Gloomhaunts

FTL drive cascades are catastrophic events, and the quantum physics involved are, as of this writing, not yet not fully understood or predictable. Any living things in close proximity to the cascade site with be consumed by it. As far as our understanding of quantum physics are concerned, they are erased from space and time. At the sight of cascades, sometimes a singularity referred to as a "gloomhaunt", a "doomhaunt", "radwraith", "aethernaut", "lost soul", "specter" and all number of colloquialisms, will appear. Their appearances begin by a series of unexplainable electromagnetic activity and phenomena. Then, they appear, bodily, suddenly and without warning. They appear as a skeletal figure, covered in blazing fire, electricity, or smoke. They give off a high amount of colored light, and bits of what appear to be clothing, skin, muscle mass, and bodily tissue in a constant state of growing, and then burning or sloughing off and growing back from their bones. They move slowly and deliberately, and have been shown to posess at least a sapient-level intelligence, and can both speak and comprehend language. They often take on the appearance and respond to the name of individuals that have died in previous FTL drive cascades. Their appearance can range from confused to sullen to malicious, and almost universally attack others, erasing them from time and space as a drive cascade does, at which point a new gloomhaunt will begin appearing. As such, they are considered extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. Appearances can range from any number of seconds to any number of minutes, at which point they vanish just as suddenly as they appeared.