Origins: Unknown
Languages: Unknown
Life Expectancy: 400 years
Approximate Age of Adulthood: 50 years
Adult Height: 5.5 feet to 6.5 feet (Approx. 1.7 - 2.0 meters)
Adult Weight: 70 to 100 pounds (Approx. 30 - 40 kilograms)
Religion: Unknown
Status: Unknown
Wraiths are one of the most unique and interesting races. Though perhaps more unique in the past, they still remain mysterious and are the subject of gossip by many. These beings are rumored to have been created from the Mists themselves, and some go as far as saying that Wraiths have dormant powers linked to the healing powers of the Mists. Their abilities have changed over the years quite a bit, and today they are a fair deal less magical in nature.
Unlike the father/mother relationship with most humanoid beings, modern Wraiths are born from a very private meeting of around four or five wraiths who shed a piece of their own essence. The merging of these essences creates a new wraith with its own unique personality. This birthing process is considered sacred and is one of the many mysteries surrounding the race. It is completely unheard of to allow any not of their race to witness the ceremony, as it shows the Wraiths at both their most vulnerable and mortal stages in life. Due to the shedding of life essence in the ceremony, the Wraiths involved lose around fifty years of their natural lives. Vampyric Wraiths, whose life essences have been drastically altered by whatever force first gave them their vampyric immortality, can not be involved in this ceremony, as their essence doesn't merge properly with other Wraiths'. As for sex, though a Wraith has no technical sex, their shape, much like their color, is defined by their personality and how they grow in the initial year or two of their existance. Thus, Wraiths tend to be shaped more like men or women depending on preference and behaviour.
The original Wraiths were around, before many races existed. They watched and learned. They didn't know the purpose of watching, they only knew that it was what they were to do. They couldn't speak, couldn't be touched, and couldn't die. They had telepathic abilities, able to communicate in the mind of whatever being they wished to communicate with.
Those were the original Wraiths.
At some point in history, Wraiths decided to interact more with the new people that now inhabited the land. They became interested with the emotional states that these beings were often in, and, over time, evolved slightly to act as the mortals did. A certain powerful being, who won't be named here, seeing that the Wraiths were no longer simply watching, decided to give them a more fitting form than their watcher states, and made them semi-solid, more humanoid, and gave them 'mouths'. Their nature turned them either light or dark; light to represent good and dark to represent bad, though their basic color can be anything. And thus the modern Wraiths were born, and continued to evolve over time until watching was nothing more than a hobby done by some.
Current day Wraiths, being semi-solid, can only pass through very thin, simple, static objects such as doors. Their clothing also temporarily shifts as well, though this adds to the effort it takes to pass through. Weapons damage wraiths as any being, though the damage is more of a rip through their existance than a slash in their skin (which, of course, they have none). For this reason, wraiths are considered much more frail than other humanoids. Similarly, magical spells injure them just as much as any humanoid, though with their frail, somewhat-magical bodies, the pain of the magical strike courses through them completely, like an electrical surge.
Their appearance is that of a thick light or dark fog. It is possible to see through them, but difficult. Their bodies themselves tend to be rather beautiful in nature, as the seeming-mist that embodies them is constantly swirling around slowly.
When it comes to voices, this is another place where Wraiths differ drastically. As most appearance-based things in a Wraith's existance, it comes down to preference. Many Wraiths speak with regular voices quite similar to those humanoids that they live with and around. Some Wraiths, who have taken to prefer watching and remaining quiet, speak in soft whispers that drift across rooms like quiet echoes, while some speak in booming voices in order to make their presence known. Again, it tends to fall to the preference, and ego, of the Wraith in question.
Wraiths, if only based on their misty, magical bodies, tend to float from place to place. Though they can simulate the appearance of walking, they are actually flowing through the air smoothly rather than exerting any kind of force on the ground. This adds to the race's smooth, elegant grace.
Disease and sickness are rather different for the Wraith race. They aren't affected by the same diseases as Humans and the like, but there have been rumors in the past of magical diseases spreading between Wraiths. This could, of course, be just rumor, but due to their lack of organs, bodily functions, and all-around internal structure, any disease would spread itself over the wraith's entire form, making life for the Wraith extremely unpleasant rather than localizing in a specific location or having specific symptoms like most humanoid diseases.
Oddly, there are a few vampyric Wraiths which exist. This is exceptionally odd since Wraiths don't have blood. The blood which a vampyric Wraith extracts from its victim is immediately transferred into the life energy of the Wraith, which can then be used just as normal blood is used by a regular Vampyre. Modern, vampyric Wraiths share the same weaknesses as regular vampyres, being susceptible to stakes and even beheading. This was, perhaps, something 'added' when vampyric Wraiths were brought into existance to add to their vampyric nature. It could also have been similar to why regular modern Wraiths die: to get the same emotional experiences as other humanoids. The existance of these rare beings dates back to another Wraith, and an unknown being, but further information cannot be supplied due to the secrets surrounding it.
Thanks to Cristlefir for this information.