As stated previously, anytime a soul passes through ectoplasmic waves of The Aether, an echo of that soul follows their route, typically back to its origin, as in the case of a soul leaving the body after death. Souls exist within any sentient species from the moment of initial self-awareness in that species and carries on down through all of its line, no matter the origin of said species. The formation of spectral echos typically appears as the most common varieties which are the guide or guardian Ghost and the sinister and revenging Phantom. On initial formation there are many other forms as well, which will be discussed later, and additional forms that arise as one form or another attempts to remain separated from The Aether for as long as they possibly can. There is, however, another type of specter that warrants observation due to reference being made to one already with regard to the origins of the Naiad species: The Elementals.
Elemental specters are formed from the proto-soul, or Cor, of one of non-sapient species that has passed on in an area due to a classical element danger within it overwhelming it in a fashion that drives it through intense pain almost to self-awareness. Elemental specters always start small, drawing on the power of other Cor fading away, as well as any source of magical power, elemental power or other source of power in the area that is not shielded from specters. At first an elemental specter tries to warn any of its kin about the danger that killed it, taking a form similar to what they had in life but made out of pure elemental power and ectoplasm. Next, it tries to protect the former body of what its Cor came from and warn other species, even those that were predatory to it, away from the danger as well. However, at this point it will deviate into one of four paths: The Haint, The Harth, The Hollow, and The Husk.
The Haint is a simple enough elemental specter, focusing heavily on channeling the elemental danger that created it to drive any out of its territory, most relegating anything outside of it to non-existance in their perspective. Most Haints are fairly stagnant unless otherwise provoked by territorial disturbances, but some of a more migrant origin species may feel their territory is not a mere radius, but a radius along a path they consider the route of their journey. As such, that kind can be very dangerous to those not expecting them. Haints do not care about sharing territory with other elemental specters, and will only fight them if provoked.
The Harth is drawn from their body after it has decomposed to wander the area they consider their territory, starting to lose a sense of self-identity, not fading away, but actually expanding beyond what would have been possible for them as their former species. They watch and learn from other species in the area they consider their territory, steadily taking on more and more traits they considered to show great power, growing more intelligent and sapient. They still protect their territory, but more out of continued concern for other species, and may feel relief when the danger is gone, or a profound sense of melancholy, wondering why they wasted so much time guarding it. Some will fade away, now that they have nothing to protect, while others will seek out other elemental dangers to guard against, and others still may subsume with an individual of another species that wishes to merge with them, would perish without such a merger, or has recently passed on while the harth has grown attached to another individual in that same species. It is in this last manner that the undine harth and pixie king came to have the Naiads as their offspring. Harths will share territory with other harths, and will typically leave other elemental specters alone, but if one should attack a living being they will do all in their power to eliminate that individual elemental specter or group of them as appropriate.
The Hollow is one that decides to reanimate its own corpse despite the decomposition already starting on the body, and are slow, but still able to give the illusion of life to blend in with their own species (if it is not a species that easily senses specters such as felines) or that of another that was in their territory long enough for them to study. However, once they feel threatened, or feel that their territory or kin (whether original or new) are in danger, they will swell in size from an additional fifty to two hundred percent increase in size and reveal their true elemental specter nature as they wield their power to attack their foes. They will share territory with each other, but will not share it with husks.
The Husk is similar in many ways to the hollow in that it reanimates corpses, however, it does not merely raise its own. A husk will draw itself into its former outer-most layer while the rest rots away, filling it with elemental power, and surging that into connected extensions of itself into other corpses that it can reanimate in a similar fashion. Each is connected by a thread of ectoplasm in its shadow, and one husk will not share its territory with another husk or hollow.
For each classical element, there is an individual haint, harth, hollow and husk, but all four share the same overarching label tied to their elemental source. The ignis is a fire elemental. The undine is a water elemental specter. The slyph is a wind elemental. The murnod is a plant/soil elemental. The midiac is a metal elemental. The ellernan is an ice elemental. The raijesh is a lightning elemental. The rotane is a stone/mineral elemental. The lismu is an ink/slime elemental. The bahn is a bone/shell elemental. The cruor is a blood/organ elemental. The toesem is a sand/dust elemental. The solel is a rot/fungus elemental. The tevemo is a toxin/poison elemental. The texla is a fabric elemental. The phaena is a specter element typed elemental specter, which may seem strange as its elemental is already part of its being, but phaena are only formed in areas where non-elemental specters have slaughtered a non-sapient species in such a way as to drive their cor to become an elemental specter, feeding off of the fading spectral echos of more sapient species as they fragment further due to their nature... Or by actively fighting them with instinctual ferocity unmatched by any living creature due to a lingering awareness that they are too dead to care that their cor could be fragmented or otherwise attacked like the specters whom they prey upon. Phaena, when properly entreated or dominated, are fierce protection for any wishing to keep specters at bay, or to keep them in line for fear of becoming a phaena's next ectoplasmic meal.
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