House Branchia

“Ynnash dedicated her life to ending the Curse of Death. In her name, we persevere on this goal, but what if there is a different path altogether? What if we could simply ascend beyond the Curse and the frailty imposed upon our bodies? Our spirit is immortal and unbound. We must only take the reins of our deaths—and what comes thereafter.”

— Branchia Ynnashir

Unlike the corporeal undead, such as the Stitched or the Horrors, no member of the Legion has discovered how to reliably create Spirits. Additionally, barring the use of powerful Legacies, such as Griza’s Ihreniv, none have been able to command Spirits against their will. This is largely because Spirits are will given form, if not substance. They are incorporeal manifestations of one’s soul, echoes of a life or even of various lives. Spirits are the hopes, dreams, desires, and obsessions of a person; everything that composes the self. Their force of will is one of the few things that holds them in this world. To take it away from them is to deny the nature of Spirits and risk their wrath.

Branchia Ynnashir was the first to recognize this, still during the turmoil of the Age of Strife. Even Ptan-Ravalum and the Monarchs of the Dead that followed had struggled to deal with Spirits. However, unlike her Monarch, Branchia had not approached the Spirits with the intention of ruling over them, as many necromancers do over the Fallen, but of understanding them. She learned to bargain with them, and most Spirits of Belyos, who had once been hostile to all the living, became allies of the Legion. Branchia Ynnashir became the first of the soulwhisperers.

During the Age of Strife, Branchia and her descendants worked tirelessly to either pacify the Spirits of Belyos or understand how to safely deal with those too hostile for words. Some would say this is rather convenient, since merchants, soldiers, and travellers who want to cross spirit-infested regions such as the Umberlands have to hire Branchia guides to ensure their safety. 

House Branchia was officially recognized by the Court of Whispers and sanctioned by the Monarch of the Dead nearly two hundred years before the Age of Legacy dawned. They are one of the most storied Houses of the Legion, and the services they provide are invaluable to the nation of Belyos. They have pushed the boundaries of their magic, trying to understand more deeply the process by which spirits are formed, from the Tragedies of the Umberlands to the Revenants of the Order of the Shattered Throne. They have been successful in understanding the mechanism behind the birth of Tragedies, although their attempts to reproduce them generate Spirits that are not always happy with their newfound unlife. The results of these experiments became warnings for those who would wish to engage in such folly. 

The expertise and prestige of House Branchia have allowed them a leeway that others do not enjoy in matters of the Anush-Vah. Those of House Branchia have come to believe that the end to the Curse of Death will be found with the Spirits, for they are proof that the soul can endure, even after the body has become dust. If the soul is a truer manifestation of the individual than their mortal shell is, perhaps the efforts of the Legion should be focused on the preservation, and beyond that, the apotheosis of Spirits. As far as the Branchia are concerned, to become a being of pure will, one seemingly unhindered by the ravages of time, would be the ultimate defiance of death.  

Not all of the Houses of the Court are as liberal with the interpretation of the Anush-Vah as the Branchia family. They have become ever more esoteric in their approach to life and their handling of Anush-Vah magic, and when the Branchia throw a party, they are more likely to end it with a seance than with a banquet. To converse with the Spirits, maybe even let oneself be inhabited by one, can provide nourishment to the soul that mortal food utterly lacks, or so the Branchia like to say. They are trying to convince others of their point of view, but an existence as a Spirit is not appealing to all and repulsive to many. Although there are examples of Spirits who have retained much of themselves in the passing, most are not willing to endure the painful death that seems necessary for the transition. This has not dissuaded the Branchia themselves, as many former Heads of the House have inflicted gruesome ends upon themselves in an attempt to reach that so-desired elevated state of being. Rumors have it that some have succeeded, and counsel the House from the shadows, while others swear that the Spirits found deep within the halls of the Branchia estate are nothing but shadows of their former selves. And so, the Court continues to whisper.