Revenants

Since the Breaking began, scattered cases have been observed of recently deceased ancestor spirits returning to their bodies and reanimating them as wights. This has caused considerable distress to many of the living, partly because of the trauma of seeing the dead walking but in large part because of the very awkward legal implications. More than one Arginese noble house has been thrown into chaos when the incumbent to the title died and then returned before their heir could inherit…

Wights retain most of their old personalities, though their memories are sometimes incomplete. It is far from clear whether they have a natural ‘deathspan’, but they can certainly be destroyed, after which point their spirit leaves the body permanently.

It is easy to distinguish a wight by their appearance - even being dead for a short time is bad for one’s looks, and that goes double if the death was violent. They are tenacious and can keep body and soul together even in the face of quite horrific injuries. However, they cannot bind other spirits to themselves.

Arginese society is a long way from adjusting to the existence of wights. Most people view them with revulsion, confusion, or pity, seeing them as horrific and unnatural monsters or as tragic figures sundered from the spirit world. The priesthood have mostly advocated a neutral approach, allowing that wights are a fairly unsettling sight but reminding the layfolk that they are possessed of (or by) the spirits of revered ancestors. A few, especially within the Reform Coalition, are more accommodating, seeing them as fellow underdogs and hence potential allies - whether the wights like it or not.