Mortems are death spirits that are rarely seen by human eyes. They can switch between tangible and intangible at will, but they prefer the former state. They only appear when someone is about to die, making them most commonly spotted hanging out in hospital rooms, nursing homes, and at battlefields. While these creatures are commonly considered both bad luck and death omens, they tend to be gentle beasts. Mortems enjoy appearing to children between the ages of 2 and 5 years old, but vanish around the age of 10. The children lucky enough to have a mortem as their childhood playmate are blessed with good health and a long life. There are a few mortems who are not like their gentle brethren, and these mortems are known as the 'Corrupted'. Corrupted mortems are aggressive and violent, with actions that can be compared to a poltergeist. Corrupts are very malevolent and impossible to tame. Rather than helping ease the dead into the afterlife, Corrupts will devour the soul to use as an energy source. Normal mortems are very gentle and kindly, doing their best to bring the soul to its next state of being without stress. When confronted with a Corrupt, normal mortems will become very hostile and attempt to dissipate the Corrupt and drive it away.
Mortem coloration varies on where they are found and what type they are. Hospital dwelling Mortems are pale in coloration, with any form of markings. Battlefield Mortems are dark or earth toned. Mortems found in homes can vary wildly in color and pattern. Corruption doesn't effect a Mortem's coloration, merely the behavior and physical traits on occasion. Mortems only have one eye, which is situated in the middle of the forehead. Mortems with more than one eye are extremely rare. The 'eye holes' on the Mortem's head are merely something to make them look a bit less terrifying to children and the newly deceased.
Mortems breed by 'merging', which can occur between two and 3 mortems, and on rare occasions, one. The merging will result in little wisps splitting off and gradually growing and developing into adult mortems. they tend to have 1-3 offspring at a time. Mortems of any "gender" can breed, since they lack sexual organs and their "gender" is mostly defined by vocal patterns/sound and their own idea of what they are.
They are a mix of paid adopts and competitions, but will mostly consist of competitions. All 'special edition' Mortems must be competitions.
