The Unquiet Dead

The Dead are all around us, separated by a veil - a barrier which keeps the lands of the living, known to ghosts as the Skinlands and the land of the dead, which is called the Shadowlands - separate and distinct. Across this barrier sometimes we hear their calls, their mournings, or lamentations. In extreme cases, the Dead have had enough raw power to step across the veil and haunt the living. But the Dead are not alone across the veil, and there are enough ghosts to form their own societies and have their own traditions which stretch back into ancient days.

The living divide the Dead into two broad groups: the Unquiet Dead and the Vengeful Dead. The Unquiet Dead are ghosts, 'normal' in so far is that each is a distinct individual who cannot let go life or is afraid to move on. The Vengeful Dead are ghosts which have been consumed by anger, rage at their failure to go with their Reaper, and who take out their anger and despair out on the living. Until recently, it was the Vengeful dead that most people encountered when they spoke of ghosts. Anita Blake was wrong however when she said that ghosts could not harm the living. It is more likely that the ghosts she encountered were either vengeful and afraid of her Necromancy, or relatively benign and saw no reason to act against her.

The Shadowlands

The Shadowlands are a grim reflection, or perhaps an echo of the Skinlands, where the memories of the living help shape the realm of the dead. There is light, but no sun shines. There is 'life,' but it is all a pale shadow of the vibrancy of true life. There are few colors here, washed out and pale shadows of their normal luminosity. Only the living appear to have color in the Shadowlands and only when they step into the realm of the Dead. Angels and Demons burn brighter than the living, and Reapers are faint shadows.

Read more about the Shadowlands.

Society Beyond Death

The world of the Dead should not be considered a proper 'Afterlife', rather it is the place that souls go when they are afraid of moving on, when they have unfinished business in the Skinlands, or when they simply cannot let go of mortal life. The Shadowlands are a reflection of the Skinlands and as such, there are ghosts which go about every day business. They no longer need to eat, or sleep, or breathe. They no longer have physical needs, but rather emotional and spiritual ones. They are creatures of strong emotions, and it is therei very passions which allow them to keep on 'living'.

Ghostly society is built on an ancient feudal structure in most places, with a powerful ghost bearing the title of Deathlord, for a given Necropolis. The Deathlord rules as absolutely as he has the power to enforce, and as finally as the loyalty he commands from the ghosts around him. Most Ghosts, having little to occupy their time, find employment with the local Deathlord, attending to the business of his affairs as requested.

Read more about Ghostly Society.

Trafficking With the Living

By order of the first Council of Deathlords, no ghost is to have business with the Living. The affairs of the living are no longer the concerns of the Dead, according to official ghostly ideology. The reality is that ghosts need the living, they rely on the living to feed their need for emotions, and to remind them of why they are still ghosts instead of moving on to their final fate. Without the world of the living, in one way or the other, Ghosts would likely fall into Oblivion and cease to exist. But, it is also true that without the Living, most ghosts would not linger on after death, being free to move on to their final destinations.