Wraiths

By far the most uncommon class of creatures in Mirror Domain, a Wraith is a creature who’d been overtaken by purple Magic blight to the point it’s been nearly erased from reality. They exist outside of time and space, and can freely move throughout the timeline without issue. Because they barely exist in the first place, they can only exist at one point in time. Once they move to a different time, they cease to exist in the timeline altogether until they show up again, preventing a Wraith from going back in time and meeting itself. Magic has a way of keeping reality intact. Wraiths are people who’ve attempted to use Magic to achieve something that’d either destroy reality or break the timeline.

Wraiths appear to be mere shells of their former selves. All that’s left is the skeleton. The rest of their body is filled in with black spectral fog and an eerie purple glow. They’re able to speak with the use of Magic, but without it they’re unable to do anything but screech or exhale. They appear as horrifying undead monsters. To the uninformed masses they’re written off as particularly nasty looking demons.

Being a Wraith is maddening. Many of them believe that they’ve died or been killed by their Magic, causing them to use their newfound powers of time travel to go back in time in order to prevent themselves from becoming a Wraith. Of course, this is a vicious cycle, as the Wraiths attempts are never successful. If a living person ever begins getting stalked by their Wraith it’s already too late to prevent them from turning into one. Once the past Wraith sees themself once again turn into a “new” Wraith, both of them fuse into one, and they now have a double set of memories. The more times a Wraith goes back in time, the more separate timelines get fuzed into their memory. Reality becomes blurred and their mind gets clouded with all the separate conflicting versions of itself constantly arguing and fighting for dominance.

Wraiths have the odd ability to merge with one another. Two Wraiths that come into contact can form themselves into a single being, often shifting their physical form into a horrific mix between the two. When merged, all Wraiths involved will share a consciousness. They’re able to hear each others thoughts and see each others memories. It’s common for Wraiths to talk to each other this way, as they don’t have to expend any Magic to do so. Of course, merging has its risks. If three Wraiths merge, two of them can prevent the third from leaving. This sometimes causes massive, monstrous, power hungry Wraiths to form in an attempt to gain enough Magic to fix themselves.

Most people are under the assumption that Wraiths are difficult, if not impossible to kill. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Wraiths are just as mortal as any other creature. If anything, their mortality is a lot more meaningful, as once a Wraith dies it quite literally ceases to exist. There’s no Wraith “afterlife”. The misconception that they’re impossible to kill comes from their time travel abilities. If a Wraith is injured it can simply blip to another point in time, wait to heal, then return to finish whatever battle it found itself in.

## **Curing a Wraith**

The driving force of any Wraith is to cure themselves. Find a way to prevent themselves from turning into a Wraith in the first place. They can be cured, but it’s a very difficult process. One a Wraith must do on their own, and one that many Wraiths refuse to believe. In order for a Wraith to be cured they must do so by moving forwards. Magic turns you into a Wraith because you were attempting to do something that'd harm, break, or destroy either reality itself or the timeline as a whole.

A Wraith going back in time to prevent themselves from doing whatever it is they were going to do doesn't work, it merely prolongs the inevitable. Why? The mage does not learn. They do not change. They do not grow. Change does not come from an outside force, it comes from within. A Wraith getting mad at their past self for doing something will only make their past self do said thing when they aren't around. If anything, it pushes them further down the path of self destruction because they want to unlock this “forbidden” secret of Magic that’s so elusive a higher being has to come in and put a stop to it. They never learn why it's bad or why doing whatever it is they tried to do is harmful.

In order for a Wraith to cure itself it must do so by moving forward. Learn from their mistakes and learn the correct way to revive themselves, which in turn teaches them the true laws of Magic and prevents reality from being destroyed. Of course, it's a lengthy process because the Magic that turned them into a Wraith has to go somewhere. They more or less have to expend the built up mana to the point it's no longer dangerous. A waiting game, more or less. It’s easier for new Wraiths to be cured than old ones. Generally speaking the older a Wraith is the more versions of themself is in their body, and the more Magic gets built up.