The History of Manifest

ou’ve got your characters—some living and some dead—and you’re ready to go. But go where?

To Manifest, of course!

The city of Manifest is the heart of every Ghostwalk campaign. Poised above the entrance to the land of the dead, this is the place where every soul comes when it has shaken off its mortal body. Adventures may lead your characters to the far corners of the campaign world, but in the end they will always come back to Manifest . . . one way or another.

In the early days, when the mists of creation still rose from the brand-new world, an elf named Thaerana swore never to leave the side of her brother Thaedon. The two fought against the dark forces that plagued the freshly born world, until Thaedon fell to the horrific blows of a demon’s sword. Thaerana took her oath seriously and, with the help of spells of her own devising, traced Thaedon’s spirit to a narrow stretch of the Hikirian peninsula, and to a peculiar grove of trees.

Thaerana managed to follow the trail to one tree in particular— one tall and strong, teeming with life force. Her brother was here, there could be no doubt. Thaerana knew she had found the realm of the afterlife.

Many years later, the elves—who now dedicated themselves to tending and protecting the slowly spreading grove of “spirit trees”—found a small cave. They sent in a team of explorers who found a winding series of tunnels leading downward, ever downward. Moreover, the tunnels appeared to be haunted.

The woods above were home to the ghosts of many elves, so in the tunnels, the explorers expected to see more of the elf spirits, perhaps those whose deaths were so violent or shameful that they shunned the company of their brothers and sisters. The elf explorers were shocked to instead find the ghosts of humans, halflings, gnomes, and dwarves roaming the caverns in great number—with not an elf spirit among them.

An even greater surprise lay ahead.

Just when the elves were ready to turn back and report on the strangely haunted caves, they heard odd noises coming from deeper in the earth. Bravely, they followed the sounds down to where it seemed the tunnel system stopped at a huge gate of stone and iron. The gate was guarded by dwarves in gleaming armor—living dwarves.

These were the Deathwarden dwarves, and they were as coolly aloof then as they are today. They spoke only a little to the elf explorers. While they would say nothing about how long their clan had been there, the dwarves did explain that they stood before the “Veil of Souls”—the gate to the land of the dead—and they were its guardians. Only the departed could pass through the gate, they said, and they would do whatever it took to protect them and aid them on their journey.

When the elves returned to the surface, word spread quickly. The realm of the afterlife had been found!

The world would never be the same again.

In its earliest incarnation, Manifest was nothing more than a camp around the entrance to the dwarves’ cave—a ramshackle collection of tents pitched by clerics, pilgrims, and those who had brought their dead to the Deathwardens. The travelers worked with the elves and half-elves to clear an area within the Spirit Wood, under the watchful eye of the elves, who ensured no spirit trees were cut (although some moved of their own volition). As time passed, the camp grew in this miraculous clearing. The tents became permanent structures as more and more travelers decided to make a home in the blessed place. They opened hostels and inns to serve new travelers who arrived daily. Merchants established shops, and thieves came soon after to prey upon the lot of them.

The magical powers inherent in the area—the Manifest Ward, as it is known today—became more and more evident in these early days. Although the ward had always existed, only with the arrival of people did ghosts begin to realize they did not have to go to the land of the dead immediately. In the burgeoning town, they could remain among the living. With practice, they learned to interact with others and with the physical objects in Manifest. To a degree, they could carry on their lives. (But eventually the Calling would come, as it does today. They would say their goodbyes and travel beyond.)

It was a freewheeling time. Manifest, the name by which the town soon became known, was too far from civilized lands for any of the many kings and barons to realistically lay claim to it. A cleric named Thadeus, a follower of Aluvan, found himself thrust into a position of leadership in the growing community.

Thadeus worked with the Deathwarden dwarves to erect the Grand Portal, a massive temple-tower that stands atop the entrance to the paths to the land of the dead. The Grand Portal became the central focus of the town, and thus all the streets radiated from it like spokes.

For more than two hundred years, things proceeded along peacefully. Manifest grew into a small city of ten thousand inhabitants.

Then, war came to the Hikirian peninsula. DURGERTH THE CONQUEROR

From the south, the hordes of Durgerth the Conqueror swept over the kingdoms and baronies around Manifest like a bloody plague. When they reached the Spirit

Wood, they did not stop but went screaming onward.

The barbarians finally revealed their true motive: They did not want to plunder the kingdoms around Manifest—they wanted to conquer death itself. Durgerth believed that if he controlled Manifest he would never die. In fact, he believed that Aluvan was actually in the fabled Grand Portal and that even the god could be conquered and subjugated to his will. When the barbarian warlord found that he was wrong, he sacked the city, burning it to the ground. The Deathwardens were forced to retreat far underground. The elves and halfelves who guarded the Spirit Wood were slaughtered.

Even the spirit trees—homes to the souls of thousands of deceased elves—were hacked and burned.

It is said that Aluvan wept that day.

It took the area over a century to recover from the destruction wrought by Durgerth. It took even longer for people to resume their pilgrimages to the Spirit

Wood and the site of Manifest. Those who did were surprised to find that the wood seemed to have recovered and, although all traces of the old city lay buried beneath a gently sloping hill, the Grand Portal still stood where it always had. A handful of Deathwarden dwarves had raised and maintained it with the aid of ghosts who were not yet ready to pass into the land beyond the Veil of Souls.

The process of escorting the dead to the Grand

Portal began again. And, as before, the city began to grow around the tower. Now, however, the city was technically in the domain of Salkiria, and King Illustram began demanding tolls for caravans of the dead to pass through his kingdom on their way to Manifest.

This policy caused a great deal of discontent and ill will throughout the other realms, which were building themselves back up from the ashes Durgerth left behind. Illustram’s soldiers learned the folly of working at cross-purposes with those who had powerful allies—the ghosts of Manifest.

Although they were no longer corporeal when outside the city, ghosts would frequently organize in

Manifest and then leave to help defend incoming caravans—often caravans transporting their own dead bodies. The ghosts used their abilities to help sneak caravans through Illustram’s lands without being seen.

The process of sneaking caravans through Salkiria became known as the Ghostwalk.

Years later, after the War of Turrin River, Salkiria was sacked. Manifest was declared a free state. All the surrounding realms signed a joint agreement, based on what they decreed was the will of the gods. This agreement, the Manifest Accord, remains in effect today.

But Manifest’s troubles were not yet over.

THE EATER OF THE DEAD

Far to the west, a powerful new cult was expanding its sphere of influence. The followers of Dracanish, the

Eater of the Dead, grew as great in number as they did in fanaticism. Following the will of their master, they infiltrated Manifest and began to cause trouble—riots, destruction, murders—and they had their own ghost allies as well. This disruption grew into actual conflict, with the followers of Aluvan—the traditional leaders of the city—fighting against the cultists of Dracanish in what came to be known as the Dead War. Creatures from other planes were summoned for a huge, final battle that killed thousands and laid waste to much of the city. Although both gods of the dead found their realms much more populated when all the dust settled, neither side could truly be said to have won.

A few hardy souls (both living and ghostly) tried to rebuild Manifest. But as word spread about the titanic battle, and its lack of any real resolution, fewer and fewer people were willing to make the journey. Rumors spread that the only ghosts one would find there now were vengeful, angry spirits. Slowly, over the course of a few years, the living once again abandoned Manifest.

It took nearly three hundred years for living people to return to the area. When they did, they found the city still lying in tattered ruins—but Manifest was not completely abandoned. Although the woods had grown up around and through the town, ghosts still walked the streets. Below the streets, the Deathwarden dwarves continued their ages-long duty of guarding the Veil of Souls.

Manifest was still active—after a fashion. There were still plenty of souls who were not ready to give up their lives and move on to the land of the dead or who felt the need to stay in this world for some greater purpose. These spirits carried on their semblances of life even without actual living neighbors to keep Manifest vibrant. Of course, without the need for real food and shelter, the ghosts had left the city pretty much the way it was when the living residents had fled. Damage from the Dead War still scarred the buildings, and the Spirit Wood had reclaimed much of the land, but the city of Manifest still stood.

A pilgrim named Pahrash made it her life’s goal to see Manifest restored to its former glory. She successfully petitioned the elves to entreat the woods to recede, leaving a clearing for the city once again. Pahrash and a new religious order called the Yisakomas supported and sponsored the rebuilding of Manifest. Much of the city was too deep in the grip of

TB

decay, so they set to work constructing a new city atop the ruins of the old.

The Yisa-komas were a group of people who revered both Aluvan and Dracanish. They dedicated themselves to safeguarding the ghosts of Manifest and the pilgrims who brought bodies to the Deathwarden dwarves for passage to the realm of the dead.

In the intervening years, the ghosts of Manifest created an organization and social structure of their own. Now that the living had returned to the city, the ghosts’ ruling authority, the Khardon Court, became a governing body that functioned in conjunction with the one being set up by the Yisa-komas. This allowed the ghosts not only to police themselves, but also to have a venue from which to fight for proper treatment from the droves of living beings once again filling the streets of Manifest.

Wizards and sorcerers from the land of Tereppek were among those who came to the city. Many of them gathered together and formed a society called the Piran Sedestadel (also known as the Spirit Guides). These spellcasters were interested in a specialized form of necromancy they called ectomancy. With their new magic—designed to be more sensitive to (and effective on) ghostly souls—the Piran Sedestadel grew in power very quickly.

As it had twice before, Manifest prospered. It was rebuilt over a span of two dozen years, and the population soared again. Although a plague of demon fever dealt the whole region a terrible blow, forty years of prosperity afterward was able to erase most of its dire consequences.

THE LICHE WAR

The island of Inuitea was a prosperous place, peopled by human fisherfolk and merchants. Then came the

Day of Xaphan.

On this fateful day, as prophesied by the small and seemingly insignificant cult of Neistra’demos, the Lord of the Upturned Grave, Xaphan, appeared. Xaphan was the living avatar of Neistra’demos and brought with him destruction and chaos. Xaphan revealed Neistra’demos’s true identity—the demon prince Orcus.

The population of Inuitea was slaughtered, first in terrible battles against Xaphan’s armies of cultists (supported by demons and undead creatures) and then—when the fighting was over—systematically like cattle so they could be raised as undead servants.

Transforming Inuitea’s fleet of merchant and fishing vessels into macabre ships of war (brimming with skeletons, zombies, and much worse), the forces of

Xaphan reached the mainland and swept over the

Hikirian Peninsula. Fortunately, the clerics of both

Aluvan and Dracanish foresaw the coming of this undead horde and rallied support from Salkiria,

Tereppek, and the other nearby kingdoms. Xaphan’s forces were met by legions from those kingdoms along with the sorcerous might of the Piran Sedestadel.

The terrible battle that followed is known as the Liche War. Unimaginable destruction reigned as Xaphan’s necromancers raised the fallen troops of the living and used them to replenish the ranks of Xaphan’s undead army.

The end of the war came when the Khardon Court mustered a horde of ghost warriors to join the ranks of the living and fight against the undead. At the same time, the Piran Sedestadel performed a ritual known as the Rite of the Seven Crowns. They gave each of the defending generals a crown that imbued him with incredible physical might. Xaphan was destroyed by the seven generals, and his undead army—led by the avatar’s vampire lieutenants—fled back to their island (which they have since renamed in honor of their fallen leader).

Peace returned to the Hikirian Peninsula, and the Seven Crowns became some of the most treasured artifacts in the region (at least one has been stolen and is now at large). Since the Liche War, Manifest has occasionally been troubled by necromancers and undead from Xaphan, but never in great numbers.

A WAR AVERTED

Only thirty years ago, the yuan-ti of Sura-Khiri planned an invasion against Manifest. The yuan-ti had always jealously despised Manifest (for their own souls could not appear outside the land of the dead). They wanted to destroy the city and all its ghosts—and while most people knew the yuan-ti felt that way, no one expected an actual invasion. Most people, when they heard about the yuan-ti army, dismissed it as a wild rumor. The yuan-ti, meanwhile, bent solely on attacking Manifest, avoided all other settlements— particularly the various fortresses and military encampments that stood in their path. Thus, their army of purebloods, halfbloods, and abominations, accompanied by terrible serpents and other monstrosities, marched across Tereppek and most of

Salkiria unchallenged.

Unchallenged, that is, until the hermit sorcerer Ashtagra saw them coming toward her tower west of the

pqs

TIMELINE

1,000 years ago Manifest is established 930 years ago Durgerth invades 750 years ago Manifest is rebuilt 720 years ago Manifest Accord is formed 600 years ago The Dead War 300 years ago People return to Manifest, Khardon Court formed 290 years ago Yisa-komas and Piran Sedestadel formed 280 years ago The demon fever plague 100 years ago The Day of Xaphan and the Liche War 30 years ago The yuan-ti are defeated pqs