Wraiths

Spirits of Vengeance

Wraiths are red ghosts made of blood, who reside mostly as members of The Scarlet Host.

What Makes a Wraith?

Wraiths are Ghosts with a certain power that differentiates them. While other Ghosts are tied to a particular place or person, unable to leave that tie, wraiths have relative free will to move as they please. Many consider them to be the truest life after death, though unlike Heaven or Hell, becoming a Wraith also means losing much of one's identity.
They become Wraiths in a few cases. The first cause, what is said to be the most common, is that they die with vengeful thoughts. Wraiths are vengeful spirits, while most ghosts are simply regretful. Vengeance, then, turns their soul to blood, fueled with immense rage. Wraiths require willpower in higher stages of existence, but to be a basic Reaper or Wraith, it takes only rage.
A secondary way, the least common, is to die while wearing the Scarlet Crown. It will turn the body to blood and fuel vengeful thoughts.
The other way to become a Wraith is to die within the bloody mist of the Scarlet Host. When the mist is summoned, the Wraiths attack everyone in the name of vengeance. If one were to die to them or from any other cause while surrounded by the mist, their soul is swallowed up to become a Wraith. One could also willingly submit to the Host, who will then steal their soul away and turn it into a Wraith.

Biology

Skin

The skin of a Wraith is made of blood. Those who have stuck their hands into a Wraith have described the experience as "disgusting" and that "it was like the entire body was the inside of a wound."

Reapers of the Scarlet Host by Jarhed

Teeth

One of the few differences from the skin of a Wraith is the teeth, which are made not of blood, but from a dark energy that is said to be all of the other feelings and emotions from a soul compacted into their worst forms.
If a Wraith's teeth broke, these would spill out and corrupt whomever they touch with negative thoughts and emotions.

Types of Wraiths

There are said to be three types of Wraiths: Reapers, Wraiths, and Spectres. Some consider the Queen of the Scarlet Mist to be a fourth type, but in truth she is just a more powerful Spectre.

Queen of the Scarlet Mist by Jarhed

Wraiths of All People

While Wraiths began as something uniquely Elvish due to the Queen of the Scarlet Mist, they have since expanded their large web to encompass all species in Totania.
Some call them the most diverse army in the world, while others say that there is no one different, for they are not what they were in life. All they are, now, are Wraiths.
Their only diversity, these people say, is in the ranks of the Scarlet Host. For once one becomes a Wraith, nothing that came before has any bearing on what shall come next. It is a new life after death.

Religion

Wraiths have no official religion as the Scarlet Host has no international recognition. However, most of them are said to worship either Mimir, who turned them into Wraiths, or the God they had worshipped in life.

Reapers

Reapers are the faceless foot soldiers of the Scarlet Host, the most basic form of a Wraith. They are those whose rage consumed them, but whose willpower was not willing to save their being. They were not willing to submit to the Queen of the Scarlet Mist, therefore they lost their individuality and willpower.
Upon conversion, Reapers are given a dagger to fight with. This is the dagger Arazion Nerifir used to kill the Queen, which created the Wraiths in the first place. Therefore, it is a symbolic weapon of her vengeance.
It is said that Reapers let out a horrific, blood curdling scream that can freeze someone in place, causing the blood of a target to halt its flow so that their limbs refuse to move. A touch from a Reaper chills the body, and the dagger is said to rot all flesh it touches. A black ooze flows from their hands and feet, said to be the tears of the Queen turned to bile. This bile, then, will place a curse on those it touches, causing their blood to slowly light ablaze. This does not take effect instantly. Instead, those who escape the Host will find their body still fighting against them.

Wraiths

Wraiths (named after the Queen's daughter, Wretora Nerifir) are the more standard form, which is why they share a name with what they are. Many consider them in the same regard as High Elves, who they come from, who are what most think of when they hear the word "Elf." A Wraith is, then, the standard of Wraith. They had the willpower to maintain their original form and, at least some, of their original memories.

Captain Spectre by Jarhed

A reaper who distinguishes themselves enough in the host has the potential, after losing themselves, to regain themselves and become full-fledged Wraiths. While not incredibly common, it happens every so often, expanding the ranks of the Wraiths with former Reapers.

Spectres

Spectres (named after the first of their kind, Captain Spectre Mestirre) are the officers of the Scarlet Host and the most powerful form of Wraith.
They are said to have the strongest of wills, which manifests in their power. They submit not only willingly, but often gladly, to the Queen and thus are trusted to lead her armies.
Most famed Wraiths are Spectres, for they are the ones anyone who escapes the mist would hear about. They often protect the Queen and give orders to the lower ranked Reapers and Wraiths.

Culture

Wraith culture is very similar in a way to Elven culture, taken further to its very extreme. One can say, and many often do, that it is because the foundation of the Wraiths (while their ranks now have expanded) comes from the Elves that first became Wraiths.
The Queen promises her subjects Eternal Life on Totania once they conquer it. Often this is what draws people to her service, to carry out her vengeance. Eternal Life is, generally, the goal of most Elves. Some say that Elves, who live to be over 700 years old, have natural eternal life. The Troubled King of the Elves, Zenster Nerifir, once said:

"To those that have infinity in their grasp, eternity is but a fleeting dream. For even when the end does not exist, one must imagine that there is something to complete the journey. Even the Gods fear death, and the undying grasp still for another chance at immortality. There is always a chance that endlessness may find its end yet."

— Zenster Nerifir

This idea holds true even for the undead spirits of the Wraiths. They wish to live forever, to hold onto their eternity at the cost of all other life. They, then, carry out the vengeance of the Queen for the possibility of her dream coming true.

Rukilth the Unknown by andreaspsillos4

Cult of Bloody Secrets

Most Reapers hide themselves in cloaks, ashamed of their faceless nature. Some reapers, however, love the fact that they don't have individuality and can cause as much terror and havoc as they wish, these Reapers take pleasure in causing death and destruction and have made a competition with other likeminded Reapers, forming cults.
These Reapers are obsessed with taking life and destroying everything they can. They will modify themselves to become complete instruments of destruction due to their view of being naught but weapons. They can even bond their weapons to their souls, changing their very being and form to replace parts of their spectral bodies with weapons.
More powerful members of these cults (of which there are more than the Bloody Secrets) take it further, modifying their own bloody bodies into monstrous creatures of war. The most poweful and sadistic of them are able to retain their wits in doing so, allowing them to be cunning and monstrous at the same time.
The secret of manipulating one's soul and growing in power comes to the Cults directly from Mimir, though the Bloody Secret is most closely tied to him. He gives more knowledge to the Wraiths in exchange for the destruction they bring onto the world, thus the more powerful and skilled Reapers are often the ones with the most terrifying visages. Simply looking upon one of these such Reapers is staring down a weapon that has killed several thousands.
The most notable cult is the Cult of Bloody Secrets, where Mimir has his hand directly. Here, all who kill worship him. The more they kill, the more knowledge and power he bestows upon them. They learn secrets and, in some cases, are broken free of bonds to the Queen, serving Mimir instead. Still, they often serve in the Scarlet Host, but they are not bound to the Queen of the Scarlet Mist if they are part of the Cult of Bloody Secrets.

Notable Wraiths

There are many notable Wraiths, some known best as the leaders who were also the first Wraiths. Others have worked their way up to prominence. These people do not live on Totania, and still their reputation is well known.

The Queen of the Scarlet Mist

The Queen of the Scarlet Mist, also known as Macvara Nerifir, was the first Wraith. She wore the Scarlet Crown, a token from Mimir. She was killed, alongside her fiance Spectre and their newborn daughter Wretora, by her brother Arazion in his coup.
Her vengeance, which was amplified by the crown, created the Wraiths and the Scarlet Host. Now, she stands at its head, leading all Wraiths into battle for vengeance against those that have wronged her and them all.

Captain Spectre Mestirre

Captain Spectre Mestirre was the lover and fiance of Macvara Nerifir. He was also a Captain of the Elven Army, but he was assassinated alongside his fiance and his child.
A loyal servant to Macvara, in death he stands by her side as her fierce companion on the battlefield and in ruling over the other Wraiths. He is a strict warrior known for his brutality and for his commitment to the cause, as well as to his love and vengeance.

Rukilth the Unknown

Rukilth the Unknown was a Dark Elf in life. When he died to the Host, he became a Reaper, killing as they are likely to do. He joined the Cult of the Bloody Secret, where he started to become particularly loyal to Mimir. Mimir helped Rukilth, who began rebuilding his body, rise through the ranks to become a Spectre.
The Queen of the Scarlet Mist does not trust him, as he answers not to her, yet still Rukilth fights in her army. He sees it as a beneficial arrangement, though the other higher-ups wonder what will happen if that benefit were to go away. Thanks to Rukilth and the Cult, Mimir has eyes all over the Scarlet Host. What he intends to do with that, and what Rukilth's purpose is, is a mystery.

Gorred the Drake by Jarhed

Gorred the Drake

Gorred the Drake is one of the original Reapers, the first to get a taste of the faceless curse. Founder of the Cult of Bloody Secrets, he was present for the first wave of the Scarlet Mist.
Gorred was in Camor Keep on the day of Macvara's assassination. He, along with other sympathetic lords, was killed by Arazion and his supporters. Gorred did not even get a choice or a chance.
Gorred was a scholar in the Elven court who obsessed over Death and Necromancy. He admired the power of the Dragon Lords in his life, obsessing over Zome Lord of Red and Reoma the Wretched. He had only alligned with Queen Macvara because her reign allowed him to carry out his sick studies, and yet after five years, they were all killed.
In death, Gorred embraced his identity as a Reaper. He cleaved and killed until, one day, he heard whispers whilst living in the dregs of Mimir's realm. It was from here that he and his companions learned of the power that could be granted to them in exchange for their slaughter. Thus, he began his transformation.
Slowly, over the course of his many years, he has been modifying himself to become more and more Draconic. Current records say he is the size of an adolescent Dragon, though his dream is to one day rival the Dragon Lords themselves in destructive power. As the years pass, this dream seems closer and closer to reality.
Despite him embracing his identity as a Reaper, and his following of the Cult of Bloody Secrets, he does have loyalty to the Queen. He wishes to roam Totania as one of the great Dragon Lords, hoping to one day use his own immortality to destroy the great immortal beast. The first living creature: the Golden Draogn Lord Kath the Eternal. Then, Gorred can declare himself the greatest of all the Dragons, and the perfect creature.