In this world, there are three types of beings (technically five, but who's counting?) that exist once a human soul has been expelled from its body. An average soul's normal course of action upon being separated from it's meaty casing is to go to Heaven or Hell. Of course, we are not dealing with these kinds of souls. That would be beyond dull, in addition to being impossible. Instead of those, we adventurers get the remaining three types of beings:
Ghosts: Ordinary human souls that simply have unfinished business here on Earth. Perhaps they were murdered unjustly, or seek out lost family members. Maybe they've lost a trinket of theirs and cannot be satiated and ascend to Heaven until they find it. In any case, they are free to roam where they please, but tend to remain where they died or lived for most of their lives. They may interact with humans and objects (possession, hauntings, etc.) but cannot be interacted with themselves.
Their appearances are as you would think them to be: they are somewhat opaque images of what they appeared to be in life.
Demons: Impure souls that resist descent into Hell so voraciously that they remain on Earth. To do this causes them immense pain. They suffer when exposed to light. To avoid this, they seek to steal the skins of humans by first possessing a host's mind, causing them to mentally tear themselves apart. When the human has been weakened mentally, their soul is able to be driven out and replaced by the demon's. A demon may leave its stolen skin any time it chooses, but it typically does not after all its time invested in driving the host out.
Their appearance is the wrought body of a human. It is not opaque, and resembles a body stripped of skin, with charred strips of sinew and muscle stretched across bones instead. A skull crowns it.
Shades: The mere imprint of a soul, left behind after a demon has driven the host's soul out and taken over its body. It cannot speak, and cannot exist without living in a host's shadow. However, it does not benefit or disable the host in any way. It is a mindless remainder of a human life that is unable to be judged and sorted into Heaven or Hell, and because of this, it remains on Earth.
Its appearance appears to simply be a shadow. It will meld with a living being's shadow upon contact.
Ghosts: Ordinary human souls that simply have unfinished business here on Earth. Perhaps they were murdered unjustly, or seek out lost family members. Maybe they've lost a trinket of theirs and cannot be satiated and ascend to Heaven until they find it. In any case, they are free to roam where they please, but tend to remain where they died or lived for most of their lives. They may interact with humans and objects (possession, hauntings, etc.) but cannot be interacted with themselves.
Their appearances are as you would think them to be: they are somewhat opaque images of what they appeared to be in life.
Demons: Impure souls that resist descent into Hell so voraciously that they remain on Earth. To do this causes them immense pain. They suffer when exposed to light. To avoid this, they seek to steal the skins of humans by first possessing a host's mind, causing them to mentally tear themselves apart. When the human has been weakened mentally, their soul is able to be driven out and replaced by the demon's. A demon may leave its stolen skin any time it chooses, but it typically does not after all its time invested in driving the host out.
Their appearance is the wrought body of a human. It is not opaque, and resembles a body stripped of skin, with charred strips of sinew and muscle stretched across bones instead. A skull crowns it.
Shades: The mere imprint of a soul, left behind after a demon has driven the host's soul out and taken over its body. It cannot speak, and cannot exist without living in a host's shadow. However, it does not benefit or disable the host in any way. It is a mindless remainder of a human life that is unable to be judged and sorted into Heaven or Hell, and because of this, it remains on Earth.
Its appearance appears to simply be a shadow. It will meld with a living being's shadow upon contact.