The Banes (NPC)

Banes are entities created by the Yellow King using energy from Carcosa. He sends them through the thin parts of the Veil, to corrupt the living in this realm. They feed on pain, fear, and conflict, they blur the line between spiritual corruption and outright possession.

When a Bane possesses a host, the individual’s mind often fractures, consumed by visions of a yellow sky, decaying spires, and an unknowable King waiting beyond reality’s edge. Some possessed individuals begin muttering lines from The King in Yellow, painting Yellow Signs, or dreaming of crumbling black towers beneath a stained sky. Severe events often feature multiple Banes, acting in concert to destabilize Savannah’s leylines, weaken its guardians, and spread chaos.

Supernatural scholars and the Freemasons have noted a disturbing correlation between outbreaks of Bane activity and moments when the veil between Savannah and Carcosa weakens. These moments, triggered by tragedies, mass death, or acts of great despair, seem to invite Hastur’s influence, and Banes are often the first signs of his creeping presence.

Banes act as carriers of Carcosa’s corruption, infecting others through violence or despair. Some have been known to whisper phrases from The King in Yellow to their victims, while others compel their hosts to paint or write the sigil of the Yellow Sign. These actions serve to spread Hastur’s influence and amplify his pull on the world.

The Banes’ Growing Threat in 2025

In recent years, Bane activity has surged in Savannah. The city’s history of death and despair, fueled by yellow fever outbreaks, civil war desecration, and more recent events like COVID-19, has created fertile ground for Hastur’s influence.

For many, the Banes are a warning: the King in Yellow is watching, and Carcosa’s veil is growing thinner. Should the Banes’ corruption continue to spread, Savannah may fall, not to mortal discovery, but to madness itself.

Biology

Intellegence

Banes are fully aware and deliberate entities. They are neither feral nor instinct driven creatures, but thinking forces with purpose. Unlike Mora, which hunger, or Anuruk, which hunt, Banes plan. They observe, manipulate, and position themselves strategically to cause the greatest emotional and spiritual damage. Their behavior suggests coordination and shared intent rather than isolated predation. Multiple Banes have been documented operating together during periods of civic unrest or tragedy, indicating either collective awareness or guidance from a higher intelligence. Scholars widely agree that Banes do not act randomly. They serve a function tied to the will of the Yellow King and the distant realm of Carcosa.

Immunity

Banes do not exist fully within the physical world, making them resistant to conventional weapons. Blades, bullets, and blunt force trauma often pass through their forms with limited effect unless the entity has heavily manifested through a host. They do not experience pain or fatigue and cannot be subdued through physical suffering. Mental attacks, fear projection, or psychic influence are equally ineffective, as their consciousness does not operate on human emotional structures. However, Banes are vulnerable to structured magical defenses. Wards, consecrated spaces, ritual circles, and leyline stabilization techniques can disrupt their cohesion and force partial withdrawal. Light based magic and sigil driven banishment rituals are currently the most effective countermeasures.

Senses

Banes perceive the world through emotional and energetic resonance rather than traditional senses. They are drawn to despair, fear, grief, and psychological collapse the way predators are drawn to blood. Areas marked by trauma, death, or sustained suffering act as beacons. They detect weakened minds, unstable magic, and fractures in the Veil with unnatural precision. Individuals often report sudden headaches, nausea, intrusive thoughts, or a feeling of being watched when a Bane is nearby. Electrical disturbances, auditory hallucinations, and localized cold spots frequently accompany their presence. These environmental shifts are considered reliable warning signs of infestation.

Weaknesses

White Sage and Obsidian disrupt its hold.

Warding can weaken its influence, but only exorcism truly frees a host.

Movement

Banes do not travel by walking or running. Their forms slip through shadow, smoke, and thin places in reality. They appear to fold through space rather than cross it, manifesting where the boundary between Savannah and Carcosa is weakest. This allows them to enter sealed rooms, abandoned structures, or ritual sites without physical entry points. Their silhouettes often stretch or distort unnaturally, and their lower forms may dissolve into vapor or darkness. When threatened, they disperse rapidly, collapsing into shadow or withdrawing through the Veil itself. Containment through physical barriers alone is ineffective.

Manifestation

In their unbound state, Banes appear as semi formed humanoid shapes composed of smoke, shadow, and dim yellow light. Faces and limbs may emerge only partially, as if the entity cannot fully maintain structure in this reality. Eyes frequently glow amber or sickly gold. Their outlines waver and flicker, and light bends strangely around them. Stronger manifestations occur when they anchor to a host or location. In these cases, the entity appears denser, more defined, and capable of interacting physically with the environment. Even then, their forms remain unstable and visually wrong, as though the world rejects their presence.

Feeding Behavior

Banes feed on suffering rather than flesh or blood. Pain, conflict, fear, and hopelessness sustain them. They cultivate these emotions deliberately, escalating tensions and manipulating events to produce greater despair. Violence, riots, tragedies, and personal breakdowns strengthen their hold on an area. Rather than killing quickly, they prefer prolonged psychological deterioration. A single corrupted individual may provide weeks of sustenance. Entire neighborhoods can become feeding grounds if emotional distress remains unchecked. Their presence often amplifies negative feelings, creating a feedback loop that benefits the entity.

Attack

Direct physical attacks are rare. Banes prefer psychological and spiritual assault. They whisper intrusive thoughts, induce nightmares, fracture memories, and erode a victim’s sense of reality. When possession occurs, the host becomes a weapon. Through the host, the Bane may commit violence, sabotage wards, or spread symbols associated with Carcosa. In manifested form they can strike with shadowy limbs or draining contact, causing weakness and disorientation rather than visible wounds. Their goal is not immediate destruction but contamination and spread. If resistance becomes too strong, they withdraw and seek easier targets.

Possession

Possession is the primary method through which Banes operate in the physical world. They attach to individuals whose minds are already compromised by trauma, illness, or despair. The process begins subtly with dreams of a yellow sky, distant towers, and an unseen king. Over time the victim exhibits compulsive behaviors, muttering lines from The King in Yellow, drawing the Yellow Sign, or experiencing personality shifts. As control increases, the host’s identity fractures. In advanced stages the individual functions as a conduit rather than a person. Removing a Bane from a host requires ritual extraction and stabilization. Killing the host does not guarantee the entity’s destruction and may simply release it to find another vessel.

Corruption and Spread

Banes function as carriers of Carcosa’s influence. Their presence destabilizes leylines, weakens magical defenses, and encourages further emotional collapse. Victims exposed for extended periods may experience paranoia, hallucinations, or depressive episodes even without direct possession. The Yellow Sign often appears repeatedly in affected areas, acting as both symptom and amplifier of their influence. Multiple Banes operating together can erode entire districts, creating zones of psychic contamination where despair becomes the norm. These areas are considered high risk for further breaches in the Veil.

Durability

Because Banes are not fully material, durability is difficult to measure. They cannot be exhausted or bled out. Physical damage alone rarely disperses them. Their true vulnerability lies in disruption of their connection to Carcosa. Ritual banishment, sigil cleansing, and leyline repair weaken their foothold and force withdrawal. Destroying the host body is a last resort and is not considered a reliable solution. Containment and severance are preferred over brute force engagement.

Behavior

Banes appear most frequently during periods when the Veil thins. Historical data shows increased activity during epidemics, wars, mass casualties, and widespread social despair. Savannah’s layered history of suffering has made it particularly vulnerable. Banes are often the earliest indicators of larger Carcosan incursions. They gather where hope is weakest and defenses are fractured. Their actions suggest preparation rather than conquest, as if softening the city for something greater.

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