Curses, Infections, and Changes

Humanity is a tenuous thing. As attested to in countless myths and folktales, it is possible for a human to be transformed, through magic, into something that is more--and less--than they once were.

Vampires very much resemble the regal undead of myth and legend. They prolong their unlives draining the anima-rich blood of the living, and, thanks to their sanguine affinities, are natural blood mages.

Vampirism is spread during the vampire's feeding process. It's not a disease, but a curse, and only affects those who are completely drained of anima by the vampire. Now, normally, this doesn't happen, as vampires can usually tell when their victims are getting close to death, but a ravenous or starved vampire might not have enough control to end their feeding before it goes too far.

A newly spawned vampire is nearly identical to their human self. Their skin is cold and pale, their teeth and fangs, and their fingers claws, but those are all easy enough to hide. Personality wise, little changes, though most vampires are plagued with a ravenous hunger and can't help but see humans as food. Their death and subsequent undeath, however, often leaves the new vampire experiencing a psychological breakdown, which usually ends with them dissociating themselves from humanity to some degree as a way to stay sane.

Ghouls are another form of undead, much like vampire. However, the ghoul curse is much more virulent than vampirism, being spread by a mere flesh wound. If one is not treated quickly, and they die from this wound, they will rise up again as one of the ravenous dead.

A ghoul's transformation is much more dramatic than a vampire's. In addition to the growth of fangs and claws, a ghoul loses most of their body hair, and they end up emaciated, gaunt flesh clinging tight to their bones. However, a ghoul who has fed recently appears more human, with more colour to their skin and more meat to their bones.

Ghouls, like vampires, must feed to get the anima they need to survive. However, while vampires need blood, ghouls need flesh. While fresh, human flesh is ideal, it's also murder, and so most ghouls just eat as much raw animal meat as possible to keep their cravings in check and to prevent the accidental spread of their curse. Occasionally, the craving for human flesh will grow too much, but in those cases, they usually just raid graveyards and steal away some cadavers to gnaw on. Because of this, ghouls are actually somewhat more well-adjusted than vampires, and are less prone to psychological breakdowns--after the initial one where they come to terms with the fact that they're basically a zombie now.

Therianthropes can also spread their peculiar affliction through a bite or other wound, though it's much less likely. Therianthropy is in most cases an inherited condition, passed down family lines. However, it is possible for a werebeast to accidentally spread it to an unwitting human. Nobody really knows for certain how the transmission works. A werewolf might bite a dozen people and only two of them will become lycanthropes, while a third just ends up going rabid and insane. There's no telling what the result will be, but there are certain rituals that a therian can conduct to make it more likely for them to pass on their affliction. Usually this is only done to willing individuals who the therian plans to add to their family, such as a romantic partner or close friend, but there have been cases of some therians using the ritual as a means to get back at human communities who have wronged them.

A therianthrope is a human with the spirit of both a man and an animal contained within their soul. These spirits are often competing with each other, and most natural therians spend their youth learning how to balance both spirits, bringing both man and beast into harmony, balancing the material and the spiritual. A freshly converted therian lacks such training, and thus will usually completely give in to their new bestial side on their first transformation. With training an careful coaching, however, they can balance again, and regain control, never becoming a risk.

Or, in certain cases, they could be left feral and go around slaughtering and maiming at their savage heart's content. Without their spirits being in sync, a feral therianthrope does't share knowledge or experiences between their spirits, and so they diverge into two separate individuals with separate personalities and memories. They might flashes of memories from their other half, but it's hazy, as if through a dream. Thus, the new bestial half of the feral shifter shares almost nothing in common with the human whose soul and body they share--no memories, no skills, and very little of their personality. Of course, a feral therian can eventually be brought under control, but that takes a lot of time and effort, especially if their bestial half has been allowed to grow too strong, it might resent having to share its control with a week human.

Likewise, there is a ritual one can conduct, using the heartblood of a dragon, to take that dragon's might upon yourself and transform yourself into one. However, such a ritual always requires a dead dragon, and so it is usually only used by vile individuals who hunt down dragons solely to steal their power. However, there are occasions where this power is freely given, and a human becomes the rightful inheritor of draconic majesty.

Rituals are also used to make mummies and liches. For a lich, a mage performs the ritual on themselves, severing their connection to life and binding themselves instead to the flows of magic in an attempt at arcane immortality. For a mummy, however, the ritual doesn't have to be willing, and any individual can be sacrificed and remade into a tomb guardian. It's just usually advisable to find a loyal servant or ally for such a ritual, because there's nothing stopping the unwilling mummy from up and leaving their tomb after you and our allies are dust, selling everything except the relics that sustain them, and then going off and enjoying undeath on their own terms.

To become a jinn, you must have your wish to do so granted by another jinn. Most jinn are reluctant to do so, because not only is such a transformation incredibly draining, but it also risks spreading the power of wishcraft to those who aren't prepared for it. Therefor, most jinn will only grant such a request to those who have thoroughly impressed them, such as close allies they have known for many years. Or the jinn could be bound and forced to complete the wish, which is sadly more common.

Most fey are born naturally in Faerie, arising from the dreams and fairy tales of mankind. However, on occasion, a certain human will attract the attention of powerful members of fairykind, and those humans will be brought into the land of the fey. The human might be treated to a grand feast, or offered employment, or invited to a great party, or simply enslaved. Whatever it is, the moment the human accepts the fey's offer, they are bound into their service, and become the fey's servant, plaything, minion, or pet. Oftentimes, the fey leave behind a changeling in the stolen human's place, a construct made up of dreams and memories which can imperfectly ape the lost human.

Over time, the raw, creative energies of Faerie will seep into the souls of the human, warping them and changing their souls. Time works differently on Faerie, and a century of service may be only a year in the real world--or a month, or a day. Eventually, the once-human may escape, or be released from their service, or freed by fey who are sympathetic to humanity, or just let go as their fickle fey masters tire of them. However, by that point, the human would have spent too long in Faerie, and they will find that they themselves are no longer human, but instead newly created fey.

These new fey often have forms that were created, or at least shaped, by their previous masters, to reflect the roles they played in their masters' service, be they guards or cooks or pack mules or living musical instruments. Sometimes their forms can appear very human, other times they are decidedly mystical--a phoenix, a talking donkey, or a living harp. This newly created fey usually remembers the broad strokes of their human lives, but the specifics have been stripped from them, making it more difficult to return to their previous lives. Even their personalities may have changed. But they do retain their soul, and thus their free will.

Much as with the fey, cosmic forces can warp a human into a horror. All newly spawned horrors claw their way forth from the Pit--the End of Everything that lies in the heart of the Netherworld. In the modern era, most of these new horrors are spawned naturally, arising from human fears, or created by elder horrors tossing fragments of their own fear into the Pit to create offspring. Yet, humans can also be twisted into horrors.

On rare occasions, a human, in a moment of pure, mortal terror, will find the Pit opening before them, and they can make the choice to enter the Pit, escape their fear, and be remade into a horror. However, there are some, especially among the bogeymen--the leaders of horrorkind--who take a more active role in the proliferation of their species. These elder horrors will steal away children through their closests and into the Netherworld, where these children will be exposed to their greatest fears and terrors, over weeks and months, until such point that the Pit reaches up to claim the poor soul and remake them into a monster.

A newly spawned horror retains their soul, but little else is guaranteed. Usually, everything from before their transformation is locked away behind a wall of fear and terror, and the horror can only access those things that are subconscious, such as skills and language use. As they become more accustomed to their new natures, and more comfortable with their fears, they might catch the occasional memory that is able to pierce their terror. Usually by the time they have regained full access to their human memories, they have fully embraced their nature as a horror--for good or for ill.

Finally, one reaches the races which share a single transformation point: death. When one dies, one's soul is drawn towards the Underworld, down through the Paths of the Dead. However, there are opportunities along the way to abandon one's fated destiny, and take another path.

Most common are ghosts, souls who reject the call of the Underworld and instead fetter themselves to the mortal plane, becoming spirits who incarnate the idea of themselves. Becoming a ghost is usually a willing transformation, brought upon by a human who wishes to linger on for one reason or another. However, sometimes, a soul isn't granted the opportunity to rest, because of personal trauma or dark magic or a spiritual disturbance which closes the Paths of the Dead in a region. There are numerous ghosts out there who would like nothing better than to end their existence and travel on to the next life, but cannot because of forces beyond their control.

Revenants are closely related to ghosts, and come about when the soul of a dead individual refuses to leave their corpse because there is still a task they must complete--a task which defines them, and drives them to defy the call of the Underworld. This is usually vengence for an unjust death, but some revenants are driven to complete a project, or to protect a loved one. Whatever it is, revenants rarely linger on past the completion of their objective, as they lose the passion that was allowing them to defy death.

If a departed soul is especially virtuous, they may be given an offer by an angel to join the ranks of the Empyrean Host. Such a soul is brought to the Celestial Arch in the angel's Silver City, where it is suffused in the radiance of creation, its vices suppresses, and its soul suffused with the power of good. Angels become beings who embody certain virtues and ideals, and their humanity is mostly cast aside in the process.

Demons are created in something of a sick perversion of the angel's transformation. Whereas angelic transformations are willing, and a mortal always has a chance to decline, for demons, their choices were made long ago. A soul, heavy with vice and sin, does not travel down the Paths of the Dead after death. Instead, it tears its way straight down into the most tainted and corrupt regions of the Astral Plane, where it ferments in its own evil, torturing itself and creating its own personal hell. When this hell is completed, the new demon bursts forth, consumed by its own own evil, its humanity little more than a painful memory. However, not all souls who end up in the Abyss are vile enough to have come there on their own. See, demons often make bargains with people for fame, fortune, power, influence, and other temporal pleasures, in return for their souls--and after death, they collect, and drag that individual into the demon's own personal hell, where the human is tortured endlessly, until they finally break, and let the spiritual evil of the place in to their souls, corrupting them into new demons. Even good and decent people can be dragged down to the Abyss for making the wrong deal at the wrong time, and up up as truly vile creatures.

Finally, there are those rare who end up taking the trip to the Underworld but are stopped before their destination by the Reapers, the guardians of death. Based on some unknown criteria, the secretive psychopomps will offer certain souls the cloak and scythe of the reapers themselves, asking them to abandon their destined fate in return to helping to protect the fates of others. Perhaps not surprisingly most of those the reapers approach accept, and join the ranks of the ferrymen.

An important thing to note about all these transformations is that they are spiritual, and warp the soul alongside the body. The human soul is rather malleable, but the soul of most supernatural beings are fixed. Therefor, it is almost impossible to reverse such transformations--there have been no recorded cases of the millennia, though there are countless rumours. Once one is transformed, it's for the best to learn to live with one's altered fate... as distasteful as that might be.