Physical Description

When an ecton dies, their soul is ejected from their body.

An ejected ecton soul forms itself into what will hereafter be referred to as a ghost. Ecton ghosts appear much like the stereotypical depiction of a ghost. A rather round, semi-translucent being with not much to speak of in the way of identifying features, having largely just a simple face and two stubby arms. The color of the ghost is an extremely pale color matching the ecton’s skin tone, and it almost always sports an accessory or article of clothing that they wore while alive. This accessory is part of the ghost and not removable.

Personality & Traits

The belief goes that if you pass on to the afterlife without completing all of your prior business, you will suffer for eternity. Due to this an ecton that expires while not working on anything may use their ghost form to say farewell to friends and family, but one that dies in the midst of a project begins haunting the location of their work.

An ecton ghost holding on its grip on the world is difficult, and has to be actively maintained. A ghost can die simply by being surprised thoroughly enough, and it’s said to be mildly painful to live for long in this form. Perhaps it’s no surprise that ghosts are known to immediately vanish from the world the moment they finish what they set out to do. The fear of eternal damnation outweighs the cost of sticking around.

History

Early ecton societies were in conflict about many things, but almost all religions could agree on one thing: The spirit lives on for a reason. These religions changed over time, merging, splitting, and exchanging power and influence, but overall a focus on the completion of unfinished business stuck.

With such a strong sense of leaving no project unfinished, development exploded. Building projects would be started, and nobody would be willing to leave it unfinished for long. Naturally those in the business of building would want to get back at it again, and cities grew exponentially. Upon the advent of space travel, homeworld development slowed down, as many ectons felt they could get more use of their work ethic by taking to the stars, but those staying home have continued their work in their own ways.

Home Planet

Nooch has a warm climate and most of the planet’s landmasses are narrow enough that ocean access is not far. The spread of tectonic plates make seismic activity common in most locations, but extreme tremors are uncommon. Southern regions are known for their beaches and tourism, and northern regions are more notable for their forests and forest fires. Nearly 30% of the planet’s land is developed on, and even some underwater locations have seen towns forming by the particularly ambitious.

Subspecies

Soulless: Some ectons have darkened pupils. This means their inner light, normally generated by their soul, isn’t shining. Ecton without a soul are generally pitied by others at best, and more often than not are simply avoided. Other than not generating a ghost when they die, there is no meaningful difference between them and other ectons.

Special

Ghosts: Ghosts are somewhat intangible. They can pass through solid objects, and in fact when distracted will sometimes absentmindedly sink through the floor. Conversely, interacting with solid objects is difficult, and even holding onto something outside of their inventory can take concentration for a ghost. Too much matter passing through a ghost unexpectedly can disrupt enough of their form to permanently destabilize it, unless the ecton is able to ‘brace for impact,’ so to speak.

Trivia

• Most ecton subscribe to the idea of needing to complete unfinished business, but not necessarily all. Those that don’t tend not to remain ghosts long, largely just saying goodbye to friends and family and ease their loss a bit. Some, if apathetic enough about continuing on, will not even spawn a ghost at all.

• Ghosts can not eat solid foods, as it just falls right through them. Even if they could, they have no ability to taste anyways. This has made it difficult for ghosts with culinary based unfinished business.

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