Mar's Father
"The first thing you should know is what makes a Wraith a Wraith, and sets them apart from all the other dead souls.
You already know we all look alike. But what you probably haven't figured out, is that there's actually two different kinds of Wraiths. Maybe the differences still matter, maybe they don't. There's the old soul Wraiths, and the young soul Wraiths. You need to remember that both kinds were created at the same time. All the Wraiths are the same age.
The difference is what they were before they were Wraiths. Death didn't just create us out of thin air, you know. Just like on the living realms, there are souls with power here, too. Those with exceptional power and wits were the ones who became Wraiths. Young soul Wraiths still possessed a strong sense of self before Death changed them. The old soul Wraiths had begun to forget who they were.
You know what happens when you're dead, and you start forgetting who you are, right? You fade out. Maybe into another plane of existence, maybe you just cease to exist, I don't know.
So the old soul Wraiths were long considered to be the most loyal, since becoming Wraiths saved them from losing themselves. And countless ages passed, and eventually, even the Wraiths forgot which they were. Maybe Death remembers. If he does, he hasn't said anything to us.
There's only one other type of Wraith, but they're different. They're mostly young soul Wraiths, who challenged Death and lost.
...I think I need to explain about the Resurrected, before getting into this.
You know people can come back from the dead, right? The Resurrected are just that, people who died and came back.
There's three methods to this. First, the most successful method is being called back by the gods. Mother Gaia has done this a few times, and Death doesn't seem to mind chucking some poor soul back out into the living realm. Usually there's some epic quest or a favor to be repaid to the gods who bailed that soul out. I really think Death gets a kick out of watching these people.
The second method is challenging Death. I've seen a thousand different challenges, maybe five of which actually succeeded. The end result is the same, the soul wins, Death kicks him back out to the living realm. Lose, and you go straight to the afterlife.
Then you've got the last method, which is really a variation on the second. Some lover boy dies with his gal, way too young, or other such crap. So he challenges Death, and instead of winning his life back, he wins hers. She gets kicked back to the living realm, he goes on to the afterlife. There's other variations, but that's the best example.
Anyways. The other type of Wraith are the souls who challenged Death and lost. And the rogues are mostly those Wraiths. They're jealous of the souls who succeeded, hate Death for besting them, whatever.
The rogues are the reason it's so dangerous to be around a Resurrected now. They tend to strike at Resurrected souls and whatever other living thing is nearby. There's about six left, every single other rogue has already been caught and destroyed.
And THAT, my dear, is why you've been made a Reaper. And why you especially should steer clear of Resurrected."
You already know we all look alike. But what you probably haven't figured out, is that there's actually two different kinds of Wraiths. Maybe the differences still matter, maybe they don't. There's the old soul Wraiths, and the young soul Wraiths. You need to remember that both kinds were created at the same time. All the Wraiths are the same age.
The difference is what they were before they were Wraiths. Death didn't just create us out of thin air, you know. Just like on the living realms, there are souls with power here, too. Those with exceptional power and wits were the ones who became Wraiths. Young soul Wraiths still possessed a strong sense of self before Death changed them. The old soul Wraiths had begun to forget who they were.
You know what happens when you're dead, and you start forgetting who you are, right? You fade out. Maybe into another plane of existence, maybe you just cease to exist, I don't know.
So the old soul Wraiths were long considered to be the most loyal, since becoming Wraiths saved them from losing themselves. And countless ages passed, and eventually, even the Wraiths forgot which they were. Maybe Death remembers. If he does, he hasn't said anything to us.
There's only one other type of Wraith, but they're different. They're mostly young soul Wraiths, who challenged Death and lost.
...I think I need to explain about the Resurrected, before getting into this.
You know people can come back from the dead, right? The Resurrected are just that, people who died and came back.
There's three methods to this. First, the most successful method is being called back by the gods. Mother Gaia has done this a few times, and Death doesn't seem to mind chucking some poor soul back out into the living realm. Usually there's some epic quest or a favor to be repaid to the gods who bailed that soul out. I really think Death gets a kick out of watching these people.
The second method is challenging Death. I've seen a thousand different challenges, maybe five of which actually succeeded. The end result is the same, the soul wins, Death kicks him back out to the living realm. Lose, and you go straight to the afterlife.
Then you've got the last method, which is really a variation on the second. Some lover boy dies with his gal, way too young, or other such crap. So he challenges Death, and instead of winning his life back, he wins hers. She gets kicked back to the living realm, he goes on to the afterlife. There's other variations, but that's the best example.
Anyways. The other type of Wraith are the souls who challenged Death and lost. And the rogues are mostly those Wraiths. They're jealous of the souls who succeeded, hate Death for besting them, whatever.
The rogues are the reason it's so dangerous to be around a Resurrected now. They tend to strike at Resurrected souls and whatever other living thing is nearby. There's about six left, every single other rogue has already been caught and destroyed.
And THAT, my dear, is why you've been made a Reaper. And why you especially should steer clear of Resurrected."
-An explanation of Wraiths and Resurrected
As told to Mar by her father
As told to Mar by her father
