Gaunt-wights
When comes the winds of blight,
Then must ride the Gaunt-wights.
On steeds of coal with eyes of flame
They hunt those to whom death came.
At night they ride,
At night they ride,
So hide, children, hide.
Lest they steal you into the night.
Summary
Before the first Blight-War began, there was no such thing as a Gaunt-Wight. Nor were there things such as wraiths or golacs. Yet Aranxes knew that he needed to raise an army if he wished to move against the united realms of humans, elves, and dwarves. So, as he hid deep beneath the ground, he began to formulate his greatest weapon- the Blight-Winds. Not so much an actual wind as a plague of some malevolent design to kill as many humans as possible and seed them with an evil parasitic spirit that would eventually grow to possess their bodies.
Once dead, Aranxes could summon the spirits and command them. Yet these Gaunt-Wights had intelligence and cunning of their own, and so they were given the position of great captains and commanders amongst his armies. Even after the destruction of Aranxes' armies, the Gaunt-Wights survived as the spirits even as their bodies were consumed by flame and they fled howling to the ends of the world.
To this day, they still survive and roam the earth searching for the right person to possess as their next host.
Historical Basis
The true origin of the Gaunt-Wights is unknown, although the legend is what has been surmised and extrapolated by the wisest of the Elves and most learned of the ancient wizards. So, as far as those school in the old lore are aware, the legend is true. Perhaps the details are not necessarily completely accurate, but the gist of it is whole.
At least, for those who believe in the Three and the Old Lore. For the followers of the Eight and the natural philosophers, there are no such things as Gaunt-Wights. They are but old legends and myths from the time before human reason and understanding could explain the world. For them, Gaunt-Wights are nothing but the presence of airborne diseases and an attempt to explain suffering as a malevolent force against which uneducated folks wanted to believe they could fight. Or maybe it was something made up by a mother desperate for her children to sleep.
Spread
The story is known throughout the entirety of the Losgard continent and the stories have spread relatively far into the other lands, at least those that had contact with old Losgard. At least within Losgard, the story is remarkably consistent, with different regions identifying the Gaunt-Wights with different names, primarily those who might have been the original Gaunt-Wights and Wight-Lords, said to be the kings who accepted his offer of immortality and power as a way of asserting their dominance over those they believed inferior, and the Elves and Dwarves who they resented.
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