Realms of the Returned

Death and life are two sides of the same coin. Opposite, but eternally connected. One cannot exist without the other.

- Slighos the Body-binder

Before becoming a god, Phenax died, passed into Erebos’s realm, and ultimately escaped the Underworld. His escape route, the Path of Phenax (see chapter 4), has since been employed by rare, but over the ages innumerable, individuals. These Returned find the world of the living far different from how they experienced it in life—not that they remember their lives. Although they’ve escaped from the Underworld, the Returned still find themselves separate from the living, their memories lost and their unnatural states striking fear in most mortals. As a result, most Returned come to follow certain paths of behavior and gravitate toward two city-states, known as the necropoleis—cities of the dead.

The Returned

Walking the Path of Phenax doesn’t restore a soul to its life. Those who return from the Underworld are hollow shells inhabited by grim and purposeless spirits. These Returned are separated from their memories, which become wandering eidolons (see chapter 6). They retain their personalities and skills, but each Returned tends to be a very different being from who they once were. Their second life is theirs to do with as they please, but it’s typically a confused, cursed life, plagued by frustration, bitterness, loneliness, and melancholy. Such leads many Returned along dark paths.

Anographers

Anographers are the scribes of the Returned. On long scrolls of bleached white parchment, they write half-remembered names, images from dreams, and descriptions of places and people that might once have held meaning. Other Returned visit anographers and describe what scraps of memory they retain. Some believe hidden wisdom lies upon these scrolls, clues to ancient mysteries, or hints at the lost identities of the Returned.

Gray Merchants

Traders recognize Gray Merchants by their hooded gray cloaks and their carts piled high with useless trinkets. Their wares include components for sinister rituals, jewelry stolen from graves, cursed magic items, and other ominous goods. In return, they demand kitchen utensils, worn bridles, waterlogged books, and other unremarkable trash. There’s no rhyme or reason to what the Gray Merchants seek, and the merchants themselves never speak. They conduct business through gestures, making their unusual trades and plodding off into the shadows.

Kakomanteis

Returned kakomanteis employ powerful magic at a price paid in blood. Some theorize that in life each kakomantis was a spell caster, and the trip along the Path of Phenax corrupted their abilities. Regardless of how they came upon their grisly magic, kakomanteis keep small animals, such as rodents, snakes, and insects, close at hand to power their spells, though more potent magical effects demand more significant sacrifices.

Palamnites

While most of the Returned are listless and quiet, palamnites burn with envy and rage. They are vicious killers, destroying what no longer brings them joy. Palamnites burn villages, slaughter innocents, and steal wealth only to discard it later. Most stories of vengeful Returned stem from reports of these tortured souls.

Pseudammas

Pseudammas are cursed by fleeting memories of their lost children. They know that they were parents in life and that they will never again experience the love of their child. Though their plight is heartbreaking, pseudammas turn tragedy into horror by snatching mortal children and attempting to raise them. However, the Returned have forgotten the needs of the living and they have no concept of how to care for a child.