"The Corpse-Eaters of the Catacombs" (quoted from the Everlasting, Book of the Spirits, page 251, © 1997-98 by Steven C. Brown)
"Loathsome Corpse-Eaters of the Catacombs" (quoted from the Everlasting, Book of the Unliving, page 79, © 1997-98 by Steven C. Brown)
The following quote is being re-printed from page 80 of The Everlasting, Book of the Unliving, and describes these loathsome necromantic creatures, and what drove them to such depravity in their attempt to become immortal:
Ghuls are people so enticed by the prospect of immortality that they give up their humanity to achieve it. By imbibing a magickal potion called Anecro or the Elixer of Undeath, the drinker's body transforms and dies, yet lives on in some Un-dead state. Ghuls are necrophagic- they must consumeraw, dead flesh to maintain their damned condition. Unless they continually consume carrion, their bodies rot away, their skin peels, and they mutate into twisted, stinking, degenerate creatures. Most ghuls lose their intellect and memories, becoming total monsters no smarter than the average dog. Fear of this dreadful degeneration drives most ghuls to the incredible levels of depravity needed to sustain them.
They are creatures of the dark, living in labrinthian tunnel systems created over the course of centuries (posibly millenia) by their kind. Ghuls spend part of their time scavenging for fresh corpses, even going so far as raiding morgues and causing fatal accidents among the living. They spend the rest of their time involved in scholarly pursuits, studying the Secret Arts, a hodge-podge collection of Western Alchemical formulas, hermetic ritualism, early scientific theories, Gnostic esoterica, prehistory lore, and uniquely ghulish eccentricity.
Ghuls are cut off completely from the spirituality by their very nature. While they can see spirits as well as most eldritch and even pass into the Underworld, (which no other eldritch are capable of as a race), their magickal secrets are limited to the physical and most lack any sort of belief in a higher power. They are focused totally upon the charnal, as illustrated by their flesh-hunger. Unlike the vampires and revenants that feed upon life, the ghuls feed upon death. Most all eldritch, including vampires and revenants, find ghuls extremely repulsive.
Ghuls communicate with one another through a series of guttural grunts, clacking sounds, and gestures that they call Gibberish. Those who retain their intellect are still capable of talking in human languages as well. In addition, most ghuls somehow learn to speak with rats through Ratspeak- a strange collection of squeaking noises.
Ghuls are deeply aware of life and death; in fact, some ghuls are fixated on the spectacle of death itself and deeply enjoy watching things die. Most ghuls beleive that touching living flesh (except that of insects and rats) will bring curses upon them, though the ghaddars and the vetala (two sub-groups of ghuls) are prone to kidnapping and murdering the living despite this. What little bit of myth-religion they possess is centered upon the Lands of Death, which is what the ghuls call the Underworld. Some claim the knowledge ghuls possess concerning the Lands of Death is second only to that of revenants.
Ghuls are nocturnal creatures, preferring to scrounge for food at night. Some are bold enough that they actually walk in the World Above at night, peeking voyeuristically into windows, scaring children and animals, and prowling mortuaries and morgues for snacks.
There are five common sub-races of ghuls, each caused by minor differences within the particular batch of Anecro or the amount consumed. They are (in alphabetical order) Bhutas, Faitours, Grotesqueries, Mindless Ones, and Vetala.
Bhutas are the most common with about 60% of those who imbibe Anecro making the transormation into this form. They are fairly human looking early on, with only minor degradation of their mental and physical forms early on, however over time, nearly all slowly become more and more ghulish, with their bodies starting to rot away and becoming more deteriorated and their mental capacities slowly fading away. This eventually leads them to a state very similar to the Mindless Ones (described below), although this can be a long process, and a ghul who is able to avoid missing their regular consumption of flesh can postpone this for a very long time (although this tends to lead to a more depraved state of mind earlier on).
Faitours are the goal that most would be imbibers of Anecro aim for, however they only number about 10% of those who drink the Elixer of Undeath. Unlike most others, they do not go though any outwardly physical changes, and are thus able to function within normal human society almost normally. However due to the very nature of their existence, they still often suffer through the mental degradation that occurs to most ghuls. Most other ghuls tend to stay clear of the Faitours due to the fact that they openly associate with the living (even touching them, despite the possible curses). They manage to make it to this state by making a good batch of Anecro and then imbibing just the right quantity to get the effects they want. They also will teach those who are also unscrupulous and want to cheat death the secret arts needed to become ghuls (however they do not explain that 9 out of 10 will not come through the Metastasis properly and without serious side effects).
Grotesqueries are the result of too much Anecro, with deformed and gnarled bodies that have sores and growths, or even stranger and more grotesque features. However they generally do not deteriorate mentally (except for the effects of living out eternity as unliving monsters that must consume the dead. They tend to avoid human society completely, spending the rest of eternity hiding out in the catacombs benieth the surface world. They do however tend to be stronger and more resilient than most other ghuls, despite their sickeningly deformed and rotting bodies.
About 1 in 10 of those who consume a batch of Anecro turn into Mindless Ones right away due to having made some mistake in the concoction. They become mindless cadabers who spend all their time trying to consume any raw bud dead flesh they can get a hold of. They also deteriorate physically fairly quickly due to their less than animalistic tendencies. Note however that when confronting ghuls, that mor ethan one in ten will be a mindless one, due to the fact that most other types slowly degrade into Mindless Ones over years or centuries.
Then there are the Vetala, who make up about 10% of those who create and consume Anekro. They actually become more powerful physically and mentally in most cases due to having imbibed a remarkably good batch of the elixer, however they still take on a form similar to Bhutas, and they also loose the ability to feed on recently dead flesh, instead they must feed on well rotted corpses. Due to the fact that they still go through the normal (if you can call it that) Metastasis, they do still deteriorate both physically and mentally over time (as determined by their feeding habits). Even though they tend to be the strongest and most powerful in the short term, they eventually make the same spiral towards the state of a Mindless One as time goes by, although those who are very careful can delay this for a millenia or more.
As can plainly be seen from the descriptions and other information, the Torment that all Ghuls suffer is that of Degeneration as they slowly rot away or become less and less human while wasting away to nothing more than a mindless husk of an animated corpse.
Abominations:
Angels: 2-4
Daevas: 3-5
Dead Souls: 6-7
Demons: 1-3
Djinn:
Dragons:
Dwarves: 3-7
Elves: 3-5
Faerie: 3-4
Gargoyles: 2-4
Ghuls: 6-9
Manitou: 3-4
Orcs:
Osirians: 3-6
Possessed: 3-7
Questers: 2-5
Reanimates: 5-7
Revenants: 6-8
Vampires: 4-7
Wer: 4-6