Shaykhu

Legend

Shaykhu refers to an East Tykonian affliction mentioned in ancient hieroglyphs. Its sufferers are known as Jinn, the spirits of the living torn from their mortal coils. Their presence between the living and the dead is an untenable position that requires them to ‘anchor’ to the physical plane. By bewitching – or being entrapped by – a physical object, they grant their host cursed properties. These aspects, to whomever they might be wielded by, are as enticing as they are dangerous. Tread carefully.

Jinn cannot sustain themselves without the assistance of mortals. By leeching the very essence from those who wield them, they “feed”. The more satiated they are, the more powerful they become—but are constrained to the prison that is the physical object they inhabit. No matter how hard they struggle, they cannot free themselves, barring the destruction of the object, which invariably destroys the Jinn within. Past scholars have suggested that a spirit may be freed from these coils, though exactly how remains a mystery.

Fortunately, this affliction is not contagious. While the exact manner through which Jinn emerge isn’t known, there are consistencies between their stories that might allude to it; almost all describe an abstraction from reality before the point of death—often compared to a sudden floatiness away from the body. The cause of death does seem to affect the potential Jinn within, as almost all individuals recount their final moments as traumatic, especially those where the person has “unfinished business” within the mortal plane. Even so, these consistencies aren’t always representative of individual cases and appear far from established rules*/**.
*Becoming a Jinn is an entirely OOC choice.
**Jinn cannot be NPCs, requiring them to be roleplayed by a separate individual, but are not Event Loot.

Attributes

Once a person dies and reincarnates into a Jinn, their presence is not physically apparent in all senses to anyone. They manifest as a wispy avatar of their previous self, minus the lower half, which instead tapers into a sandy tail. These forms are hallucinatory as they’re unable to influence the physical plane in any way until they have possessed an object*, though they are aware of their surroundings. Jinn can speak, but only once they have possessed a physical object, though only those who are currently holding, wearing, or using their possessed object can hear their voice; otherwise, it is moot. In many cases, Jinn-wielders have been described as madmen as they converse with an apparition that isn’t even there.

* As mentioned earlier in Legend, Jinns are imprisoned in the physical object they inhabit. They cannot free themselves back to their wispy form, or they would destroy the object, which invariably destroys the Jinn.  

Jinn can only possess solid objects, such as weapons, lamps, and furniture. Their body cannot be contained across multiple objects, as doing so would invariably rip them apart, which is also why when the object they possess is destroyed, they “die”. Jinn-possessed objects can often be indistinguishable from their typical counterparts, though a starving one’s exterior may become dappled in encryptions and runes. These patterns are often in the language to which the Jinn belonged, but rarely possess any cohesive structure beyond babble. Some scholars have suggested this is a way to lure in unsuspecting victims, which is likely true of the adventurers who found them.

Upon possessing an object, the person the Jinn once was is altered. They don’t remember entirely who they once were – particularly the moments a day before their demise – but retain aspects of their personality and inklings of thought. This has obviously made interviewing them difficult, as they remember few specific details of their previous form.

As mentioned before, Jinn need the living to keep existing*. They leech the very life essence of their wielder from their body, depriving them of vigor and energy. The process of “consumption” can vary depending on the individual, but typically occurs over a prolonged period of months. A hungry Jinn, like one deprived of meals for many moons, may act more destructively by consuming their host within a matter of hours, compared to a reserved Jinn that might take a decade to finish a host. It seems that the speed at which a Jinn finishes its meal is entirely up to it. Whatever the case, their victims are slowly drained of vitality – and soul – until they’re little more than raisin-shrivelled husks*.
* While Jinn are canonically able to survive indefinitely if their needs are met, only Jinn 200 years or younger are playable by everyone—older Jinn are Staff-Only.
** “Consumed” victims are unable to return as Undead or Jinn.

In exchange, the Jinn’s object gains particular supernatural abilities. Jinnblades, possessed weapons, can levitate with their own power for short periods (five (5) turns). This essentially allows it to “fly” at speeds comparable to a person running (18 mph) at the Jinn's discretion. These stints are taxing, and after the short time has lapsed, they’ll need time (three (3) turns) to recuperate before doing it again, dropping to the floor while they regain their power.

Jinnlamps, possessed light fixtures, don’t need regular fuel to burn and can do so even while wholly submerged. They’re able to light the way by dispelling wispy balls of fire that are controlled by the Jinn directly. These can be used to light rooms and also cast a specific glow that reveals hidden Jinnscript. Written using the inkish-black substance produced by fallen Jinn, it’s completely invisible once dried on a surface—except to a Jinnlamp who serves as the only means to read it. In the past centuries, these covert messages have been used to conceal secrets that only the Jinn can help unlock.