CLASS: UNKNOWN

   The visible, organic portion of this enigmatic entity is more a "tool" than a part of its body, a feeding mechanism generated by its true form like the web spun by a spiderpede. Actually a nebulous, imperceptible energy field, the true Ectasm can generate limited pockets of kinetic force, thermal fluctuations and even audio-visual hallucinations to disorient its prey, employing its membranous puppet to drain the victim of energy; a nonlethal but psychologically traumatic process often accompanied by long-term amnesia. Destruction of the feeding appendage may weaken or temporarily dissipate its consciousness, but an Ectasm can never be permanently extinguished - only trapped and contained via costly electronic equipment.

   Immature Ectasm are intangible, harmless and remarkably common parasites of highly active brains, but may metamorphose into their more dangerous, free-living form upon the sudden, violent death of a host. Impressed with an incomplete copy of the host's mind, the monster is forever driven by foggy, borrowed memories and may fixate on a single area, object or being. Ectasm origin theory varies widely; they are believed by some to be a transdimensional invader or an ancient experiment in prolonging life. One wild hypothesis holds that the beings are remains from some far greater extradimensional life force, fractured into aimless parasites by some unfathomable cataclysm.