Vargouille

Vargouille

Size: Variable
Weight: Variable

Strength: Low
Agility: Above average
Health: Below average
Intelligence: Below average
Willpower: Average


Skills: Variable, but typically nothing noteworthy

Small and otherwise weak, this demon has a few particularly fearsome abilities. It takes the form of a disembodied head of almost any species, but with sharp fangs, glowing green eyes, bat-like wings in place of ears, and tentacles in place of hair. They tend to travel in small swarms. While it doesn't harm them, they instinctively hate sunlight, and avoid it by any means.

A vargouille carries three noteworthy powers. First, their bite carries a mild curse, and injuries inflicted by their fangs cannot be healed until the curse is removed. Most curse-removing or poison-removing magic suffices. Second, they possess the power to emit a scream that briefly paralyzes those who hear it. Those subjected to this scream are immune to further screams for a few minutes.

Most fearsome of all, however, is a vargouille's kiss, which they often bestow upon those paralyzed by their shriek. Those subjected to the kiss begin the terrible transformation into a vargouille themselves. The transformation occurs over the course of four stages. Each stage takes one to six hours, and the phases being shorter in beings of weaker health.

Phase 1	The victim loses all hair, scales, or feathers on their head.
Phase 2	The victim's ears transform into leathery wings, their teeth sharpen into fangs, and tentacles grow from their scalp and jawline.
Phase 3	The victim's mental faculties, memories, and sense of self weaken.
Phase 4	No further changes occur until the end of this phase.

At the end of the transformation, the victim's head breaks away from their body, which dies, and becomes a new vargouille. The new creature shows no signs of its former identity, and promptly seeks out other vargouilles to flock with. The transformation is paused by exposure to sunlight, but the victim cannot be saved without proper anti-curse magic. Weak magic can break the curse and save the victim's life, but moderately powerful anti-curse or transformative effects are required to actually reverse any transformation that's already occurred.