| Fatom | |
|---|---|
 no picture | |
| General Information | |
| Home: | Semi-stable Fata Morganas |
| Habitat: | Anagrom Ataf |
| Abilities: | Endless repetition of activities |
| Physical Information | |
| Extremities: | Mostly two arms and legs |
From the ‘Encyclopedia of Marvels, Life Forms and Other Phenomena of Zamonia and its Environs’' by Professor Abdullah Nightingale
Fatoms. Translucent life forms belonging to the Restless Spirits Without Cause of Death family. Found only in semi-stable Fata Morganas they consist for the most part of reflected light, frozen sugar vapour, and diluted spiritual essence in gaseous form.
As already mentioned in the article on semi-stable →Fata Morganas, the sugar-sand of the Demerara Desert melts at temperatures in excess of 320° Fahrenheit →Sugar Flux, begins to boil, and gives off a fine sugar vapour. If the air temperature drops sharply at that moment [e.g. because of sudden katabolic winds], the sugar hardens in mid-air; and if, in addition the image of an actual oasis city is projected on the crystallizing sugar molecules, that image can become firmly imprinted on them. The same thing can happen to the living creatures in such a city. This is how so-called Fatoms originate. Unlike traditional ghosts, they are not spirits of the dead, but forms of existence that may well be still alive.
Fatoms must be numbered among the most pitiful spirit forms in Zamonia. They pursue no definite end such as the intimidation of living creatures, nor do they derive any pleasure from their existence in the same way as poltergeists or →Hobgoblins. They are merely condemned to repeat, for evermore, the activity in which they were engaged when the semi-stable →Fata Morgana came into being.