Gharjoy are astromorphs, astreal creatures. They are powerful hunting creatures who are “territorial”, patroling their regions for things that pollute their territory. Their “visage” is quite horrific to those who can see them.
Gharjoy consume pawns (bundles) of negative energies. Each pawn is a combination of negative emotions, memories, and power- a sin in some parlances- Evil in others. They hunt any negative astromorph or pawn in their region.
Gharjoys, being positive energy creatures who fuze negative energy, have more “weight” than most astromorphs. They utilize the destructive energies to hunt and destroy other negative energy pawns and negative astromorphs. This balance of polarities allows them to focus upon the physical realm. Like all astreal things, unless they are anchored to the material in some way, they can only limitedly sense and interact with the physical. After finding a suitable anchor, they can bind themselves to the material and hunt there.
What constitutes an anchor? They are stone statues that have horrific visages - grotesques. Such an appearance (and associated primal archetypes) has resonance for them, making it suitable. It is unclear if someone seeing a Gharjoy in the astreal was the reason for carving a grotesque, or a Gharjoy simply came to anchor in such a statue because it was there. It is also unclear if the number of gargoyles/ grotesques on certain churches was done to attract Gharjoys, or if just the Gharjoys came to them.
A Gharjoy’s region is any bounded area, be it a building, a walled enclave, or ley bounded zones. They are creatures of habit and will not exceed their region.
Gharjoys hunt at night, searching for sources of negative energy in their region. They will attack as a violent spectre or poltergiest, generating fear (which generates lesser pawns) and taking the energy of sin/evil from the target (which has the side effects of injury the target’s mind and body).
This spirit, like the Spirit of Predator (Shark), may have moved upon the worlds, creating the various things that echo the Gharjoy’s basic elements. This theory has been debated again and again without conclusion. The only ones that might know are the Gharjoys and they are not talking.