Outer Realities
How could we not see this approaching? What trick
of topography is this, that lets the sprawling monster hide behind
corners to leap out at the traveler?
It is too late to flee.
Perdido Street Station - China Miéville |
Wraiths have a wider range of action than Ghosts, but they
remain tied to their Anchors, which dissuades wide travel. That
said, it isn't unheard of for Wraiths to explore the far corners
of their world, either on their own or by creating a Consort
and riding someone - or something - around the planet. In fact,
some Wraiths with well-protected Anchors go "Skinriding"
all the time, jaunting from place to place so they can say that
they have, indeed, seen everything.
Simply put - anywhere one of the living can go, so can a Wraith.
They can walk the poles, swim in the sea, traverse the deserts
and jungles and climb through the mountains and valleys. They
can even soar through the air or dive to the depths of the oceans,
provided they can get a ride.
And some have even hitched rides aboard spaceships in near orbit,
though the pull of their Anchors makes such a trip little more
than an extreme stunt
Here and There
When speaking of what they left behind in death, Wraiths tend
to make a distinction between the world of the living and the
world of the dead. The former is the Land of the Living - sometimes
known as the Liveworld - while the hazy realm they inhabit is
often called the Land of the Dead, the Deadworld, the Deadlands,
or any number of other, less cozy terms.
In truth, the notion of there being separate lands for the living
and the dead is a misnomer: both occupy the same world at the
same time. It's just that Wraiths are one step "beyond"
the people, places and things they left behind, and are unable
to interact with them without using their powers. And even then,
with their Affinities or Numina turned full on, that interaction
is temporary and draining, and serves as a harsh reminder of
what's been lost. So they prefer to think of it as two separate
realities, even if they are one and the same.
To a Wraith, the Liveworld - and, by extension, the Deadworld
- is a pale reflection of what they remember. Everything and
everyone they once knew is still there, barring their destruction,
demolition or death, but what was left behind seems more than
a little off. Everything there is hazy and indistinct, as though
the Wraiths eyes were watering up or out of focus. The colors
are washed-out and flaccid, motion is seen as a blur, and the
Sun is a dull disk in the sky, even on "sunny" days.
Smells are muted, sounds are distorted and taste is simply not
an option, here.
In fact, the only things that are sharp and clear to Wraiths
are their own Anchors and their fellow Wraiths: even Ghosts in
their Shrouds seem as much a part of the cloudy landscape as
the living. While this state of being makes it relatively easy
for the Dead to tell one another apart, it also makes for a depressing
and discouraging view of the things they left behind. Anchors
seem so close, and yet so terribly far, far away.
To be a Wraith in the Deadworld is to exist alongside the living,
but to be unable to enjoy anything of the former life. Their
intangibility keeps them from touching anything in the "real"
world, and it's a rare human who can see or hear them. It is
for this reason that many Wraiths take up "riding"
people or objects, or else learn the lower levels of the Embody
Numina. They just want to see, hear and touch the world, again
- to experience it as it was truly meant to be, once more.
And the fact that this makes the loss even deeper than before
is not lost on Shadows.
Consorting With the Dead
One exception to the rule of appearances
are Consorts: mortals that Wraiths have spiritually "bonded"
with, using Numina or the expenditure of Essence to do so. It's
easier, or at least less-costly, to use Numina on or around a
Consort, and they can be used as temporary "Anchors"
as well.
To Wraiths, Consorts appear to be as 'real' as Anchors. In fact,
they appear so 'real' as to often be mistaken for other Wraiths,
too, which leads to unintentional comedy as the Wraiths try to
talk to them. Especially if the Consorts talk back
Interestingly enough, those mortals who can hear or see the dead
- often referred to as Mediums - do not appear any different
that ordinary mortals. This also leads to unintentional comedy
when the Mediums speak to the spirits, and the Wraiths don't
realize they're being spoken to.
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The Catacombs
They had streamed up the aisle between the high
pews to the trap-door of the vaults which yawned loathsomely
open just before the pulpit... I followed dumbly down the footworn
steps and into the dark, suffocating crypt.
The Festival - H.P. Lovecraft |
While they may have the run of the world, Wraiths also have a
special place all to themselves. Under the ground of the Deadworld
is a sprawling labyrinth of untold lengths and depths, existing
alongside the subterranean buildings of the living, and bordered
only by the oceans and seas. This endless maze of tunnels and
chambers is known as the Catacombs, though there are those who
refer to it as the Labyrinth, as well.
The Catacombs appear to be much like what the name would imply:
a spectral echo of any place that the living may have placed
their dead. The shafts and passages run and twist, leading explorers
into burial chambers, mausoleums, temples, tombs and crypts.
Some of these grottos appear to be exact replicas of famous burial
places - such as the necropoli of Egypt or Rome - while others
have only ever been seen in dreams of fancy, or terrible nightmares.
All a Wraith has to do to enter the Catacombs is to find an
entrance, which is sometimes quite a trek if she doesn't know
where the nearest one is. It's not possible for Wraiths to slip
into the ground as they can slip through walls, floors or people,
for some reason, so these entrances are the only way in, and
also the only way out. It's not even possible to go underground
via a subway or parking lot and walk through the wall, there.
It can also be tough to get in those entrances, sometimes.
The Order, convinced that the refuge was created by Charun for
their use, always posts a guard, and they only allow in those
who belong to their number. They tend to allow the Believers
in as well, as the two Concords have an ancient pact of neutrality,
but the fine print of this Understanding differs from city to
city, depending on their local relationship.
{The Order's guards also get out of the way of anyone escorted
by the Ferryman, even if they're Haunters or Freewraiths...}
Wraiths use the Catacombs as meeting house, place of worship
- for those so-inclined - and sanctuary from the Storms.
The Order most often has its Temples down below, in the largest
and most grandiose of crypts, while Believers are mostly content
to take smaller, more humble lodgings.
They say that wonders beyond imagining lurk around the myriad
corners of the place, along with horrors equally unthinkable.
However, as Wraiths are as bound by the pull of their Anchors
while down in the Labyrinth as they are while above ground, very
few care to explore for too far, or for too long.
Grave Goods
Under most circumstances, the only things
that come across into the Deadlands are those things that had
a soul: people, in other words. All objects that are found amongst
the dead are either things made from Corpus - via the Shaping
Numina - or Artifacts brought over from beyond the Barrier.
That said, it is possible - however
rare, these days - for objects to come across into the world
of the dead. To do this, they have been buried along with the
dead, and done so in order to be specifically used by their previous
owners. So long as the object lasts in the Land of the Living,
a ghostly "echo" of it can be found in the Deadlands,
ready to be used by whomever would take it up. But as soon as
it's destroyed, rots or crumbles to dust, it fades away, never
to be seen again.
Such items are known as Relics, and
they are extremely rare and valuable commodities. And by some
quirk of dead physics, they only ever turn up in the Catacombs,
making the exploration of the unmapped reaches something of a
niche industry for Wraiths.
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Dead Weather
Being one step "beyond" the world of the living doesn't
make for much in the way of comfort. The good news is that Wraiths
are in no danger of being soaked in the rain, blown away by a
tornado or buried under ten feet of snow. The bad news is that
they can never feel the warmth of sunshine on their faces, never
have a delightful breeze blow past them, and never truly appreciate
the change of the seasons. From their vantage point, it's all
a dull, lukewarm blur that they can't indulge in.
That's not to say that the Deadworld doesn't have its own, unique
weather patterns, though. Every so often, for reasons that are
not fully understood by anyone - except perhaps the Ferrymen,
who warn of their approach - the Land of the Dead shakes and
shudders, as if caught in a fevered dream, and the air comes
alive with the fury of a Storm.
These thankfully rare eruptions from the Spirit World bring with
them terrible, ripping winds and hordes of The Damned. Visibility
drops down below zero, even in a "mild" Storm, and
between the predators, the razorwinds and the sheer confusion,
any Wraith caught out in it will be lucky to get out in one piece.
Any Wraith caught out in a bad Storm is most likely destroyed.
The only sure way to protect oneself from the ravages of a Storm
is to be down in the Catacombs, or inside an Anchor. However,
whenever a Storm is on, it is impossible for Wraiths inside its
area of effect to instantly teleport to their Anchors. Those
unlucky enough to be caught out in one must either use certain
Numina, or voluntarily Ossify themselves, in order to survive.
And as for those in the Catacombs, the innate power of the maze
may keep the Storm's winds out, but the Damned may go anywhere
they like
A Sicker Option
One of the many oddities about the Deadworld
and its relations to the Land of the Living is that Ghosts in
their Shrouds are completely protected from Storms. It's as if
they weren't there at all, and this is most likely caused by
the special properties of the Fugue, or the Shroud they wear.
So it's not unknown for a Wraith caught out in a Storm to find
the nearest Ghost, tear off her Shroud, and put it on herself
for protection. While this maneuver doesn't completely spare
her from the ravages of the winds, it does keep most of the damage
at bay.
It also keeps The Damned from tearing
her to pieces, since they tend to settle for the newly-awakened
Wraith her Shroudtheft created...
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Shadowlands
I know not how it was - but, with the first glimpse
of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit
There was an iciness, a sinking, a sickening of the heart - an
unredeemed dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination
could torture into aught of the sublime.
The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe |
While the inhabitants of both worlds are most often kept from
one another, there are areas where their separate realities overlap,
and their inhabitants are back on equal footing, once again.
The most obvious area of overlap is a physical place that happens
to be an Anchor for one or more Wraiths. While inside such an
Anchor, the Wraiths it belongs to have an easier time Manifesting
and using their Numina to affect the mortal world. Such Anchors
- known to Wraiths as Haunts - give rise to legends of haunted
houses or forests, and provide shelter against deadly Storms.
There are also places of tangible overlap, known as Shadowlands.
They are dark and blighted places, each one representing some
taint on the landscape. They can be caused by massive atrocity,
stark depravity, generations of murder or the unleashing of foul
magics. It is also said that they can be deliberately created
by Wraiths, but if so, the exact means are a well-kept secret.
In a Shadowland, the living can see and touch the dead, and vice
versa, and things no longer look hazy or indistinct to Wraiths.
However, everything else outside the area - such as the sky,
the Sun and Moon, and other far-off places and things - still
appears as "normal" for Wraiths.
People or things from the Liveworld that enter a Shadowland don't
appear hazy or indistinct to Wraiths. Likewise, the dead look
perfectly human to the living, though any alterations to their
form caused by Thorns, Shadowstate or the Shaping Numina can
be seen. Objects from both worlds can be brought into the Shadowland,
and used by anyone there - living or dead - but they must return
the way they came: the grave does not relinquish its possessions,
and the living have little place amongst the dead.
That said, there are those mortals who can use the unnatural
energies of a Shadowland to their own uses. They often go there
to make contact with Wraiths, or enact rituals that allow them
to enter the Deadlands. Some even parley with The Damned for
malign, selfish purposes.
Common wisdom is to avoid mortals who enter into the Shadowlands,
but - as with life - it's uncommon for such wisdom to be heeded.
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