Reavers were something I developed as a way to explore the darker side of time; what happens at the end of your timeline.
Death is not an easy subject to deal with, no one likes to see a character die – except for George RR Martin who seems to take incredible pleasure in offing his leads at the first opportunity. As an author, you put a lot of time and effort into creating well-rounded, believable personalities that your readers will accept and enjoy, so killing them off is a difficult choice to make.
Within the Oblivion Order, Seers are more likely to be drawn to reaving. They spend a considerable amount of their time looking into the lives (and futures) of others. Their abilities to look within the paths of a life gives them every opportunity to come into contact with the terminal point (the Order’s term for death) on a regular basis.
Reaving, is an obsession with death, to bring oneself as close to the veil without stepping over. Reavers are treated as a kind of cult, or religion, by others. They become obsessed with trying to see what happens beyond this life, using the deaths of other to take themselves close to the void in an attempt to see more clearly (earning them other nicknames such as ‘Undertakers’, ‘Ambulance chasers,’ and ‘Vampires’).
There are many reavers, like Lyra, who will even self-harm to achieve their goal and in more extreme cases, drive themselves insane in their attempts to learn more about the afterlife — Bedlam is full of Seers who have driven themselves crazy.
Image: Yaroslav Gerzhedovich