The Faceless One

The tale of The Faceless One is one that is known throughout and is largely accepted as being true, even with the lacking evidence for it. Whether The Faceless One is a being that should feared differs from religion to religion, depending on how they feel about the afterlife; however, what The Faceless One actually does is reasonably consistent among differing civilisations, being far too common among the people of Aither to be just a coincidence.
To understand The Faceless One, and what it does, one would need to understand the afterlife of Aither. In all the campaigns, there is no purgatory, with some theorising that The Nichteil itself would have been the realm for beings that have not yet earned a place in Elysium, yet are undeserving of a fate in the Underworld had Pateras, the All Father, managed to finish the creation of the world. The Faceless One fulfils this role, marking out those who do not deserve either fate in the afterlife. It then takes the identity of the soul that it has marked, doing so before The Harbingers of the Raven Queen can take their soul, forcing them to roam the ethereal plane, eternally searching for its identity. In theory, by the time the soul have retrieved its identity, doing so through varying trials, it will be ready to be taken to their place in the afterlife, whether that be the Underworld or Elysium.   
None know what The Faceless One actually is, nor why it does what it does. What is known is that many of the roaming spirits around the world are due to The Faceless One, which is an explanation as to why many ghosts are but shells of themselves, remembering somewhat of their former life, but little more. This being is often depicted as creating and collecting a mask for every soul that is takes the identity from, with them glowing as long as the soul in question no longer possesses its identity. 
There is never a sure fire depiction of The Faceless One, with it varying from society to society. Some depict it as being somewhat celestial, while others see it as a more demonic or even eldritch, often depending on how that society sees it. What is shown above is a more neutral example of its appearance from the people of Alderhardt, where it is neither demonic, celestial or fey. It is something all on its own instead, that no one can quite identify.

Date of First Recording

Unknown, assumed to have begun around the same time as mortals

Related Organizations

• The Harbingers of the Raven Queen