Editing Spirit world (section)

== Ghosts ==


Ghosts appear when something so ‘wrong’ happens in the community such that the community ‘breaks’--something revolutionary, or something terrible happens within the family or the community--and the people most closely involved in the situation cannot handle it. Major tragedies (eg. sickness, accidents) and breaking taboos (e.g. murder, incest, adultery) in the community are the most common causes of ghost appearances. 
 
Once it manifests, a ghost will persecute the community until the injustice or transgression has been remedied. Over time, more people will be able to ‘see’ the ghost and they will talk of it amongst themselves, which makes the ghost stronger. 
 
Example:  A Khatun leaves her khan and he hangs himself using a belt she left behind. The Khatun moves back into the manor and several days later an eerie character resembling the the former khan begins to circle the empty halls during the night.  Servants and family members see the ghost and say he is seeking his lost love. A solution must be found which will satisfy the ghost to have it stop wandering and possibly move on. The khatun may seek out the ghost and apologize to it, promising to keep company with it one night a week for the following months.  A more resourceful khatun might seek out a willing ghost (from another tragedy in a different manor house) that will ‘join’ with the dead khan in a ritual matrimony.   
 
Most of the pagan peoples in the northern lands are afraid of ghosts.  In Valkor, the Templars consciously include the ghosts of their ancestral mothers alive in their worship rites. They believe an ancestral mother who is honored with appropriate rites will reward her descendent(s) with a share of her own knowledge of the afterlife.