Ghosts
Contents
Introduction
Within the Dead Realm - produced unwittingly and outside of the purview of the Gods - lies an ecosystem of particular infamy to Atharen's inhabitants, feared and speculated about since the coming of stories and history. While many doubt the existence of the spectral, and while most stories about them are false, their existence is undeniable to those often unfortunate enough to encounter them... or to become one themselves. Ghosts live out an unwelcome afterlife, wandering through a miasma-enriched inversion of the living world. Eventually some of them move beyond wandering, whether evaporating and moving into Reverie or doing what is necessary to subsist in the dangerous land that is their new home.
Emergence
When a person dies, there are a variety of different things that might happen to them. Most people in some way anticipate their death, and perhaps even 'accept' it in doing so. Ghosts are typically those who, when their soul was presented with the prospect of death and the afterlife, resisted the end of their days. This is rarely a conscious decision. Mostly, those with a particularly strong attachment to their life -- often those with a fear of death -- make it unwillingly when they die. Generally, those who die in a shocking or surprising way are those most likely to put up this final resistance.
When they do, they remain in Atharen much as their soul intends. Only, rather than doing so alive, they do so as a ghost who dwells in the repleted Dead Realm. The terror that follows is typically extreme; if their death was confusing, their birth into this bleak place filled with darkly colored skies and ethereal grime is far moreso.
Evolution
Shade: Shades are the common type of ghost, and they make up the majority of all ghosts, though their population is transient and fluctuating. Shades, who tend to spend their days as ghosts confusedly wandering the same grounds they once walked, do not tend to subsist for long. When most of them realize what they've become, and where they are, they decide not to remain and as they consume nothing, they eventually pass on. For this reason they are often called 'flickerers', coming and vanishing before long, leaving no imprint upon the world around them. Some do consume miasma from the world around them, though this is not enough to help them evolve into that of a Specter, and after some time - though it may be dozens of years - their deterioration will outpace the sustenance of this raw miasma, and the Shade will disappear.
Shades tend to appear much as they did in life, particularly when freshly created. As they begin to fade, their body and features will deteriorate and they will look more and more like decaying versions of their former selves.
Specter: Specters are often called 'lingerers' for their desire to stay. They are ghosts who decided they would not surrender to nothingness, often out of fear of what might happen after. Specters tend to stay alive by feeding on other ghosts, consuming their miasma to sustain their own being. For this reason, many Shades flee from them when they are near, as they are clearly distinguishable as deteriorating beings with strange and disconcerting mannerisms and movements. Specters tend to twitch and undulate in an unnatural manner, their body unbound by physical laws. They can often zip and weave rapidly as they move, making them effective predators against other ghosts. Specters are hunters and they are violent. The way they most often die is by mistaking a stronger ghost for prey, pursuing a Wraith violently only to be summarily destroyed.
Wraith: Wraiths are old ghosts, or those who were particularly effective in the hunt. As former Specters who feasted on many of their kind, they are ravenous and untrustworthy creatures, motivated only by the continuation of their own being. But this often changes. Wraiths who evolve into this form are often enthralled by its power, thrilled by what they can do with it. Finally, Wraiths can return to Atharen. They are capable of physically manifesting upon the world and interacting with it as they once did. They do this in a specific and unique way. While Deathstalkers, or Ascendant Pyromancers, are capable of transitioning between living and non-living matter at any point via their own natural abilities, Wraiths rely on something known as a 'transition point'. When a person dies and becomes a ghost, they leave behind a temporary transition point that is only viewable to Wraiths, Deathstalkers and Revenants. This point is created when their soul alters to that of a ghostly one, and Wraiths effectively learn to use this point in order to do the reverse. They can regain some aspect of organic life this way, becoming a physical object made of tangible materials, though in reality they are akin to physically bound miasma.
While physically bound and present in the world, they have the same powers as they do in the Dead Realm: they are capable of becoming spectral; invisible and intangible. They are fast, and surprisingly physically strong. Due to their spectral nature they are difficult to kill, with magic and ethereal weaponry by far the most reliable method of doing so. Wraiths also have a particularly unique ability. Due to how long they have lived in the Dead Realm, existing as nothing but a twisted soul, they have become adept at manipulating the soul itself. By becoming intangible and manifesting within a living body, they are capable of hijacking their soul and entering them. This ability is known as 'Possession', perhaps the Wraith's most iconic power and the one they are feared most for. While possessing someone, Wraiths are incredibly powerful and dangerous, and are far more capable of influencing the externalities of the physical world.
Wraiths do this because they must. Feeding on Specters and Shades is not enough to sustain them -- they consume flesh, and they tend to eat in large chunks with long periods of effective hibernation afterwards, where they do nothing but linger passively in the Dead Realm. When a Wraith enters the physical world they tend to do so with the intention to wreak havoc, devouring families and even communities before returning from whence they came. They may shift between possessed bodies multiple times during this process, as eventually the soul they inhabit will begin to wither and decay in its fight to keep their control at bay. Sometimes they do not take on truly mortal forms at all, though Wraiths deteriorate much more quickly while freely exposed to Atharen from outside of a living body.
Due to their hunger for mortal flesh, Wraiths are sometimes called 'Ghouls, or 'Mournghouls'. Of all ghosts they are perhaps the most impactful to Atharen, as they can cause considerable harm and loss of life when they manifest in the physical world.
Revenant: Revenants are the final and greatest tier of ghost. They are created when a powerful Wraith is given the greatest gift: a willing host. It cannot be any simple host, either; the body the Wraith inhabits must be an impressive being, with a powerful soul. A great warrior, a historic scholar, a powerful mage, a King. Upon accepting them into their soul, their essences coalesce and they merge, becoming one being. A Revenant is a living and a dead soul converged, and a powerful one of each. For this reason they are truly astounding, considerably beyond Wraiths in power and capable of existing in either the Dead Realm or living one without issue. Like Deathstalkers, they may move between both -- though unlike Deathstalkers, they call the Dead Realm their true home.
Revenants are the Lords of the Dead Realm. They hold territories, and within these territories - particularly closer to their center - they shape the realm around them with their own miasma. Subtle differences can be seen from within the territory of each Revenant, with miasma thickening or perhaps taking on different varieties of color, small variations in texture. The area around a Revenant's body will always be coated in fog, with the miasma around them thickening more and more as one draws near. This is because Revenants, who can largely sustain their own being at this point, shed consumed miasma as excess; leaking large amounts from their form. The miasma, influenced by them, forms the foundation of their 'realm' and territory and acts as an extension of their own body.
Revenants are capable of controlling this miasma directly, as well as projecting parts of their essence across its radius in order to spy or prey on others. They are also capable of possessing other ghosts, and doing so remotely, controlling tens or even hundreds at a time. Even Wraiths are susceptible to this terrifying power, and so they tend to desperately evade Revenants and their realms. As more have been created through time, however, their reach has expanded and they have begun to overlap with one another. Revenants are effectively the Kings and Queens of the Dead Realm, warring with one another and even forming coalitions. Though as the Dead Realm is totally separate from the living, nothing is known of these individual Revenants or their purpose.
When a Revenant leaves the Dead Realm, they do so with the guise of a mortal, appearing as the body they managed to make their own. Revenants have limited power on Atharen, as they do not have miasma to manipulate and as dead, they are incapable of wielding magic. However, they are nearly impossible to kill and are much stronger and faster than Wraiths. They are also capable of possessing multiple people at once, projecting their will onto other people's souls and making others act upon their behest. It is difficult for most to resist this power, even skilled warriors and mages, though some can. Truthfully since Revenants do not need to involve themselves in Atharen's affairs, and do not benefit from doing so, very few do. For this reason their impact on the world is utterly minimal.
Variants
Banshee: Banshee are perpetually starved ghosts, consuming wild amounts of miasma rapidly, to the point where it begins to damage their soul and the integrity of their form. Due to this they are forced to expel their miasma frequently in projectile bursts. Akin to a spectral vomit, the expulsion of this miasma produces a sound like a low-hum as they begin to compile it in their 'throat', before releasing it through a wailing scream. Afterwards they will mourn for hours, with Banshees renowned for their incredibly powerful voices that can be heard for miles.
Banshee, like other variants, can be of any 'tier' of ghost though most of them tend to be Specters. They are rare but deadly, as most feast not only on Shades but other Specters as well, intensely voracious. Their screams are deadly, acting as a powerful ethereal discharge, with most other ghosts caught in their range either decaying or becoming dismantled. For this reason even Wraiths tend to avoid them, straying from unnecessary risk. Organic beings suffer a similar fate if directly exposed.
Castaway: Castaway are the ghosts of dead initiates. Many if not most dead initiates become Castaways, and for this reason they are more prevalent in some places than others. Castaways make up the majority of ghosts in Daravin, for example, while in Lorien they are few and far between.
Castaways often died truly horrifically, as the suffering that comes with a failed initiation is often gruesome and immense. Many of them are imperiled and traumatized as a result, and are among the most difficult ghosts to interact with. Castaways hold a unique power in that their soul -- taught partially how to manipulate ether -- is able to manifest this ability upon miasma. For this reason they can control miasma directly, weaving and bending it to their will, though to a limited degree. Mages who held other Marks before the Mark that killed them are capable of performing this ability better than those without any living experience as a mage. Castaways tend to actually fade away over time, few of them wishing to remain. Those who do remain however, often due to their unique advantages, more often survive to become Wraiths than other mundane ghosts.
Visitor: Visitors are the most powerful variant of ghosts and are often some of the most powerful ghosts in the Dead Realm. Due to their incredible innate strength, they almost always become Revenants or powerful Wraiths. Visitors are ghosts who were once Ascended mages, and generally, they willingly choose to become ghosts upon dying rather than their soul making an unconscious decision. Visitors will find that they are capable of accessing all of the powers of their Ascended Mark of Control, as upon ascending it became innate to their soul. However, they will also find that in order to utilize their magic, they can no longer pull from the ambient ether around them: it must come from their own soul, which hastens their decay. To recover from this they need to consume miasma and other ghosts, meaning their power as a mage is limited.
By the time a Visitor is a Revenant, however, their soul is so strong and they hold such reserves of ether within them that they will often find themselves to be more powerful mages than they ever were in life. Visitors who become Revenants are called 'Reapers', though there have only been a few recorded throughout history, and without much evidence. They are purportedly like Gods within the Dead Realm, the only ghost to whom a Revenant would swear fealty.
Haunt: Haunts are the ghosts of animals. While not incredibly common, they are not entirely uncommon within the Dead Realm. They are often animals with particularly considerable intelligence, and often those with strong connections to others. An example of a Haunt may be a dog with a deep and meaningful relationship with their owner, wishing to remain a part of their 'pack' and therefore resisting the coming of their death. They will then return to their home, only to find that they are incapable of being noticed or recognized. Haunts often fail to last long; they tend to fade away even more rapidly than Shades.
There are also other types of animals who may become Haunts. Those with strong territorial bonds, for example, or those raising young. Those who died from being hunted and those with particularly traumatizing circumstances are also common. These animals tend to be more aggressive and reactionary and will often thrive in the Dead Realm preying on other ghosts and consuming miasma. For this reason they can evolve, though due to their limited intelligence virtually any who become a Wraith will be unable to maintain themselves, as the process of feeding as a Wraith is too complex for animal intellect.
Impact
Given that ghosts rarely ever interact with the world, their impact is mostly found in superstition. However, with Wraiths being powerful and capable of influencing physical environments, ghosts of the higher calibers are capable of doing great harm. Wraiths do, in fact, go on killing sprees -- sometimes inhabiting the body of a townsperson, or acting directly. These are called Hauntings, and they can leave deep scars on communities for the sheer amount of horror these creatures are willing to inflict. Many ghosts are spiteful and cruel, shaped by the endless hunt that is the Dead Realm, with no allies or friends, only viciousness and isolation. As a result of this, almost all ghosts who have traversed the Dead Realm for a long time are filled with what some would call wickedness, and rage.
Wraiths are known to Haunt specific places for long periods of time, even hundreds of years. Some towns in Atharen are said to have their very own 'demon', a Wraith who has made that place their territory in the Dead Realm, and goes there every few years -- or even every generation -- to feed. While this was once an easy way for hunters to destroy Wraiths as they came to enact their cruelty, the large disappearance of Sigilic Pyromancy has led to an increase in Wraiths and their sadistic games in recent centuries.
Notes
1. In most circumstances, lower tier ghosts may only be played by those with Sigilic Pyromancy at a sufficient level, via the ability "Searing". Wraiths and higher must be approved for use by a moderator; a simple SF ticket or even a PM/DM asking for permission is sufficient.
2. More to come.
