fandomhigh | Necromancers Guide to the Undead, Thursday, Period 1

"Ghosts," Liliana said, exactly at nine am after the bell ~~or whatever~~ rang for class. "Ghosts, or, more properly, spirits, are the most common form of undead. As I mentioned last class, there are two major classifications of spirits: an item or a concept that has been imbued with enough mana - usually via some form of worship - and, as such, has gained some form of sentience; and, as is relevant to our class, an entity that is composed of energy related to a deceased sentient creature. Most often, a spirit forms from a dead person, but it is uncommon but not unexpected to run into the spirits of animals. Interestingly enough, the vast majority of the animal spirits that one runs into come from animals who had significant bonds with people. Of those animal spirits that do not have those bonds with sapient creatures, most of those come from creatures with either pack- or herd ties. Which mean that, for the the overwhelming majority of animal spirits, they come from creatures with a sense of we. Those vanishing few solitary animal spirits were all from creatures that were incredibly old and venerable. Their lingering after death seemed more due to inertia than anything else; their sense of self had grown strong enough to remain, even after their physical body had given up."

"These animal spirits are actually what helped necromancers discover more about the creation of naturally-occurring ghosts and spirits," she continued. "Unnaturally-occurring ghosts and spirits required much less study, at least around the why they happened, though much more study to master the how. Unnaturally-occurring spirits are any spirits created by a deliberate guiding force. This force could be accidental, mind, but in the end, they still intentionally took steps that led to this outcome, even if it was not the outcome they'd planned on. Some examples include spirits formed when a magic user - usually a necromancer, but not limited to one - casts a spell, sundering the spirit from the body. In most cases, this leads to the body's death, usually immediately, but with appropriate preparation and care, the body can be kept alive indefinitely, though it is, to be clear, an empty shell, until a spirit - the original or another - is returned. For the record, this is a very bad thing to do by accident, because it suggests you are doing it without the proper safeguards for the body and the resultant sundering will likely be fast and brutal, which will increase the odds that the body dies quickly and will almost certainly damage the spirit's psyche to boot.

"Another example of unnatural-occurring ghosts are the Lorehold mages of Strixhaven University, my alma mater. Lorehold students and professors supplement their study of history by calling on the spirits of the ancient dead for conversation; to draw upon their skills and abilities, or to summon them into stone statues carved into their likeness, which allows the spirits to interact with the living world. Those stone ghost-statues are actually a vital part of Lorehold's college defenses. Furthermore, these are also examples of ghostslaving, even though Lorehold maintains a strict, ethical stance of only calling upon ghosts that are willing to commune with the living. Another example of unnatural ghosts are strong or particularly skilled mediums. While lesser mediums are limited to whether or not a spirit already exists, strong or skilled mediums can summon a spirit to speak to them, even if the spirit has already passed on, and dismiss them back into the aether once their task is complete."

Wait, she'd meant to provide examples, not go into detail. Even though the details were where it got interesting. Ah well, the students had learned more than anticipated. Nothing wrong with that.

"Naturally-occurring spirits, on the other hand, are those that are created without deliberate intent. Circling back to the animal spirits, it is currently theorized that in order to leave a spirit behind, a creature must have at least one of the following: great emotions, great purpose, great connections, great power, or great death. It is--" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "--generally considered 'The Big Hole Theory,' coined by the goblin shaman, Gut, True Soul Zealot." Yes, class, she knows. "The general conceit of the Big Hole Theory is that each person, over their life, digs a 'hole' in the metaphysical surface of the world. The depth and intensity of that hole is a good indication of whether or not they will leave a spirit behind. So, take a beloved family dog. If that dog had strong enough bonds with its human family - great connections - or if it perished protecting family members from danger - great death and likely great emotions - there is a chance that it might come back as a spirit. Often, it would be a small and minor ghost, tethered to either its home or perhaps the bloodline if it were a little more powerful. But it is very rare for animals to leave behind a deep enough 'hole' to create a ghost, and why infants rarely do the same, and usually under the most horrifying and tragic circumstances. The same, regrettably, for happy and well-adjusted people - pain and fear and other negative emotions create far deeper metaphysical holes than joy and warmth and care."

And if Gut left behind a ghost, she was going to go hunt it down and kill it again for every time she had to describe a delicate metaphysical phenomenon as 'a hole.'

"This isn't, of course, an exact science. There are few guarantees in the creation of naturally-occurring ghosts. Some people you might thing checked off every box and yet nothing of them remains after death, others you would assume would go gently off into that good night--" Liliana had been reading Earth poetry, yes "--and still linger. On some planes, the how and where of your death play a part - in many places, death by drowning leads to the creation of more ghosts than those who die on dry land, or death by fire, or those who freeze. The theory is that these deaths belong to the zeitgeist of the area and that connects them to a deeper 'hole' than they would otherwise have access to, but...again, theory."

Funny enough, even being able to talk to and control the spirits of the dead didn't actually answer a lot of questions about what happened after it and why. Very frustrating for curious necromancers.

"The circumstances of one's death often has a great impact upon the kind of ghost one becomes. Drowned ghosts are often grasping and hungry - much like the depths of the water they drowned in. Few ghosts remain as actual, realized, and recognizable personalities without outside interference, and those that do usually lose that after awhile. If a person's life is a melody, ghosts are more like the most passionate refrain, ranging from a few notes to several measures. They can be long enough for listeners to recognize who they had been in life, but rarely are they made up of the entire song. This is why ghosts are known for staying in particular places, or doing repetitive motions; these are the bits of the song that remain for them, that tether them to the physical world."

"So think of your favorite ghost story, or at least one you know very well. What happens in it? What is it that creates the hole large enough that they remain?"

Necromancers Guide to the Undead, Thursday, Period 1

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