Supernatural Creature Data Files: Ghosts

Supernatural Creature Data Files: Ghosts

Description: Ghosts are, we believe, related to curse magic. They are, as one would expect, the remnants in some manner of formerly living humans. Only in rare cases do they exist – and only in the rarest are they capable of any kind of manifestation.

            Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of manifestation: possession, and physical manipulation of objects. Possession ghosts are rarer, but we believe this is because the amount of ‘power’ required by a ghost to fully possess a person is significantly more than that needed to, for instance, cause a light breeze to ruffle some papers.

            Possession style ghosts range from being able to influence people’s actions (it is thought that the ‘weaker’ possession ghosts do this to an imperceptible degree) through to the capability to full take over a person’s body for a period of time (in some cases indefinitely). This possession should be detectable by all agents (due to training), but is often unnoticed by ordinary people until the victim begins to act unusually. Object moving ghosts are, at strongest, able to give people a solid push – this has, in past, been used to commit murders. Any ghosts strong enough to move physical objects should be detectable by agents who have received training.

As far as we can tell, ghost power is a crapshoot – murder victims, the long term abused, psychotic killers; these are all just as likely to return as a powerful ghost as someone dying in ordinary circumstances. We are unsure if reincarnation exists, or if ghosts slowly lose power, or if there is some kind of afterlife they have not reached – all we know is that some humans will, upon death, return as a ghost. The lack of historical ghosts of any kind indicates either some kind of decay of power or an afterlife (according to some).

            Though ghosts powerful enough to cause trouble are incredibly rare, however, psychics possessing several different powers (ESP and telepathy especially) are often able to sense those ‘close’ to manifesting, especially when they are attempting to. Training is also able to increase the sensitivity of anyone to ghosts, enabling even ordinary people to sense ghosts that are unable to manifest (but not, we think, the weakest).

Physiology: Ghosts are non-corporeal, and seem to be somewhat related to both curse magic and our own psychic powers. We as yet are unsure of the connections, although many theories have been put forward. In some rare cases, it is possible for particular powers to be used to harm ghosts – though this seems to mostly reduce their power, rather than seriously hurting them.

Identification and Destruction: As they are non-corporeal beings and fairly transparent even when manifesting, it is easy to identify a ghost. Training should also prepare all agents to identify possessed individuals. Issues do arise with object moving ghosts: this is also a potential sign of rogue psychics.

            Ghosts cannot be killed through ordinary means. Thankfully, most ghosts of the object manipulation variety tire themselves when they act, and can thus only rarely manipulate physical objects maliciously. Possession victims can be ‘freed’ by interacting with the ‘life’ of the individual being possessed – this is a technique taught to agents with the aptitude for it. Other options are elimination or containment of the possessed individual.

            If absolutely necessary – e.g. in the case of ghosts capable of possessing or manipulating objects without severe time limitations – send notice up your command chain. A specialist will be sent to resolve the situation. Do attempt to call in the specialist merely because the ghost is highly malicious: unless they present a constant threat to human life, they are not worth the specialist’s time.

Other Details: Ghosts were encountered before and during the initial formation of the IPC. They are, of all that we have encountered, usually the least threatening – most ghosts simply do not have the power to be a threat to anyone, let alone a trained agent who can sense their presence. Even the most powerful encountered possession ghost was unable to possess a trained agent.

            Despite ostensibly being people who have died, ghosts rarely seem interested in conveying messages to the living. Even malicious ghosts seeming to act on some kind of grudge will not communicate it, even if they are trapped and forced. Whether they are unable to communicate anymore, or something else is going on, is another mystery.

            It can be noted that of all ‘creatures’ we have encountered, ghosts are the – to us – most mysterious, despite being so common in folklore and pop culture.