Please note: The character described below is a temporary character... It cannot be used to bring back characters who have been dead more than 2 OOC weeks. You may attempt to possess any character (See below); however if your victim objects then you must leave them alone and find a more willing victim to possess to complete your "task". If you're bringing back a recently killed character with this you must make a new nic by using Haunt_of_SoandSo or SoandSo_Haunt, to demonstrate that you have read these guidelines and agree to abide them.

A haunt is the restless spirit of a person who died leaving some vital task unfinished. Its sole purpose is to take over a living body and use it to complete the task, thus gaining a final release from this world.

Haunts may assume either of two forms, at will: a hovering luminescent ball of light (identical in appearance to a will-o-wisp) or a nebulous, translucent image of the haunt's former body. In the later state, haunts look like groaning spirits, spectres, or ghosts, and are often mistaken for them. Transformation from one state to the other takes 5 seconds.

Combat: A haunt must remain within 60 yards of where it died, unless it takes control of a victim's body. This 60-yard radius is called the haunt's domain.(This means you cannot go to any room of Cain other than the one you died in until you possess the body of a victim.)

A haunt attacks mindlessly, and always targets the first human or demihuman that enters its domain. It will continue to attack until possession is achieved or the intended victim leaves the haunt's domain.

The touch of a haunt slowly numbs the victim . If successfully touched 3 times the haunt slips into the body and possesses it. Once the body is possessed,the sense of feeling returns to normal.

The haunt uses the host's body to complete its unfulfilled task. The task need not be dangerous, although it often is. Once the task is completed, the haunt passes on to its final rest and the victim regains control of his body. If a haunt's possessed body is slain, it will haunt the place where that body was killed.

If the victim has an alignment opposite to that of the haunt (good vs. evil), the haunt will try to strangle the victim using the victim's own hands. Unless the victim's arms are being restrained, the strangulation begins the instant the haunt takes control of the body. Only the successfully restraint of the victim will save him from being killed. If restrained before he submitts to the Haunts will the Haunt will be driven off to find another victim to possess.

Attacks on a possessed character will cause full damage to the character's body. If attacked, the haunt will use whatever weapons and armor the victim carries, but it cannot use any items that would require special knowledge (spells, scrolls, rings). The only safe way to free the victim is by restaint, casting hold person or dispel evil (good). The spell dispel evil (good) destroys the haunt forever.

Haunts are linked to the sites where they died and therefore cannot be turned by priests. When in the natural state (i.e., not possessing a body) haunts may be struck only by silver or magical weapons, or by fire. If a haunt is slain, it loses control of its form and fades away. The haunt then reforms in one week to haunt the same location again until its task is completed.

Habitat/Society: The exact task to be accomplished varies, but the motives are always powerful -- revenge, greed, love, hate. Often great distances need to be traveled before a task can be completed, and haunts will drive their hosts mercilessly toward the goal, ignoring the need for food or sleep.

A few haunts (10%) retain some knowledge of their former lives and can be communicated with. Often these haunts feel remorse at having to prey upon the living, but the force of the uncompleted task is too powerful for the haunt to resist.

Ecology: Haunts cling to this world by force of will alone. They have no treasure of their own unless it is connected to their quest. They prey only on humans and demihumans.