Ghast

A ghoul infection is a terrible disease, that usually rots the victims mind and leaves them a slavering husk of what they once were, a feral scavenger with an appetite for corpses. However, sometimes they instead transform into a higher form of ghoul, known as a ghast. This usually happens when the infections happens quickly enough and the victim is strong enough of will. In these cases, they retain their minds, but are still irrecoverably altered by the transformation.
Like their animalistic kin, ghasts are predators with a taste for dead flesh steeped in dark magic. They thus perform well as hunters of the undead and indeed, in places were undead are known to spontaneously rise, ghasts sometimes find cushy positions as protectors. Ghasts also hold command over ghouls, who follow them with single-minded devotion.
Some people willingly seek to become ghasts, to gain their enhanced power, longevity and so on. This is difficult, as the exact factors that allow a ghasts to form rather than a ghoul are still not fully understood. None the less, some success has been had by subjecting people to high amounts of dark magic coupled with a diet of necrotic meat. This is by no means a pleasent experience, but some willingly endure it.
In battle, ghasts are savage fighters, using their prodigious strength to tear victims apart. They often start with their enchanted howl to dim all lights, while commanding their ghoul allies to assist by flanking and ambushing. At range, they will tear apart the landscape to hurl it at the enemy with deadly precision.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Ghasts retain a lot of features from their original form. Teeth and claws usually lengthen notable, the jaw expand and the structure of the body warps to allow for quadrapedal(Or however many limbs they have) movement. Internal organs adopt for a diet of usually decaying meat. The skin hardens into a leathery texture, which offers some protection against light magic. The vocal cords become infused with dark magic, allowing for fear inducing screeches that rob the area of light. Muscle cords strengthen considerably, as natural restraints melt away, allowing the ghast to strike with the force to shred metal armor or hurl objects hard enough to slice through opponents like they were butter.

Genetics and Reproduction

Ghasts can pass on their infection, usually by causing injury, though any unprotected exposure to a ghast's bodily fluid can transmit it. This infection risks converting the infected into a ghoul, or more rarely, another ghasts.

Growth Rate & Stages

The transformation into a ghasts is relatively short, though still painful. The pain caused by the transformation and the alterations happening to the brain often result in a state of feral deliriousness and feeding frenzies. It takes up to a decacycle for the transformation to complete.

Ecology and Habitats

Ghasts prefer to dwell in areas where access to corpses, or even other undead, is plentiful.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Ghasts are necrovores, preferring the dark infused flesh of undead above anything else. If that is not available, corpses, of their former species if possible, is acceptable.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Ghasts can command the loyalty of the bestial @gho and in areas where they are frequent, often gather packs under their command. Ghasts sometimes also collaborate, especially in areas where food is plentiful.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Ghasts, while uncommon, are known to appear on multiple spheres.

Average Intelligence

Enhanced by the vigours of the dead, ghasts grow quite intelligent, with a cold, razor sharp focus. However, their personality also changes, becoming feral and predatory. Those who knew them in life will usually have some issue recognizing their altered personality.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The nose of the ghasts adopt to be especially sensitive to the scent of decay and necromancy, making them skilled trackers of the undead.

Scientific Name

Esuriit Mortuus Major

Origin/Ancestry

Undead

Lifespan

Does not age

Average Height

Varies depending on original species, though overall growth of the body means that the typical ghast is somewhere in the 2.4 to 4.8 meter range.

Average Weight

Varies depending on original species, though overall growth of the body means that the typical ghast is somewhere in the 225 to 1800 kilo range.

Average Length

Varies depending on original species, though overall growth of the body means that the typical ghast is somewhere in the 2.4 to 4.8 meter range.

Average Physique

Ghasts grow in strength and toughness, often becoming both faster and more athletic than they were in life.