Ghostqueen

The Ghostqueen was (or *is*) a Dread Titan whose actual nature is barely known but whose creations, the Ghostbrides, Ghostmaidens, the Harrowing Spites and the Wailers, are well-understood and were widely feared during their time - though perhaps disproportionately, as recorded encounters with them are actually quite rare. Her appearance, motivations and behavioural traits are all unclear, and what little can be gleaned comes from potentially unreliable reports of Ghostbrides. All that is conclusively known of her is that she was female (or at least presented herself as such; most Titans did not have a biological sex).

The creations of the Ghostqueen are described below, listed roughly in order from least powerful to most powerful.

## Wailers

The Wailers were the least powerful of the Ghostqueen's creations, but also the most hostile, aggressive and vicious. They were dark bluish-grey humanoids with a skinny, emaciated appearance, with elongated limbs, hollow eye sockets and grossly disproportionate mouths that were about twice the length of the rest of their face. They lacked noses, instead breathing through their extended mouths, making a loud, haggard and extremely unnerving sound as they did so. Precise measurements of them were never taken, but they were described as being about the same height as a Human male. Since Wailers were always seen naked, it was easy to tell that they lacked genitals, and so their method of reproduction is unknown, if they reproduced at all; it is possible they could only be directly created by the Ghostqueen herself.

Wailers were named for their habit of wailing, screaming and crying as a response to almost any stimulus, but particularly when attacking. Wailers are ranked as the least powerful of the Ghostqueen's creations simply because, unlike the others, they could not wield magic, but they were the strongest of the Ghostqueen's creations when it came to raw physical strength, capable of literally tearing a man to pieces with their claws in just a few seconds. Despite this, they had no resistance whatsoever to ranged attacks, as they did not wear armour and simply relied on the protection of their leathery skin, which could be easily pierced by a shot from a warbow, crossbow or firearm, and provided no resistance against magic. Their main tactic against ranged attacks was safety in numbers; they rarely wandered alone, often roaming in packs of at least twenty.

## Ghostbrides

The Ghostbrides were the most feared creations of the Ghostqueen, for they were by far the most powerful and dangerous - though often not the most hostile or malicious. Unlike the Harrowing Spites, Wailers and the similarly named Ghostmaidens, the Ghostbrides were not Dreadfolk - that is, they were not a race created by the Ghostqueen - but were instead a peculiar and unique form of Witch, created when a mortal woman (always a woman, though opinion differs on whether they were exclusively females) made a pact with the Ghostqueen. This type of Witchery appeared to differ from most others in that a Ghostbride did not merely channel the magic of their master, but was permanently granted magical powers of their own by the Ghostqueen. How this was accomplished and why other Dread Titans did not (or could not) do the same is entirely unknown.

Women who made a pact with the Ghostqueen to become Ghostbrides were rendered immortal and eternally youthful, though it is unclear whether this was merely the effect of preserving the youth of young women or whether it could revert an old woman back to youthfulness. Their skin also became exceptionally pale, and in many - but not all - cases their eyes would also become paler. The most striking feature of the Ghostbrides was - as the name would suggest - their white bridal attire, which they were never seen without. The symbolic meaning of this clothing and why the Ghostqueen obliged the Ghostbrides to wear it is unknown.

The magical power that was granted to the Ghostbrides was unlike any other magic seen in other races; it did not resemble plasma, shield, air, healing, shadow or plague magic. Some scholars have characterised their magic as being alike "white shadows" - and therefore a variant of shadow magic - but descriptions of how this magic acted are not consistent with shadow magic. The magic of Ghostbrides had a noticeably more fluid quality to it than shadow magic, and though it did partially resemble the "blade-whips" cast by many shadow mages, there was never a recorded case of spikes or rigid blades being conjured, which was common with shadow magic. One scholar of magic, a Librarian named Elumian the Farsighted (who was not named for his foresight, but because his eyes were literally far-sighted), suggested that Ghostbrides did not conjure a fluid-like object in a similar fashion to shadow magic, but rather conjured a stream of uncountable thousands of miniscule crystalline shards, which he believed was the explanation for the glittering white appearance of Ghostbride magic.

Many Ghostbrides have been recorded, but only two ever themselves gave an explanation of their actions; Remashi Bokharti of Uttradesh and Sayuki of Nageshi. More is known of the former than the latter; Remashi Bokharti was a princess of Uttradesh who made a pact with the Ghostqueen in order to exact vengeance on her father, the King of Uttradesh, who had kept her imprisoned in her bedchambers and had physically, emotionally and sexually abused her for years. Remashi disappeared and was never heard from again after she gave her father an agonising death in front of his court. Sayuki, on the other hand, was a commoner who married a man who she thought loved her, but was only after her inheritance; her husband, whose name is unknown, bribed a gang of bandits to stage an attack on them whilst travelling, to murder her and let him go free. Sayuki's husband assumed she was dead, took the land and married another woman, but unfortunately for him she had survived, and made a pact with the Ghostqueen to grant her the power to kill him and his new wife, who was pregnant at the time. Sayuki's corpse was found not long after, and the wounds on her body suggested it was suicide.

The two known stories of Ghostbrides show a common theme of vengeance and bloody justice, but this does not necessarily reflect the motivations of all Ghostbrides or of the Ghostqueen; these are merely two stories out of many dozens. The only other famous Ghostbride is Elourie of Loquienne, who began as a Witch-Pirate captain but joined the forces of Admiral Safera the Huntress after being defeated by her at sea. Her motivations for becoming a Ghostbride and a Witch-Pirate are unknown, as are her motivations for her sudden change of heart, and the motivations of the Ghostqueen in permitting this to happen.