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Basic Cryptozoology - First Period - Wednesday, 8/06

"Today's class," she started off as her students filed in, "is about the active dead. Those creatures which hold no life and do not conform to the usual laws of mortality but which nonetheless make their presence known."

She smiled at the assembled as Mike, curious as ever, padded out from behind her desk.

"Now, if you settle in, we can begin, hmm?"

[ocd up!]

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Can we do haunted, maybe?

Yasutora Sado

Jenny Sparks

Jo Harvelle

Reno

Dōjima Yurika

Marco

Ella of Frell

Sam Winchester

Hyuuga Hinata

Cindy Mackenzie

Liz Sherman

Savannah Levine

Alice Liddell

Bumblebee

Ronan Nolan

Susan Pevensie

Harry Dresden

She's got a lot to lecture on this time.

As usual, Chad is taking careful notes, and wondering, this time, if these were things he might want to share with Ichigo.

Dōjima was diligently taking notes, and doing her best not to snicker or 'wark' at Reno. Just because she was a nice friend like that.

Hinata was taking careful notes, though she did smile slightly before ducking her head over her paper upon seeing that Reno-san was back to normal.

Liz took careful and detailed notes.

Alice was curious if those who died but found themselves restored counted as undead. Either way, she was taking diligent notes.

"Ghosts," she said as she made her way to the board, "make their own rules to a certain extent. That isn't to say, of course that there are no solid standbys when it comes to dealing with them, no similarities, but I want it perfectly clear that occasionally something I might mention will seem to fantastic compared to other examples, or even completely contradict the rules presented by a more common example. These beings are of the soul, and the soul is a complex and never ending mystery.

"Ghosts are generally dead, though I assure you this is not always the case. There have been documented cases of ghosts of the living visiting relatives, or ghosts of the dying coming to herald their own death. That said, the ghosts of the living are generally only visible manifestations or short, singular physical manifestations such as a knocking or the chime of a bell. They're hardly more than whispers.

"The dead, which is our topic today, are a varied and interesting lot. Generally, they're categorized into two groups: sense-based, physical, and metaphysical.

"The first is your typical spectre. Such creatures as this can appear before you, produce strange smells, make a room appear dark, make a room cold or warm, make you see things that aren't there, and cause certain sorts of sounds such as voices or what can seem like recordings from the past. While these creatures can be disorienting, they are largely harmless. A good touch of will and disbelief in whatever nonsense they summon up is usually enough to break through their attempts... which is part of why skeptics are so hard to deal with."

She gave her class a smile.

"The second are the troublesome ones. These are the physical ghosts, the poltergiests. Generally, these beings use the power of the living, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to power their mischief. In the case of voluntary assistance, almost anyone with a basic summoning ritual can cause quite a lot of trouble. In the case of involuntary, the suspects" and she couldn't help the phrasing since she was, in fact, an investigator "become quite more slim. In such instances, the power behind a poltergeist is almost always a teenage girl. Let me stress that it is entirely involuntary" and she shivered a little, as if with some deeper understanding of the terrible situation "and that the girl is almost always given the brunt of a ghosts attack. She, and one of the parents, are usually the ones most harmed by such a spirit. The reasons for this have never fully been explained, but there is thought that the heightened thaumaturgical energy found within teenage girls is the cause for such a thing."

She shook her head and moved on, lifting her chin.

"The third are metaphysical. These are ghosts which do things beyond which a human might do dead or alive. These are the ones who can bring a sickness down upon a victim, cause others to do their biding such as flies and snakes and other animals... those which go beyond the physical to cause harm. Such beings as these are the worst, usually coming from dead magic practioners or those who sold their soul and don't wish to pay the price. Very often, they are the tools of necromancers, if not dead necromancers themselves, and dealing with them usually involves casualties."

She smirked.

"Yes, I've dealt with them."

Then she leaned back.

"Any questions?"

Thinking about necromancers made Sam think about the priestess who tried to kill Dean, and that was a little more unpleasant than something he wanted to bring up in class. Instead, he raised his hand and asked, "So, do you think the harmless ghosts need to be...destroyed isn't really the right word, but made to leave? Or do you think that once it's established that they won't hurt anyone, they can co-exist with the living without trouble?"

That was definitely the sort of thing he'd never ask his dad.

"How do you feel about roommates?" she said with a brief smile.

"As far as I'm concerned, if a being isn't causing trouble, and it's made enough effort to stick around, as it were... well, they're just another person, now, aren't they?

"I believe there should always be an effort to bring a ghost some closure, but if they stick around after that, it's almost like inviting someone into your home. If the host doesn't mind, or might even take comfort in the other presence, what's the harm?

"Ghosts are echoes, in a sense. If they start out troublesome, they'll be troublesome. But I have never seen a ghost go from settled to trouble unless there was good cause. And then you have the issue of who to side with: the living or the dead?"

She leaned against her desk.

"I suppose... I would use my judgment, always remembering that a ghost is just another creature, even if it is dead, and should be treated appropriately."

"That's good to hear," Sam said. "You wouldn't believe how many people out there are convinced that all ghosts are out to kill them, even if they're just settled spirits. I don't know if I'd want one for a roommate," he said with a smirk, "but I hope other people are just as open-minded about it."

She smiled.

"There's more dead people in the long run than there are living ones at any given point and at heart, I'm practical. There are much nastier things to deal with out there than a ghost that might pop up every other day and move your hairbrush."

She nodded her head.

"I'm glad to hear you feel as such."

"Zombies, which automatically have a physical presence, also come in three forms."

She smiled to her students.

"The first is a living zombie. These poor benighted beings are entirely harmless. They are, in fact, victims of a rather complex set of chemical and alchemical workings which have robbed these people of their brain functions. Created by the mixing of certain herbs by the unscrupulous in the apothecary profession, they are in fact the walking dead. Pitifully so. They've been irreversibly damaged by these herbs and the people they were are now lost. I cover them because I feel that they should be mentioned as they are often mistaken for the other two varieties."

She cleared her throat and continued.

"The second type of zombie is a corpse magically raised from the dead by a necromancer or one dabbling in the necromantic arts. Unfortunately, these creatures are incredibly difficult to kill and can cause all manner of damage at their puppetmaster's command. They are difficult to control if they are to be of any use, as the soul trapped within the body often goes mad when pulled from their rest and can fight against the necromancer and cause undue trouble for him. Or, as with demon summoning, kill him if the proper precautions aren't taken. There aren't very many other similarities to mention in this case in particular as part of necromancy is designing the rituals to produce the exact amount of usefulness the necromancer would like from their unfortunate tool without getting themselves killed."

She straightened her shoulders.

"No, I have never studied necromancy, but I have learned enough to do my job."

She continued.

"The last is thankfully only seen every once in a while. They are produced by, of all things, a specific kind of virus. I spent some time Monday looking up zombies and if you have seen the kind of films that I was able to find in a search, then you have seen this kind of active dead, or something remarkably close to it. The sickness is spread by bodily fluids and bites, they can be stopped by destroying the brain, freezing has no effect on them, and there is no known cure at the moment for such a creature. There are reports of this illness sweeping towns and villages at various points in history but at this time, there has been no definitive epidemic, thankfully. One likes to think that Nature does what she can to lay the dead to true rest when she can."

She looked around.

"Any questions?"

"Do they have to be people?" Harry asked. "Or can other things get zombified too?"

When they ping in.

Savannah was here

Ronan was also there, and totally not late ~~stupid work~~.

After class, she relaxed at her desk for a few minutes should any of her students have any questions.

Also, her feet hurt.

Who fell asleep on the computer?

Danii fell asleep on the computer.

Who forgot to write up her class last night?

Danii forgot to write up her class last night.

...who's REALLY REALLY glad she's a parapsychology/zombie dork?

Me.

I was wondering what happended to ya. *g*

Incidentally, Ghosts are in THREE categories. Thank you, brain, thank you.

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Basic Cryptozoology - First Period - Wednesday, 8/06

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