vaev

Vaev is a term used in fantasy fiction and tabletop role-playing games to denote a class of incorporeal beings that feed on human emotional energy, particularly fear and sorrow. The term appears across various fictional glossaries and is often treated as a generic label rather than a single species, with multiple settings describing distinct forms and powers.

Vaev are typically described as shadowy, formless entities capable of passing through walls and other barriers. They are drawn to places with strong emotional residue, such as crime scenes, battlefields, and sites of trauma. In many narratives, vaev attach to individuals, intensifying anxiety, nightmares, or intrusive memories, and may be banished or controlled through wards, rituals, or acts of courage and compassion.

Because vaev are fictional constructs, their origins vary by world-building. Some sources trace them to ancient pacts between mortals and spirits, while others view them as remnants of a forgotten magical ecology. Common subtypes include vaev of fear, vaev of grief, and vaev of memory, each with different affinities and vulnerabilities, for example fear vaev being thwarted by courage and memory vaev by truth-telling or trauma processing.

In literature, video games, and role-playing campaigns, vaev are used as antagonists or plot devices. They are sometimes depicted as tragic beings seeking release rather than pure malice, or as parasitic entities that erode trust and social bonds.

See also: demon, spirit, wraith.