2025 Apr 5: Corpse-demons

 Corpse-demons are incorporeal entities that can possess the bodies of the dead. The possessed corpses then seek out the living, usually the family of the deceased, to torment and ultimately kill them. The corpse-demon has access to the memories and voice of the person whose corpse it's wearing, but anyone speaking to it immediately notices that they are talking to an unnatural entity, an alien intelligence trying to imitate a mortal. Unfortunately those stricken by grief don't always listen to the nagging feeling of wrongness, and sometimes hesitate to destroy the creature.

Once a corpse is possessed, it becomes almost impossible to destroy. Even if hacked to bits, it slowly beings to reassemble itself, and in a few days it will become whole once again. Burning the entire is one way to get rid of it for good, but that is easier said than done, as human corpses take quite a long time to burn, and the corpse-demon will be resisting and trying to escape the flames the whole time.

Another way to be rid of the creature is to perform an exorcism. This usually costs quite a large sum of money, as the people capable of performing such rites are rare. Even if someone can find an exorcist, success is not guaranteed: sometimes the demon overpowers the exorcist, and it may even kill them.

The most common way to deal with corpse-demons is prevention: giving corpses a proper funeral prevents corpse-demons from possessing the corpse. If that cannot be done, burning corpses before they are possessed is also a good alternative.

Necromancers seeking a shortcut to power may ally themselves with corpse-demons, promising them ample bodies to inhabit in exchange for their obedience. Such alliances are of course inherently unstable, and one aspiring to such, would do well to obtain additional leverage over the corpse-demons they seek to control. Of course this practice is banned in all civilized places, even those which otherwise allow necromancy, as not only will the corpse-demons remain active after the necromancer's death, but they will actively seek to kill as many people as possible to allow even more of brethren to act upon the world. Entire cities have been lost this way.


Image by Lisa Jenkins

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