Ghouls

Description
Ghouls are a common sight throughout the world of Noquesia. They are commonly nicknamed Corpse-Eaters, due to their feeding habits. These creatures can use both Bi and Quadrupedal movements, depending on the situation. Ghouls themselves have slightly weaker than average strength in comparison to humans but this is made up by their highly aggressive nature alongside their serrated claws. Ghouls are a common sight after a battle and tend to hunt in packs of 3-8. The origins of these creatures are a known but mythology places them as reanimated corpses of those who did not receive a proper burial.

Ghouls are known to be prevented by either destroying bodies via fire or going and giving them a proper burial. Ghoul packs which cannot find food in an area will move to another. Ghouls also seemingly have a near-magical sense to be able to know where to head to find food. Ghoul packs also operate differently to Wolf packs, not having a certain territory and not being hostile to one another. Ghoul packs which meet up are sometimes even known to form up into one “super pack” which has the ability to even attack and destroy small towns at times.

Behaviour
Ghouls tend to hunt in pacts and are common throughout the continent. Practically every culture and country have some version of this necrophage. Ghouls themselves are one of the most common monsters in the world. They tend to hunt in packs though its not impossible for them to go out and hunt on their own. Ghouls feed on exclusively the flesh of dead creatures, mainly Intelligent ones such as humans or elves. They do not attack human settlements directly though are a common slight when delving deep into the woods which surround towns. Ghouls’ population will decrease or increase depending on the number of unburied corpses within the region. Ghouls are also known to dig up shallow graves and are believed to be able to pick up scents of either the living or the dead from several kilometres away.

Ghouls are common to see after a battle, appearing on the former battlefields. Their consumption of the dead some scholars argue is a good thigh due to them possibly helping the environment to recover. This would be the case if ghouls were not hyper aggressive towards humans, commonly killing them in large packs. While ghouls are not hard to defeat, especially to a trained soldier or fighter they can pose large threats while in packs together. Ghouls also have an affiliation to Alghouls, what are known as superior ghouls because of them being larger, physically stronger, and more intelligent. Ghoul packs are led by Alghouls due to your average ghoul having similar levels of intelligence to an animal.

Biology
When it comes down to ghoul’s biology, they are known for being extremely slim. Ghouls have very little fat on their body with it almost entirely consisting of muscle. However, this does not give ghouls an advantage. They physically are weaker than your average human. Ghouls are also known for their deformed face, with outward protruding teeth which look similar to an Orc or a Troll. These however drip with the highly acidic saliva which is found deeper I the body as well. Bites from a ghoul can cause acid burning along with infections which are found within a ghoul’s mouth. Ghouls on closer inspection have a highly acidic stomach which will completely dissolve bone or even sometime metals. These are absorbed directly into the Ghouls body instead of leaving droppings. The exact understand of this is not fully studied due to the limited number of ghouls which are dissected.

The bone structure of a ghoul looks very similar to a human though has a few major differences. Mainly that a large number of bones are much more compressed with them being much thicker than a normal human. This can sometimes make it difficult to kill a ghoul. Ghouls also seemingly are missing a large number of organs which humans have only keeping the stomach, lungs, and brains. It is also believed that ghouls can directly respirate via the skin though still rely on the lungs a decent amount. This can make it difficult to choke a ghoul to death. How ghouls can survive with a large number of their organs missing is still unknown.