Great Enemy - Ghost

Other names: Spirit, Wight, Revenant.

A vengeful spirit of the dead.

General attributes: Stories of ghosts have permeated human society since the dawn of time. Whether any of the stories from before the Fall are true, we cannot say. We only know that living spirits are a real part of our modern world.

How these spirits appear is still debated. Some argue they are conjured by wielders of dark magic, some claim they are formed from convergences of negative energy, and others say they are those who died with unfinished business and are forbidden from passing on. Whatever their origin, they attack unwary travelers and can be found amongst the numbers of the Great Enemy.

They will strike at any time and place in the wild, with little pattern to their actions, other than a tendency to be found in the company of other undead creatures. Due to their spectral nature, their blows will ignore most armor, and they are themselves resistant to physical attacks. Most magic is of medium effectiveness against them, though they are particularly vulnerable to Light magic, as well as the cleansing touch of Fire.

Symbolism: The ghost is a potent symbol and reminder of the power of death. Whether the spirits encountered by man are indeed our ancestors returned, or simply another species of the Great Enemy with more unusual properties, no one can say for certain. No attempt to communicate with them has ever succeeded, and their hostility is quite at odds with many of the older pre-Fall stories about them. Perhaps the presence of the Great Enemy angers them to the point of incoherence, or perhaps the Great Enemy itself is merely tapping into subconscious fears to demoralize our defenders.

It is little surprise that the sight of a ghost is considered a bad omen in most cultures. Thankfully, the spirits tend to stay away from cities and other places where humans congregate, though they still occasionally appear within cities. Their howling screams can be extremely disconcerting, and often they drag at least one victim to the underworld with them before they can be banished. As such, many will adorn their homes with sigils and wards supposedly designed to ward off bad spirits.

Sources:

1. The Royal Bestiary Project – (Royal Academy of Magic, 1008)
2. Liber Caelestium – (Jonas Archenbach, University of Jekith, 896)

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