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The Bane is a creature in The Spook's Curse.

History[]

The Bane was originally one of the Old Gods, terrorizing the County for many years, while being worshipped by the Segantii. His true form is a squat, muscular, vaguely human form covered with scales. Long talons sprout from his fingers and toes. His face is very ugly, with a long chin curving upwards, and long wolf-like ears. The Bane demanded that Heys, the Segantii king, give a yearly tribute of one of Heys's seven sons. Only Naze, the seventh son of Heys, was able to bind him, first by making a blood pact with him: Naze could call the Bane three more times to drink his blood, and each time the Bane must obey his commands. Naze first commanded that the Bane never return to the barrows to protect the bones of his ancestors. Second, Naze sent the Bane to the center of the earth on a quest for knowledge. As the Bane was away for three days, it gave Naze and his people enough time to make the Silver Gate. Finally, Naze used the blood pact to bind the Bane to the catacombs, declaring that he could leave only if someone opened the Silver Gate. Furious, the Bane crushed Naze to death on the spot.

Later, Priestown was built over the old Segantii catacombs. Though physically trapped by the Silver Gate, the Bane used his powers to corrupt the minds of the weak-minded, making them greedy, cruel, and abusive. Priests such as Father Cairns even fed the Bane blood through the Silver Gate.

At some point before Thomas Ward's apprenticeship began, John Gregory confronted the Bane alone in the catacombs, seeking to destroy it. The Bane easily overwhelmed the Spook and pressed him to near death, but the Spook was saved by a mysterious purple light.

In The Spook's Curse, Tom Ward and John Gregory travel to Priestown seeking to destroy the Bane once and for all. After they rescue Alice Deane from the local quisitor, Alice makes a blood pact with the Bane to get revenge on the Quisitor and to rescue his victims. After a struggle in the catacombs, Tom manages to bind the Bane with his silver chain and stab it in the heart with a silver blade. Tom is seemingly killed by the energy released when the Bane dies, but Alice somehow resurrects him. Alice later reveals that she had commanded the Bane not to harm the Spook or his apprentice, and meant to sacrifice herself in the catacombs.

Powers[]

The Bane was originally one of the Old Gods, presumably with far greater powers. However, his long confinement in the catacombs, with minimal access to human blood, had weakened the Bane such that he was reclassified as a demon. Shortly after escaping the catacombs, the Bane fights Kratch, badly injuring the boggart but not killing it. The Spook remarks that the Bane was still weak from its long confinement, and that the boggart could not save them another time.

The Bane is known to be afraid of women, and was once driven off by Alice Deane merely spitting in his face. Like many other creatures of the Dark, the Bane was also vulnerable to silver weapons.

The Bane can change form into any person he wants, making it easy for him to fool those with weaker minds into doing his bidding. He has the power of the "press", in which he can flatten people until they have to be scraped off of the cobbles in order to bury them. Another power of his, is to call upon storms, which shows that he is powerful enough to disturb the elements. He can also read minds, predict the future, and twist dreams of people making them weak and vulnerable, all parts of his ultimate power; persuasion. After long enough of having their dreams twisted, even those with strong minds can fall prey to this powerful entity.

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