Wraith

Midnight Caste Midnight silences the world’s endless clamor, reveal- ing the alluring beauty of the night as the sun lies dead. Hidden by the deepest of darkness, the dead conduct their forbidden rites. This, the Midnight Caste teaches, is the true face of death, a beauty unblemished by life’s imperfection. They Who Speak Blasphemous Truths preach death’s glory to the living, promising freedom from suffering in the embrace of the grave. Such is the Deathspeakers’ compassion that they will not rest until all have escaped from the meaningless lie that is life. Among the dead, they are bleak prophets and terrible god-kings, exerting their authority as Death’s Lawgivers. The Children of Silence are skilled in swaying minds and subverting beliefs. They bend the wills of the liv- ing and the dead alike through fiery rhetoric, enthrall- ing performances, or spiritual teachings. The ignorant and the foolish shun death’s perfection, and so the Echoes of the Abyss must often conduct their dark rites in secret, employing all manner of subterfuge. They serve the Deathlords as evangelists, hierophants, and patrons of forbidden death-cults, spreading their masters’ bleak gospel through both the Underworld and Creation. Some Midnight Castes willingly seek out the Whispers of the Neverborn, seeking a deeper communion with the fallen titans. Many Deathspeakers are chosen from those who have already embraced death in their mortal life: ancestor cultists, funerealists, denizens of shadowlands, morbid outcasts, and more. Others are chosen for their de- votion and zeal: ascetics who fast unto death, willing martyrs, cultists who defy the suppression of their faith. Some Deathlords delight in choosing Midnight Castes from those whose faith has been broken, tempt- ing monks to death’s service. Midnight Castes who defy their dread masters often embrace the mantle of Death’s Lawgiver. They might champion ancestor cults, speaking for the dead and rebuking their faithless descendants, or preach their own gospels of death. Others seek rulership, wresting kingdoms of the dead away from unworthy rulers and casting down decrepit regimes. Some scorn the Deathlords but not their cause, becoming dark proph- ets of the Neverborn and leaders of apocalyptic cults.