#ghost zone lore

Ceris-Óengus is a dual aspect Deity of Love and Hope, changing forms and genders by all who behold them to the form most pleasing and attractive. The ruler of all sorts of love, not just the sexual or romantic, they are considered to play an important role matchmaking, holding together a family, or binding lasting friendships.

They are especially called upon after bleak circumstances, in recognition that love and your loved ones give you hope for tomorrow. Although Ceris-Óengus rules love of every type, most people pray for their matchmaking guidance. And because many ghost desire a mate, as do many in the Living World, Ceris-Óengus is considered moderately powerful, able to influence the hearts and minds of those in the Zone and out of it to fall in love.

Possessing many acolytes and temple attendants, but much fewer servants than most deities, Ceris' shrines are on the larger and more elaborate side, stuffed to the brim with offerings of gold, incense/perfume, flowers, sweets, and silks, anything that could potentially win the eye of a lover is placed upon altars in their temple. Their altars also see used to celebrate certain family occasions, like the birth of a child, and dates/festivals that celebrate members of the family.

The expense and rarity of many of the offerings to the Deity make their temples a potential target for robbery. As a result, their temples are the most well-guarded in the Zone. Despite the fact they will not punish a parishioner for a stolen offering, most believe their gifts will not remain effective if removed from the altar before it is formally acknowledged. (There is some truth to this for certain specific rituals.) Formal acknowledgement is completed by either the Deity, or one of their Incarnations directly—which is unusual—or by the Head Acolyte of a temple. One might imagine a simple solution is to deal with the offerings quickly, however, offerings come in daily, at a pace that far exceeds the ability of their temple workers to attend to them quickly, so strict security is used instead.

The lavishness of some of the gifts and the gifting culture surrounding the temples mean Ceris’ temples in Lenaindros and Kingdom Drazi are especially well-appointed. That being said, the Deity experiences the highest level of popularity in small villages and towns throughout the Local Zone. This is because, despite their opulence, many of the temple goers in more established areas marry or become involved for reasons outside of pure love. Political, and other arranged, marriage fall far more closely under the purview of Coitreb with the offerings in more established areas tending towards family obligation and festival days. Worship of the Deity is also more popular among Afterlifers than Neverborn in general, as a history of worship on Love God(desses), romantic ideals, and newer habits of love marriages have always been more present among the Living than in the Spiritual Realm.

The God of Mercy, Diplomacy, and Marriage Coitreb deals with all things relational in the Zone. His domain is vast enough to encompass everything from trade agreements, though the duty is shared with the King of the Gods, to managing rivalry between schools or fellowship inside families. Because every mutual agreement comes under his purview, his powers are considered vast and prayers are sent up regularly to govern everything from major agreements between regions and nations to settling petty disagreements among members of the household. The constant prayer suffices the god with power, and as the god of mercy, he acts far more often among the material realm than most of the others.

The most well regarded of the Divine among the Yetis, his worship eclipses even that of Gwrtheyrn, and he’s regarded as the true King of the Gods in Malproksime Frostiĝinta a point of tension between the scientific and magic focused realm and their Arachtalamh neighbors. (The Heraldry of House Frjósimhjøtur takes its use of Arĝenta and its symbols of interlocking knots from Coitreb the same way House Glaurung takes its use of Ora and the Dragon Head’s meaning from Gwrtheyrn.)

Outside the bastion of scientific progress and diplomacy at the edge of the Local Zone, his most ardent worshipers exist among lawyers, international diplomats, and civil servants of all kinds. No one is more pressed to keep the peace than the army of forgotten middle ghosts keeping their countries running behind the scenes and between the glories of war and battle.

Of course, since he rules marriage as well, the God sees worship by everyday people on the occasion, though he shares some of this with Lúthgáir. His name is spoken at every jumping of the broom in tiny villages and state wedding affairs to solidify treaties between major powers. He is even a standard part of the vows throughout the Zone, especially for those marriages that take place for political instead of romantic reasons. This is because he is believed to have the power to make contracts binding, and every being wants a long-lasting marriage.

Another common site of worship is far more morbid. Invoked in criminal sentencing around the Zone by the guilty, he sees devote worship among those in long term imprisonment or who are subject to be executed. Indeed, the final rites for capital punishment in many areas of the Zone include both prayers to Aodh to guide the spirit to the Beyond and to the God of Mercy to forgive them of their sins or relieve them of suffering.

He is also invoked by prisoners of war or when soldiers intend to surrender. Using his name as a means to deceive in times of war or refusing to give quarter to surrendering fighters is one of the few ways to invoke the wrath of the divinely equanimous god.

The Goddess of Life and Fates, Snímaid is the least regarded of the Major Divine among ghosts. Though the weaver of Fates controls the lives of all those within the Timestream, most ghosts believe her powers extend only to the still Living World.

As a consequence, she's most often besought by the recently deceased looking to safeguard their loved ones or enact revenge against their foes (prayers of vengeance are split between her and Aodh). She's also subject to the occasional prayer by those wishing to change their fortunes, and the most likely to regard and worship her in the Zone are gamblers. This leaves her with few areas of worship, with offerings often given at the temples dedicated to the entire Major Divine and the area altar in casinos and gambling dens. She also has no major festivals or holy days on the calendar in the Local Zone, with her largest celebration taking place during a festival celebrating the craft of weaving itself in Kingdom Drazi.

In truth, the Goddess' powers supersede almost every other in the Pantheon, and relatedly she possesses an army of Servants, acolytes, and temple workers to see her will completed. The most important of these are The Observants and Clockwork, the latter of whom is her major physical Incarnation in the Ghost Zone.

While another of the divine, her sister Brinnglóid, rules Portents, Prophecy, and Messages, all visions of the future ultimately come from reading her Tapestry Of Life.

Snímaid is not her true name, but instead a version hinting at her nature as known by some of the timebound beings on this world.

Her fellow Divine, and some of the Aspects of Creation themselves, don't fall under her purview, though these creatures are far and few between.

Generally considered the God of Wisdom and Knowledge, Eulas is also known as Kunnzkapp among the Yetis of the Malproksime Frostiĝinta where he rules Magic and mageworkers in addition to his typical domain. Consequently, a common epithet of his is The Archmagis in areas that deal diplomatically or are under the rule of Malproksime Frostiĝinta.

The most commonly worshiped deity of scientists and historians alike, his specific purview creates a unique situation in the Zone. Although few dedicate themselves exclusively to the collection of and maintenance of knowledge, because the act of knowing and learning itself are under his command, he’s one of the more powerful deities in the dimension. Additionally, all professions that require specific knowledge or long years of study see many individuals that venerate or pray to this Divine daily. This means doctors and lawyers, but also many tradespeople and craftspeople in specialized arts like metalworking, glassblowing, and engineering.

His Temples see more curtailed worship than would be expected for so powerful a deity, however, scholars and his servants are fervent in their worship, and even regular simple prayers to remember where you’ve misplaced an object grow his influence. As a result, his Relics and Divine Works are abundant throughout the Local Zone, and take the form of everything from books of rare knowledge to instruments and implements that aid in completing tasks.

Among the most important of his Servants duties is the collection and sequestering of dangerous knowledge. This often, though not exclusively, takes the form of collecting Relics that can manipulate aspects of reality. His most powerful Incarnations have the ability to erase the knowledge of something from existence. This form of sequestration is only done in the most extreme circumstances, as the God loves the proliferation of knowledge as much as the collecting of it, and most of his Incarnations are obsessed with teaching as much as learning. Prominent Servants and Incarnations are themselves Aspects of human concepts as well as pieces of the Divine, so his influence is wide-spread and numerous.

Overview:

Ghost illnesses are often spiritual plagues/curses passed on through energy and not through ectoplasm. Because ghosts don’t breathe, something being passed through energy is like something being airborne. Something going through ecto is closer to it being like fluid based, like bodily fluids: saliva/sweat/urine/feces/ect. Many of the most virulent ghost plagues are spread by energy, allowing it to move through the Zone like a wildfire with little slowing its progress.

In an ordinary ghost, it resolves on its own in a few weeks of feeling malaise as long as you rest. Though some especially vulnerable ghosts(children, otherwise ill, ect.) need medical aid in order to recover. And of course, none of the vulnerable inanimate objects(liminal objects) have immune systems. They can contract a curse and not be able to remove it on their own, their spirit stricken “evil”. In that case, human intervention can purge the “negative energy” from the object and return it to its former self. These purifying rituals were traditionally undertaken by spiritually active members of a community, often found in priesthoods, shrine maidens, temple attendants, ect.

Immunity:

In general, this is how immunity is passed between ghosts:

After encountering an illness and recovering, their cores produce sub-fluctuations/sub-oscillations in their energy signature that act to repel the illness/curse, similar to how living things antibodies neutralize viral or bacterial invaders. This eventually slows plagues to a stop, as herd immunity causes the R0 to fall below 1 and the plague peters out naturally.

Because of how natural immunity works, ghosts who have recently recovered often attend to the still ill, helping them recover much quicker. This is especially helpful in the case of children or chronically ill, who can have trouble clearing an infection on their own. To this end, ghosts have adapted the typical method of sharing energy done between one energized ghost to another to most effectively clear an illness. This requires closer energy contact than just sharing some of your energy, and so is not usually done with strangers.

However, between family and friends, it’s quite common. It’s like giving someone a long hug if they feel under the weather. The cuddles could be platonic, familial, or romantic, it all depends on the persons involved and just signifies affection and closeness.

Example of Immunity in Action:

Dr. Airmid came over to help Technus feel better, since she’d caught this curse years back, although the amplitude of her signals are much weaker now that so much time has passed. Danny's visit does a lot to perk Technus up, even without consciously sharing energy because he’s just radiating a bunch of antibodies as he’s nearly(though not totally) mended. His system changing his ecto-signature is why he got so tired all of a sudden.

A Few Common Illnesses:

Whispering Panic Love's Longing Olive Pox

A Few Uncommon Illnesses:

Rictus Grasp Frosttouch Breath Hearthstone’s Heat

A Few Rare Illnesses:

The Decay The Pale Lady The Black Rider

Outbreak Phenomena:

The chances for any of these to form an outbreak depends on a number of factors, chief among them: the number of potential hosts. Some illnesses can only afflict certain sub-variations of ghosts. Others, prey on those who are essentially immunocompromised with cores that are already infected with other curses.(opportunistic infectious curse behavior) Still others have disease progressions or infection vectors that prohibit or repress the growth of outbreaks. The most serious of curses have outbreaks that are brief, not because of lack of hosts, but because of severity of symptoms. They burn through the potential hosts and avenues of infection too quickly to sustain permanent presence in an area. (An infamous example of this is Stranger's Skin.)

Assuming a curse does not have a long-term reservoir, and liminal objects often served this purpose historically, and that immunity is temporary(common in the least serious curses) then outbreaks can be tracked in waves and even predicted. The most ardent followers of Eulas include doctors, surgeons, and ghostly epidemiologists. If not cloistered in the temples of Kunnzkapp, they are most often found in major cities in the largest countries throughout the Zone. There is a large contingent in Kingdom Drazi, as a trade hub it seems more than the typical share of migration of potentially infected beings. And as the country is the most urbane in the Local Zone, it also possesses the highest being density, far higher than is common anywhere else outside of the country. As a result, most of the recent outbreaks have started in the Kingdom, especially in one of its many port towns. From there, disease specialists can trace the spread across traveling vessels and caravans to all of their trading partners. This makes inspections of goods and people heading into and out of Kingdom Drazi of the highest priority to national security, involving disease efforts. Multi-regional collaboration is the norm in this case, and supersedes all other treaties involving freedom of movement, of goods and people, or the need to be renewed be new signatory members at the crowning of new leaders.

This position was pioneered by a combination of the leaders of Kingdom Drazi and Malproksime Frostiĝinta .

The Goddess of Messages, Prophecy, and Portents, Brinnglóid is a lower regarded of the Divine among the pantheon. Because prophecy is such a rare gift, even among the Zone, most think her powers paltry. This is intensified by the fact her visions often focus on the mundane or small.

Truthfully, Brinnglóid gives her most powerful visions to those among the Living World, in all but a few exceptions. Because ghosts are often stubborn and their psyches prone to coloring everything through the biased lens of the 'obsessions', she does not often bother with sending portents.

However, there are a few noted Prophets and Seerers among her most devote acolytes in the Zone, and they maintain her shrines with a sense of grim duty and knowledge of impending doom.

She has also blessed a few 'lucky' mortals in more recent times, especially those in more spiritually active places like "Amity Park". Though, the ability to do so is dependent on the natural spiritual powers of those she interacts with, and so her prophets have decreased in number somewhat over time even among the Living.

All incarnations/manifestation in the material plane live deep in secluded parts of the Zone, peering deeply into a water well for subtle signs of her instructions. Empowered to carry out her will among the Timebound, they have warned of several recent disasters, including most recently the creation of the First Halfa.

The rest of her temple attendants and average worshipers call on her aid to safeguard letters and correspondence throughout the Zone, especially for messages of great import.

Goddess of Revelry, Celebration, and Gratitude, Lúthgáir isn't poorly regarded because their domain is uncommon, like other lessor worshiped deities, but because their domain has very little conflict or reasons to go wrong.

The honored deity of festivals, feast days, and parties, her most common prayers are sent up by host(ess) throughout the Zone on the lead up to a grand celebration. The greater the occasion, the more intense the prayer. Brides/Grooms to be, head chefs and maids, butlers and homemakers all pray to her in the lead up and day of the event.

But because many of the events in question are about things falling under other deity's domains: The end of a war, the union of two families, the birth or birthday of a Clan member, much of the prayers about these celebrations go to these other deities, leaving only the preparations and the hope for fun with Lúthgáir.

The favored Goddess of drunks, bar flies, and social butterflies everywhere, she still gets plenty of idle daily worship instead of large offerings and fervent prayers. This makes her one of the more powerful deities, despite her curtailed domain and generally lower opinion of importance among those in the Zone.

As fun-loving as her namesake, and symbolized by wine, party favors, and streamers, she sees little worship among more solitary Reborns, instead having shrines and minor festivals among the cultures of the Neverborns who live throughout the Zone.

She is especially popular in the country of Kingdom Drazi, whose people enjoy vigorous parties and whose cities have bars filled to the brim every night. She is sometimes invoked as a warning to those who do not act with gratitude or who look at Good Times or Gifts of Plenty with scorn, warning her blessings will flee from the ungrateful and force upon them Bad Times.