Yes, it's true. Wraith is no more.

After having its development stopped, and being in a state of "hiatus" since the printing of Ends of Empire, Wraith's core book was allowed to go out of print. All other books are no longer being printed, either. White Wolf's having a sale of their current Wraith stock, and anything left over at the end of the year's going to be destroyed for tax purposes.

Wraith is dead.

And that's sad, yes. It's a cause for mourning. No more official material. No more lovely, gray-chained products moaning from the game store shelves every so often. Not even a reprieve from Arthaus - just dust, death and a slow slide into the trash bin.

Wraith is dead... but yet we live, right?

Well then, for Fate's sake, dry your eyes and stop looking like someone just stepped on your cat!

Yes, it's true that the game is no longer being made, but made and played are two different things. We don't need a fiat from Atlanta, GA to play the game. We never have. So why should their having given up on Wraith cause you to do the same?

Sure, not being able to order books will be a pain at times, and there's always the embarassment of being a fan of a "failed" game - but you can still persevere through both of those hurdles, can't you? And besides, what are the proponents of the latter charge spending their time on... Hack master 5000?

Buck up, Enfants: the game's still ours so long as we have the imagination to present it. The rules are still in our hands so long as we've got them in our heads, or our books. The fun's still there if we'll only make it happen. The line may be dead in the water, but we can still swim.

But would you talk of a return to glory, too? A return to production?

We would - and we can see it as a distinct possibility as well. Remember the horrible years when Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was out of print? The games still went on in spite of it, and one day the game came back. The same with Space: 1899. So why not Wraith?

It can be done, my friends. But the road from here to there will not be easy.

We who love the game must become more active than we've been in the past. We can no longer count on a nice, shiny and never-ending supply of Wraith books to tempt new players and Storytellers in. In fact, that didn't seem to work so well in the first place - did it?

No, my friends. If we want more people to play with, we shall have to court them. We're going to have to evangelize. We're going to have to spring the game on innocent strangers. We're going to have to sell our strange hobby to the world.

How to do that? A good question - here's some answers.

1) Buy the Books Like Mad: If you've got the money, go drop by White Wolf's site and buy up some of those fantastic deals they're offering - just to make sure your collection's complete. Buy books you already have, for that matter - they make great gifts for friends ("Happy Samhain! Here's Guildbook:Haunters.") And then, you can have extra copies for folks to borrow, too...

2) Go Start a Wraith Game: Now more than ever, it's time to drag the black book out to be enjoyed.

So maybe your Troupe doesn't think Wraith would be fun? Fine. Let them play something else... for a while, anyway - then arrange to have their beloved characters killed off to a boojum, and bring them across the Shroud! (You're allowed to get sneaky, here. Used cars don't sell themselves...)

3) Bust a Move at Conventions: When's the last time you saw a Wraith game at a game convention? When's the last time you saw an Oblivion LARP at one?

Never? Well... there you go: get your books, get your sheets, get a sign-up sheet in the right hands and then go do it. Don't be alarmed if you don't get as many players as you'd like: with Wraith, smaller can often be better. Just go do it - the results may surprise you.

4) Keep the Game Alive: talk it up any way you can. We're doing our part, here - what's stopping you? Join in by sending in articles to us, or ELN, or anywhere else that'll take things on Wraith.

In that vein, do not take any guff from online chat sites who give Wraith the short end of the stick. If they won't support the game, or think you need the same sort of permission to play a Wraith that you'd need for a Dhampir, Kinfolk Kinain, Bygone or Awakened chimpanzee, it's time to find a new game site! You'll know where the good ones are, if we have anything to say about it - chances are we'll have them up, here, on the NetBooks page under Chronicles.

There's probably a lot more things you can do - more than we can list here without boring you to tears, we're sure. If you come up with a good idea, be sure to spread it around like good Juice, and then go do it, if you can. And let us know about it, if you would?

Final word: Don't mourn - organize! If we all do our part, we could have Wraith back before we know it. And even if we can't, we'll have a lot more new friends to play with.

And wasn't that the point all along?