?<br>[...]<br>Texts at school says NDE ghouls can get stronger as you push them to the brink of Death. Or they may not be more resillient at all, they don’t get as weak as we do when they get more hurt so they keep going right up until they fall over and die for real. They get best sustenance from the recently dead ‘specially if they were scared when they die.<br><br>Best sustenance isn’t “more” sustenance. Is what pushes her closest to balance between Life/Death. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/new-other-correspondence-1/ Excerpt] from New Other Correspondence #1</ref> - caught the attention of Death after narrowly escaping its clutches.
*Profane Ghoul<ref>We don’t know the specifics of her becoming a ghoul but from what I remember two possibilities stand out. The first is that she is a profane ghoul. Nibble’s rendition of her story is that the friends were tied up and made to decide who was most responsible for the offense and they named Chloe thinking she would die. They were released and started on their way home and then Chloe was released & caught up. She later attacked and devoured them. If she is a profane ghoul then she was cursed between the time they were released and the time she was and this pushed her into that knife’s edge state between Life and Death. Curse-oriented origin would mean she is more focused on right/wrong & law/justice & maliciousness.<br>[...]<br>Can’t find the same kinds of details on profane ghouls. They’re a footnote in this book. They seem to be rare. - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/01/28/new-other-correspondence-1/ Excerpt] from New Other Correspondence #1</ref> - comparatively rare form released as part of some sort of vengeance for transgression against the divine.
*Rime Ghoul - arctic variant<ref>Wildbow on Discord</ref>