Draghul

Summary
Draghuls are once-living beings whos life force is maintained by draining the life force and magic from others. When used without other context, "Draghul" would refer to a humanoid with the Draghulic condition. However, potentially any creature could become a Draghul.

Origins and Life Threads
Every Draghul is the result of a dark rite whereby a being's lifeforce is stolen and then replaced by a geist sliver from their creator. This sliver is connected to a thread of the creator-draghul's life force. If the creator Draghul dies, the Draghuls it has sired are often slain outright, and even those that survive are still weakened. Typically, only a draghul that was stronger than it's creator, or that had an active source of life force at the time of the creators death, would be able to survive. The amount of life force being absorbed for the offpsring to survive is rather large, and only increases if the creator draghul was more powerful. Typically a ritual involving living sacrifices or being deep in the Elemental Void would allow a draghul to survive the loss of a more powerful master.

Subsistence
The parallels between draghuls and vampires are easily seen. Whereas vampires require blood, draghuls require pure life force, magic, or elemental power (all of which are technically the same. See the Three Crowns.). So while a draghul's requirements are much stauncher, they are likewise also much more powerful. As a draghul ages, it needs to feed less frequently. A young draghul, between 1 and 100 years old, may need to completely drain a human every few days. Following the meal, draghuls may either dispose of the vessel in question or leave it as a warning to others. Those who have been fully drained by a Draghul show an obvious sign: catanonia. A vampire has the option of collecting a following of humanoids who may let the vampire drink from them, this works because living beings can survive with a little less blood and can simply make more. A draghul has no such luxury, feeding in any ammount causes permanent damage. Memory loss, forgetfulness, loss of will or vitality, melancholy, and sloth are all side effects of even a minor drain. Rebuilding lost life force is an arduous task for living creatures and is a feat that takes time and extensive effort.

Draghuls also have the option of consuming magic, which they can do by draining items or in-place enchantments. There has been only minor, inconclusive experiemtation with wizards attempting to feed captive draghuls using spells, things did not go well for any involved.

The final option for Draghuls is to absorb their element in its pure form. When in the Elemental Void this is simple enough. When near the Shards of Grace, it requires an enormous ammount of their element because it is made 'impure' by the laws of nature. Deodonus the Long Bearded theorized that Tonis's desertification is the result of draghul's sucking the elemental power from the land; though this theory is considered speculatory at best.

Draghuls in Kazaelic Lore
Draghuls are much feared in Kazael. In the southern parts of Kazael, where the vampires rule, it is thought that draghuls rule over the vampires. Given the low number of powerful vampire lords, the number of draghuls who oversee them must be even smaller. There is only room for a very small heirarchy of 5 to 10 draghuls, or perhaps a council of them. The territory of the vampire lords has never been seen by Tonisian scholars, so no evidence has yet been collected regarding them or their possible draghulic masters.

Folk tales from the Kazaelic Stammen mention Tempeter and Elekin Draghuls, but no such beings have been studied by Northern scholars. There would seem to be several problems with this idea. First, draghulic creation requires the host to be completely drained. For a Tempeter or Elekin, this doesn't merely mean death but utter destruction. Second, such a creature would almost certainly consume itself on accident, as it is composed of the very substance that it subsists on.