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fandomhigh2015-09-08 11:11 am
nuclear_snide) wrote in fandomhigh2015-09-08 11:11 am
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Magical Bestiary | Tuesday, period 2
Bob waited for everyone to join him and settle down, then nodded. "Right. So the first supernatural creature we'll be learning about is ghosts."
After all, teach what you know.
"There are many different kinds; strong emotions can leave impressions upon places, psychic energies can coalesce and gain a sort of presence..." He waved one hand dismissively. "Those sorts don't have any kind of will, and generally speaking the worst you'll get is a bit of a headache, if you're sensitive enough. The sorts we're talking about are the spirits of beings that no longer have bodies - generally because they're dead."
He shrugged. "Not always. Sometimes you may meet up with someone who's nearly dead, or has been somehow evicted from their body. But what all of these beings do have in common is this:" He stopped his pacing and looked at the students intently. "They all want something."
He went back to his usual declamatory pacing. "Generally once you're dead, you move on to...whatever it is you move on to in your particular world and belief system. In order to stick around, you have to have a reason to. And that reason is the key to dealing with a ghost."
"Some..." He started writing in the air, "just want to be acknowledged." 1. Company "Some ghosts simply want to have friends. Others," 2. Completion "Need to finish something up. This can take the form of just about anything, but the most common are revenge, repayment, and information. Getting back at someone who wronged them, seeing their family is cared for, passing on a message. And some," 3. Bound "Are compelled to remain. Bound by a spell or an object to prevent them from passing on. So."
He turned back to the class again. "Let's discuss. How might you determine which sort of ghost you're faced with, what are the dangers in dealing with each sort, and how might any of them be helpful or might you be helpful to them?"
After all, teach what you know.
"There are many different kinds; strong emotions can leave impressions upon places, psychic energies can coalesce and gain a sort of presence..." He waved one hand dismissively. "Those sorts don't have any kind of will, and generally speaking the worst you'll get is a bit of a headache, if you're sensitive enough. The sorts we're talking about are the spirits of beings that no longer have bodies - generally because they're dead."
He shrugged. "Not always. Sometimes you may meet up with someone who's nearly dead, or has been somehow evicted from their body. But what all of these beings do have in common is this:" He stopped his pacing and looked at the students intently. "They all want something."
He went back to his usual declamatory pacing. "Generally once you're dead, you move on to...whatever it is you move on to in your particular world and belief system. In order to stick around, you have to have a reason to. And that reason is the key to dealing with a ghost."
"Some..." He started writing in the air, "just want to be acknowledged." 1. Company "Some ghosts simply want to have friends. Others," 2. Completion "Need to finish something up. This can take the form of just about anything, but the most common are revenge, repayment, and information. Getting back at someone who wronged them, seeing their family is cared for, passing on a message. And some," 3. Bound "Are compelled to remain. Bound by a spell or an object to prevent them from passing on. So."
He turned back to the class again. "Let's discuss. How might you determine which sort of ghost you're faced with, what are the dangers in dealing with each sort, and how might any of them be helpful or might you be helpful to them?"
Sign in!
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Re: Sign in!
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Re: Sign in!
Re: Sign in!
Re: Sign in!
Listen to the lecture!
Re: Listen to the lecture!
Re: Listen to the lecture!
Discuss!
Re: Discuss!
Re: Discuss!
"Very good, Kathy!" He beamed at them all. "Yes, the very first thing you can do is ask them. You may get a useful answer, and if not, you may at least get some clues."
Off to one side, he wrote, Ask with a line under it. "Now, what are some of the hazards of asking a ghost what they want?"
Re: Discuss!
"Well, there are the obvious ones," Kathy said. "They could be malevolent or hostile. They could lie to you, for whatever reason. People lie all the time and ghosts are just dead people; they still have whatever motivations they had in life and may have even more now. By showing the limits of what you know, you might be giving them the upper hand. Umm, they might not lie, but they could be wrong. They might want the impossible and then demand you give it to them. They may want something possible, but that you don't want to get involved with, like vengeance. Look at Amleth's dad, sorta. And if they're bound by a spell, interfering might bring your attention to whomever the caster was."
She shrugged. "There are probably a ton more that I haven't even thought of. Asking people what they want is complicated a lot of the time. Just because someone's dead doesn't suddenly mean everything's simplified."
Talk to Bob!
Talk to the TA!
Re: Talk to the TA!
OOC!