Caligins

Caligins represent one of the Eight Magics of Domundus. They are Domundian creatures who exhibit much greater strength while being in the cold and much better mental capabilities when in darkness. Upon a creature's creation, it has a chance to become a Caligin. This chance increases dramatically with a species' intelligence, meaning there are close to no Caligins of any other species but humans, and even for humans the chance of an individual being a Caligin is less than 1 in ten million.

Strength from cold
When in a cold environment, a Caligin will exhibit physical strength anywhere from two to eight times their regular strength, depending on how strongly they experience the cold and how sudden the transition to the colder temperature is. Despite this, Caligins are physically indistinguishable from any other member of their species, and do not exhibit any extra muscle gain or body modifications. Most Caligins get strong shivers and ticks right before a sudden increase in strength.

Contrary to popular myth, warmth and heat does not weaken or incapacitate Caligins to any unordinary degree.

Intellect from darkness
When in a dark environment, a Caligin's intellect will likewise skyrocket, allowing them to think faster and more efficiently, along with allowing them to process and take in physical stimuli more quickly. In mathematical tasks, Caligins have performed two to eight times faster than usual.

Caligin State
Once a Caligin is in both a cold and dark environment, they enter what is called the Caligin State (also sometimes called the mist State).

Strength and intellect increase
When in the Caligin State, a Caligin's strength and intellect increase even further, often to another by another two to eight times.

Caligin Fog
While in the Caligin State, a Caligin has the ability to produce dense magical Fog out of their body. The Fog allows the Caligin to feel everything inside the fog with any sense a member of their species may possess, and keeps them more strongly in the Caligin State. A Caligin is not able to make the Fog forcefully disappear, however, as the Fog can only dissipate with application of warmth.

The most Fog a single Caligin was able to produce was observed to be roughly a three kilometer radius, although on average Caligins are able to produce Fog up to about fifty meters in radius.

If a Caligin exits Caligin Fog or the Fog dissipates while a Caligin is within it, clumps of Fog will stick to the Caligin. If left on their own, the clumps will melt away within a few minutes, and can also be warmed or rubbed away to make it melt away.

The Caligin Fog is compatible with Myelimalan Amber.

Loss of self-control
In turn for the increased strength and intellect, and the ability to create Caligin Fog, a Caligin loses most of their self-control over their emotions, instincts, thoughts, and desires. This is, naturally, the most dangerous aspect of being a Caligin or being near a Caligin while they are in the Caligin State.

It is not uncommon for inexperienced and untrained Caligins to go on violent and uncontrolled rampages which are usually described by survivors as one-sided, disturbing, and at times downright sadistic. It is also not uncommon for rampaging Caligins to intentionally hurt themselves or people they had been close to up until then due to the extreme mental load occurring in their minds while in the Caligin State.

The Fog that always accompanies a rampaging Caligin allows them to fulfill their momentary impulses even more quickly giving them the brutal efficiency to slaughter entire towns within a minutes, should they wish it.