Ghúl
A ghúl (/ɡuːl/; Nemidic: αλ’Γηϋλ, riadicised al’Ghūl) is a monstrous demonic being of popular legend, most noted for its cannibalistic and necrophiliac propensities. Ghúls are unambiguously evil, and said to inhabit deserts, graveyards, ruins, abandoned towers and other desolate places. Originating in ancient Nemedian folklore, they are a fiendish type of djinn (Nemidic: αλ’Τζαηηι, known in the West as “gínís”), believed to be the offspring of as’Shaytana (Nemidic: ας’Σηαύτανα), the “Princess of Darkness” in the Tariq belief system. For centuries, travelers in Nemed have been warned to beware the ghúl and avoid deserted places at all cost.
Etymology
The term ghúl is a borrowed word from the Nemidic γηϋλ (ghūl), derived from γηάλα (ghāla), “to sieze, clutch” from Farso-Nemidic γϋλλα (gūlla), which refers to underworld demons.Characteristics
Ghúls appear similar in form to humans, but with beardless, gaunt, canine-like faces, pointed ears and blood-red eyes, sharp teeth and long claws. Their eyes are weak and very sensitive to light. Their thin, withered skin is a pallid gray to pale green in color, with spidery traces of blood vessels visible within its translucency. Ghúl skin reeks with a putrid fetor and is known to transmit incurable diseases. More scavengers than predators, roving bands of feral ghúls are known to lurk in the deserts and desolate regions of Nemed, and have been reported in many other places throughout the world.
Striped Hiena
They are said to speak a meeping, gibbering language, which some claim to comprehend, although that claim is difficult to assess. They are capable of walking erect on their cloven goat-hooves, but are more comfortable creeping, crawling, and even running on all fours like an animal.
Their taste for human flesh is voracious and their thirst for human blood is insatiable. They are shapeshifters, able to assume the guise of animals, such as hienas, vultúrs or dogs, and also frequently present the illusion of human form and semblance.
Their taste for human flesh is voracious and their thirst for human blood is insatiable. They are shapeshifters, able to assume the guise of animals, such as hienas, vultúrs or dogs, and also frequently present the illusion of human form and semblance.
Habitat
Tradition holds that ghúls have a home in 'ard al'Ahlam (Nemidic: ‘ααδ αλ’Αηλαμ, “Dreamlands”), where they reside on a rocky crag in the Qimam al’Mawt (Nemidic: Ϙιμαμ μλ’Μαυτ “Peaks of Doom”) above the Wadi Hamasat (Nemidic: Υαδι Ηαμασατ “Valley of Whispers”), the lightless chasm into which they cast the scraps of their feastings. A vast sea of bones and carrion covers the floor of the valley, filling it with the loathsome stench of death and decay.From their abode in the Qimam al’Mawt, ghúls travel to the world by way of a labyrinthine tangle of dark, twisting tunnels, invariably reaching the surface in or near a graveyard or tomb, where they prefer to reside in the company of the dead, which also serve as a ready food supply.1 In addition to the stillness of the graveyard, ghúls will also gather in wilderness areas outside of cities, along windswept camall paths in the desert and in long-abandoned structures.
Behavior
Ghúls typically roam in packs of ten or twelve, although solitary ghúls have also been reported. They are extremely fond of preying upon travelers, and have been known to light fires in the desert to lure the incautious away from their companions. Those they cannot kill and eat, ghúls will steal from, prizing gold and silver coins above all other loot.Ghúls are especially fond of feeding upon young children. They will even eat their own young. There are numerous reports of ghúls sneaking into camps and stealing infants from their cradles, substituting one of their own to be raised by the unwitting parents. The fate of the stolen babies is unknown, but the worst is presumed.
In addition to as’Shaytana their mother, ghúls also maintain fealty to their king, Rabˈ alˈGhūl (Nemidic: Ραβˈ αλ’Γηϋλ “Lord of the Ghúls”), who rules from a tower in the Qimam al’Mawt called the Burj-al’Yas (Nemidic: Βυρτζ-αλΎας “Tower of Despair”). Superstition holds that gold or silver coins, known as “Rab’s Tax,” placed over the eyes of a loved one’s remains may protect the dearly departed from ghúlish harm by appealing directly to his avaricious nature.
Traditionally, the only way to kill a ghúl was to decapitate the creature with a single sword or axe blow, as a second strike would only serve to reanimate the fiend. Recent accounts suggest that immolation, electrocution and dissolving in acid might also be effective methods of destroying ghúls.
Cultural References
Ghúls have featured prominently in southern Heberian tradition and culture for many centurís, predating the establishment of the Tariq religion. Folklore involving ghúls was so prevalent, and sincere belief in their existence so widespread during the emergence of Mahbubism, that they are even mentioned several times in the 'Aemat al-Nabu (Nemidic: ’Αεματ αλ-ααβυ “Deeds of the Prophet”), considered Holy Scripture by followers of Tariq.Ghúls first entered the western consciousness with the publication in 1706 of André Guimond’s Les Nuits Némédiennes (“The Nemedian Nights”), a Frankish translation of the ancient Nemedian literary compilation known as Hikayat 'alf-Layla (Nemidic: Ηικαύατ αλφ-Λαύλα “Tales of a Thousand Nights”), a multi-volume compendium compiled over centurís, containing myths, fables, legends and other tales from throughout the region, presented in the form of the nightly recitations of a captive princess. Guimond’s work became so wildly popular that it was soon translated into nearly every western language and remains in print throughout the world to this day.
1 Although ghúls prefer the taste of freshly-killed human flesh, they are not averse to consuming the decomposing remains of recently departed humans, or even other ghúls. In fact, after battle, ghúls have been observed killing and eating their wounded.
Ghúl
DEMONIC MONSTER
Kamra Discovered with the Ghúl
Illustration from The Nemedian Nights
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