Echo

An Echo is a psychic trace on an object or in an area that can be picked up by feelers. It is the basis for analysis of psychic objects and an integral part of their nature. They are varied in nature and often allow a talented individual to take a glimpse into events of the past. This sheer power of these memories and experiences can take especially talented agents out of the moment, potentially stunning them or leading to ghost-lock, which often proves to be extremely dangerous.

## Detecting Echoes

Feelers are generally the only sensitives with the talent fit to detect echoes, but the ability can interact with equally or even further developed listening skills. Many echoes are auditive in nature and can be picked up without contact to sources or relics, if an agent is skilled enough. This can be dangerous, but also allows for unprecedented and quick insights into a manifestations intentions, history and danger.

### Emotional Echoes

Likely the most simple form of echo, an emotional echo is an emotional psychic charge, often from around the time of death. This isn't universal though, as some objects also pick up emotions over long timeframes. These emotional flashbacks can vary in nature, ranging from the pain of death to happy memories. They can also allow quick insights into intentions, as they may give vague memories or general ideas of events that lead to the manifestation. This can range from a painful memory of a loved one to a hateful longing for revenge.

During a ghost-hunt, echoes like these could help agents determine history and possible dangers of a visitor. They also had the ability to confuse or overwhelm agents, as they experienced the emotions as if they were their own.

### Auditive Echoes

Auditive echoes are often combined with emotional echoes and can give further insight into a manifestations origins, especially the moments surrounding death. These echoes can also be attached to more general things like rooms, doorframes or other household items not connected with a visitor. A skilled operative can therefore experience the history of a place or person, depending on their skill. Auditive echoes can also be heard without touching a source, but this is likely only doable by the most talented and skilled agents.

During a hunt, especially a no-contact echo can prove invaluable, as it allows for easier and quick assessment of danger. It can also easily mislead agents, both actively through malicious visitors or by letting them hear the past without them necessarily realizing this.

### Audiovisual Echoes

Audiovisual echoes are likely the most powerful and useful kind of echo. They often take feelers completely out of the moment, knocking them basically unconscious, in a dream-like state. It goes without saying that this is extremely dangerous, easily leading to ghost-touch among many other injuries. Still, it can be worth the risk if a well coordinated team is available to manage such a situation and protect the agent. This is difficult though, as iron will hinder the connection and most usual defences may only be used in a restricted manner. Needless to say, this requires impressive planning and trust between the agents, making this tactic only safe in the most optimal of situations.

## Dangers

The dangers of echoes are many and grave. Aside from the total stun powerful echoes can lead to, even the minor distractions or misleading ideas can easily prove disastrous. Agents can have a hard time distinguishing between past and present, leading to severe derealization, or be tricked by powerful manifestations into trusting them. Echoes also severely affect the emotional bonds between agents and some manifestations, as emotional echoes basically represent an extreme form of empathy.

Understanding intentions of ghosts can also be misleading, as especially type two apparitions can display somewhat more complex intentions, making wrong conclusions a dangerous possibility. This is true even if not on a hunt, as agents can be tempted to free visitors or engage with them, which is often deadly.

## Uses

### Detection of Relics and Sources

Echoes play a big part in the detection of relics and sources, as they are the main thing any feeler will look for when making their determination. They can also reveal more information about a relic or source, providing useful history and possibly even allowing a categorization of likely manifestations associated with them.

### Hunting

*Main article: Ghost-hunting*
During a hunt, while they definitively have grave dangers associated with them, echoes can also be quite invaluable. Providing information about general history, cause of death, behaviors, intentions, possible sources and more, they are an incredible tool if used correctly. This often requires careful and coordinated work from the whole team, as the feeler needs to be shielded from harm during their inspection, but iron chains or other common defences hinder the connection with the echo.

## References

1. ↑ *The Screaming Staircase*, Glossary
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *The Screaming Staircase*, **II: Before**, Ch. 14
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *The Whispering Skull*, **II: The Unexpected Grave**, Ch. 3
4. ↑ *The Screaming Staircase*, **III: The Necklace**, Ch. 12-14
5. ↑ *The Hollow Boy*, **III: The Bloody Footprints**, Ch. 12
6. ↑ *[citation needed]*