Specter

Specters of Grizburg

 

Appearance

Specters in Grizburg drift as faint echoes of the people they once were—faces hollowed into glowing skull-light, shrouds of smoke trailing from half-seen forms. Their hands are clawlike silhouettes of frost and shadow, leaving necrotic scars on the stone and metal they pass through. When they move, their bodies waver between visibility and nothingness, like torn veils in constant unraveling.   ---

Origins

Most specters are born in violence: betrayed workers left in alleys, lovers strangled in silence, rebels executed beneath smokestacks. Some are conjured by wraiths or bound into being by the Ashen Hierophant itself, their souls yanked violently from flesh. In Grizburg, the ichor of Zothra-Khaar seeps into such deaths, making them permanent—specters that refuse to pass on, chained to envy and malice.   ---  

Habitat

Specters haunt the alleys of Rustwater, drifting through walls of collapsed warehouses or lurking in the bones of abandoned shrines. They gather near battlefields where blood has soaked into the stone, or circle shrines in the Depths where their whispers amplify cult chants. They are most dangerous in the smog, where their glow is obscured until claws close around your throat.   ---  

Ecology

Though bodiless, specters hunger eternally for what they lost: warmth, breath, and the pulse of living flesh. They cannot eat or drink, yet their touch devours life-force, reducing victims to hollow husks. When a creature falls near them, they peel its soul loose, birthing another specter to join their number. Thus, a single specter can multiply, turning one death into an infestation.   ---  

Behavior

Specters stalk silently, phasing through walls to pursue prey. They do not tire, nor do they relent, following quarry across districts if left unchallenged. Some drift invisibly until the killing strike, while others linger visibly, whispering in stolen voices to lure victims closer. Their envy of the living twists into cruelty—they toy with their prey, brushing close enough to steal heat before striking.   ---  

The Whispering Depths Connection

The Depths spawn specters in droves, their corridors choked with echoes of those who perished in cult rites or collapsed mines. Some claim the Depths itself breathes specters out with every sigh, filling Grizburg with shadows of its worshippers. To cultists, they are sacred—proof that the god’s whispers grant eternal unrest.   ---  

Use by Factions

The Rust Barons occasionally bind specters to their vaults, though control is tenuous. Assassins use them as executioners, letting a victim’s spirit become its own killer. Cultists wield them in processions, chains of specters swirling like a crown around their masters. Even gangs weaponize rumors of them—claiming whole alleys belong to specters to keep rivals away.   ---  

Cultural Role

Citizens call them “Pale Shadows.” Miners spit thrice before descending into shafts, muttering that specters wait for the last breath of every worker. Mothers warn children not to look too long into fog or windows, for a reflection might not be theirs—it might be waiting to step free. When a house is infested, neighbors burn it to the ground, praying the flames consume the shadows.   ---  

Legends

The Procession of the Hollow tells of a night when dozens of specters swept through Greendocks, phasing through homes and pulling entire families into the streets. Another legend speaks of the Wedding of Ash, where the bride’s spirit rose screaming into a specter at the altar, and every guest followed her into the night.   ---  

Threats to the City

Specters multiply faster than the living can cull them. Each death in their presence risks spawning another, until alleys and districts are stripped of life. Their incorporeal forms make them near impossible to cage or ward; only fire and faith keep them at bay, and even those falter when Zothra-Khaar’s ichor burns brighter.   ---  

Behavioral Oddities

Some specters repeat fragments of their lives—rocking in invisible chairs, pacing invisible shifts, or miming long-dead labor. Others scream silently, mouths moving without sound. The strangest collect frost and soot along their forms, leaving sigils etched across walls, marks that scholars claim match Depths-script.   ---  

Adventuring Hooks

• An alley in Rustwater empties of life overnight; specters drift where families once lived. • A Baron binds specters to his vault, but they escape, spreading death among workers. • Cultists hold a procession of specters through the Depths, their glow guiding followers deeper. • A wedding in Greendocks ends in a specter infestation, guests vanishing as their souls rise.   ---  

Closing Words

Specters of Grizburg are more than restless ghosts—they are envy incarnate, forever clawing at the warmth they can no longer hold. To meet one is to face the hunger of death itself, unending, and chained to the city’s shadow. See full stats on D&D Beyond