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Hollow Men

Fundamental Nature

The Hollow Men represent one of the most disturbing results of the Blackthorn Institute's essence experimentation - humans who have been "hollowed out" and partially filled with extracted demonic essence fragments. They are neither fully human nor properly demonic, existing in a horrific liminal state between realms and forms of consciousness.

Physical Characteristics

  • Fluid Physiology: Bodies that move with unnatural fluidity, as if their internal structure is partially liquid or gelatinous
  • Disproportionate Anatomy: Limbs too long and jointed in places human anatomy cannot support
  • Facial Instability: Features that shift and reconfigure, searching for proper alignment but never settling
  • Void-like Eyes: Complete black voids that seem to absorb rather than reflect light
  • Reality Distortion: Their presence can causes a distortion of reality that may vary between accelerated decay and corruption, or convert the surroundings to burning embers and charcoal, as if a fire had recently been extinguished in the surrounding environment
  • Physical Impossibility: Ability to elongate, thin, or redistribute their mass to pass through impossibly small spaces
  • Environmental Impact: Leave trails of blackening, oxidation, or decay, or burning where they pass
  • Temperature Effect: Create sudden, severe temperature drops in their immediate vicinity

Movement Patterns

  • Non-standard Locomotion: Don't walk or run, but flow like liquid being poured
  • Gravity Defiance: Can traverse walls and ceilings as easily as floors
  • Space Violation: Move at impossible angles that violate normal physics
  • Fluid Redistribution: Can pass through tiny gaps by redistributing their mass, reforming on the other side
  • Unnatural Speed: Move faster than physically possible for human beings, closing distances with disturbing efficiency
  • Predatory Stalking: Often freeze in place when observing, then move with explosive bursts of speed

Cognitive State

  • Fragmented Consciousness: Neither fully human nor fully demonic, but a chaotic blend
  • Single-minded Purpose: Demonstrate focused intent on specific objectives without complex reasoning
  • Diminished Autonomy: Follow directives from Blackthorn controllers, though with unpredictable interpretation
  • Echo Memories: Occasional flashes of the original human's memories, causing momentary confusion or hesitation
  • Pain Awareness: Perpetually experiencing the agony of their fragmented state, though unable to articulate it
  • Limited Communication: Rarely speak; when they do, voices sound forced and reverberate like echos

Origins

  • Creation Process: Humans emptied of their essence through extraction procedures, then partially filled with collected demonic fragments
  • Selection Criteria: Often chosen from "unclaimed" individuals - homeless, isolated, or those who won't be missed
  • Failed Experiments: Many represent early, unsuccessful attempts at creating controlled hybrid entities
  • Containment Failures: Some created accidentally during extraction accidents, when demonic essence invaded unprepared human vessels
  • Abandoned Results: Most are discarded by Blackthorn when they prove uncontrollable or unpredictable
  • Unintended Consequences: Products of experimentation gone wrong rather than intentional creations

Capabilities

  • Environmental Manipulation: Can accelerate decay, corrosion, and deterioration, or create burnt embers and charcoal in their surroundings
  • Sensory Distortion: Cause electronic malfunctions, temperature fluctuations, and temporal anomalies
  • Essence Detection: Powerfully attracted to and capable of detecting concentrated essence or binding objects
  • Dimensional Slipping: Can partially phase between the Material Realm and the Infernal Realm for brief periods
  • Physical Immunity: Largely immune to conventional weapons or restraints due to their fluid physiology
  • Contamination Effect: Prolonged contact can cause essence contamination in normal humans

Vulnerabilities

  • Binding Sigils: Can be temporarily contained by properly constructed binding wards
  • Fragmented Nature: Their unstable composition makes them vulnerable to specific counter-extraction techniques
  • Direct Light: Strong, direct light (especially sunlight) destabilizes their cohesion and weakens their abilities
  • Iron and Salt: Traditional barriers that interfere with their ability to maintain form
  • Essence Resonance: Can be disrupted by resonant frequencies targeted at their specific essence composition
  • Pattern Disruption: Their semi-ordered chaos can be thrown into complete disarray by certain mathematical sequences

Current Status in the World

  • Containment Facilities: Most are kept in specialized containment at Blackthorn facilities
  • Escapees: Some have escaped and hide in abandoned places, thin spots, or locations with high supernatural energy
  • Collection Duties: More stable specimens are sometimes used by Blackthorn for retrieval or security operations
  • Increasing Numbers: As Blackthorn's experimentation continues, their numbers grow despite containment efforts
  • Environmental Impact: Places they inhabit for extended periods develop persistent supernatural contamination
  • Growing Threat: With each iteration, Blackthorn's techniques improve, creating increasingly stable and dangerous versions

Role in Larger Narrative

The Hollow Men represent the human cost of Blackthorn's experiments - the discarded failures on the path to their ultimate goal. They embody the horrific violation of natural boundaries between human and demonic essence without the balance that Mick and Marchosias have achieved. Their existence serves as both warning and foreshadowing of what could happen on a larger scale if Blackthorn's Aggregation project succeeds.

Unlike Mick's balanced partnership with Marchosias, the Hollow Men demonstrate what happens when essence manipulation is forced rather than consensual, industrial rather than natural - a stark contrast that highlights the ethical complexity of human-demon interactions in this world.