A wraith is a mortal or even Aeonian who became corrupted by incredible power. Legendary heroes who became corrupt, kings and presidents who abuse their power, powerful esotericists who gaze too long into the sources of fell energies, genocidal tyrants, corrupt pontiffs, and so on become wraiths when their souls erode and only powerlust remains. They intentionally or not place their souls into vessels called soul jars, usually artifacts of power or objects of status, and their bodies begin to fade. Once their bodies are gone, only the wraith remains.

If someone is killed by the life-draining powers of a wraith, they too become a wraith, but a weaker one under the control of their killer. The soul jar of the wraith who killed them is also their soul jar.

A necromancer or other esotericist can cause a person to become a wraith of the weaker, subservient variety through use of extremely powerful msawhat (24).

Wraiths instill unease and terror into those who are near them. They are surrounded by an aura of darkness, cold, and fear that is masked slightly when they are clothed.

Their touch drains lifeforce from any living thing.

The cry of a wraith is a shriek that causes those to hear it to feel a deep depression and fear. Each subsequent cry makes this worse until the target is unable to act and wants only death. When they speak normally, the listener is struck by a deep terrified awe.

A wraith can interact with the physical world even while insubstantial. They can wear clothing, ride steeds (but only very special ones), and wield weapons. A weapon in the hands of a wraith becomes a vessel for msawhat and corrupts those it wounds.

When a wraith kills someone, that person becomes a wraith as well, but not a powerful one. Rather, they are enslaved to the wraith who created them. Powerful wraiths often then create soul jars as simulcra of their own to give to these slaves, which grant them powers but also grant their master power over them.

Wraiths do not see on the material plane, but rather, see souls and energies. At night, wraiths can sense the living as clouds of lifeforce, and to a lesser extent during the day. At high noon under a clear sky, however, they are blinded. Always, though, they can smell blood. A wraith always knows where their soul jar is.

Mundane weaponry will not harm a wraith. If an enchanted weapon is used to kill a wraith, it risks being completely destroyed in the process, and its wielder is hit with a massive blast of msawhat.

There are several different kinds of wraith outside of the Dominions: those who seek to extend their power and glory after death, those who eschew their habits from life in favor of seeking a new form of power, and those who are subject to other wraiths or powerful necromancers.

Those who seek to extend their power from life often find it corrupted by their new being and end up seeking new ways to maintain their power. Those who command armies or populations turn to devouring their people. Those who were more solitary often turn to stalking and killing victims in order to maintain their need for lifeforce. Those who manage to maintain control of their populations become figures of terror throughout the region.

Those who seek new forms of power usually embrace their necromantic character and build undead armies of slaves.

Subject wraiths are usually garbed in the accoutrement of their masters, often cloaked and draped completely in clothing to mask their terrifying presence as they operate as agents.

Wraiths often ride cheval mallets, perytons, terrible monsters (a kind of griffin), wyverns, certain kinds of drakes, or helhests.