Dragon

Land of Karchan

The Haunt

Contents

What is a Haunt?

Haunts are individuals who possess a black dog form, similar to werewolves, but are distant cousins of them. They are direct descendants of Kulanin, the God of Shapes, and born of Pela, Daughter of Karn, Celestial of the Afterworld. Half of their divine parentage makes them a good-aligned race that are cousins to the Calenwolves. Though once believed to be a dying breed, many Haunts have recently reappeared to join the pack formed in central Karchan.

Distinguishing Features of Haunts

  • Glowing Eyes: Males have red glowing eyes and females have blue. The only exception is Aine's Line, whose members have glowing, white-voided eyes.
  • Poisonous Fangs: Their long, thick canines drip a potent venom. A bite or kiss is often fatal unless bonded with the Haunt. The venom does not originate from the fangs themselves.
  • Dog Form: In their Haunt form, they resemble large black malamutes, distinguishable by their glowing eyes.
  • Female Haunts: In their human form, female haunts have black-stained lips from their venom. Males do not exhibit this trait as it is hormonal.

Some Haunts have lost the ability to shift, remaining in their dog form for extended periods. This condition can sometimes be remedied by an Aylia-line Haunt.

Where did they come from?

The first Haunts were born from Pela, the Goddess of Respite, who longed for motherhood but struggled with infertility due to her connection to the dead. Her meeting with Kulanin, disguised as the first Haunt, led to their union and the birth of five children:

  • Allistrio (male)
  • Revera (female)
  • Lowen (male)
  • Aylia (female)
  • Kent (male)

These children rapidly grew and intermixed with humans, leading to the spread of the Haunt race. Their physical traits, such as glowing eyes and venomous bites, were bestowed by Kulanin. Nearly all Haunts can trace their lineage to these five original bloodlines.

Rumors suggest that Pela may still be alive, as newer Haunt lines like Illorn (male), Kavarelle (female), and Aine (female) have emerged.

Society and Culture

Haunt society is matriarchal, with the alpha female leading the pack. While male alphas exist, they are secondary to the female. Women give birth to Hauntlings, bringing hope to the pack.

Haunts are secretive about their true names, only sharing them with those they trust. Most Haunts use titles like "Haunt Constance" or "Haunt Chester" among themselves. However, they do not typically use their true names, which is linked to a curse placed by Osnodon. This divine curse makes some Haunts vulnerable to control if their true name is known. Turned haunts are more susceptible to this, unfortunately.

  • Haunts value loyalty to their mates, with abandonment or betrayal being socially acceptable grounds for forming new bonds. However, mating is generally intended for life.
  • Aylia's Line performs handfasting ceremonies to symbolize unions, though not all Haunts follow this tradition.
  • Haunts face challenges in conception, with the highest success rate occurring within their own kind. However, their declining numbers once made them seem like a dying race.
  • Children born from a born Haunt mating with another race are always Hauntlings. They do not hybridize and maintain all the traits of a Haunt.
In the case of turned haunts, the child will always be whatever the other parent is.

Can they change people?

Haunts can transform others, but it is a rare occurrence:

  • To become a Haunt, one must survive a Haunt's bite. If the bite does not kill, the person is transformed into a Haunt.
  • In most cases (9 out of 10), the bite is fatal.
  • The Lowen-line Haunts have a 50/50 chance of transformation, making them a notable exception.
  • In rare cases, someone may survive the bite without transforming but will suffer from chronic pain and illness.

Werewolves are generally immune to the Haunt's poison due to their connection to Kulanin. For a werewolf to become a Haunt, they must consent to the change, which is a rare and socially stigmatized process. The change results in the loss of their wolf form, replaced with the black dog form.

Bonding

NOTE: Not all Haunt bonds are romantic. Some are platonic or parental.

Haunts can form deep bonds with mortals, often immediately due to high compatibility or fate. These bonds may involve lovers, children, or even protectors of justice. Mortals who bond with a Haunt gain immortality while the bond remains intact. If the bond breaks or the Haunt dies, the mortal resumes aging.

Haunts cannot bond to other haunts.

Haunts can become barghest if they wind up bonding with an evildoer, but given their deep-seated hatred of evil itself, they usually wind up turning on their bonded and killing them to free themselves.

Breaking a bond causes immense pain to Haunts, sometimes leading to depression or death.

Barghest Haunts

When a Haunt bonds with an evil person, it will sometimes make the Haunt evil. The only way a Barghest can return to its family is to break the bond (which is physically and emotionally painful/devastating). If a barghest Haunt's bonded dies, then the Haunt will remain barghest until it slowly reforms and returns to normal. This can be a long, tedious process.

Do not be fooled though, even Barghest Haunts hate evil people.

Barghest Haunts are a bit different, as they have certain abilities that are altered to suit their new presence.

  • Any Haunt who has gone Barghest will have gray nails. The more evil-infested they are, the darker the nails. A Haunt who has gone fully Barghest will have jet black nails. As such, any Haunt exhibiting both strange behavior and gloves will be viewed with suspicion.
  • Haunt venom changes when the Haunt has become Barghest. Not only will it be dangerous to regular people, but it will now be dangerous to other Haunts. Normally Haunts have a natural immunity to the bite or venom of another Haunt. That is not the case with Barghest Haunts.
  • The longer a Haunt is Barghest, the shorter its lifespan will be. Being Barghest is unhealthy for a Haunt, and it not only diminishes their lifespan, but also their powers.
  • The longer a Haunt is Barghest, the weaker their abilities become. Some have even been unable to traverse The Spirit Realm until they were made healthy again.
  • A Barghest Haunt is a sick Haunt. As such, other Haunts will do their best to reform the Barghest Haunt, sometimes even by force. It is done out of love, sometimes taken to extremes, while other times it is more natural because the Barghest Haunt wants to be healthy again.
  • Part of being Barghest involves a Haunt becoming more reckless or erratic. These behaviors usually tip off other haunts that know them well.

Death

If a Haunt dies, then they are forced to remain in their dog form for the rest of their afterlife. Some can be physically touched by other Haunts or the person the spirit bonded with in life. Haunts can be killed by normal means, but are otherwise immortal.

Abilities

  • Haunts can change from the physical to spiritual within seconds, making them difficult to catch.
  • Haunts have heightened senses, especially their hearing.
  • Haunts eat curses. They are like the food of the gods to them. No, really. They will not eat curses from evil people without good reason.
  • Haunts can take the recently deceased souls to the afterlife so that they can be reincarnated if the deceased calls upon them.
  • Haunts can never get lost and neither can their bonded.
  • Haunts can be called on to help lost individuals.
  • Haunt venom is highly poisonous to everyone. If you are bitten by a Haunt, you have to have the poison magically purged or you will die or become irreparably sick. Chances are low of turning into one.
  • There is only one cure in all of Kuri that can negate a Haunt's poison, but only those of Aylia's line are aware of it. At least, those in the line who have had the knowledge passed down to them from over the years. Haunts never give out the recipe to make the cure. If someone needs to be treated, they bring it to them.
  • A Haunt's venom is always unique to them. No two Haunts have the same exact strain of venom. As such, only their bonded and other Haunts are impervious to that poison. All Haunts are immune to all strains of the venom.
  • This poison is a healing agent to The Haunt, however, and they have been known to lick each others wounds if a member of Aylia's line isn't present. Sometimes Aylia's line lick wounds too, as their poison is more potent, making it a stronger healing agent to other Haunts.

Strengths & Weaknesses

The following apply to all haunts, including those who have been turned. (More to possibly come as I remember.)

  • Forms
    • Human form
    • Human Spirit Form
    • Black Dog Form
    • Spirit Black Dog Form
  • Strengths
    • Incorporeal at Will
    • Can Aid a Spirit to The Spirit Realm to find peace.
    • Incredible sense of direction, as they have been known to lead lost travelers back to civilization.
    • Can sense evil in people and usually how far gone they are. ***(I would prefer people to /roll 10 with the highest roller winning, so that this isn't abused. Unless the person is infamously evil, rolling would be more fair than ust knowing unless the other person is cool with your character knowing.)
  • Weaknesses
    • Salt, though it does not hurt them, can in certain circumstances, force them out of their spirit form and make them corporeal again.
      • (Please /roll 10 to see if this hits, with the higher roller winning.)
    • Empathy - They will try to reform someone before deciding if they are irreparably evil or not. It is in Haunts to try and reform anyone, especially other haunts, if they are led astray.
    • Most haunts have an allergic reaction to chocolate, but the older the haunt, the less this affects them. A rare few happen to be untouched by this allergy too.
      • (Yes I did give Black Dogs a chocolate allergy. Fight me.)
    • Infertility - Haunts struggle to conceive, so when a haunt becomes pregnant, it is a time of joy.
  • Barghest Specific Weaknesses
    • Barghest haunts become highly allergic to silver, and using a silver blade against a barghest haunt will poison it and possibly kill it with minimal effort if cut.
    • Holy Magic can cleanse a haunt from the budding evil in their system as long as the deity followed is good-aligned. Paladins and clerics are the biggest threat, but there are some exceptions, like furies, that are able to do this too.
    • Barghest haunts are weaker than regular haunts, as becoming tainted by darkness can be crippling over time. They're also more susceptible to illness and physically weaker with weaker abilities.
    • They can eventually lose access to The Spirit Realm, depending on how far gone they are.
    • Fire of all types does more damage to a barghest haunt than most people, not just other haunts.
    • Where a normal haunt has more control over their reaction to evildoers, a barghest haunt is more likely to outright try and murder someone evil or stalk them or otherwise want to bring them harm.

Lineages

  • Allistrio's line have red or orange hair. This line has a Hauntman form similar to that of the wolfman form of werewolves. This is because they are physically stronger than other Haunts.
  • Revera's line has blackish hair and they are summoners. They can delve into the spirit realm due to their connections with it and raise anything they find there. The spirit can be banished at will and can be destroyed. The older a Haunt in this line is, the more summons they can juggle at one time. For every one hundred years of life, a descendant of Revera can summon one spirit. (ex: A Haunt has lived three hundred years. That Haunt would be able to summon any three spirits and maintain control of them at the same time. Any more than that is usually a disaster.)
  • Lowen's line has blond hair and can more easily change people into Haunts. It is a 50/50 chance.
  • Kent's line has brown hair. They are seers. The ability can depend on the Haunt. Random Visions, Emotional feelings, Clairvoyance.
  • Aylia's line usually has a good variation for some reason, but it leans more toward wild colors. This line is a line of healers, and about one in ten of them can actually raise the dead within a certain time limit.
  • Illorn's line has silver hair, a color previously untouched by Aylia's Line. His special power is the ability to bring spirits out of The Spirit Realm and make them of the living again. A strange quirk sometimes happens here where those who are brought back become haunts, as they were touched deeply by The Spirit Realm. They will feel the same pull toward good and familial pull toward The Haunt that regular haunts do when this occurs.
  • Kavarelle's Line have pointed ears like elves. Her line's special ability is when she is in a room, any Haunts in the area cannot use their powers if she wishes it to be so. She can turn this ability on and off, as can her descendants. The trouble here, is that Kavarelle Line Haunts have random fits of rage and can be known to cause a lot of pain and anguish wherever they go. They are not barghest, but sometimes act as one and can damage the world around them when they have an episode.
  • Aine's Line have a birthmark on their wrists that looks like three black concentric circles of varying sizes. They also have glowing, white-voided eyes. Their special ability is they can turn Haunts into other lines. For example, her line could turn an Allistrio Haunt into a Revera Haunt, complete with physical changes to their appearance. This only accounts for abilities though, not for actual familial ties. It also changes how those changed look to some degree. For example, a Kent haunt with the traditional brown hair that's been given Revera changes, will now have black hair.
  • Ravenel's Line was an accident, as they are a morphie. Morphies have the ability to change between male or female, or any combination thereof. Due to Ravenel's offspring being a product of their relationship with a daughter of Kulanin, all haunts descended from their offspring will be morphies. Due to their ability to change between genders, technically being both, their eyes are purple.
  • Saiph is a new Divine Haunt, the product of Haunt Kulanin and a Reaper of Osnodon. She has no descendants yet as she is young, but her bite and her descendants bites can turn a Haunt into an ordinary mortal/strip them of being a Haunt. If turned, they become what they were before. Otherwise, the haunt turns into a human.

Joining

To join, contact Victoria or Constance.

See Also

© The Land of Karchan | Nettie Bell 2020

Last modified on April 14, 2025, 10:56:46