The land stretches out before you, miles and miles of shaped rock spread out in a chaotic sprawl where ever you look. Each stone marked with symbols both familiar and esoteric as you look closely. On one, you see something that seems to resemble the angels of myth while on another there seems to be nothing more than a sword plunged through the stone. It's an eerie place, but strangely calming. There is peace here. A peace that seems to have been undisturbed for a very long time.

As you hoist your pack, readying to travel through the seemingly endless graveyard, you spot something watching you from atop one of the graves. It looks like a fox but something is off about it. Its movements are still, yet a strange shifting accompanies its rather plain fur. In a way, it reminds you of a ghost, but one that seems to have been rendered solid. However, as you look up at its face, you can spot only the simple mask of a bird of some sort. In the calm evening light, you can see the light glinting off of its pure white exterior. Behind the white, however, are simply two dark holes where its eyes should be.

You shudder, unsure about how to take this strange creature. It cocks its head before looking down the path you were prepared to walk down, its beak acting as a sort of arrow. Does it mean to direct you through this dead labyrinth?

A hand on your weapon, you begin to cautiously walk down the path, your eyes concentrated on the little masked fox. It does not seem hostile. Your eyes sting from concentrating so long on watching the masked creature and before you realize, you blink.

When you open your eyes again, you realize that it's no longer sitting on the tombstone. You heard no noise to suggest that it had left its perch! Frantically looking around, afraid that it was preparing to attack you, you realize that it's suddenly beside you, its empty eyes looking up at you patiently.

It seems whether you liked it or not, you now had a companion.

---

Omens are a rather mysterious species located within an even more mysterious region. Native to Somber, the Land of Graves, they take the form of a variety of animals with strange masks that hide their feral features. Considered the de facto caretakers of Somber, they are believed to maintain the multitude of graves located within the peaceful realm. However, this does not seem to be their only function.

As noted in the Casperian records located within the region of Kyrot, the species has been observed performing a multitude of actions both unusual and yet somehow reasonable. Below is a notable record as written by Captain Casperi himself.

"The Year is 1456 of the Malshorin Quarter - Sexith Day. The boy did not make it. The bite he had sustained within that rocky hellscape had festered over the week, turning black with rot. As we had lost our medical liaison nigh two quarters ago, we had no characters capable of identifying and treating him properly. As such, we elected to put him out of his misery as per the boy's request. I will not forget how it felt to kneel beside the young kit and thrust my dagger between his ribs as I held his weak paw. He tried to say something, but the blood within his lungs quickly silenced his last words. A regret on my part as my mercy had been delivered with an unsteady hand.

It was here that the strange masked creature that the boy had picked up in the dead world made to lie next to the boy. I remember wanting to swat the silent thing away, as its constant watching left all in the party uneasy, but I held my ire still. It would do no good to hurt the boy's memory immediately after his passing. As the remaining characters, including myself, made to determine our plans for the journey forward, we all beheld a sense of peace surround the camp. We could not describe it an anything but the sort of peace one gets after a long well-earned rest.

Turning my attention back to the boy, I found that the creature was gone and so was the boy's body. A cursory search around the camp found no trace of either and we were all left puzzled. Now here, after some long hours of thought, I have come to a conclusion. While I do not know where the boy was taken, nor what the creature wished to do with him, I do not believe it will be bad. If anything, I believe he has gone to a better place than where any of his former companions are now. A prospect that I will admit leaves me with great envy.

May the Golden Lands receive him.

Captain Casperi"

While other records offer little knowledge about these beings, it has been roundly agreed by the court experts that there seems to be two distinct varieties of these creatures. The Lesser and Greater Omens. While the Lesser Omens seem to be of a passive role, guiding strangers within their lands and performing minor and often helpful duties outside of it, the Greater Omens are known to take on a far more aggressive and direct role. Considered something akin to watchdogs, soldiers, and guardians, the Greater Omens express great ferocity against those who have committed evil against the dead. As such, it is believed that they are a natural enemy against the undead. A theory that is supported by the fact that, despite the seemingly endless graves within their land, no practitioner of the restless magic were seen to have claimed the region as their own.

Adopted from and Art by  Spaggle

Omens and Refuge belong to  Umbreon07

A personal favorite species of mine within Refuge, there is a lot more to the Omens than meets the eye. The picture above represents an Lesser Omen named Johnathan that appears to have taken on a medical role. As the Omens themselves do not require physical treatment, it can be assumed that he is traveling outside of Somber. Perhaps as a means to help others, cleanse places where the dead rest, or to find his guided soul.