THE CHRONICLES
The Three Ghost Hunters
In the year 548 AD, a great fog settled over Eoforwic and the veil between worlds grew thin. Three brothers turned from their psalms to a stranger vocation: to hunt the dead, to record their forms, and to bind them in metal that they might never be forgott
THE FOUNDING
An Order Born of Fog
In the year 548 AD, a great fog settled over Eoforwic for forty days, and during that time the veil between worlds grew dangerously thin. Hundreds of ghosts began to appear — Roman soldiers, grieving Anglian mothers, restless British warriors, and even older, stranger spirits from the ancient yew groves.
Brother Gildas, already experienced with spirits, realised that many of these souls were not evil, but simply forgotten. He gathered Wilfrid and Ystradwel, and together they formed a small brotherhood dedicated to recording every apparition they encountered.
They began their work among the ruins of the old Roman fortress and the early monastery at Eoforwic — and from there, they travelled outward into the surrounding shires.
THE GATHERING
How They Met
In the mid-6th century, the Kingdom of Deira was a turbulent frontier where Brittonic, Anglian, and lingering Roman influences met. A harsh season of famine, plague, and warfare brought many deaths, and the living reported a sharp increase in apparitions — Roman soldiers still marching, grieving mothers, fallen warriors, and ancient spirits from the yew groves.
Gildas, already a respected if controversial scholar, arrived in Eoforwic seeking a place to reflect and write, and began recording the ghosts he encountered. There he met Wilfrid the Gentle, who was serving at a small monastery near the city; the younger monk's ability to calm both the living and the dead proved invaluable. Wilfrid, in turn, brought Ystradwel the Quiet into their circle after hearing stories of a silent hermit who could draw the dead with uncanny accuracy.
The three men formed a small, unofficial brotherhood and travelled together through the shires of Deira — from the marshy East Riding to the wild moors of the North and the wooded valleys of the West — carefully documenting every spirit they encountered. To each was given a task: Gildas wrote the theological reflections and the messages of the dead, Wilfrid spoke with the spirits and offered prayers, and Ystradwel created the delicate ink drawings that captured their forms.
They worked in secret, believing that preserving the memory of these restless souls was an act of Christian charity and a way to understand God's will in a troubled age. Their leather-bound journals became the foundation of the Wardens of the Veil tradition.