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Table of Contents
Not much is known about the Ashfall pathogen at this point, except that 'pathogen' is not the best word to describe it.
It's a condition that can be passed on from human host to human host through a myriad of ways, but often by injection or ingestion of a black, glittering substance in any dosage. In many ways, the effect is like assimilation - the adoption of the individual into a greater whole, that thinks as one. In other ways, it's not remotely comparable; the individual does not hear the thoughts of the other infected and in many cases, retains some autonomy. One can easily hold a conversation with a single Ashfall case without getting the impression of neural or intellectual deterioration.
Depending on the narrative, Ashfall is a single, individual creature, spread over many human hosts - or a collection of individual Ashfallen, each by themselves wholly formidable. Pronouns getting tricky - but as a default, it's good to assume all Ashfallen a single creature.
Capabilities
The Ashfallen develop pyrokinesis (the cause of their name), telekinesis and telepathy, the strength of which depend on the distance the power must cover. As such, it's easy to immediately render a human close enough to shake hands with to instant ashes (if an Ashfallen were so inclined), but it might be difficult for them to find telekinetic purchase on a plane flying overhead.
Weaknesses
Generally speaking, Ashfallen can still be killed in any way a human being can - assuming their telekinesis doesn't save them from it, e.g. by stopping bullets or displacing a cloud of gas. They also still need to eat and drink, although not quite as much as a human, their metabolic system streamlined. Nonetheless, especially when more creature than individual, they may potentially forget they need to sustain themselves as a single unit and burn energy they don't have. In a way, the pathogen in its ability to subsume so many individuals does not necessarily correctly assess the needs of this small part of itself - though it'll be an absent-minded oversight, not lack of care.
Personality
The Ashfallen do not commonly feel fear - their death would be fairly inconsequential, given that their 'collective' remains largely untouched by the loss. Beyond that, they adopt many or most of the traits of the pathogen's collective personality, but internalise them as their own.