Shadow Spirits
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: Shadow Spirits
Author: Irving Evans
For some time I have been observing the nature of a race known as "Shadow Demons". After much study I have found that these creature are actually merely another type of elemental. The shadow elemental is completely insubstantial and craves only one thing, the ability to affect and interact with it's surroundings.
Therefore the usual course of action with shadow elementals is to find some human host, and absorb it completely. This usually ends with the host being driven apparently mad, as he speaks of voices, suffers from insomnia, and attempts drastic acts to rid himself of this "curse". I have seen several of these "possessions" carry through full term.
They usually end with both the elemental and the host self destructing in some fashion.
However, I have seen one case where this is not so. The host perfectly accepted the shadow elemental, and they lived in perfect harmony for 23 years, until the person was finally lynched by an angry mob. There is a way to exorcise a shadow elemental, but in 5 cases I've only seen one survive. The ritual is a painful and ardous one.
Brutally simple yet effective. First, the physical form of the host must be weakened, through the use of a curse.
Lowering the "shells" strength enables the second part to be much more effective. The "shell" must be struck with several different kinds of energy, usually a combination of fire and electricity.
The "shell" must be willingly try to force the shadow out of his body as this occurs.
Here, alas, is the depressing part. I have only seen 1 out of 5 people survive to this point, and he was hopelessly maimed.
Perhaps, if another host was found to be alluring enough to the shadow, the extraction would not take such a toll on the "shell". I pass these meager findings to the followers of the Howling Voice. Maybe this will help in an attempt to cure the widespread madness in these trying days.
--Some notes are scrawled in an undecipherable shorthand--