Rathnian Wraithism

== Wraithism ==
Forged in the origins of an unknown location in Rathnir, the parasitic religion and race of the Wraiths was born. Many speculated it originated in the deep south east where the region, though stable, was being churned around in power due to the downsize of its popularity and population scarcity. Many depressing sights such as cities that have been entirely abandoned only to be handed over to new leaders and representatives only for their orders and populations to also slowly and surely fade into nothingness. Much of the culture and history of places were interchanging and possibly forgotten. This is was the perfect and ripe conditions for the Wraiths, vengeful spectral beings, to take root within the world.
The wraiths worshiped themselves as a form of ascension and defiance towards the gods, believing to be spirits the god(s) of a foreign religion, or perhaps multiple or even all religions, that had been wrongfully punished. And their soul's energies had found its way slowly crept into the deep slate caverns beneath all of Rathnir.
=== Origins ===
Rathnir would find itself on the bring of a awakening of these evil spirits when several miners accidentaly dug too far down and cracked an opening into one of these special caverns. Slowly and surely they crept in. They were unaware of the evil forces that were slowly creeping into their minds, poisoning them into what seemed to be evolving states of depression, followed by a lack of consideration of the value of life itself, and then finally the total abandonment of rationality and care for anything. 
The origins of the Religion was set firm when the wraiths spirits slowly began infesting nearby people and towns associated with mines that had managed to reach all the way down into the deep-slate. or simply by brushing up or coming into close interactions with people that had been possessed or begun to be plagued by wraith influences. These would lead to visions of dark specters. which unknowingly to the people would be "Wraith Spirits" but would be posing as some dark form of ancient beings that due to their illusional and Hypnotic affects. would appear to the people like gods themselves. as a result. these beings would be undyingly loyal by those who would see them. unknowingly being transformed into wraiths slowly with the corruption of these entities themselves. 
When the transformation of these beings were complete. they themselves would be worshiped by the others in turn, and many of the people who were either newly infected with the wraiths influence. or simply were blindingly loyal to dark deities already, which they had mistaken the wraiths for, or simply had mistaken them to be "servants of the dark gods" like angels but for a god that was more chaotic and violent. The wraiths in turn would forget their old original selves and take on this "worshiped/servant" like stature. and simply seek out to encourage others to be polluted. 
When resistance to the wraiths methods was invented. slowly tools like the "Ghoul Blades." a trademark of Wraith Religion/culture. would simply infect and wound people with ghastly wounds that would slowly and surly have a chance at infecting their victims with a more toxic and hostile invasion of their minds. However! the wraiths would never enact revenge or justice against the "god(s)" of Rathnir. as the other people refer to them because despite their suffering and torment. many of the wraiths and spirits once escaped had forgotten their old lives before they were trapped in the deep slate. possibly from being imprisoned for far too long. And now were only beings that seek to serve the dark powers and their own interests to gain as much control of the gift of their dark abilities as possible.
Many objects like Sweet berries, Lapis Lazuli, and Fire. became forms of weaponry against the Wraiths, for all consisted of Great Purities, that counteracted the power of the wraith spirits, possibly granted by the god(s) of Rathnir, that potentially saw the rise of these dark beings and out of spite, called for a means to try and create their destruction. but as powerful as the gods were, they had shockingly failed to utterly remove the wraiths, for the wraiths for some bizarre and obscure reason. had a strong resistance to godlike influences. many believe it was due to the fact that the gods could have little to no affect against anything that is no longer amongst the living. and the wraiths are not so much the bodies they possess, but the spirits within said bodies. and because they were casted out. the gods therefore were believed to forfeit their rights to influence them.
This would anger the many god(s) of Rathnir. And would lead to a period of wrath poured out not on the wraiths but on mortals out of frustration. which caused the mortals to seek out materials and a means to enchant and create a way to combat the Wraiths. but aside from the Non-wraith inhabitance of Rathnir finally creating a way to combat the wraiths. a powerful Metal called "Purified-Spirits Iron." the wraiths would be killed. and their souls banished once more back to the Deep slate realm. However. the wraiths counteracted this by discovering a means to strengthen their hold on the mortal realm by creating massive temples and alters, covered and built out of deep slate, and powered by Redstone. Here the wraiths learned how to simply reconstruct their spirits after banishment. And create powerful rituals that sped up the process of turning their victims. With this the wraith religion couldn't simply be wiped out. as many eager miners and people would simply journey into the deep slate by accident to be infected again. And then these victims would unknowingly seal their fate. as they would construct a brand new altar. and once again unleash the wraiths upon the world. 
This would lead to several periods in ancient history where wraith empires would rise and fall, slowly and surely being forgotten once again by Rathnir, only for the the dark entities to one day begin a cycle of resurgence. in what is referred to as "Phantasm Ages"
=== "First Age: First Dark Deity." ===
The Wraiths would also in turn be devoted to serving the "Great Dark Entities." powerful beings that have been believed to be apart of the ancient wraiths lore. that sole were responsible for the escape from the deathly prisons the souls were bounded into. like that of the "Dark Deity" Meshgar. a powerful spirit believed to be from the early reformations and early days of Rathnir, long trapped for committing a crime so heinous that many out of fear dare not mention it. for fear of evoking the suspicions of the god(s) for committing it. 
He was a powerful figure in life, and described as a great warrior, ruthless in his conquest of the world that existed before Rathnir. where the continents had not yet been shaped into the way they were by the gods. But his ruthlessness, and bitterness, was spiteful and hateful, even to the gods themselves, and one day he finally over did it with the crime that to this day has no mention. And a random god, of which also is not mentioned. who with other gods finally saw it fitting of him to have his power stripped. and his existence erased from all time. and so. Meshgar was killed by an empowered warrior, and his spirit was sent up to the gods who bounded him in spiritual chains, and sent him to the realm where they banished mortal souls, which unknowingly is embedded magically within deep slate. and as further insult. his empire was shattered from within, and destroyed where not even one brick remained resembling his old empire. 
His soul would be caste into the dark realm, where for centuries as the gods sought only to continue to enact their wrath and banish more people, the sorrow, and ill-gotten justice of these souls would fuel his spirit. his spirit was one of Wrathfulness, one of power and malice. And thus Meshgar also knew and brought with him from his old life which was slowly forgotten, the way of now Dark-Necrotic magic. 
Once again. Meshgar had finally rerisen when he detected a breach which weakened the hold, which was the first miners that had discovered the deep slate caverns. He would possesses one, and his followers following up slowly by possessing the others, The world still not yet had transformed into the Rathnir of today though. But it was there and weakened all the same, and Meshgar with his newly converted Wraith Born. set out and began the conquest of his empire. Which was so large and vast that no one could even believe it had been forgotten today. The gods only watched in horror, as Meshgar's power Ascended to be that as strong as the gods themselves. slaughtering many of them in the Heavens when he had gained enough power to breach it. and laying waste to entire religions, cultures, nations, all that stood against the wraiths who sought to scourge the living out of spite towards the god(s) whom they regarded as pretenders to the true deities of Rathnir. 
and he would rule for hundreds of years, until finally. a large mortal resistance & alliance of Humans, Dwarfs, Foxkins, and Elves. Found a way to construct a massive ritual of light. that casted Meshgar back into a banished state from the mortal realm. but this time. Meshgar would find himself caught in a new realm. a realm that would not be so much a banishment, but an ascension to being one of the most powerful beings in the world. The realm now referred to as "The realm of the Dark Deities" here Meshgar's power though trapped, was foolishly increased to that of a God, and he could still influence the world as one. but at the cost of his influence and presence being hindered on the mortal plain.
As for his nation though, his power had faded into obscurity and without his leadership, the End of what the wraiths refer to as the "First Age" had came, with the crumbling of the first great wraith empire. Where many a wraith was banished. many an alter destroyed, and only a handful of wraiths remained, but with them hiding in the shadows, lurking to form their own nations, or simply jut living within them. And to Meshgar becoming only that but a worshiped figure sought out for guidance amongst souls still inflicted with the influence of the wraiths. Many say Meshgar still helps out to his wraiths. as a god casting powerful inflictions on their enemies. or whispering ancient words of encouragement and empowerment for all wraith kind. Some may say he even bestows Dark and powerful gifts for those that please him.
=== "Second Age: Second Dark Deity" ===
During the dawn of the second age, an lonely potion brewer and female mage. would be the target of a lone gods desire & wrath, He would be slighted by the young sorceresses beauty, but swift rejection. This young beauty who's name had been long forgotten was a bit of a playful and spiteful seductress. who felt it funny to play with men's hearts and select a few only if they were good looking enough & worthy of her temporary attention. and drive them mad with passion for her and what "she could give" only to confuse and enrage them in leaving at the height of their madness. And would be harsh and cruel with rejection when she saw it funny to tear apart their hearts.
When she caught the attention of a random young male god who wanted to win her affections, the naïve mage thought it would be a great trophy of hers to reject such a powerful being. And with that despite the tempting offer of power just out of her reach. She gave the most painful rejection she could give. And even to the shock of all went as far as public desecrating his holy sights. saying he offered himself unto her but his "manhood" was not even good enough to attract that of a lesser women then her.
this course of action infuriated not just the one god she had slighted. (insulted.) but all the other god(s) of other religions too. who thought it cruel and foolish for this female to make a mockery of the status and worthiness of one among them. So the gods had the women cursed to be struck down by a powerful illness, and once died, she was bound in a dungeon of pure pain and agony, some would say Meshgar himself noticed the women's curse and anguish, and he himself would influence the god(s) through summoning a shadowy entity to disguise himself as a new god. to tricklingly banish her to the deep slate realm. With great hesitance due to not forgetting the wrath of what the realm had done to Meshgar. but to the dismay of many other gods blamefully agreeing seeing that such a great evil that was thwarted before had no chance of returning possibly a second time. 
This costly mistake however would be yet again be another painful and horrible oversight. and would yield in more brash and undoing. For the realm now being the soul influence of the wraiths dark and corruptive energy. would posses and take hold of the former young mage, Turning her into Wrathnira Rathlin. and she would be reborn again in a wraith temple, as one of the servants of the wraiths. Meshgar would whisper words of control into the young mage and force her to do his most devious biddings, in an effort she even dared try to bring back the dark deity to a slightly less powerful but just as strong form to reality. this was ultimatley stopped however due to some Foxkin mages. but to their folly the young mage had overpowered them all. and rose to ascend not simply to be a tool of meshgar, but a tool for herself and all of wraith kind.
She would create so much more. for she would corrupt and use her former manipulative skills of her old life, to slowly corrupt the minds of the first elves and humans which had foolishly due to greed let their guard down and began to follow the ways of Wraithism with the false promises of power and success. creating with them the first other wordily servants and dark Humans & Elf's which would serve Meshgar. Some would dare even say that many an orc and Goblin, and troll would even begin to serve the dark deities around this time due to the wraiths slow integration as a normal race amongst the world.
Wrathnira Rathlin would slowly grow her power though. and through shrouded tactics she would manipulate many a man Rather Wraith or mortal being to do what she wanted. or simply even to give in entirely and become a servant of her. her study of other worldly magic and its corruption of it, would yield even into the creation of a new form of magic, Necrophage Necromancing. a dark art that could even be preformed by that of the living. as a means to resurrect and control the undead. Binding & calling forth creatures of great evil, like that of giant spiders and orcs, to the wraiths service.
Wrathnira's power would grow so strong that though she did not exceeded that of her predecessor, she would become the first Wraith Empress, and forge the second Great wraith nation, the "Wraith Kingdom of Radrugal" which would not grow to be as large as Meshgar's but would last in her time for as long as nearly hundreds of years. and would conquer back much of the old wraiths homeland. but the gods grown spiteful of her would enact the will of the Humans to preform once more the Banishment of Light ritual. and just like Meshgar before her, she was believed to be caste into the Dark Deities realm. And with her undoing came the fall of the Second Phantasm Age. but at a great price as though the purity of man had succeeded. The damage caused by Wrathnira was unfixable. as Wrathnira's corruption of man & other beasts would never entirely be undone. it would forever leave taint, cruelty, and dark intentions of manipulation on many beings. And many a wraith would use her magic still to this day. To this day many a wraith can also be seen giving sacrifices and reverence to her along side Meshgar. increase the strength and power of all rituals preformed by Wraiths and servants of their religion to this day.
Many say that if you linger near her many alters on a clear crystal blue moon night, and are deep within Wraith afflicted territory. you can hear the whispers of her dark powers echoing back from centuries past. And many say that the terrifying shrieks the wraiths have today. come from the power of her voice. still lingering on beyond the grave. to show that the darkness and evil of the Wraith kind. will never be snuffed out. And that slowly and surely, her and all servants of the Dark Deities, will break free from their prison and enact terrible vengeance yet again on the poor lands of Rathnir.
=== "Third Age: Third Deity" ===
Deashkar Regimorith was one of the most recent and brutal of Wraiths, arguably a legend in Wraith culture, where his recognition did not come in the form of forging a great wraith empire, or contributing to wraith culture and magic. His tale is of what he could have been potential of, had he not been famously stopped by that of some modern day religions and servants. but his tale is still old and is not found in the current days of Rathnir or maps of it. as the world looked still somewhat mildly different with some landmasses being shaped quite differently. but it was just on the grip of the world becoming what it is today.
Deashkar before he was a wraith was a unknown random pirate brute, skilled in tiny amounts of magic, and more of a barbarian then a pirate known for his intimidation and pure savagery. and an obsession with ancient mythological religions, it wasn't long before him and some crewmates of a ship he was attending to while in the mines deep below what is now modern day Tortuga. and stumbled upon an ancient Deep slate cavern. 
which unknown to them was under deep corruptive influence of the wraiths influence. one by one many of the crew succumbed to an illness and under the superstitious ways of the ancient pirates of Rathnir, was swiftly put to death to prevent an outbreak of something they simply thought was a plague of some sorts they had no way to treat, Deashkar seemed fine however and was spared, not that anyone would dare try to kill him anyway, as he was too much of a hulking brute to be killed anyway. but still had succumbed unknowingly to great alterations in his personality.
slowly and surely his mind altered and he became more secluded possibly due to the wraiths internal instincts of survival starting to ensure a means of self preservation as it grew to take hold over him. and to the shock of everyone in Tortuga, he would emerge as a beast which at that point most people had forgotten was a wraith. As around that time wraith existence and influence like that of today was undergoing a period of obscurity and anonymity. in one fateful night, many were slaughtered. And resurrected as undead servants, some even as wraith's themselves. but rather then linger and create an wraith nation and begin the cycle of power all over again. the newly declared wraith Deashkar Regimorith. would begin a more nomadic lifestyle for the wraiths.
on many nights ships would claim to see Deashkar Regimorith's stolen vessel. the legendary "Reapers Bane" a war galleon which even by modern times has become as terrifying of a superstition to sailors deeming it the Rathnir's version of the "Flying Dutchman." who's ghostly wraith & undead crew still cause rumors and suspicion to sailors to this day. But regardless back then Deashkar's "Reapers Bane" was all too much a real threat. As it involves a tale of pillaging and plundering and the destruction of many great ships lost at sea to the guns of what truly was the "reaper of sailors souls," striking death wherever it sailed near.
Deashkar Regimorith would begin a naval time legacy for the wraith culture, and would be the soul reason why many and some places few and far between have access to the deep slate caverns and places within southern Rathnir to this day. Deashkar Regimorith would ransack many great ports, and accomplish feats deemed near impossible even by modern day Rathnir nations to date. turning many settlements into recruiting grounds for his Undead crew, and hindering naval time commerce and travel for so long that many records would indicate a lose in maritime knowledge of the sea and shapes of continents. 
Deashkar Regimorith would finally meet his end as a great battle would occur far out at sea between a guild of what was once called the "Order Of Spirits" a powerful wraith hunting guild which contributed to the ever decline and decrease of wraith activity. Deashkar's ship would be believed to be destroyed, and many presume he was banished like that of the great wraiths before him during the battle. Many wraiths seeking to go out to sea now give reverence to him hoping for safe travels and returns from being out at sea during war time.
=== "Fourth Age: Today" ===
today the wraiths are once again a mystery. many sightings of them in the south have been seen. but there is little but urban myth and legend shrouding their existence. time will only tell when the wraiths will make a resurgence. and who amongst them will begin an age of power. some may speculate it could not even be a wraith that rises at all. but a powerful Necromancer like being who has given reverence to the wraiths for their discovery.
or perhaps another wraith will in fact rise to bring forth a new dark age for Rathnir, the age of return of the long old ancient Rathnir Wraith Empire. but regardless. Many a wraith still exist, hiding in the shadows. preforming their dark arts and rituals, and slowly and surely trying to regrow their numbers. with time being the only thing that could indicate not simply if, but when they will reemerge at full strength. we may only hope that we do our best to not join them in their cursed realm like prison. and never ever should we try to spite the god(s) of Rathnir. should we be at risk of ever joining the dark side of the universe.
=== "The Necro-Servants" ===
The Necro servants are a group of people often referred to in their traditional sense "Necrophages" or "Necromancers" were ordinary humans tainted by the wraiths dark magic, rather cured within the late stages of their ailment, or simply dedicated practitioners and seekers of the corruptive power and might to bend it to their own will. The first of many being acolytes of Wrathnira Rathlin herself, these Humans & other worldly creatures hold with them the powerful mind warping curse of this dark magic.
Explained in its own wiki page: Necrophage Necromancing, it is a dark power that with the help of Redstone, Deepslate, and mixture of many powerful ingredients and specially enchanted tools had the power to bring back the dead to enact on service of the living as an army, or as a labor force to do the meaningless tasks that ordinary people would not normally do. Aside from this they can also caste powerful rituals/curses on cities and people, forcing the dead to rise near them, or having them be forced to live with toxic clouds infecting the lands they live on, etc. or encourage dastardly spirits to caste horrible afflictions on their victims. 
This often comes at the cost and price of the magic which is usually the sacrificing of animals, precious items, or simply put a casters humanity and sanity. or worse yet vulnerability to becoming part of the undead collective consciousness and desire to expand. which often more then not opens control to the original creators of Necrophage Necromancing. the wraiths. many entities also like Elves and a variety of species may turn into darker forms of their species. Ex: "how elves turn into the first orcs" 
When a member of the religion however, the religion will naturally form priests assembly's and chanter groups to increases the strength of rituals and maybe even summon the assistance of the many Dark Deities of old to strengthen them.
(When casting magic like this in Rp: your character skin may go through some dark and morbid changes.)
Category:Religions
Category:Traveler's Era