Wraith
Wraiths, also known as Boggarts, are beings created or evolved from Ghosts.<ref name=":0">“Angry ghost,” Johannes commented.
“Wraith,” Andy corrected, thinking of the books. “Eva and I have dealt with a number of ghosts lately. She wasn’t one.”
“The difference being?” one of the younger Behaims asked.
“A little more unpredictable,” Andy said. - excerpt from Gathered Pages (Arc 10) </ref><ref name=":1">Ty threw salt at the wraith closest to us.
It smoked, staggered back, blinded, but it didn’t perish.
Superficial damage at best. A momentary setback.
“Said it wouldn’t work,” Fell commented. “It’s not entirely a ghost anymore.” - excerpt from Void 7.2 </ref> A wraith has taken in negative energy and spirits, twisting it's nature, but making it less prone to fading<ref>“Wraiths,” Fell said.
Wraiths. Ghosts twisted by negativity and spirits. Some, like Leonard, faded with time. Others found sources to tap to fuel themselves, but became twisted. More like the Mary Francis summoning that was keeping Rose company right now.
[...]
The wraiths seemed to be getting stronger, feeding on the negativity and violence. - excerpt from Void 7.2 </ref> and more unpredictable.<ref name=":0" />
They have been tainted by negativity and, because they've taken in aspects of others and different qualities, have gone 'off the rails' so to speak. They are quite hostile and dangerous compared to what they once were, driven by echoes different than their own.
Creation
A ghost might absorb negative emotion through connections to those it knew in life.<ref name=":2">“Give me yours,” Molly said. “Give me that body. It doesn’t make up for it, but it’s close.”
Mags shook her head. “I can’t do that.”
“She’s a wraith,” I said, my voice low. “She’s… fuck. She absorbed the negativity from me, and the Thorburns, because they’re connected to her. And-”
“-She probably absorbed it from me too,” Mags said, without flinching. “Stupid of me. Selfish.”
“I don’t think it was selfish at all,” I said. “It was a sacrifice, the blood you gave her, to keep that memory alive.” - excerpt from Mala Fide 10.4 </ref><ref>A line from Molly’s bubble in the middle to each of the bubbles ringing it.
Each line came out with a different strength.
The strongest, oddly enough, was ‘extended family’.
“More negativity to feed on,” I said. “More connections to her soul and her Self.”- excerpt from Mala Fide 10.4 </ref>
Feeding it blood might help a ghost to become a wraith.<ref name=":2" />
A Necromancer like the Shepherd could infuse a ghost with spirits, helping to shape it into a wraith.<ref name=":3">“She’s a wraith, she’s shoring herself up and storing strength by feeding on negativity. It’s going to twist her into something else.”
“How do you stop a wraith?”
“Mostly, I think, wraiths stop themselves. They burn through whatever power made them. Maybe if a practitioner is skilled, they can infuse it with more spirits, and shape it, like the Shepherd in Toronto did.”
“I wasn’t in Toronto, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember. Uh, the other way they stop is the way any ghost can theoretically be put to rest.”
“Yeah?”
“Help them resolve the issue that made the echo in the first place.”
“Great. How do we resolve hers?”
I paused.
“What?”
“For a wraith, that’s usually venting all that negativity at a person or a group of people. Getting revenge.” - excerpt from Mala Fide 10.4 </ref>
Powers
Wraiths can be capable of possession.<ref name=":2" /> They could be capable of touching and moving solid objects.<ref>Molly changed course, toes barely touching the ground as she moved to keep about two arm lengths away from Mags and me.
Her hand took hold of the same branch that one of the goblins had been plucking twigs off of.
She lifted it.
“Fuck me,” I said. “How much power did you give her?” - excerpt from Mala Fide 10.4 </ref><ref>Laird held up his implement.
How?
The Wraiths had tossed the thing to him? - excerpt from Void 7.4 </ref> Their blood might be usable to power workings, like a human Practitioner's. If given blood, they could keep drawing power through that connection.<ref>The wraith swung the branch at Mags, who caught it relatively easily. Molly had strength, but that didn’t mean she was necessarily strong.
Molly let go, and raised her hand.
A gaping hole in the middle, one finger broken.
A dribble of ghost-blood fell on the rune.
“No way,” I heard Mags, as if she were barely in earshot.
Wind stirred, and blew at my hair.
[...]
“Ugh,” she said. “She tapped my power for the rune there. She’s right. I can’t fight her, not really. I’m getting more calls. Same people, and it’s getting more insistent. If they accuse me of not doing my job…”
[...]
“Balls,” Mags said. She leaned against the window, bringing her head back hard enough to make the glass rattle. “She’s a practitioner, but any power she draws on is going to be mine, because I established a connection.”
- excerpt from Mala Fide 10.4 </ref>
They are often violent and tend to act within a criteria even at the urgings of a practitioner.
Weaknesses
They are much more resistant to salt than a true ghost, but still somewhat vulnerable.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Molly was here.
She lunged. Mags threw down a line of salt.
The wraith retreated. - </ref>
Natural wraiths tend to burn through the power that spawned them, leading to their own self-destruction.<ref name=":3" />
Like a ghost, they can be subdued by resolving all the aggression they have that serves as their echo, much like any other ghost. This usually involves getting their revenge.<ref name=":3" />
Notable Wraiths
- Mary Frances Troxler (aka Bloody Mary)
- Molly Walker
- The Thorburn Bogeyman was comparable to a "Wraith-Vestige"<ref>“One… wraith-vestige?” the middle Ibix brother suggested. “It smells like rotted branches, and birds, and the abyss. It doesn’t smell very big, but it passed by here not long ago.” - excerpt from Histories 9</ref>
- Evan Matthieu was essentially an "anti-wraith", having taken in spirits of air and freedom