Squiffy Ghast

When the moon waxes terrible, aethereal harmonies cascade through the hollow grottos of the Cove, haunting the dreams of Hamlet dwellers with visions of mossy crevices and the unspeakable horrors of the sea. In the comfort of full candles, mariners tell of briny corpses taking up a barnacled bow to draw out faded memories of revelry long past. There is only madness in the melody of those rime-encrusted notes. To dance to the tune of the tottering Squiffy Ghast is to quicken the heart to bursting, and forsake attachment to the wholesome, surface-dwelling life. What fate then, for those hapless heroes whose ill-charted course leads them to dance forever in the aphotic shadows.

Once the Squiffy Ghast was a crew member of the Crew of Smuggler who worked for the Ancestor. Playing merry sea shanties on his fiddle as they traveled the globe for the Ancestor in search of idols, ancient manuscripts and other items of more darker nature. This particular crew was the Ancestor’s favorite, until they began asking for too much money to keep quiet. So the Ancestor decided to arrange "alternative" payment, in the form of a cursed anchor that dragged them and their ship to the bottom of the sea. The curse that the Ancestor had placed on their anchor would not let them die, forcing them to relive their final moments again and again, chained and drowning for eternity.

Somehow the Squiffy Ghast succeeded in escaping the cursed anchor's chains, but the curse has left its mark. The Squiffy Ghast was now a ghostly being cursed with undeath, only comfort he had left was his trusty fiddle and his love for music. In the deepest and darkest parts of The Cove, the Ghast wanders around the caverns, constantly playing its fiddle accompanied by a limitless liquor supply. Any adventurer who encounters the Ghast risks being driven to insanity by hearing its cursed music, and it’s said that those who dance to its tune are doomed to dancing with it forever.

Behavior
The Squiffy Ghast starts battles off in the back ranks. Its first turn it will use Maddening Shanty to move itself to the front. On its next turn it will use Offkilter Jig to send itself to the backlines. However, Offkilter Jig also inflicts Horror on your heroes. This is a unique status that works like Blight and Bleed, but deals 5 Stress damage for the next 4 rounds.

Spawning
The Squiffy Ghast only appears in Champion level dungeons in the Cove.

Trivia
Squiffy Ghast's attacks are programmed to move him forward and back 4 positions. This is despite only requiring to move 3 positions to always end up in the first and fourth positions after executing each move respectively.