Bone Trap

Bone Trap is a necromantic enchantment that binds the subject's Ruh to their bones. While the victim is alive, this is in some ways a boon since the lack of life force in the fleshy portions of the body renders them impervious to physical pain and exhaustion. Unfortunately, it does not render them immune to the effects of physical damage; A poked-out eye will still render them partially blind and a pierced heart will still kill them. If anything, the lack of pain increases the likelihood of the subject damaging wounded tissue beyond the point of repair. What's more, a body robbed of the vital essence of life breaks down more rapidly than one flush with ruh, which causes premature againg and considerably reduces the Bone Trap victims natural lifespan.   The physical death of the body is where the true horror begins. The deceased Bone Trap recipient's ruh remains locked in their bones, allowing them to contine to function normally (aside from any damage caused by a violent death) until the flesh of the body begins to break down. As the body decomposes, movement and speech become more difficult and the victim's senses dwindle and eventually stop working as eyes, ears, and other sensory organs rot away. Presumably once the remaining meat holding the bones together falls away, the Bone Trapped conciousness remains aware of its state but unable to act or sense the world around them. It's impossible to know what happens to the victim once the bones break down (or what happens if the bones are separated), but most scholars believe that the conciousness wears away with the bones, eventually slipping off into oblvion once the bones turn to dust.   Although senseless and unable to physically act, some Bone Trapped souls do find a way to lash out at the world psychicly, creating a jontoragoz ("angry bones"), a sort of haunting that cuases doors and windows to open and shut, items to move about the room (often violently and at high speed), and other telekinetic activity to occur. Locating and destroying the responsible bones is the only known way to end the haunting.

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Oct 5, 2023 03:25 by Tim Day

Awesomely macabre. What a way to go...   I love the idea of the angry bones too. I wonder if any sentient pile of bones out there has managed to retain sanity and their compassion and found a way to continue on as a social being somehow?

Oct 5, 2023 03:53 by Steve Johnson

Thank you! I don't think a well-adjusted pile of angry bones is likely. Being unable to sense or act upon the world around you has to cause some serious metal and emotional strain.