Lost

The Lost are the denizens of the The Paths and related spaces such as dreams, as such logic doesn't always apply to them.

Nature

These beings have become utterly 'lost' to reality and can be found on the Paths. Such beings are often the last of their kind, and are never bound to the Seal of Solomon. They include Finders who have been lost on the Paths long enough to no longer qualify as Practitioners,<ref name=":4" /> beings the Abyss failed to hold onto,<ref name=":2">The reaches are realms which may have been a part of reality, a part of the abyss, or a fragment of collective unconsciousness, which has come untethered from just about everything.  Without history, human attention or human logic to help pin them down, these places and their denizens unspool.  A lesser god with no connection to reality will fall to the Abyss.  When she is entirely unrecoverable, she may find herself drifting across the Paths, where sustenance is so little and so far between that she is forced to hibernate for centuries at a time, insofar as time has any meaning in those places.  Beings such as this once-god often wake only when practitioners approach. - FINDERS, document by Wildbow.</ref> and the servants/extensions of Incarnations who lost their connection to them;<ref name=":3" /> whatever they once were, they are no longer considered Practitioners or even Others.<ref name=":4">The Lost Others and Finders who’ve lost their way to an extent that they are no longer practitioners (Others and Practitioner being included under the umbrella term ‘The Lost’) have ceased to have an easy classification or categorization.  If they were once part of a more diverse breed, they are often now the last of their kind.  Dealing with them is often high risk and high reward - it is impossible to know these Lost, they’re never bound by the Seal of Solomon (such a tie would keep them from being lost) and can thus lie or cheat, and they have nothing to lose.  On the flip side of things, they are often prepared to give over the entirety of themselves or their power in a gambit to re-enter more material worlds. - FINDERS, document by Wildbow.</ref> This vagueness of classification is exacerbated by the tendency for Lost to absorb and borrow traits from other Lost.<ref name=":5">The Others of the Paths are defined by the difficulty in defining them. Which is kind of circular and very problematic when it comes to dealing with them.

Major/Native Others of the Paths:

• They (and the Paths themselves) tend to be subjective. A spirit of the rat is going to wear any number of forms that relate to the rat, and may shift between several of those forms as convenience dictates - a little girl in a rat onesie, a giant rat, a human in a rat mask... contrast with a denizen of the Paths, which appears to wear one form for each person. If you're on the Path of Black Doors and you run afoul of one of the Bone Men, then the appearance they (the path, the doors, the Bone Men) are going to take is going to be 'locked in' for you and doesn't really change, but if you were to draw your recollection of them, and another visitor were to draw the same, you'd both get very different pictures.
• They're often vague in label and crisp in identity & role. They tend to take in aspects of spirits and other Finder Others (described below) and really consolidate around one particular role, set of rules, and approach. Many may resemble fairy tale creatures from fairy tales we as a society no longer remember, or ubiquitous ones (the 'wolf', the 'witch', the 'foolish lad'). Keep in mind that they're subjective. Everyone's 'Witch' is different.
• Dealing with them tends to involve using & playing with the specific means they use for contact. Because they're so far removed from people and normal rules, the rules they do play by become the rules they're defeated by. If they try to fight you, it means they can be fought. If they try to trap you with words, it means they can be defeated with words. Think of each one as its own encapsulated problem solving exercise. They don't present a puzzle and then get defeated with swords, for example.
• They tend to be more about consistent abstract symbols or representations than anything. Firm interpretations should be avoided, and if you think you have one, you're probably off-base.
  

The Wolf is given as an example in the handbook - everyone's Wolf is different, but it always capital-h Hurts you deeply, but if you prepare right and negotiate right, you won't remember how and you get to carry your treasure from the Forest Ribbon Path away with you. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

They commonly appear differently to every observer, based around a single symbol or archetype rather than anything rational, such as variations on a single "fairy-tale" role - the Wolf, the Witch, the Foolish Lad etc. (although these may be based on story archetypes lost to humanity.)<ref name=":5" /> They often only awake when Finders approach, to conserve energy, sleeping for centuries at a time.<ref name=":2" />

A key when dealing with the Lost is to determine which rules they follow, and can then be used to defeat them. For instance, a Lost which physically attacks you is revealing that it subscribes to the rules of physical combat, and so can probably be physically defeated.<ref name=":5" />

One type of Lost are abstract Spirits that have absorbed scraps of miscellaneous Lost material. Less well-defined than other spirits, which can make them useful as raw material. They generally have an original core at their heart that is the key to controlling them.<ref name=":3">As for the general Others that they'll run into & operate with, they're from the immaterial and interaction tracks. So...

Concept-driven Others - especially the riff-raff surrounding things like Incarnations. The agents or soldiers of Dream, Death, Fate, Nature, Ruin, Innocence, etc.
Envoys - These Others persist by making deals and furthering the ends of the incarnation they represent/are. They may be urban legends or itinerant Others. The deals are usually tricky or really loaded. "Did you hear? They say that there's a way to summon a little old man who will ask you for a name. He'll destroy a person you name, but he'll take what you cherish most from you in exchange. Everyone always regrets it." A girl with strangely colored hair finds people in enough torment that they've lost their senses- the sleep deprived, the maddened, the drunken, and she offers them a deal. She'll take the memory of whatever it is that is maddening them out of their head and the heads of everyone around them, but they're given the task of re-enacting or forcing that same agony on three other 'deserving' people, or she'll give them the memory she took from the last person she visited, and somehow it's always worse than (and somehow related to) what they were dealing with before. These Envoys visit our world and seek out targets who fit their schema and generally push deals that net an overall positive contribution to [incarnation], but when they aren't here, they're somewhere, and that's often the Paths. If found or visited, they may offer similar deals, or barter with whatever it is they've collected or done.
The Leftovers - these are like incarnations, but writ small. Isolated bits of 'incarnation' that splintered off or exist in isolation. Especially common in the Paths because there's a whole lot of isolation there. Characters (and 'character' is the operative word here) that are defined by single attributes and personalities. Shored up by spirits and other things. A fragment of Regret splinters off due to circumstances, gets isolated in the Paths (where it naturally ends up), and gathers up enough pieces of other things, like a mask of a mouse and a party dress, picks up on ideas and the tatters of echos surrounding those things, and builds up a persona as the Cringing Mouse, a girl with a mouse head and a garish dress, who can't help but do cringeworthy things at the worst moments and then agonize over them. Once they solidify as such, they tend to resist being absorbed elsewhere. Leftovers love to attach themselves to others as traveling companions, or recur on the paths. These form some of the 'wildlife' in the Paths. Not all are sentient or sapient. Unwittingly, they tend to further the cause of their parent Incarnation.
Pawns & Playing Cards - The forms these guys can take is impossibly varied. Extensions of an Incarnation with some power that wanted soldiers, messengers, servants, builders, or whatever else, they end up in the Paths if their parent Incarnation dies and they don't go with it. Tend to congregate in groups, all with a theme. The Victims of Innocence, who are wide eyed children, beautiful, all dressed in pristine white clothes, with a penchant for hurling themselves into the most horrible fates available, if there's any chance it'll break people's hearts to see it. The Rats of Plague, who wait and multiply in anticipation of a chance to deliver a plague worse than the Black Death upon humanity- except they're quarantined. All they need is an open door or for one rat to sneak through and they can do just that. Tend to be really, really stupid, however, while appearing in great number, leaving diplomacy as the key to dealing with them.

Echoes & remnants. Ghosts, vestiges. Because they intersect with the Paths, they might deal with other kinds of echo.
Wild Echoes - Overlaps with Incarnations, above. Echoes (ghosts) of humans who were done away with by very dramatic Incarnation-type events. Tend to be flavorful, hard-to-deal-with echoes who don't follow the usual tropes or tools of necromancers, so most necromancers won't bother. Tools and approaches with Death in mind don't apply if we're talking about an Other who was done away with by Ignonimity or Lust.
False Echoes - Echoes of people who didn't exist, except by rumor. A real pain in the ass for necromancers, but not so much a problem for Finders.

Spirits - Spirits are bread & butter, and not exclusive to the Paths, but frequently found are...
Petitioner Spirits - Spirits consolidated around a question or set of questions. They often ask people they see and then may get power to act if the answer is right or wrong. Can be hooked into echoes or have echoes as central points, depending.
Abstract Spirits - Spirits of consolidated Path-trash, may be even less defined or consistent than usual spirits, but can be useful as a kind of wet clay for those looking to mold them. The problem is that if these guys are a blender of weird, well, sometimes that blender has blades inside. The trick is finding out what's at the center, holding them together. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

What the Oni cultivate comes naturally to the Lost,<ref name="Oni">This is a tricky one. Lost don’t follow any particular rules, and are next to Oni, apparently, as Others who break rules. Like how Snowdrop’s speech is flipped around in intention.

So all we’ve got to go on is, well, what Miss told us she’s most afraid of. Establishing patterns that catch her/them up in them, or assigning labels to her. From the way Miss describes things, any ritual with enough activity and power can snag her, and will pull her in, making it hard for her to climb out.

Outside of that, we just don’t know. Typing this up feels awful, but it’s necessary. Like John, she said she’s come when called, and we’d be abusing that in the worst way to make her worst fear come true, if we called her into a binding circle.

Other than that, she’s quick, and she has a really deep & subtle understanding of how practice and how these things work. This also includes stuff like practitioner-Other relationships and mentalities.
[...]
Instead of dwelling on this and getting Verona to do up a complex ritual that could snag Miss, we decided what we’ll do is talk to the family of Finders I’ve been in touch with & ask about measures for the Lost. Just in case.

Putting Snowdrop in this same group. Not so great at fighting. Not especially dangerous, but they know us/me. They’ve got the low-down info on us, and that’s dangerous in its own way. I really don’t htink Snow is a culprit, or even Miss, but we can’t afford to let our guards down. - [6.9 spoilers] Binding & Countermeasures</ref> But this doesn't mean they will necessarily have such abilities.<ref name="bal">“Special powers, talents, abilities?”

“I’m good at balancing, I guess.”

“Hmm.  That’s not too interesting.”

Luna shrugged.  Not all Foundlings or Lost had abilities, and not all abilities were good.  Luna just had the naturally good balance for walking on barrels, fences, walls, maybe a ceiling if she was super careful with how she balanced, and occasionally balancing on non-physical things.  “Got some papers for you.  Nothing big.  Information and a cheat sheet on rules to follow.” - Excerpt from Wild Abandon 18.a</ref>

Lost creatures typically have difficulty holding on to items,<ref>Avery focused on the familiar bond, drawing on Snowdrop’s lost-ness.  A bit of a disconnect from rules, a bit of additional freedom, a few idiosyncracies and issues.  It freed her to move through the crowd and escape the ‘trap’ part of Odis’ trap.

But it had its drawbacks.  Drawing on that part of Snowdrop this heavily, it meant Avery could only hold onto so many things.  It limited the number of objects she could manage and hold, and she kept hold of clothes, phone, and the various bracelets on her left arm. - Excerpt from Wild Abandon 18.9</ref><ref name="cs"/> but tend to be good with timing.<ref>“Ski town, super great,” Avery told more Lost, passing papers to those who were sitting down, waiting for a future stop. “Visit before the new year. Probably gets dangerous after. Warnings on the pages.”

“Lost are [good] at that sort of thing,” Snowdrop said. “Timing and ‘turn into a pumpkin after midnight’ stuff?”

“Yeah,” Avery replied. Saying that Kennet got dangerous later with the Charles situation was more workable than it would be with humans. - Excerpt from Let Slip 20.1</ref>

Types

Incidentals

Blurring the line here are Others that can be found on the paths without directly being "Lost", those Echoes and Spirits whose nature is almost incidental to the paths, and various agents of Incarnations that have been discarded there.<ref name=":3" /> Envoys have been known to pass the time waiting on a path.

Archetypes

Main Article: Architect Theory

Also called Architects are the objective mainstays and touchstones in the subjective environment of the Paths. Something that every finder or lost practitioner will have to deal with.

Boss

Also called Cornerstones,<ref name="cs"/> "Boss" is used here for lack of an 'official' term.<ref>“You had a Path of your own?” Avery asked.
[...]
“The Dream was The Run-Down Kingdom,” Sootsleeves replied.
[...]
“You were the final boss?” Avery asked.

“I have no idea what that means.”

“From games. The last and biggest challenge.”

“Then yes.” - Excerpt from Playing a Part 15.7</ref> These Lost are major obstacles of a path, whether tied to a specific Path or one of the wandering dangers of the Paths, typically powerful and able to kill a Finder.<ref>Another backwards thing was that a lot of Paths had a large or important Lost like Sootsleeves, the Falling Oak Avenue’s Teacher, Left Field’s Scarecrow Keeper, or the Watcher of Ways in the Watched Way. They tended to appear at the end, which Avery figured was a way to minimize the hassle of having to get dressed and ready for every passer-through.
[...]
Forty-nine killers from various Paths. Some were staples, as much a part of a Path as anything, some wandered between Paths, serving a role when a Path needed a danger. All attending a stale, boring dinner party in a dingy apartment littered with the carcasses of those who had come before. - Excerpt from Let Slip 20.2</ref> A somewhat nebulous category, while the Ballerina in Blue is a known Finder killer she may not count as a 'heavy'. Can be the ones who created their particular path with an understanding of how realms work.<ref name="cs">“This Other who provided the information, she wasn’t ever the cornerstone of a Path, was she?”

Sootsleeves shook her head.

“No. Why?” Avery asked.

“If she was, I’d be worried about how much she set this up, how much she might be setting you up for a fall- her founding, I guess. It’s happened before.”

“She wasn’t ever, and she’s not that cruel,” Sootsleeves said.
[...]
“Right.  Toothpicks and bubble gum.  Right, sure.  Also, just saying, if [Miss]did have experience with being a cornerstone- a culmination or final boss of a Path, like Sootsleeves was, it’d make the outcome better.  She’d have experience as the controlling force of a realm.”

Sootsleeves nodded at that.
[...]
Sootsleeves said. “Even when I visited, I was prominent enough they didn’t dare get on my bad side with cruel rules.”

“I was curious how that works,” Avery remarked. “Did you leave your kingdom?”

“Sometimes, but this was a place I visited on my way to forging my kingdom.”

“Same deal as Founding,” Jude explained. “A Lost collects enough Lost stuff, develops a kind of gravity…”

“Right. Except wait, I thought a Lost had trouble holding onto a lot of stuff.”

“They do. It’s my understanding it helps if they collect fitting allies or people in your orbit, and if they collect items that group together or form little collections with a theme. Those that are bigger and more powerful tend to get a headstart.”

“Just so,” Sootsleeves said. “I rode out of my mother’s womb with a kingdom behind me, and even then I was not so large as some. Still, it earned me the respect I needed to not be tied to too many rules. - Excerpt from Gone and Done It 17.10</ref>

They can be "large" enough to view reality having a form of clairvoyance,<ref>“I’m still sorry,” Avery said. “You remind me of friends. Nibble and Chloe.”

“The ghouls.”

Avery nodded. “You know?”

“I’m large enough I can see things from angles you can’t. Perhaps I once was a ghoul, before I was Lost.”

 - Excerpt from Crossed with Silver 19.3</ref> able to peer through the nothingness the paths exist in to gain knowledge of reality. This is how Lost like The Wolf know what hard truths they need to use to mess with people.<ref>
 - Excerpt from Let Slip 20.1</ref> 

Founders

Main Article: Founder

Founders are those Lost that have found their way out of the Paths.

Notable Lost

• Miss
• Snowdrop
• Queen Sootsleeves
• Freak and Squeak
• Architect Theory (erroneous)
  • The Wolf
  • The Page of Suns

Trivia

• What dreams may come.

References

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