Bestiary: ghoul
One of the first monsters a witcher adept will encounter is a ghoul. They are the most common corpse-eaters that appear in an area mostly because of negligence. A badly secured grave, a body left on the road by bandits… that’s enough to attract ghouls. They mostly eat carrion, but many fools lost their lives thinking that the monsters would leave them alone if they moved their feet quickly enough.
The ghouls are most commonly encountered on cemeteries and nearby battlefields, for obvious reasons. Many witchers became quite rich thanks to contracts issued by the army.
A single ghoul is no threat for a witcher, but a lone individual is a rare thing. Usually there is a whole pack of them lurking nearby. That’s why one has to be cautious when fighting them, use proper elixirs and tactics. Ghouls are not smart and one should not expect them to use some sophisticated strategies, but as the dwarves say: “Every hero says ‘fuck’ when there’s enemies’ whole pack.”
– Jaeger of Undvik, a Bear School witcher
The worst thing about the war? Corpse-eaters. There’s a lot of them in the area after a battle and suddenly you have to watch out not only for the enemy scouts, but also for monsters. Less than a week ago one of my soldiers, Bernard, went to the forest to relieve himself. He stood above a hole in the ground and started doing his thing when he suddenly heard a growl. It turned out that the idiot pissed on a ghoul’s head! The beast attacked him and quite seriously tore up his leg. He fled, but died within a day. Killed by cadaverine. Our lieutenant hired a witcher after that to slay the vermin around our camp, but for Bernard it made no difference.
– Marcus Kettil, sergeant in Kaedwen army
I like me job, good sir… Sure, there’s no one to talk to, but at least I have peace and quiet. Unless ghouls get into one of the tombs. Then you ‘ave to get the hell out of there and hire a witcherman. A normal fellow won’t be able to handle such a beast!
– Gerhard, a gravedigger in Vyzima
Piotr Kucharski
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