The Ghost

The Ghost was an explorer in Eden during the Interregnum between the Earth-667 and Earth-668 iteratons of reality. An Earthling salesman before The Calamity which ended existence as he knew it, The Ghost rose to post-apocalyptic prominence by:

1. discovering the Veil of the World;
2. rebuilding The Strumpet’s Sister to protect it; and,
3. taking on the role of Gamemaster as a result.

Life Before the End

During the Earth-667 iteration of reality, the so-called Ghost was a salesman with an eidetic memory, a love for women, and almost no social skills. After discovering his iteration’s version of The Strumpet’s Sister and learning to unstick himself in time, he eventually succeeded in altering the past. In the process, he unintentionally caused The Calamity which led to the rebooting of reality.

Strangely, unlike nearly every other Interregnum we know about, the Interregnum between Earth-667 and Earth-668 was populated almost exclusively by women—with the The Democratic Republic of the Reek being populated entirely by women The Ghost had known and become infatuated with during his life before the end.

It was almost as if he, the person directly responsible for this world between worlds, was the one who had decided—albeit unintentionally—who would be stuck here.

Life After the End

Much of the story of this Interregnum between The Ghost’s iteration of reality and the next was chronicled in A Dream Is But a Shadow, the 2011 album by E. Christopher Clark’s band Pop Bubblegum Trash. But there is certainly more to be told, more beyond the story of the fool’s errand which he gave to a sextet of women inside a Reek pub one evening early in that time of inbetween days.

In fact, the achievements that would bring The Ghost the most notoriety all came after he led those six women to their accidental doom. Once the women led him to the younger version of himself who’d been hiding in The Garden—each of them dying in turn along the way—The Ghost, inspired by this reconnection with his core self, set about on a quest to restore reality to the way that it once was.

He felt he owed this to the women he’d kept too long from whatever’s next thanks to his stupidly accurate and comprehensive memory.

Lifting the Veil

After traversing The Desert at the Edge of Existence for 40 days and 40 nights, The Ghost came upon a lush riverbank and the lone elf standing guard. Behind the elf stood a pair of shimmering, translucent curtains tinged by an eerie orange glow.

“Let me guess,” said The Ghost, speaking in The Language of Popular Culture, “I shall not pass.” And when the elf said nothing, standing stoically upon the spot, The Ghost added, by way of explanation, “Gandalf vs. the Balrog? The Lord of the Rings?”

The elf sighed then and said “Gandalf was an Istari, not an elf.” Then, stepping aside, the tired elf said, “And you shall pass, if only so I can take a break.”

After a quick explanation of the mechanics of the The River Without End, a recitation of The Tale of the Seven Voices, and the briefest of interrogations to get clear on The Ghost’s intentions, the elf agreed to leave the care of The Veil in the hands of The Ghost. Then he strode off into the desert and was never seen again.

Over the ensuing years, while he waited for The Seven Voices to arrive, The Ghost used driftwood and other scraps he found along the River’s beach to begin building the new version of The Strumpet’s Sister. And then, when Earth-668 began, The Ghost served as its first Gamemaster.

Species

Human

Ethnicity

Earthling

Currently Held Titles

• Riverbender

Date of Birth

10 May

Year of Birth

1977 44 Years old

Appears in…

A Dream Is But a Shadow