GHOST-BLOODED Before the Great Contagion, few ghosts wandered the Underworld. The realm of the dead was a place of empti- ness and relative peace. Yet, the terrible plague that slew countless mortals changed everything. The Underworld became fl ooded with the restless dead, and shadowlands grew in number and size. Out of these times rose the fi rst Ghost-Blooded. No one lives now that can say if their creation was due to purposeful experimentation or mere chance. Those few ghosts who might know the answer are silent on the matter. The Ghost-Blooded themselves do not know the truth. They simply know they were born from the unnatural mix of death and life. From their beginnings, the Ghost-Blooded have always been useful tools for their ghostly sires. The dead appreciate their children’s lack of dependency on the presence of death to maintain a material form. Their mortal blood makes Creation a more comfortable and less costly place for them to travel than ghosts, zombies and other undead. As a result, many Ghost-Bloods operate as agents, messengers, spies and merchants for the dead. For their part, many Ghoul children fi nd that they are rejected and feared by most of Creation. Serving their dead parents gives them purpose and some manner of recognition. Even Deathlords appreciate the uses of the child of an ancient ghost, and most have such Ghost-Blooded serving them or their Abyssal servants. This utility, combined with the arrogance and lingering mortal desires of the dead, make Ghost-Blooded a relatively common sight in shadowlands.
