No-one, not even those who rose from the ashes of the destruction, seem certain as to how Mankind's downfall came about. Blame was placed variously on war, disease, poverty, a continuing moral decline and any number of other reasons. However it came about, by the time Wraeththu began to appear, the world mankind knew was already dying, and the human race was on the wane.

From the beginning, Wraeththu were recognised as something more than disaffected youth. Men knew they were different; on the inside and on the outside. Something had happened to them that had changed them. But Mankind thought they had bigger problems, and ignored these youths who dressed in strange uniforms to signify their groups, who haunted the towns and turned night-time streets into places of fear, who rebelled against the society that had bred them and who called themselves Wraeththu. By the time Man took notice it was too late - the small groups had grown and the Wraeththu were too strong.

Not all Wraeththu tribes were hostile to Mankind, but those that were used magic and violence to rid their territories of the human blight. Men fled if they could, seeking refuge where they could - often with Wraeththu tribes tolerant of them. In some places east of Almagabra and in the northernmost parts of Megalithica, men still retained control of their lands. But despite Mankind's toughness, resilience and tenacity, his time was over.

Born in hate and bitterness in the cities of the north, Wraeththu had the power to change the sons of men to be like themselves. As with the first, within three days of being infected with Wraeththu blood, the convert's body had completed the necessary changes. Wraeththukind grew and learned, increasing their craft and their cunning. They lost their ungoverned, adolescent wildness, and became an occult society, hungry for knowledge. Some broke away for the search for truth and fell back into the old ways of fighting and living for the day.

Wraeththu grouped into tribes, each ascribing to varying beliefs, but all united in the Wraeththu spirit. Those who held to the ideal of the True Spirit believed that, as they were physically perfect, so they must strive towards spiritual perfection. Purity of spirit is the key; few ever attain it. But one day, when the ravages of man is just a memory, then the Few that have succeeded shall be the kings of the Earth.

This is the story of the beginnings of Wraeththukind, as told to Pell in Saltrock prior to his inception.

"Some years ago, in the north, a child was born. A mutant. His body was strangely malformed in some respects. As it grew, this child exhibited many unusual traits that foxed both its parents and the doctors they consulted in their concern. Their son conversed earnestly with people they could not see; some of their neighbors' dogs feared him; other children shrank from him in horror. His mother complained she simply did not like the child; he was unlovable, withdrawn. Even as a baby he had snarled at her, refusing the breast. Once, some years later, as she had prepared his dinner, all the saucepans had risen off the stove and flown at her. Turning around, a silent scream frozen on her face, she had seen him standing in the doorway, watching.

"On reaching puberty, the boy disappeared from home, and despite massive police investigation (accompanied by an insidious sense of relief experienced by the grieving parents), no clue to his fate was ever found...for some time.

"Months later, officials were baffled by a bizarre murder case in Carmine City. A young man, apparently having been sexually assaulted, had been found dead in a disused building. But it was far from the simple case it appeared; such killings being commonplace in the city. The young man's insides had been eroded away as if by a powerful and caustic substance. Post mortem investigation revealed the presence of an unknown material in the body tissues, something that kept on burning even as it dried on the dissecting table. Under the microscope, it teemed with life like sperm, but unlike the sperm of any creature the scientists had ever seen before.

"A mutant runaway had come alive in the city; alone, frightened and dangerous in his fear. He had learned just how different he was. His touch could mean death to those that offered him shelter, the sub-society of the city. He kept away from them, hiding in the terrible gaunt carcases of forgotten tenements; on the run, shivering in the dark.

"Freaks roamed the steaming tips, the rubble. One came across him as he slept; lifted aside the foul sacks that covered him; gazed at his translucent glowing beauty. The veins on his neck showed blue through pearl; pumping with life. Some people are so far gone they would do anything to eat. One more day on the planet, one more day for the fleas, the rats, the sores. Freak lips on a mutant throat, broken teeth to tear. The mutant opened his eyes, relaxed beneath the lapping suction. He did not want to die. He knew he could not die.

"For three days the freak writhed, gibbered and screamed on the soiled floor. Passively the mutant watched him, faint interest painted across his bland face. On the third day, the filth peeled away and the mutant was given an angel. An angel like himself, brimming with mysteries that alone he had had no inclination to explore.

"The rest of it is now the legends of Wraeththu...

"The first mutant faded into anonymity. Nobody was quite sure what had happened to him, but he had left strong leaders behind him. Now he had become a creature of legend, revered and feared as a god. Wraeththu did not believe he was dead, but that he'd elevated to a superior form of existence, monitoring or manipulating the development of his race."

More Wraeththu Explained

All original artwork remains the property of the artist, Ruby. No image may be taken or reproduced without permission.

The names and likenesses of the Wraeththu characters are used with permission of Storm Constantine, the recognized creator and author of the Wraeththu Chronicles (The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit, The Bewitchments of Love and Hate and The Fulfilments of Fate and Desire) and the Wraeththu Histories (The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure, The Shades of Time and Memory, and The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence.)