Possession, Madness & Psychological Div

When the Enemy Is Inside

Some div don't attack from outside—they infiltrate consciousness. These are particularly insidious because victim may not realize they're under attack until corruption is deep.

Zaar (زار) - The Possession Spirit

(Detailed in "Omens, Curses & Abstract Entities")

Summary: Enters human consciousness. Causes illness and personality changes. Exorcised through traditional ceremony (drums, dance, exhaustion).

Additional: Zaar Ceremonies are real Persian Gulf tradition. Your integration of authentic cultural practice into magic system creates believability.

Hamzad Corruption

(See "Shape-Shifters & Liminal Beings")

Summary: When personal guardian spirit becomes corrupted. Internal saboteur. Requires purification ritual to cleanse.

Baghpu (باقپو) - The Terror of Sleep

Region: Fars, Kordestan

Alternative Names: Badkapoo, Baykapoo, Vakapoo, Paqpoo, Bazqpan

Behavior: Causes nightmares, sleep paralysis, waking terror

In Némand:

• Tier: 1-2
• Method: Enters consciousness during sleep. Creates vivid nightmares that feel real.
• Feeding: Terror during helpless state (sleep paralysis where victim aware but cannot move/scream)
• Defense: Sraosha invocation before sleep. White rooster nearby (crow wakes victim). Sleeping with another person (shared consciousness harder to infiltrate).
• Exhaustion Tactic: Repeated nightly attacks prevent restful sleep. Victim becomes exhausted, vulnerable to other div.

Story Hint: Protagonist suffering recurring nightmares. Becoming sleep-deprived, making mistakes. Realizes it's Baghpu attack. Must either: (A) Perform Sraosha protection ritual, or (B) Stay awake until finding and defeating Baghpu's anchor-point. Sleep deprivation + div hunting = extremely difficult. Shows that some battles fought while consciousness itself is weapon.

Khukhan (خوخان / خوخو) - The Child Frightener

Region: Azerbaijan, Fars, Gilan, Kordestan, Lorestan, Mazandaran, Zanjan

Alternative Name: Bache Tarsanak ("Child-Scarer")

Method: Simply frightens children. No elaborate attack—pure fear entity.

In Némand:

• Tier: 1
• Feeding: Children's fear (simplest Angra food)
• Appearance: Takes form of child's specific fear (dark shadow, monster under bed, thing in closet).
• Weakness: Adult presence disperses it. Light banishes it. Courage (child overcoming fear) starves it.
• Developmental Role: Some argue Khukhan serves function—teaches children to overcome fear. Div that accidentally creates courage?

Madness-Inducers

Chashamak Deev (چَشمَک دیو) - The Winking Demon

(Detailed in "Omens, Curses & Abstract Entities")

Summary: Wink causes hallucinations. Corrupts Didār (Observation)—victim's senses lie to them.

Qara Qernas (قاراقارناس) - The Black Horn

Region: Golestan

Alternative Names: Qara Qirnas, Qara Qirnaq, Qara Qirnan

Appearance: Black-horned entity (exact form varies)

In Némand:

• Tier: 2
• Method: Sound-based attack. Horn produces frequency that causes disorientation, confusion, panic.
• Corrupted Daryāft: Reception of sound becomes weapon. Hearing itself hurts.
• Defense: Cover ears (obvious), or counter-frequency device (Tier 2 Engineering). Harmonics that cancel Qara Qernas's blast.

Naam-Gir (نا‌م‌گیر) - The Name-Stealer

Region: Golestan, Mazandaran

Alternative Names: Nam-Girk, Navom Nid

Folklore: Steals people's names. Once stolen, person becomes lost, forgotten, unable to introduce themselves.

In Némand:

• Tier: 2-3
• Identity Attack: Erases victim from collective memory. Family forgets them, friends don't recognize them, records show no trace.
• Corrupted Peyvand: Severs all connections. Victim becomes invisible to social consciousness.
• Feeding: Isolation, anonymity, erasure
• Counter: Someone who truly loves victim (strong Peyvand bond) can remember. Love defeats forgetting. Or victim can reclaim name through proving identity (difficult when nobody believes you exist).

Story Hint: Naam-Gir steals ally's name. Protagonist starts forgetting them—knows something's wrong but can't remember who/what is missing. Finds journal entry in own handwriting mentioning ally. Uses written record to fight magical forgetting. Quest to recover ally's name before they completely disappear. Emotional stakes: fighting to remember someone you love as magic erases them from mind.

Sleep & Dream Div

Relationship to Bushyasta

Many sleep-related div are Bushyasta (Sloth Deev) fragments:

• Baghpu: Nightmare variant
• Khukhan: Child fear variant
• General pattern: Attack during vulnerability (sleep) when conscious defenses lowered

Protection During Sleep

Traditional Methods (That Work):

• Sraosha Invocation: Prayer before sleep invites guardian Yazata
• White Rooster: Dawn crow disrupts night-div
• Shared Sleep: Multiple people sleeping in room (collective consciousness harder to infiltrate than individual)
• Light: Vapour-Lantern on low throughout night
• Iron Under Pillow: Consciousness-forged knife prevents possession

Why These Work: Sleep is consciousness vulnerability. Defenses maintain minimum awareness even during rest. Light = passive Didār. Iron = physical anchor. Rooster = scheduled wake-up. Prayer = Yazata link. Community = shared vigilance.

Madness as Div Symptom

In your world, mental illness has dual nature:

• Natural Madness: Brain chemistry, trauma, stress. Real medical condition. Treatable with medicine + therapy.
• Div-Induced Madness: Supernatural corruption. Medicine fails. Requires exorcism, purification, spiritual healing.

Diagnosis Challenge: How to tell difference? Experienced healers use:

• Consciousness Detection: Scan patient. Div possession shows as foreign consciousness-signature.
• Pattern Analysis: Div-madness often has specific patterns (Zaar causes rhythm-sensitivity, Baghpu causes dawn-worsening, etc.).
• Treatment Response: If medicine works = natural. If only ritual works = supernatural.

Ethical Complexity: Some "possessed" people don't want exorcism—Zaar might be only companionship lonely person has. Some div aren't hostile, just... there. When is exorcism help vs. violation? Gray area.

Story Applications: Mental Div Combat

Psychological threats create different story beats:

• Horror: Enemy you cannot see, inside your own head
• Mystery: Diagnosing what's natural vs. supernatural
• Helplessness: Cannot fight with sword. Must use knowledge, ritual, community.
• Character Test: How protagonist treats mentally ill shows morality. Do they distinguish natural illness (compassion) from div attack (combat)? Or assume all madness is weakness?

These entities make magic system feel dangerous even in "safe" places (your own mind). No true safety exists. Constant vigilance required.