More fun with monster design for Halloween!

The Puppy Ghost makes its return to this plane, cheerfully chasing some spirit orbs.

Drawing this one led me to give some thought to how the phantom pals fit into the Geoterran canon... Previously, I rambled a bit about the "undead" creatures, and how the weather impacts them leading them to favor autumn as the season to leave the safety of their various graveyards and catacombs, but didn't really mention the ghosts in that ramble.

Much like the "necro" element, the "spectral" element isn't considered supernatural, although it isn't well understood either. The exact circumstances that lead to a creature becoming a ghost instead of simply passing away aren't understood well, nor has anyone really figured out just what the ghosts are made of aside from some sort of "spectral plasma" that appears to be conscious, sometimes retaining the consciousness of the deceased to varying degrees but not always.

This means that, while not a solid, they do have a physical form not unlike a very dense mist, which means they can interact with and even be harmed by the physical world. In particular, strong electromagnetic energy, intense light, and high heat seem to be able to destabilize their structures, sometimes destroying them outright. As a result, they tend to hide during daylight hours, and take refuge in abandoned structures without the various hazards that may come with inhabited spaces. On the plus side, their mist-like forms mean they can squeeze through all sorts of cracks and gaps, and spread themselves out so much that they effectively disperse and vanish should some sort of threat appear, and rematerialize once the threat has gone.

While the spirits spawned from adults often become angry and hostile shadows, those spawned from younger creatures, despite the tragic circumstances, tend to be far more positive and playful. These "ghost puppies" would probably be classified as "poltergeists" by Earthlings, as they like to explore any place their new gaseous body can squeeze into, make noise, and play with objects that they find interesting, even if they don't yet have complete mastery over using their spectral forms and sometimes can't muster much more than making a ball roll or an object fall off a shelf. They sometimes become "imaginary friends" to other youngsters, as they feel safe around children, but will rapidly vanish when adults that feel threatening approach. At times, when the realization that they are deceased and the very complicated emotions that come with that arise, they can become violent and destructive, effectively throwing spectral temper tantrums that might be classified as malicious hauntings or demonic activity as they shriek and throw things around and generally lash out.

I haven't given too much thought to what the orbs are, besides probably random, loosely collected blobs of "spectral energy" that the ghosts can eat or absorb somehow. They probably also feed by absorbing the ill-defined "life energy" of living creatures, which if done correctly would just leave their subject feeling fatigued and able to recover with relative ease, and can probably draw energy from electronics and batteries and things assuming the voltage isn't high enough to harm them.

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