Ghosts

On Eten, All magic- or pata- swells into one point in the center of the earth. When a person is born, a piece of that pata is pulled to the surface to become their soul. Once they die, the pata returns to Eten's core, and that person's memories go to Ora's realm to rest.

Complications that interfere with this process can create **ghosts.** Ghosts inhabit all corners of Eten; existing in many different forms, each with a story of their own.

## The Looking

In death, all people are overcome with a sense of calamity, fulfillment, and ease when being pulled into the afterlife. Sometimes, particularly motivated individuals can overcome this swarm of feelings to attempt to fight their way back to Eten. This results in a spirit that often has all its memories intact.

Looking ghosts can possess any body or object with pata in it; it's for this reason that they cannot simply possess their own body and walk around (as their own pata would have been returned to the core already). This can be circumvented by third-party sources; a single person cannot provide enough pata to fuel a dead body back into life, but multiple possibly could. This process can create an undead person.

## The Lost

While on their way to the afterlife, a person's pata may not separate from its memories all the way, resulting in a lost spirit. Often, lost spirits are little more than a small piece of someone's memory and magic. These souls wander the surface, lost or trapped, in search of answers until being found by an angel of Ora (and being guided to the afterlife).

Lost Spirits are often created through failed attempts at necromancy. Too weak to be able to possess any true body, they often find themselves inhabiting small inanimate objects to use as physical forms.

Unlike Looking Spirits, Lost Spirits usually do not need external sources of pata to possess an object, as they usually have a little bit of their own.

## The Gone

When a person's memories pass through to the afterlife, but their pata does not return to the core of Eten, Gone Spirits are formed. These spirits are no more than moving mimicries of a person's previous form; they have no memories, cannot make new memories, and only exist until Eten can claim them once again.

Gone Spirits usually do not exist for long; haunting the places of their death and occasionally spooking others with their presence, but having no real 'soul' to motivate them into truly doing anything.

If a Gone Spirit collides with any other type of spirit, they will create a Strengthened Spirit.

## The Strengthened

Strengthened Spirits are formed when two spirits collide and mesh into one. Often (but not necessarily always), the combined pata or memories of two or more people can create a spirit capable of possession, speech, and retainment of memory. These spirits are exceedingly rare, and often made intentionally by third parties. Because they are often made up of more than one person, complications can arise quickly, and Strengthened Spirits can become dangerous or violent in their confusion or grief.

## The Undead (False Necromancy)

*Looking ghosts can possess any body or object with pata in it; it's for this reason that they cannot simply possess their own body and walk around (as their own pata would have been returned to the core already). This can be circumvented by third-party sources; a single person cannot provide enough pata to fuel a dead body back into life, but multiple possibly could. This process can create an undead person.*

Make no mistake; a dead body is a dead body. An undead person requires an obscene amount of pata in order just to move. It's for this reason that almost no undead exist outside of underground cults or illegal experimentation.

An undead person's body will continue to rot and decay as normal, though it can be mutated or enchanted to dull the effects of rot.

## True Necromancy

True necromancy is almost unheard of. While pulling both the pata and memories of a person back into their body at the same time is possible, it is both intensely difficult and widely **unknown** how to do so, and few in history have ever pulled off the feat. Once a person's memories and pata are pulled into their rightful places, revival is impossible.

Regardless, however, even true necromancy cannot be mistaken for immortality. All lives- even if prolonged- have an eventual limit.

### Cultural effects

Necromancy in any form is considered across most nations to be a form of witchcraft or dark magic. While some smaller communities may equate the process to that of a miracle, many others will consider the risen to be cursed or demonic in nature.