Creatures: Ghost and Phantom Specters:

As stated many times before, when a soul leaves the body of a sapient being, even if it returns to its own body, it passes through The Aether, drawing ectosplasm and soul energy with them, which becomes an echo of their being known as a Specter.  Depending on the psyche of the individual whose soul was part of the Specter's creation, it may quickly dwindle into nothing, or become stronger depending on conditions that reinforce its mindset and allow it to draw on other ectoplasm to keep itself from fracturing into smaller shards and fading away.  The old tales of ghosts and phantoms haunting a location that claims more victims as it spooks them to death are not as exaggerated as some of the younger generations may believe.  If a ghost or phantom does indeed end up killing a living creature, it is able to attempt to absorb the echo of its Cor in the case of less developed creatures, or the echo of its Soul in the case of sapient species.  This, as well as the fluctuations in the electromagnetic field nearby a specter, is one reason almost all creatures have an instinctual fear of specters.  Despite how the terms ghost and phantoms are used by lay people to mean specters in general, the proper ectobiologist knows the difference.

A ghost is a guardian of a location, item or individual that tries to ward off others from the danger that it possesses.  Typically these are the echos of those who were fairly innocent in their lives and wish others to avoid their fate, or those that felt guilty as they died and wanted, somehow, to make amends to the universe or a specific individual.  Ghosts will absorb the ectoplasm of those that they fail to protect, most typically not caring about creatures coming near the danger (if the creatures are not the danger themselves) as if one does die they can use the echo of their Cor to keep themselves from breaking apart into shards and vanishing from whatever realm they are in.  Ghosts rarely have a pleasant appearance to them, and most have difficulty communicating effectively for a prolonged period of time after their initial appearance in the realm.  As such, they are more often feared than they should be, as only those that are a danger to someone they are protecting tend to feel their wrath.

Phantoms, on the other hand, are another specter altogether.  Phantoms are the festering hatred, fear and last desires or the soul they are echoing, typically being vengeful, jealous, envious, and most of all, extremely violent.  While most phantoms are quite obvious as they spend more time with their desires than trying to stay coherent, the more sophisticated phantoms may try to appear to be helpful ghosts, living beings, other types of specters, or just outright deceitful about what their true goals are even if they admit to being phantoms.  There is little most phantoms will not do as they become even more twisted than the soul they are echoing, more and more over the years, but some incredibly willful individuals who have a fear or aversion to certain activities, objects, individuals or scenarios may have phantom echos that still resist such to the best of their ability, no matter the cost.