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The Archwraith; The Eldritch One It had been a time since the dawn of the old Gravelords, they who sacrificed their mortal vessels in error and gained immortality that saw no possible end, yet a lifetime of pain that would not subside. As if a mirror, the four Wraiths of Athera slowly dwindled away like the embers of a dying flame, mimicking the fate of the first Wraiths of Aegis; the past and firstmost collection of such wretched creatures, with only one that had survived the plight that forced the other three into obscurity or assumed destruction. Chrodaeros had met his end by the hand of Clerics, wherein his soul was treacherous, and was eager to meet his Creator above instead of remaining upon the mortal plane as a being next to divine. The next was Ordos, who fell by means unknown - thought to have become one with the very element of dark with soul undone, for there is no truer end to the accursed Gravelords than the destruction of the spirit; what binds them to the mortal realms. The fall of these kings of the dead were quick, and in succession; and the pull of the Black Nexus was so great that, in reclaimation of their Rites of Ascension, the artifact touched the last remaining two with the throes of sorrow past what pain they had already felt. Their sparse brethren dwindled, and their kind was threatened to fall to time as they had before. But the Black Nexus, such an incandescent, crystaline figure of distorted beauty, would not allow it's creations to falter again. It was as if it bore a mind that a greater will was sent to one of the remaining few of the souls it had stolen - to Nimdravur, the one beneath the earth who tended to an ancient, dormant power. It was not greater strength or godhood that the Black Nexus granted Nimdravur from the cove which hid it, but it was crown of the Archwraith -- the title and it's rites, the eldritch name and it's power. Thus Nimdravur had been 'crowned' Archwraith; and there lie no subjects to command, no compatriots to rally to the cause of the Gravelord. The answer to this was in the crown that held fast to the endangered Wraith's soul, for it was under this burden of rule that he would give the Rite of Ascension to those worthy of the Gravelord status so that they may rise again in a shroud of blackness, with the bones of dead crawling after in their wake; so the sun would hide beyond dark clouds in fear of casting their shadow. Explanation This change, brought by the ancient artifact that bound the souls of the Gravelords to Wraithdom, had not granted Nimdravur the power to devastate his enemies dwelling the surface of the world, but the ability to issue more of his kindred. In the fall of Ordos and Chrodaeros, the Black Nexus corrected the error of their downfall; with the four unable to produce replacements with the lessening of their numbers, the old title of Archwraith, which was first conceived in the progenitor race of Wraiths that lingered ancient Aegisian eras, had been granted; and it gave it's wearer the ability to instill Rites, which are special privileges granted by the Archwraith to mortals in order to relay a power that had been invested within the Black Nexus since the dawn of it's corruption. When the two Gravelords lost their status of Wraithdom, their Rites of Ascension had been bound back to the Black Nexus in wait for two more worthy necromancers to reassume the keep of the Rites. The Rite of Ascension is the Rite of becoming a Wraith - to obtain the Rite would mean the Archwraith would had deemed the worthy chosen capable of handling such undoing of mortality. Necromancers are able to gain the Rite of Ascension by the trials of the Archwraith alone, for there is no magic known that would be able to sustain the wretched form of a Wraith without the fabled power of life drain. Whereas the Rite of Ascension could only be given by the Archwraith, other Rites are able to be passed onto mortals; often taking the forms of coveted secrets and powers, such as the creation of Deathstalkers - the skeletal servants of the Gravelords and the bladebound brethren to Liches. However, such Rites are more often issued in forms of power granted by the Black Nexus, and unable to be given by any other than the Archwraith. Such Rites are often used for bindings and laws that lock themselves around the souls of the Gravelords; laws they must follow and goals they are bound to. By no means could the Rites give any form of godly power, for the original iteration of the Black Nexus was not created by the immortal divines, but of a beast much more mortal only fabled in legends. As Archwraith, a Gravelord would gain no greater power. Their power comes with their accursed title only able to be passed down to another Wraith by the Archwraith's will. Their 'crown' deems the Archwraith a font of wisdom and authority, but bears no mean to tip the scales of the powerful affinities of the four Wraiths, or anymore that could possibly be created in the future. Only a figurehead do they act as, with the reign total as per the ability of the Rites. What strength the Archwraith does have, however, is the Rite of Annulment, which forcefully strips a Wraith of it's immortal form and banishes them back to mortality, all the while being cursed with the constant need to drain lifeforce. As if they were still a Wraith but encased in flesh, such traitors would be condemned to a life of physical fatigue and weakness, with only their necrotic powers and magic acting as their ally, with the fear of flame, weakness to Clerical arcane and a damaged soul crippling them until their certain doom. Such a fate is rare to be found, for chosen Archwraiths are intended to act in total wisdom - to judge the traitorous lord keenly, and to understand their reasons of treachery. Rites & Doctrines Issued by the power of the Black Nexus are six Doctrines that all Wraiths, and their crowned figurehead, must follow, lest annulment claims them. They are as listed, and are subject to growth and deduction by the power of the Rites; Thou shall not betray thy ken; thou shall not hold a blade to the robe that hides them from the sun, nor treacherous fire to shine upon their dark. Thou shall not war with the Archwraith; thou shall not dishonor Him, with only blade raised to Him in the issue of duel. Thou shall not conspire against the Archwraith; thou shall not seek to usurp, and earn the crown by true immortal effort. Thou shall not ally with the Light; thou shall not align with the antithesis, the Enemy; thou shall not serve the Enemy, the Maker, or His Aenguls, or bow to the changing flame of the Daemons. Thou shall not the defy the act of dissent; thou shall not undermine the mission of betraying the Creator and destroying the imbalance brought to the world. Thou shall not serve the coming of armageddon; thou shall not bring about the end of times. Thou shall not seek to destroy the world, and thus destroy the Gravelords with it's fall. As followed are the known Rites, grantable by the Archwraith; The Rite of Ascension - to make rise to new Gravelords with the succession of worthy necromancers' trials. To become useless in the hands of the innecrotic, and to be fabricated in the form of a dying ember. The Rite of Annulment - to denounce the status of Gravelords by Archwraith will upon the totality of their collective, individual treachery. To be unsummonable by living man, and shaped as the light of mortality enshrouded and enchanted upon blade, axe or dagger; to strike such upon the coil of the treacherous Gravelords. The Rite of Succession - to deem a worthy Gravelord as Archwraith and pass it's rightful powers onto the chosen, and as a result to affirm the prior Archwraith as a one under the Archwraith like it's other brethren. To take the form of a jagged crown of iron that saps the life of the living upon touch, but fits atop the hood of Archwraith. The Rite of the Blackguard - to make rise to Deathstalkers, the 'lesser Wraiths' as created by the Gravelord Nimdravur who sought greater servants. To be useless in the hands of the innecrotic, but to be granted in good favor to chosen necromancers, and to take the shape of a jawless skull, with the blackness of the Void in it's sockets and the closed eye of the Archwraith upon it's yellowed scalp. The Rite of Damnation - to set the gaze of the Archwraith upon a chosen bastion of heresy; to bring about a dark crusade led by the Gravelords and allies to places in which act as the havens of the Enemy. To take the form of a breathless warhorn, blown only by the dead. ~;~ This is the reformed system of the Wraiths, whom I wrote lore for without thinking of a way to properly replace Gravelords who had relinquished their position. The title of Archwraith gives no power beyond authority over their respective collection of Wraiths and acts as their veritable Dreadlord, but without the means to force Wraiths to utmost bidding. The Rites are powers granted to the Archwraith by the Black Nexus, able to issue things like "laws", commands and rituals only pertaining to Wraithdom and declarations fabricated by the Archwraith. More Rites may be made under Lore Master approval, and must follow the guidelines of Wraith and Necromancy lore if the proposed Rite falls into their respective aspects. Rites and their "fabricated forms" are also the result of the Black Nexus' power, which is able to imbue the demanded items with their respective Rites and thus make the holder viable to use them if they bear the proper means to do so.