Hollow Ones is a term given to a variety of folk found across the Five Kingdoms. The commonality is it is a form of undeath, where in most cases the soul has left an empty body, but a small vestige of the original soul remains to power the body and give them a pale echo of the original personality. Though for most kinds their forms will remain the same with as they were in life, with maybe some marks of the lethal wound alongside the unsettling aura and reek of necromantic magic.
The magic that sustains most kinds of the Hollow Ones is a mystery. But all note a hollowness inside, how this effects the individual varies, with some finding the kind of Hollow One they are having a greater effect on them than others. Some let their anger and regret consume them. Others use their second chance to be a better person and redeem their past mistakes. However, most Hollow Ones are marked by their new existence: feelings of unease, fear or sadness filling the void left within alongside the shattered memories of their past life.
The Echoshards of Esperia
Sometimes a Princess falls before achieving the destined fate. Sometimes what they are meant to be a part of is too important for death to end the story. In these instances the Echoshards are made, with ethereal light the Princess becomes an embodiment of a specific virtue, not allowed to rest until they have fulfilled their fate.
Should the Echoshard follow through with its destiny, the shard can choose to have their final rest, the few remains of their soul going on to join the greater whole. Otherwise they can continue, though this fate is a mixed blessing as slowly the princess' personality and their physical will erode and burn away become more and more a pure burning spiritual avatar of the virtue they represent.
The Echoshards are a tolerated form of undead, the circumstances of their remaining on this world being a sign of great importance. That and it is known no matter how many times the form is slain if the fate is important enough the Echoshard will keep returning becoming more and more a spiritual avatar with less and less personality of the original person. It is considered better to help them fulfil their destiny and then encourage them to pass on that their soul may be whole in the next life.
The Mist-Filled of Mystria
In Mystria it is said when the soul leaves the body, if the soul lingers for even just a moment it can become caught as something else creeps in to fill the shell of the body. If the soul is lucky it is the mist of Mystria, which means if the body does come back it will be filled with the holy light of Luna, as a divine guardian of a site or group. The soul remains in control and will pass on once the body falls again.
However there is also a chance that what fills the void is something darker, a lingering evil from the Shadowlands. If this happens the soul within is caged and tormented, seeing as the body becomes twisted and turned into something more monstrous to resemble the thing within, over time. The darkness playing on any negative aspects of the individuals life or personality to ensure the torment is as painful as possible for the soul within and those they knew in life. Over time the body will twist more and more as the soul is slowly destroyed by what is happening to it. The only hope the soul has is either having its form be destroyed by another or if the Mist-Filled is unable to find others to attack and make suffer, the hold on the caged soul will weaken enough it can escape to its proper afterlife. At this point the body will simply become a mindless undead or in some circumstances a wight or possessed corpse should the entity that had filled the void been one of the Masked.
Based on what fills the boy depends on how the Mist-Filled is viewed by the communities they come across. Either being seen as heroes to aid or monsters to vanquish.
The Returned of Thalavis
On a small island of the Thalavis archipelago, there is supposedly an entrance to the underworld. Should anyone fall on this island or a body be brought their it is said it shall reawaken, upon absorbing enough energy from the place. The soul does pass on, but the necromantic energies that suffuse the island will raise the body using what remains of the soul's imprint to have the original personality and memories.
The returned are a controversial group. They are undead and so many will try to argue they should be slain to pass on to the next life, others however note the soul has passed on it is mearly the body wishes to keep moving. Those for the Returned also argue that as the energies that raise the come from the Underworld surly the gods wish for the Returned to exist. This does not appear to be an argument with a clear answer in sight.
The Spirithosts of Neoko
When the soul leaves the body in the Kingdom of Neoko, there is a chance an elemental spirit or fey spirit tied to the World Soul of Khinarzi may inhabit the body. The body becomes a host for this spirit, overtime the body will take on the nature of the spirit before it finally breaks down or the spirit grows bored leaving it, as the spirits tend to only take the empty body as a vessel to experience the world in a more physical forms.
The soul of the original body is unharmed as it will have already passed onto the appropriate afterlife, however the spirit may initially act more like the former soul as the residual leftover of the previous soul leaves an imprint on the spirit. How permanent the change is depends on the strength of the soul and the strength and empathy of the spirit.
While not considered quite the affront normal undead are, most will still try to encourage the spirit to leave the corpse, physical violence however is not carried out as the Neokan belief that the spirits are children of the World Soul means that any who would harm them would be at least incarcerated if not receive more violent repercussions, and that is not taking into account the reactions of the spirit within the corpse.
The Sporocarved of Molba
There are small hidden places, valleys, or groves where an especially rare fungus grows. Should the spores of this fungus come to rest upon the corpse of a recently deceased creature it may reanimate them. The spores reach into the body finding the residual presence of the departed soul, taking on the aspects and personality of the soul the reanimated corpse can pass in many ways for the original person even if they technically are not the same creature. The body overtime will become covered in fungal and plant like growths. Eventually the body will become unusable due to the natural decay, as the spores can only slow the process down, not stop it. At the point it becomes unusable the body falls to the ground and spores are released spreading the fungus to ever wider parts of the world.
Of all the Hollow One types, these are the most accepted as the body is being reused, but the soul is not harmed and necromancy is not truly involved.
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