Candlefolk

My breath trembled as I hid behind a pew that was barely high enough to cover me. That Thing, emanating a strange crackling breath that sounded akin to a child breathing flame, slowly crept down the nave like a cat toying with prey.
Suddenly flames roared over the top of my pew, a blazing cloud of blueish-white flame with tendrils reaching down towards me like hands of the damned begging for tithe. From the flame, The Thing bent down to stare me in the eyes.
The last thing I saw before The Thing's face peeled open was the face of my dear, sweet Amelie. Her sorrowful face stared blankly at me, before revealing a blue-white flame of pure fury.

— A note torn from a 7th Era notebook, found in the floorboards of the Church of St. Morningstar's

When a restless spirit has spent time on the material plane, after much time has passed, it will usually come to a crossroads in its afterlife. Some souls decide to remain on the material plane, festering and rotting into beings of spiritual decay such as wraiths or poltergeists. Others realize the futility of their struggle on the material plane and sink deep into the ethereal realm.
Falling deep into the fog of the ethereal realm, these spirits eventually reach the border between Limbo and the Ethereal and are morphed by their exposure. Limbo reaches out, tearing and reassembling the soul, creating a new form for these spirits in the form of bodies of wax and wick. The spirit's souls, reassembled into something new, are attached to the head of the new being in the form of a flame that burns brightly. These flames, using the very energy of the soul itself, slowly burn away the will and individuality of the soul until it is left as a husk of its former self. From a lost soul, a Candlefolk is born.
Candlefolk wander the border of Limbo and the Ethereal Plane in a haze. Some eventually form larger, eldritch CandleBeings. And some decide to use their newfound forms for their own purposes.

Description

Candlefolk are generally humanoid in shape, with forms that resemble that of their previous mortal bodies. Their features appear as a smoother and more statuesque version of their mortal face and body, lacking the wrinkles and scars of their mortal form. The only hint of the often gruesome end that defines a spirit is a gold lacquer applied in cracks and gashes that resemble the wound that killed the Candlefolk. Beyond this, their wax skin and muscles provide a tough yet malleable form that can easily absorb blows from weapons unenchanted by magic.

Portrait of a Candlefolk by ZOMIBOM

Weaved into their wax muscles are long, thick wick strands that bind their bodies together. These wicks, as well as the wax that forms their bodies, are highly vulnerable to extreme changes in temperature. Extreme cold freezes the wax in their bodies, restraining their movement and abilities. Extreme heat causes their bodies to melt and risks their wick and wax bodies catching flame. Candlefolk are often highly aware of this weakness, however, and take measures to shield their body from extreme temperature through clothes/warding magic.
Candlefolk generally wander the fine border of Limbo and the Ethereal. Walking through waist-deep oil water or through fog inscrutable by mortal eyes they moan and scream in ennui that escapes words. Many lose the ability to scream over time and fall to a silent wail, hordes of blank-faced wax figures open-mouthed as if miming the sadness that has long fled them. The worst of these sit in circles of languor, slowly merging into each other through eldritch processes that will eventually destroy the very individuality that let them retain their souls.

Rogue Candlefolk

During the Novitiate, all prospective Veschel of Her Light learn of the wide variety of spiritual and fiendish maladies that may afflict the races of men. We are taught to cleanse our fear of these blots to creation and absolve ourself of the chains of mortality.
I was never able to cleanse my fear of the Ones Who Bear Candles. Their flames burn brighter than any prayer candle I've seen.

— Quote from Castle of the Mind, a book by 8th Era Veschel-Prioress of the Olde Vision Priory

Candlefolk, however, are not all mindless wanderers of the wastes. Many souls who are formed into the wax gain new resolve through these forms, confidence that one only has in the corporeal. These souls journey the daunting odyssey back to the material, crawling into the light once again able to directly interact with that around them.
Some of these "rogue" Candlefolk simply try to live new lives until their flame burns out. All eventually turn to a different path. Rogue Candlefolk will eventually begin the hunt for their unfinished business, marching through the material on a warpath toward their goal. They hunt with flame and fist their burden in the vain hope that they alone will be able to correct the mistake that keeps them bound to their current form.
Most Rogue Candlefolk learn to control the intensity of the flame of their soul, sacrificing some of their time on the mortal realm to release massive bursts of flame. Their wax bodies are immune to the heat of their own flame, but not that of others. Often if two Candlefolk have opposing goals one can find them locked in a duel of massive conflagrations, the Candlefolk fighting in between the blaze like wolves fighting for scraps of food.

Purification

The Purification of the Ones Who Bear Candles is far from an easy task. Beyond simple spiritual exorcism, one must commit a more... physical banishment.

— Transcription from Summa Ignis Suchere's speech "Of that which Haunts"

When it comes to banishing Candlefolk from the material realm, one will find the task much more complex than spiritual exorcism or fiendish banishment. There starts, before spiritual banishment, the task of dismantling the very form of the Candlefolk itself.
It bears noting that the wax and wick body of the Candlefolk is not just a container holding the soul, but rather a physical manifestation of the soul itself. Thus, to banish the soul of Candlefolk back to Limbo, one has to destroy this body first to remove the anchors that tie it. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, but the most effective method for destroying the vessel of a Candlefolk is to freeze it and then submerge it in water. The water will extinguish the flame of the body, and cause the soul to flee back to Limbo.
Another method is to destroy the body through physical damage. This method, though much harder than the traditional "freeze and dunk" method, can still disable a candlefolk and allow the exorcist to extinguish the Candlefolks flame.
When banished, a Candlefolk's soul will not move on. Rather, unless its nebulous "unfinished business" has been completed, it will sink back into Limbo and reform into a new wax body.

Sketch From a Liturgical Tome

Sketch From a Liturgical Tome by ZOMIBOM

This sketch, supposedly drawn by a 6th Era Thaemalonic Morah, depicts a Candlefolk invading a spiritual training session

Geographic Distribution

• Limbo