Jiangshi

"Those Jiayuanese vampires might look a little awkward, but they'll tear you apart if you're not careful."
-Jace Cartwright, retired adventurer

Vampires are fearsome creatures found in many places in Covenant. In some places, however, like Jiayuan, the undead take other forms, less bewitching but no less deadly. The jiangshi are fearsome creatures-- they are the reason the Jiayuanese fear the dead that don't sleep peacefully.

Basic Information

Ecology and Habitats

Like many other monsters around the world, jiangshi are undead creatures. Unlike many of these undead, they are not bound to any particular place of burial. Instead, they are free to wander, and frequently do so to hunt. They shun daylight, choosing to go out only in the dark of night.
Jiangshi are predators first and foremost, much like their foreign kin. Unlike vampires, however, they don't drink blood. Instead, they feed on the pure chi of the living. It is only through this act that they can experience the life that is denied them forevermore.

Abilities

Unlike some of their undead kin, not much remains of the person they once were. Only the most powerful jiangshi retain even the slightest semblance of their former abilities. Instead, they have only the most basic abilities shared by all their kind.
Jiangshi gain a great deal of strength during their transformation. However, rigor mortis renders them stiff. Their movements are rigid and awkward, and so they tend to move by hopping forward. Still, they can attack with surprising speed and ferocity when their prey is within arm's reach.
The most fearsome ability of the jiangshi is the ability to drain the chi from those they can see. It greatly weakens those it hits, also restoring the terrible unlife of the creature, itself. These monsters live to attack others in this manner and will do so at every opportunity.
Like their foreign kin, jiangshi have their fair share of vulnerabilities. Just like vampires, they are repelled by a strongly-projected holy symbol. They are also unable to stand the sight of their reflection in the mirror, and often go to great lengths to avoid seeing it. In addition, they are also repelled by peach wood, much like malevolent yaogui.

Origins

Many jiangshi arise spontaneously from their graves, although the reasons are not always clear. One thing all of these arisen jiangshi have in common is an improperly tended grave. As such, the Jiayuanese are very particular about their funeral rites to prevent such undead from being born.
Most such creatures instead come from the attacks of other jiangshi. Those that die from the draining of their chi rise as undead creatures themselves. If they can manage to drain the life from a victim of their own, they can become a fully-fledged jiangshi in their own right.

Appearance

The undead nature of the jiangshi is plain for any observer to see. Aside from their obvious rigor mortis, their bodies are shriveled and desiccated, resembling draugr or mummies. Many jiangshi have fangs much like vampires.
Also like vampires, many jiangshi prefer a more upper-class style of dress. They don't like to acknowledge the unnatural creatures they've become. It's not uncommon for commoners to attempt to use charms written on scrolls to attempt to keep them at bay. It's not uncommon for them to keep these scrolls pinned to them.

Behaviour

Like many of the undead, jiangshi hate what they've become. They envy the living, and this has led to bitter hatred. They enjoy causing pain to others, attempting to take pleasure in the fact that they no longer feel pain, themselves. Still, any satisfaction they receive is hollow, at best.
These creatures are also beings of pure hunger, not unlike ghouls and ghasts. However, it is the hunger for chi that drives them, not flesh. It is only through devouring the chi of others that they feel any semblance of life. This is only a mockery of the life they once had, however, and doesn't satisfy for long.

Lifespan

Immortal

Average Height

As living

Average Weight

As living

Geographic Distribution

• Duanjia