Kaleyi

The Kaleyi, known as the Hungry Dancers, are horrifying spirits found in An Teng, who roam that jungle land at night and strike fear into the hearts of the inhabitants. From a distance, they appear to be stooped humans, moving with an erratic gait, but as they draw nearer their true forms become apparent: ghostly, skeletal creatures covered with dried fur and ragged grave clothes, their heads the skulls of fanged monkeys.

The Kaleyi are corporeal, though they are able to move with bursts of sudden speed and easily climb both trees and walls with their sharp-clawed hands. They travel in packs, numbering from a half-dozen to over twenty, concealing themselves during the day and moving at night.

When such a roving pack of Kaleyi come upon a village or travelling caravan, they attack, driven by insatiable hunger to eat anything possessed of a higher soul. Tengese seek to protect themselves through faith, many sheltering in the temples of the Golden Lord for the kaleyi cannot enter ground consecrated to that deity, nor cross lines of sacramental oils blessed in his name by his priesthood. The Tengese minority adhering to the Immaculate faith see their monks take a more active role, engaging and destroying the kaleyi by way of martial arts.

The kaleyi are creatures of the Pale Mistress, birthed from her womb and obeying her without question should she come upon them. In her presence, they are more subdued than when left wild, though they will continue to attack the clergy of the Golden Lord, children, and pregnant women… if a village seeks to summon the Pale Mistress, the latter two are evacuated beforehand to spare them from harm.

Kaleyi are born of the souls consumed by the Pale Mistress, ripped from the cycle of reincarnation and transformed into monsters. Some are victims of her hunger as she walks An Teng, others are those who promised their souls to her in exchange for boons such as power, love, or revenge.

In addition to their inability to pass ground consecrated to the Golden Lord, the kaleyi are also vulnerable to the power of the Unconquered Sun, their bodies becoming as brittle as dried leaves when touched by the rays of the Most High, disintegrating under the lightest blow or even strong gusts of wind. The light of a Solar Exalted anima has the same effect on the kaleyi, though this is a danger they have not faced for a very long time.

Though for most intents and purposes the kaleyi can be considered ghosts, their very beings have been transformed into something different: they cannot enter Lethe, by force or by choice, cannot make use of Arcanoi, and cannot be forged into Soulsteel.