Ghosts

A Wraith

Introduction

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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 Ransera 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 death and aethereal grime is far moreso.

Structure

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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.

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. Perhaps 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 Ransera. 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 Runeforged 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 Ransera 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 Ransera, as they can cause considerable harm and loss of life when they manifest in the physical world.

Revenant: xx

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 aethereal 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 aether -- 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 Runes before the Rune 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 Rune, 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 aether 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 aether 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

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Notes

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