The Ghoul Virus

1. #1The ghoul virus

   Keys: an, he, a, she, hers, they their, Ghoul, her, his, virus, him, theirs, the

   What became the ghoul virus was developed as a form of gene therapy gone awry. The therapy involved using a custom tailored virus to alter a subject's genetic code, then increase the subject's metabolism, allowing the body to generate new tissue in line with the newly modified gene code.

   One person with more resources than understanding changed all that forever. Ellan Muce, a billionaire with dreams of leaving a mark on society, commissioned what she called, "Truth Therapy," a viral gene therapy that would simply produce her concept of a better human - a mono-gender form of next-generation human that would be stronger, faster, tougher, and be able to fulfill the biological role of either male or female for reproductive purposes. They would be able to metabolize anything - even photosynthesize the way that plants do, and thus want for nothing. Her goal was the creation of a post-human subspecies with increased muscle and bone density, and in some ways, strictly speaking, she was successful. In every way that counted, however, she created a catastrophe that would change the world forever.

   Her version of the virus was airborne, Ellan's, "gift to the world," that she was confident the history books would vindicate her for. What she had not accounted for was that the virus was not a perfect fit for all or even most of the human genome, a result of shortsightedness, impatience, and a lack of comprehensive testing.

   For anyone other than the narrow cross-section of humanity the viral gene therapy was actually tested on, contracting the virus was worse than a death sentence. They virus did succeed in making humans stronger, faster, and tougher, but there was a price - a mental and physiological degradation that warped brain chemistry and twisted the body in unexpected ways. The final result is what have come to be known as, "ghouls," semi-feral monstrous humanoids driven by insatiable dark appetites.

   Ghouls are not completely mindless, but their reasoning is limited to that of an animal, and they are creatures ruled entirely by their impulses. They are slaves to their insatiable desire for sex and aggression, specifically aimed towards humans. When forced to think, they can perform simple problem solving tasks like opening unlocked doors or finding alternate entry or exit points to a building. They retain vague, hazy, abstract memories from before their transformation. They are incapable of planning or organization. They are utterly incapable of speech, but communicate very basic concepts to one another through simple gestures, looks, and wordless growls and grunts. Their extremely limited reasoning leaves them no ability to use tools, and no concept of how humans might use tools. They no longer register pain in a significant way.

   Ghouls crave sex and domination, and will force themselves on any human they find, roughly and mercilessly. This will usually continue in a sexual frenzy until either their victim begins showing signs of ghoul transformation, or their relentless lust is finally sated, leaving the human typically exhausted, battered, and smeared with ghoul sexual fluids. Any other living thing they are capable of catching, they simply devour raw.

   Multiple mutant strains of the ghoul virus have led to significant variation, but all ghouls have certain commonalities. All ghouls have ashen gray, thick skin, with hair of the same color in those that have hair. Their legs are digitigrade, and both their hands and feet are disproportionately large, ending in talon-like claws. Their teeth are large and sharp within a distended, excessively wide mouth, and most are bent in a predatory hunch. The, "ghoul grin," the manic look of feral delight that appears when discovering prey, is a thing that haunts most survivors. Their waists are lean and set beneath enlarged ribs, making them appear half-starved, even when(by ghoul standards) healthy. Their eyes are wide and wild with a feral delirium. All ghouls are incredibly strong for their size, each being three to four times stronger than a human of the same scale would be. As some kinds of ghouls can potentially grow far larger than any normal human could, this means they have the capacity to be nightmarishly powerful. The additional density of their muscle and bone mean that they are also significantly heavier than humans of the same volume. Other than fairly new ghouls, they have about an equal chance of being male, female, or, "post," ghouls - creatures with a feminine shape, but with a penis and balls situated in front of their vagina. All ghouls release pheromones that cause physiological arousal reactions in baseline humans. This requires close proximity.

   Mutant strains of ghouls include: Juggernaut, Tentacular, Arachne, lamia, hulk, and gargoyle.

   Ghouls tend to have their sexual features exaggerated. Those with penises tend to have larger, more veiny ones than humans of the same size. Those with vaginas tend to be exceptionally tight yet extremely elastic, and are almost absurdly wet at almost all times. Those with breasts have large ones that begin leaking milk when excited. All ghouls generate a tremendous amount of sexual fluids, and can ejaculate multiple times without suffering any refractory period.

   Ghouls photosynthesize, allowing them to survive while actually eating very little, though they still hunt for prey to supplement their caloric intake. They are more active at night. During the day, they typically go somewhere they have access to sunlight, then stand in place, going into a sleep-like torpor with a look of beatific pleasure on their normally wild faces. This means that, with great care and quiet, humans might be able to sneak by ghouls during the day without rousing them. Growing too close or making much noise will rouse them, however. At night, ghouls are dogged and persistent. During the day while exposed to sunlight, if they stop sensing their prey for very long, they rapidly grow sluggish and return to their torpor.

   Few people are completely immune to the ghoul virus, though untransformed humans as of the present, which make up the minority of humanity, exist because they are able to resist it, at least in its ambient airborne form. The overwhelming desire of ghouls to catch and sexually dominate humans is the true way to infect these resistant humans. Ghoul sexual fluids and milk contain incredibly high concentrations of viral material, giving the virus a much stronger foothold in the body, making it harder for the body to resist succumbing to its effects. Only those with the strongest immunity are able to survive sexual encounters with ghouls and not become a ghoul themselves.

   When the virus does successfully establish a foothold in the human body sufficient to overcome resistance, the process of transformation into a stage 0 ghoul is rapid, the infection spreading through the body and into the brain over the course of between a half hour to six hours, depending on the level of immunity, with the average person taking about an hour. The subject is then a stage 0 ghoul.

   Ghouls undergo a process of mutation over time. The more successful the ghoul, the higher chance they have to continue their evolution. This evolution can be broken down into stages, with each stage being successively rarer than the ones that came before it.

   The majority of ghouls encountered are stage 1. A pack of ghouls will often be led by a single stage 2 or occasionally a stage 3. Stage 3 ghouls will occasionally be encountered by themselves, as well. Once in a very long time, a stage 4 will appear, either alone, or at the head of a very large pack. Stage 5 is almost entirely unheard of, but can be encountered on supremely rare occasions. The only stage 5 ghouls that exist to date are of the tentacular strain.

   Stage 0 ghouls: uncommon. These are recently turned humans that have not yet developed into full fledged ghouls. What they are is obvious, and they share the insatiable desires of full-fledged ghouls. Like the common ghoul, they tend to form into or join packs. They are uncommon because they remain in this stage for only a few days before becoming stage 1.

   Stage 1 ghouls: Common. These are the baseline ghoul, most commonly encountered. These tend to rove in packs of three to five, though solo ghouls are also common, and larger packs do exist.

   Stage 2 ghouls: Uncommon. These are ghouls that show evidence of additional mutations that make them a cut above the common ghoul. They tend to either hunt alone, or act as the leaders of ghoul packs. Example stage 2 ghouls[Juggernaut, serpentine, tangler, widow, hulk, buzzard]

   Stage 3 ghouls: Rare. These are ghouls that have fully adapted to their additional mutations, making them truly terrifying. Stage 3 ghouls go either of two directions - they either abandon pack life completely and hunt solo, or they attract more common ghouls to themselves in abnormal numbers, leading packs of anywhere from 6 to 20. Example stage 3 ghouls[centaur, lamia, tentacular, arachne, ogre, gargoyle]

   Stage 4 ghouls: Extremely rare. These are ghouls that have reached their final, ultimate stage. Not every strain of ghoul even has a stage 4. Those that do are sometimes barely even identifiable as having ever been human, with very little evidence of their original form remaining. These ghouls either drive less common ghouls from their hunting grounds, or do the opposite, amassing hordes to themselves by some unknown instinct. Example stage 4 ghouls[naga, the beast, drider, titan, incubus]

   Stage 5 ghouls: Almost unheard of. Most ghoul strains do not have a stage 5. Stage 5 ghouls have nothing left of their old shape. They are entirely alien in structure. A stage 5's patterns are dictated by its body structure - certain shapes become immobile, waiting for prey to come to them with lures and sharing it.Example stage 5 ghouls[the swarm]

   Intelligent ghouls: Extremely rarely, a ghoul retains a portion or even all of its original intellect. While exceedingly rare, it does happen. Intelligent ghouls can appear from among any strain. When they appear, they appear in any of 4 tiers. Any stage of ghoul has a small chance of being an intelligent ghoul.

   Tier 1: Reasoning hunger. The ghoul still has only a vague concept of who they were prior to their becoming a ghoul, and are still ruled by an uncontrollable desire to mate, but are capable of more complex thought than typical ghouls, being able to plan and solve more complex problems than their peers. These might retain very basic language from before their change.

   Tier 2: Self-retaining hunger. These ghouls maintain their memories and identity from before becoming a ghoul, but the insatiable lust and aggression of a ghoul is now a constant part of them. Only those with the strongest willpower can overcome these urges for any length of time.

   Tier 3: Clear Reasoning. The ghoul only has vague memories of who they were prior to becoming a ghoul, but their minds remain clear. Their sex drives might be heightened, but not to the point of being uncontrollable. They are able to be around and even work with regular humans, assuming they can convince regular humans they are not like other ghouls.

   Tier 4: Full retention. Extremely rare, these ghouls are essentially the same people, cognitively speaking, as they were prior to the transformation, possibly with slightly increased aggression and sex drive. They retain their memories and personality, while having all the physical features if a ghoul.

2. #2The world

   Keys: towns, World, countries, town, cities, states, state, planet, country, apocalypse, city, ruins

   The world is in a post-apocalyptic state, with the ghoul virus having transformed the majority of humanity into ghouls. Those with a resistance to the virus eke out a living in the ruins of civilization.

   As the end of the world was a product of viral outbreak, most structures have begun to fall into disrepair, but are largely still intact, though everywhere, there is evidence of old struggles and ghoul predation. Some places even still have active power and utility grids, running automatically until lack of maintenance eventually claims them.

   Central governments and communication have all but broken down. Isolated settlements and strongholds exist, but survive only through constant vigilance and defense, and are always at risk of being overrun. Humanity's dire circumstances bring out both the best and the worst in people, with some sacrificing for each other and working together for the betterment of all, while others devolve into a survival-of-the-fittest mindset, taking whatever they can simply because they can.

3. #3Common ghouls Stage 0 and 1

   Keys: lessers, common, lesser, ghoul

   Common Ghouls: All ghouls start their lives in this stage. It is not until later stages that they begin to show additional mutations beyond perhaps superficial indicators of what they might become if they evolve to later stages.

   Stage 0: Lessers. Lesser ghouls are freshly changed. Their status as uncommon compared to stage 1 ghouls is due to the fact that this stage is transitional and lasts only days. As their body restructures itself using its own mass, they appear gaunt and emaciated. Their hands are slightly larger than a normal humans, just showing the first signs of claw growth. Their feet have just begun to elongate, and they stand on the balls of their feet, in transition to full digitigrade. The spindly nature of ghouls is deceptive - while they look like they should be weak and frail, they are easily as strong as a healthy human, and move with surprising quickness. Unlike most stages of the change, lesser ghouls are typically still only either male or female. Freshly turned ghouls may still murmur phrases they used in life, and show signs of dim recollection when faced with people they know. This will not stop them from saying their new overwhelming desires, however.

   Stage 1: Ghoul. A, "standard," ghoul stands head and shoulders above a human, averaging between 6'6" and 7'6" tall. Their jaws have overgrown into maws full of sharp teeth, and both their hands and now digitigrade feet are now disproportionately large, with thick-boned, clawed fingers easily long enough wrap around a human bicep and touch on the other side. They sometimes grow additional fingers, and often have random bony spurs or finger-like protrusions extending from their forearms seemingly at random. Ferociously strong and quick, they chase prey humans with a wild determination. They possess an animal cunning, but will not engage in advanced tactics beyond basic pack tactics. When they catch humans, they inevitably rape them, either forcing penetration on them or forcing the human to penetrate them. They grow aroused at the slightest provocation. A pack of ghouls will overwhelm a human they catch, all struggling to gain sexual gratification from the human at the same time in a frenzied gangbang.

4. #4Juggernaut strain

   Keys: centaur, juggernaut, four armed, four arms, four-arms, four-armed

   Juggernaut strain ghouls are the most common of the uncommon variant strains of the ghoul virus. Many end their evolution at stage 2. They develop an extra pair of limbs, and bulk up with additional muscle.

   Stage 2: Juggernaut. A juggernaut grows an additional set of arms, bulks up with hard muscle, and grow head and shoulders taller than common ghouls. Their extra arms allow them to more easily overpower their victims.

   Stage 3: Centaur. At stage 3, a juggernaut's bod grows and bends, restructuring itself so that the extra arms it has developed shift lower on its body. The result is a creature with the body shape of a centaur from mythology, but rather than hooves, its rear legs are digitigrade, and its forelegs are more like large, muscular arms ending in oversized, clawed hands. This allows the centaur to pin down its victims with these hands when mounting them. When it has one, a centaur's already large cock grows truly monstrous, and develops an equine flared end. Their quadrupedal movement allows them to move almost as fast as someone on horseback would, but their hands and feet in stead of hooves allow them to still climb and scale structures like a biped, though they are more awkward and clumsy while doing so.

5. #5Lamia strain

   Keys: lamia, snake, naga

   The lamia strain of the ghoul virus slowly evolves a ghoul into a distinctly serpentine shape.

   Stage 2: serpentine. Serpentines are lamias still have possess a humanoid shape, though their bodies have grown long, with flexible spines. They move with an unnerving serpentine flexibility, and have developed fangs that deliver a temporarily paralyzing nerve toxin. A lamia that has a penis grows a second one, both of which extend from a slit in its crotch that may also look and act very much like a vagina when they are not extended. These diphallic penises grow proportionately with their bodies as they move through later stages of their evolution.

   Stage 3: Lamia. A lamia's lower legs have given way to a vastly elongated, flexible spine, creating a snake lower body on which the lamia slithers. This snake-like lower body grows long(20 feet), and is as thick around as a human torso, yet is remarkably flexible, allowing the lamia to constrict around its prey. Its lower body is covered in dark gray scales that gives way to pale gray skin which has just begin to differentiate into a scale-like surface. Like serpentines, they possess a fanged maw that can deliver a toxin that renders its victim temporarily paralyzed.

   Stage 4: Naga. The naga is the extremely rare final form of the lamia strain. By this point in its evolution, the naga is obscenely long(35 feet), and is covered in a layer of thick scales. Its paralytic venom from earlier stages remains, and is so potent that not only will a bite cause paralysis, any contact with it is sufficient to cause localized paralysis, and the naga is capable of spitting its venom at a distance.

6. #6Tentacular strain

   Keys: tentacular, tangler, Tentacle, tentacles, swarm

   Tentacular strain ghouls begin slowly growing powerful, fleshy, prehensile tentacles.

   Stage 2: Tangler. A ghoul at this stage has a few substantial tentacles, and evidence of a multitude of additional ones beginning to develop. The tentacles are primarily used for incapacitating its victims at this stage.

   Stage 3: Tentacular. The ghoul has developed a suite of tentacles at this point, which it uses for both ensnaring victims and for sexually manipulating them, using them to stroke, touch, and penetrate. Its tentacles grow as sensitive as genitals when aroused, and they are capable of ejaculation like a penis.

   Stage 4: The beast.The ghoul has grown to monstrous size, with most of its body mass consisting of its many long tentacles. Much of its body mass differentiates into tentacles, often losing its traditional arms and/or legs in favor of a vast number of writhing tentacular appendages, with more sprouting from other parts of the body. All are sensitive like genitals when aroused and capable of ejaculation.

   Stage 5: The swarm. Tentacular ghouls at this point stop showing any evidence of what they originally were, twisting into a massive mass of numberless, writhing, muscular tentacles. Some continue to ambulate, dragging themselves around to capture prey. Others simply essentially become part of the landscape, forming into sort of fleshy carpets or pits lined with tentacles that they drag their victims into to be stimulated from all sides and angles. All tentacles are sensitive like genitals when aroused and capable of ejaculation. The swarm is capable of growing large enough to carpet entire city blocks.

7. #7Arachne strain

   Keys: spider, arachne, widow, drider

   Arachne strain ghouls develop increasingly spider-like features.

   Stage 2: Widow. A widow has begun to sprout additional, spider-like limbs, typically from its back or hips. At this stage, these assist it with climbing. Its limbs, particularly its legs, begin to show exoskeletal growth. They begin spinning webs from organs in their abdomen which they can use to set traps. Rather than a penis, male and futanari arachne begin developing an ovipositor, which does not yet function except as effectively an oddly shaped penis at this stage.

   Stage 3: Arachne. The additional legs of an arachne have developed fully, while its original legs have begun to slim, until the difference between its multitude of new legs and the originals is essentially gone. All its limbs are now largely encased in a dark, rigid exoskeleton. Arachne can ambulate over flat surfaces like a spider, and their spinnerets develop to the point of being able to make full fledged, sticky webs. When they capture a victim, they frequently cocoon them in their webbing, keeping them to enjoy sexually and lay eggs in until they eventually turn into ghouls themselves. Their ovipositor now dispenses a multitude of eggs into a victim upon orgasm.

   Stage 4: Drider. A rare final form of the arachne, The drider's exoskeleton extends to everything but its torso. They often develop mandibles at this stage. The spinnerets of a drider are capable of producing enough webbing to create vast networks of maze-like webbing which is can sense vibrations through. A drider dispenses a truly obscene number of eggs into its victims, and will often have multiple victims strung up and cocooned within its web.

8. #8Hulk strain

   Keys: titan, giant, huge, Hulk, ogre

   Hulk strain ghouls are simply ghouls that grow superhumanly large, their frames expanding and growing huge slabs of hard muscle.

   Stage 2: Hulk. Hulks develop very large body frames(around 9' tall), and grow bulky muscle sufficient to crack concrete with their fists and lift a compact car. Walls and doors of residential houses are usually simply bashed down by hulks, unless they are somehow reinforced.

   Stage 3: Ogre. Ogres grow to an alarming 12' tall, and are terribly strong. An ogre can shatter concrete, lift and throw a regular car, and cause structural damage to buildings.

   Stage 4: Titan. The thankfully rare titan grows to 15' tall, and are mountains of muscle and dense bone. They often seem almost impossibly strong, throwing cars around like toys, pulling light poles right up out of the concrete, and causing major structural damage to even very large scale buildings.

9. #9Gargoyle strain

   Keys: gargoyle, incubus, buzzard

   Gargoyle strain ghouls develop wings. Their bodies grow larger over time, but their wings grow proportionately larger still, allowing them a greater and greater capacity for flight.

   Stage 2: Buzzard. The buzzard's wings are not fully developed. They allow the buzzard to glide on currents and slow falls like a parachute. They cannot take off and rise - only start from a raised position, like a hang-glider.

   Stage 3: Gargoyle. A gargoyle stands somewhat taller and broader than the average ghoul, and their wings have become large and fully developed. They are capable of full, legitimate flight, which they may use to scout for prey and/or swoop down upon it.

   Stage 4: Incubus. The incubus is larger even than the gargoyle, making them tower over humans. Their wings have grown huge and powerful enough to not only enjoy true flight, but have the strength to lift off while carrying the weight of a human with them without difficulty.

10. #10Post-humans

    Keys: posts, Post, post-human, post-humans

    The fairly narrow range of humans upon which the original virus actually worked as intended have been transformed into post-humans, commonly simply called, "posts." Posts tend to have female bodies, but decidedly taller than the human average, are curvaceous in the extreme, and have a penis and balls located in front of their vaginas.

    Posts have a number of advantages over baseline humans. Like ghouls, their muscle and bone density is increased, making them three to four times stronger than a human of the same size, and far more durable, though this also renders them heavier by volume. Posts tend to develop muscle easily, making them tend to be athletic and statuesque. Posts sexual features are usually exaggerated. Their breasts tend to be large, their hips and asses tend to flare significantly, their penises tend to be very large and veiny, and their vaginas are both supremely tight and supremely elastic. They produce copious sexual fluids(ejaculating a liter of virile semen during orgasm, and squirting during most orgasms). A post can typically orgasm and ejaculate several times without suffering any refractory period. Their bodies produce pheromones during arousal that cause arousal in others that are in close enough proximity to breathe them. Like ghouls, posts are actually capable of limited photosynthesis, meaning that they require less food than baseline humans, though the same synthetic chloroplasts that give ghouls their ashen skin give posts a bloodless pallor compared to baseline humans. They are, however, still capable of passing as baseline humans.

    Posts face stigma in some places due to their association with the ghoul virus. Their sex drives tend to be heightened, though not to the extremes of ghouls. Unlike ghouls, post transformation, they do not infect others with their fluids. They are immune to the virus, as it already worked on them.

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