#hallowthorn

It’s Hallowthorn, Spirits passing and Spirits return is around the corner.

This means a lot of things. Like soon all the candy given to kids during spirits return will be on mundo discount.

Don’t ask me why but candy miniatures always tasted better than the full sized. You also never notice how much of it you eat until it’s too late.

Anyway, another tradition of this spirited time of year is scary movies and the hunt for ghosts, spirits, or other unexplained phenomenon.

I’m not a big fan of horror movies as they usually kind of get your hopes up regarding what dealing with a haunting is like. Besides it gives me anxiety which makes these hunts really hard.

Look, first thing about any sort of paranormal hunt, just like dungeon delving, fear gets the best of you. Makes you think you see things that aren’t there. It clouds your judgement.

Right, let’s start from the beginning, be a little professional.

So you’re an adventurer and you want to do something a little more spooky. You’ve faced phantoms, smashed shades, defeated various spooks that appear in dungeons. Now, well now you’re looking for something that isn’t thoroughly understood.

I mean to say Overworld hauntings. Real dead ghosts of actual deceased people. Where you visit a place that has reports of hauntings and....well you see what you can capture.

So most ghost hunting sessions have three stages.

1) Preparation

2) Hunting

3) Breakdown and review for evidence.

1.Preparation:

So this is the part that’s really important, first things first. You want to make sure you have permission to ghost hunt in the area. Look, some people are superstitious and think it’s a bad idea to interfere with the domain of spirits. So it’s better for everyone and yourself to get permission first. Especially since dealing with Guild representatives for trespassing charges is a real pain. 

Second is getting a tour of the place and hearing some of the reported activity. This is to give you an idea of the layout and where the best spots to set up equipment.

Then it’s time to set up your equipment, set up cameras in strategic points. This is also the point where a talented mage can start setting up magical paranormal hunting aids.

So magical research into ghost hunting is really theoretical. But we’ve found that abnormal aetheric signatures can affect people psychologically. So one thing that can be done is using a aetheric stabilization array to force the ambient aether into a neutral state. It can still be tampered with, but you have to mean for it to happen. This is also the point where you might want to have your aetheric aura dampened. Just to prevent false positives.

Anyway other tools include the EMAF Reader (Electro Magnetic Aetheric Field) which reads both EMF’s and Aetheric fields, Voice recorders, cameras, flashlights, the spirit box, and a few other things just in case.

2. Hunting.

So this is where the fun begins. The lights are out and you begin the hunt for ghosts. You and your group do sweeps. My adivce is that each sweep should go a different direction so as to not get interference on the spirit box. If at any point though you get a weird ping on your adventurers charm, it’s time to quickly pack up because obviously what you’re investigating isn’t a haunting....but something a bit more dangerous. I’ll explain in a later section. Anyway you hunt for ghosts, using the tools at your disposal. Try to see if you can convince some activity.

3. Breakdown and review of evidence.

At the end of the night, eventually you have to clean up and head off to review what you may have found if anything. Sometimes the only thing haunting a place is actually the plumbing. Do note to share with the individual who allowed you to ghost on their property any evidence you may have found.

Tips:

1. If you get weird pings on your adventures charm, that could possibly mean the area isn’t so much haunted than suffering from a rare phenomenon known as an inverse dungeon. These things happen, but it does kill the fun of a hunt as you need to get rid of it and it may involve a bit more collateral damage.

2. If you start to feel ill, do not force yourself. A hunt is harder to do if you’re not feeling right and may lead to stress and further injury.

3. Being touched by something unknown but can potentially have severe effects. I’ve personally have had no incidents with it.

4. Paranormal research is a often looked down upon field of study as most would assume hauntings as mere glamour spells or some other type of magical trickery. However I feel it’s an important line of research.

Arrow to the Heart by @hallowthorn