A) I would say we could have a race wide hive mind to have a justified one race, one creed, one king. That'd be interesting to observe.

B) But these aren't that anyway. The race is fairly 'small' but they are still made of individuals that exist among different cultures. It's just these individuals also exist among different bodies.

C) Not a retort, a complaint to myself actually, I didn't hammer down how many bodies an individuals could have or how far apart they could be if there was any limit in distance.

I'm sure we could find a way to make it work.

Rarely active, try DA/Tumblr Avatar by pippanaffie.deviantart.com

What's your suggestion?

D) I still need to do that editing job on Ghosts.

Um... Hi. I've been a troper for some time, but I'm not active in the forums, so I'll try to be. And I decided to start here... For some reason. But the thread is over 2,000 posts, I don't think I can read all of those. So I would like to know if you could show me some links that I need to read for contributing, while I read some of its page (for example, I've read the theory of magic already). Also, if you want help with ghosts, I already have something in mind, would you like to hear it?

Welcome! And we are always open to suggestions. I do recommend that you read the main page project page (Domhain Sceal) though, if only so you can get a feel for things.

I'm doing that... Or I should be doing that. I get side-tracked easily (in the internet, at least), so if I start reading the entire page I'll start to Wiki Walk all through the wiki. That's why I asked about which topics I should pay more attention to.

I'd advise you to just read over the page (without following the links) just so you get familiar with names and such. then you can decide what you'd like to focus on, or ask questions about here.

edited 21st Dec '12 3:36:28 PM by Sijo

Okay, I think I've gotten some of it, althought Magic seems to be too big for understanding it all today. I would like to start sharing some ideas about ghosts, then moving on to deities or some spirit like being/race. But I'm not sure how the topics move here, how do you suggest I start (even though I don't think I'll be able to post it today)

Ghosts

Death is a mighty thing, thaumaturgically speaking. More so death in the throes of some great emotion or with some grand will. Not that this is enough to create a ghost.

First consider the creation of a Terrestrial God, including that of Material-bound spirits. The ingredients are two, emotional focus, often worship of some kind, and then ethereal focus, that is the waves of the Aether are waxing in the would-be god's favor and the same moment of emotional focus. The Aether and people are both fickle though, and such things can be random. For Hrod, a might wizard and the ruler of a continent spanning empire and the creator of a whole race, godhood is actually a constant concern for him but not to for other people.

For ghosts, the ingredients are nearly the same except the emotional focus comes from within rather than without and is bolstered by one's death. If the auspices of the Aether are just right at that precise moment of passing, a ghost may be created.

• Ghosts may go on to becoming Terrestrial Gods. This is especially common in cultures with strong ancestor worship.
• Some individuals, groups and cultures try to encourage ghosts to be formed through various means. Success is mixed.
• Ghosts will have varying properties depending on a huge number of factors.

Strong emotion, like rage, which reaches into the Aether itself, makes one more susceptible to becoming a ghost. Some ghosts' rage is so great that they persist long past then they should but for most it is essence without substance and once their rage is spent their hold on this material plane is gone and they must pass on.

Will, so pure that it cannot be denied by death is something like rage but is rare in the extreme. Unlike rage, it does not wear itself out but only solidify until finally the ghost's will turn inward so much it actually forces itself to pass on, in a good few ages at least.

Zombies

One uncommon but widely heard of property is for a ghost to inhabit and animate its own body.

So, is this already decided or I can give my opinion about this?

We put it to vote, so you may totally critique it.

Resubmitting Vyc's Sun Gods.

Instead of criticizing it, I'll try to post my idea. It may take some time, as I'm not used to the Markup and I have some other stuff to do, but I'll try to write it quickly. Oh, I also have a mental block, so it doesn't help much.

I made this draft in 6 hours I guess, maybe a bit less.

---

Ghosts

Ghosts are, differently of what most people think, not only one kind of being. The term is wrongly used by the general public, when actually it refers to different species of being, each one of them with a variable amount of power, but with similar body composition. The usual body of ghost-like entities are composed by ectoplasm, which is, along with the term ghost itself, misused by most people. Even then, there are many types of ghost-like entities, but only three of them are, as one would say, the true ghosts. By ghost-like entities, I mean entities born from the soul of the dead, and that mostly share similar traits. Also, it let an opening for the adding of more ghost-like entities if you have any suggestion, asides from other ideas of mine

Ghosts

The most common apparition, and the one whose name between scholars and studiers of the subject call "ghost". It is born after the death of a living being, but, due to some circumstance (be it some interference caused by a Death Curse or a strong emotonial link with someone or something else entirely) the person's soul got stuck at the material plane, while the mind partially ascended to the Afterlife. Once it happened, neither the mind nor the soul can fully enter the Afterlife.

Even then, the spirit of the fallen grants itself a new body, most of the times alike the one it had while alive, made of ectoplasm in its simplest form, with a higher energy to matter ratio (about 2 to 1), but with less energy and matter overall. 9 out of 10, ghosts can only be hit by magical means, that meaning not even air, neither ground nor walls can touch it. On the other hand, it has a weak psychic power, which it uses to attract its targets. On the one out of ten times, the spirit can interact, very weakly with the material world, and it has an increased amount of psychic power. It's believed it happens due to the concentration of energy on the node the ghost is born, but it's not a consensus between all the experts.

Asides from what one may think, ghosts do not have a mind on their own. They rely solely on their insticts, and can, sometimes, assume aspects of its previous life. Even then, it's more commom to then to wander aimlessly around the place where they once inhabited, even trying to eat or drink something, but failing nonetheless. What a ghost truly seek is the liberation from the material plane, and it can be granted by its death. Once it dies, the soul, lightly injuried*

, reunites with the mind, and keeps with the natural flow of life and death. The killing of one grants the ectoplasm it had on its body, but it starts to lose its solid properties under a few hours. After that, it starts to evaporate slowly, culminating on the dehintegration of the matter it had, asides from the reintegration of the energy it had in the Aether*

Of course, being kept throught the right means, it can last indefinitely.

.

Spectres

Similar to ghosts, albeit more powerful. Spectres are being whose soul willingly stayed on the material plane aftedeath*

. As such, it retains its mind*

There's a difference between binding a soul to the living world (creating a ghost) and bringing a soul to the living world (creating a spectre).For further info, ask me.

]]

A spectre is much more powerful than a ghost, and it has a higher amount of energy to matter ratio (about 3 to 2), and an increased amount of both in relation to ghosts. They have some generic magic powers (I have some doubts about the magic part, and I don't want to overpower then, but they do are powerful, keep reading), asides from psychic power equal to the one-of-a-kind ghost. They can interact with matter easier than ghosts, but some might need time to get used to it. A powerful spectre can alternate its tangibility even at reflex, making it nigh-impossible to a non-enchanted weapon to hit it.

It's not unusual to them to become Terrestrial Gods, althought that's relative to the amount of spectres that exist. After being "dead" enought time, they get used to their new body, and can increase their abilities as any other being, althought those abilities are already stronger than normal people. I think I ran out of creativity in this part. I believe I could speak about the cultural implications here, but I'm not sure.

Poltergeists

Poltergeists are the most powerful kind of "ghost" one could find. Different from ghosts and spectres, poltergeists aren't born when one person dies. Instead, they are an amalgam between the thoughts of living people, the existing Aether and leftover energy from souls. As such, they are born in places with hight concentration of people, places where necromancy has been practiced, where ghosts and spectres have lived and in the magical nodes around the world.

Its true form is that of a shining orb of ectoplasm, surounded by smoke-like ectoplasm*

, both into varying colors, usually reflecting the entity's personal preference or state of mind, althought the smoke can be transparent, or glow in a higher (or lower) wavelenght*

In relation to real-world human vision.

. The orb isn't very big, and its density varies depending on the age of the poltergeist, usually the older the denser. It has something about 8 cm of diameter, while the fog around it can occupy a varying area, as the entity can summon more at will*

The limit to as much it can summon is not known, althought it's speculated it varies between each one.

.

Their powers are the same as ghosts and spectres: controlable tangibility, psychic powers (althought in a higher level) and generic magic, althought their powers easily rivalizes with those of a witch or a wizard, being able to manipulate the rules of the universe. Even then, the use of these powers is limited, because younger poltergeists doesn't know how to use most of them, but older poltergeists usually don't see why use them. Althought the reason differs, culturally the poltergeists doesn't have reasons to go on rampage and take over the world. They use their powers to amuse themselves, however they like. Some haunt a place for age, others wander throught the world. Most of them take a physical form*

, but only a few live between humans. Some haunt a place trough an extended amount of time, and grow attached to it, sometimes even to its inhabitants. There have been relates of small communities of them, with less than 10 members. Said communities usually choose a "playground", where they scare people for their own amusement. I think this cultural part needs some development, but I'm not sure how to do it.

But their most extraordinary abilities would be those of creating ethereal flesh and being nigh-immortal. With said flesh, they usually create pseudo-living creatures, and even a body to themselves I can't really think of a way to describe it, because it seems to be a bit obvious. In case of doubt, picture the girl from The Ring (that would be one specific example) minus the killing.. Their claimed immortality is due to the fact there is no known way of killing a poltergeist, but there also isn't any reports about the death of one. Even then, it's known that a poltergeist can sleep for ages when it wants to, and during said sleep it's impossible even for other members of the species to find the slumbering one. Also, it's theorized that they may be able to lose their memories after they got bored of life and fell asleep, thus, once it awakens, its behavior is the same of a newborn poltergeist (if they are even truly born, and didn't exist since the beggining of time), due to simply appearing somewhere throught time.

Ectoplasm

Ectoplasm is a substance composed of a "special" kind of matter. This matter is much more linked to the Aether than most substances, and it is often said that ectoplasm is a physical form of the thought, althought scholars disagree on the amount of literacity that can be assumed of that fact. Ectoplasm can manifest in any state of matter, althought it's most commonly seen as a semi-solid material. There are three main types of ectoplasm, each one of them commonly associated with one ghost-like being.

The main type of ectoplasm is... Well... Ectoplasm. It presents a reduced amount of both energy and matter, and is highly unstable. It's natural color is white, but it can also present itself as transparent. It's mostly used as fuel or as an ingredient in magical potions, and can be easily created by a good magic user, with the right knowledge (I'm not sure what kind of magical user would benefit from this), althought ghosts are the fountain of a better ectoplasm, less unstable under the right conditions and with slightly more energy and matter.

The second type of ectoplasm is the spectroplasm, obtained from spectres. Denser than normal ectoplasm, usually glows in a darker hue of green, but can also be any other color, the most common being blood red or cyan. It's used not only as fual, but as a magical conductor, and can be applied to weapons to improve the power of an enchantment.

The last kind of ectoplasm is the ethereal flesh. It works just as organic matter, althought it has the same properties as ectoplasm. It can be easily controled with telekinesis, and such can freely shapeshift, and allows the being to create other pseudo-creatures, that act as if they were alive. Even then, the only kind of being that is able to use ethereal flesh to its limit are the poltergeists, due to being composed mostly of psychic energy. Ethereal flesh not only leaves some residue, but however it is obtained, it quickly decays under one hour to a "non-organic" ectoplasm, then it stabilizes. This ectoplasm is more powerful than spectroplasm, but is much, much rarer. Same uses.

I'm not sure I got the concept of Aether right, nor the concept of what mind is in this world. If I got anything wrong, please tell me. Also, I wasn't sure on what info I should add, if you have anything to say about it, I'll be glad to hear.

edited 22nd Dec '12 5:03:30 PM by Victin

My assumption was the mind is the soul, the soul is the mind.

My assumption was the soul is the ethereal equivalent of the body, while there is no physical mind, so the conscience is the mind in both worlds (physical and ethereal). Body and soul are vessels of the mind. In the way I undrstood your idea, I belive I simply explored more of it. But here, the emotional focus necessary to become a spectre would come from the dead, not from the living. Even then, I liked the cultural aspect of your idea, I believe it could apply to mine.

On the other hand, I had an idea for a hive-mind/zombie/insect/Fate Worse Than Death race, and one for a semi-inteligent, still evolving humanoid elephant race, whom is entering extinction due to predatory hunting. I might post it today, if I have the time.

I like the poltergeists, and ectoplasm but I like God's Ghosts.

Rarely active, try DA/Tumblr Avatar by pippanaffie.deviantart.com

What do you mean by God's Ghosts? A God of Ghosts or a Ghost of a God?

I think she means God of Awesome's version of ghosts.

Oh, I see. Though I'm not sure if I understood his version of ghosts As far as I understood, his version looks like mine, with the exception of zombies.

Spectres

A ghost made by wizardry, bound purposefully to this plane. Being more solid, more structurally built, these Spectres are more efficient with usage of their energy, resulting in a net gain in power output, making them more powerful in the various abilities they could show. This includes, for example, tangibility control, making weapons not designed for phase variance useless against them.

Poltergeists

Natural made Legions, the collective pain of mass murder and death. In a place where many have died, near aetherial power necroturgically tainted, when raw emotion of so many screams aligns with the rising tide of the Aether, a Poltergeist may arise. The place of so many deaths is not cursed by this amalgam entity, a hive mind of the hateful dead working to devour the suffering of the living. Some are relatively harmless, usually like those who died by accident or disease, willing to amuse themselves with fright, while those died by the hands of others wish to visit the same suffering upon others. Some, made of those deeply confused by their deaths, are aimlessly creepy.

One case of a group that actually died in the throes of joy actually has a friendly poltergeist.

Made of the minds of so many spirits, some of whom would conflict with each other, their own aetherial nature actually fuses their clashing into compromise, creating a central hub entity. Once such a central entity is formed, it is self-sustaining and the poltergeist is impossible to dismantle. It coordinates the rest and makes moves of its own, making sure all of the collective's passions are satisfied. It will not directly manifest though, unless the whole collective is pressed.

Poltergeists can remain dormant for many years, especially as they become older, the central entity 'learning' to appease its component spirits without them interacting with the living except on occasion when some outside stimuli or internal pathology force it to manifest. Some are thought to unravel on their own as the various component spirits become satisfied and stop communicating with each other, so the central entity loses the contention the sustains it and fades away, although this hasn't been ever confirmed.

Ectoplasm

Materialized Aether. This is technically inaccurate, being that the Aether is anathema to the Material. Natural Philosophers struggle to actually describe it. Fairies and Ghosts are made of the stuff.

Awesome! An improved version of my ideas! But while we are at it, may you explain to me the ghosts you posted? I'm still not sure if I got it right.

What don't you understand?

When a ghost is born/created.

• Someone dies.
• The Aether, which is the really funny thing really, hard to actually compare to anything but in this case it's kind of like an ocean and the Material is the beach. Now, the Aether has tides, in this analogy at least, high tides, low tides, happening all the time in different places. So when someone dies and they happen to die at about the highest point of a tide, when the magic's strongest and the veil between the Material and the Aetherial is thinnest, then instead of their higher consciousness, their soul, being pulled in, it can get left behind. Then you have a Ghost.
  • Now powerful emotions can act sort of like a gravity well, like a moon, to the tides of the Aetherial Ocean and make up the difference between the height in tide needed and when nature actually provided you. Sometimes they're little emotions, you're a little disappointed about not completing that book you wanted to write, they only make up the difference a little. Sometimes you die as you were born, naked and screaming, and the emotions are pretty big and makes a big jump.

Oohh... Now I understand it. I didn't get the first part. But the second (the one with emotions) I understood and it was my the same principle I used in my idea. Now I'm thinking about what would happen when the creation of a spectre fails.