Ghost

A ghost is the incorporeal, disembodied spirit of a once-living wizard or witch.

## Magical Ghosts

### **Appearance**

Existing on the ethereal (non-corporeal) plane, ghosts are transparent, silvery images of their past selves and may sometimes even be invisible. As they lack a body, they can "fly" in any direction. Usually, they look like an image of their former living self, though some get warped, twisted, or enhanced.

### **Creation**

No one is quite sure how ghosts come to be, except that many are magical people who died and somehow became a ghost. Some are said to have unfinished business, while others are magically tied to this world due to a curse, artifact, or other reasons. Most ghosts are tied to a specific place or person they are haunting, whether by choice or by magic. Many ghosts do not actually remember who they were and can even be feral, hungering monsters, living out a lonely or evil existence, so becoming a ghost is not something that most people strive for as there is no guarantee they will remain cognizant of themselves.

### **In Magical Society**

Among the living, those with kinder hearts often take pity on ghosts, or interact with them just as they would another person. Some find them a nuisance, and often want nothing to do with them. Some mages do research to find ways to restore them to life, make their existence easier, or help them pass on.

Various cultures and governments, such as the Ministry, have their own laws and customs for dealing with ghosts.

### **Abilities**

Ghosts are unable to physically interact with the material, real world. Some struggle to even be visible or heard, and yet find themselves impacted by magical spells and blocked by many magical wards or shields. Some can even be fully destroyed with certain highly-powerful, disrupting magical energies, though the vast majority of spells will merely cause them to lose consciousness (KO) or vanish/disperse for a while, until their energies pull back together.
All ghosts can fly, and can walk/fly through solid, nonmagical objects. As for magical objects, most are extremely uncomfortable if not outright impossible for them to pass through, including magical people. Most magical wards and shields will fully block them from being able to pass, and are a standard in most non-public magical buildings to specifically prevent intrusion from the ethereal plane.

There exist some potions and artifacts that bestow temporary corporeal forms to a ghost, pulling them temporarily out of the ethereal plane and allowing them to interact with objects. This also makes them able to be impacted by physical attacks, however.

Other abilities can (but do not always) include:

* Creating slight disturbances in water, air, and fire when they pass through; such ghosts may be impacted by air and water currents to a minor degree, where a natural gust of wind might blow them away.
* Turning fire to other colors, usually blue
* Dropping the temperature in the vicinity, usually making it quite chilly and sometimes even growing frost
* Turning invisible, or turning more opaque/visible for a short time.
* Telekinetic powers

#### **Suggested Combat Spells:**

* Shadow/spirit/psychic: Shadow's Bite (1) or Spirit Claw (1), Mind Lance (3), Mind Blast (4)
* Telekinetics: Knockback (2), Telekinetic Slam (3), Telekinetic Weapon (4), Animate Object (5)
* Control spells: Chilling Rime (1), Confusion (2), Shadow's Grip (4)
* Drain Life (3)
* Haunt (1), Terrify (3)
* Blur (2 AC), Mirror Image (4), Sanctuary (4)
* Fog or Nightfall (3), Foxfire (3), Total Darkness (4), Eclipse (5)
* Clear-Sight (3), Tracking Vision (5)

## Shades

These are lesser creatures, no longer sentient and a shadow of their former selves. Some will attack any living creature who enters their haunted area, while others simply drift through their haunting, unaware or uncaring of what is going on around them. What memory they have of their former lives is limited, but is sometimes enough to make a normally-aimless shade quite angry if changes are made to their material home (such as renovations or even moving the furniture from where they like it).

Most shades have trouble appearing or communicating with the real world, but can still effect it with spurts of telekinesis, chilling the air, or making creaks/rattles/groans.

## Poltergeists

 It is unknown if they are a twisted form of ghost or simply a creature of the ethereal plane, as they have many abilities similar to ghosts. Where they differ is in their raw talent for telekinetics and full invisibility, and their sometimes malicious pranks. Poltergeists delight in tormenting the living, scaring them or simply getting them in trouble, or making them angry by stealing or destroying their belongings.

 A particular poltergeist has long been causing trouble for Trefoil Academy, though it is usually harmless "fun," like putting tents in the river or changing the channels on the magic radio repeatedly.