Echo

Ghosts, also known as Echoes,<ref>How many years had the Shepherd been active? How many people had died in Toronto in that span of time? How many of those deaths had been violent or painful enough to make an imprint in reality?
Did he have a mechanism to handle it, or did he simply do it full time? Collecting the echoes? - Subordination 6.6</ref><ref>Necromancy
Primarily focusing on ghosts, also called echoes, Necromancers can take the ‘echo’ of a dead individual and bring it to bear, influencing the world. They straddle a place between present and memory, life and death, and leverage this position to see and manipulate things others wouldn’t be able to. - Pact Dice: The Practices - Wbow Version</ref> are created by someone or something that leaves a strong impression on the world. While this normally stems from emotional or painful events, moments of brilliance can also create impressions.<ref>“They’re not real beings, they’re echoes of major events that happened. Typically painful, sad, or angry events. Sometimes moments of sheer brilliance. Sometimes other things. Chances are pretty good that the ghost is going to have a limited script to work with. They’ll be single minded. But you should be able to negotiate something. Remember that every second that you’re using your blood to keep it here, you’re making yourself just a bit weaker. There isn’t time to hit your head against a brick wall. Don’t argue with them if they aren’t listening. But if you find leverage, then use it. Roll with whatever happens.” - Excerpt from Damages 2.3</ref> Ghosts aren't the souls of individuals who had died, but are mere impressions that left a strong enough impact on the world and as such the person who leaves behind a ghost can theoretically be alive at the same time.

Could be seen as a natural form of Vestige.<ref>Vestiges can arise naturally. In fact, you could make the argument that ghosts are a subset of vestiges as a whole - they're just really reinforced by the ongoing and complicated pattern of life and death, arising from things that push beyond the boundaries of that pattern. - Excerpt from a Wildbow Comment on Reddit</ref>

Types

Regular ghosts are mere impressions, as such they aren't generally sentient. They can only understand things in the context of the moment they died and resolving the issue that made up the impression will erase them entirely. Ghosts typically function best in enclosed spaces and those they have connections to, but they also function in places where few humans will bother them since they can't stand up to poking and prodding, like the wilderness.<ref>“They function best in enclosed spaces, especially any enclosed spaces they have connections to. Houses, houses with bodies still in them, lurking near their murder weapons, and so on. But that’s not the key bit. They also function in places with very few humans to mess with them. The wilderness.” - Excerpt from Damages 2.3</ref>

A ghost who has become too unstable is called Spectre. They are too unreliable to use or bind in the same manner one would a normal ghost, possibly exploding if handled carelessly.

Likewise, a ghost that has taken in too many negative aspects of different individuals changes from being a ghost to a Wraith. These ghosts are different from their roots as mere impressions and can be hostile and capable of causing physical harm.

"Wild echoes" are ghosts of people who were destroyed by powerful abstract forces such as Incarnations, rather than killed per se. "False echoes" can form of people who never actually existed, drawing emotional resonance from rumour. These ghosts don't have strong ties to death and don't follow the usual rules, and are sometimes encountered by Finders.<ref name=":0">Echoes & remnants. Ghosts, vestiges. Because they intersect with the Paths, they might deal with other kinds of echo.
Wild Echoes - Overlaps with Incarnations, above. Echoes (ghosts) of humans who were done away with by very dramatic Incarnation-type events. Tend to be flavorful, hard-to-deal-with echoes

who don't follow the usual tropes or tools of necromancers, so most

necromancers won't bother. Tools and approaches with Death in mind don't apply if we're talking about an Other who was done away with by Ignonimity or Lust.
False Echoes - Echoes of people who didn't exist, except by rumor. A real pain in the ass for necromancers, but not so much a problem for Finders.
Spirits - Spirits are bread & butter, and not exclusive to the Paths, but frequently found are...
Petitioner Spirits - Spirits consolidated around a

question or set of questions.  They often ask people they see and then

may get power to act if the answer is right or wrong. Can be hooked into echoes or have echoes as central points, depending. - Comment by Wildbow on Finders </ref>

Ghosts can be absorbed by, and form a part of, complex spirits.<ref name=":0" /><ref>I found the Girl by Candlelight. A complex spirit. Remember how Edith just said you can have all those individual things in a twig?

Those things can fall away or separate, and attach to something else.

An echo, or a ghost if you prefer to call it that, or whatever event shook them loose shook enough free that the stray spirits were able to clump together. They form into something coherent, and the complex spirit that results can be a fleeting existence or a concrete one that gets its rougher edges sanded off by time. - Lost for Words 1.3</ref>

Uses

Ghosts aren't typically used because they aren't seen as reliable to work with and burn out if drawn on for power.<ref>“Exactly. There aren’t many places where you find intact ghosts, and they aren’t really sought after, because they’re unreliable to work with and they tend to burn out if you draw on them for power.” - Excerpt from Damages 2.3</ref> As impressions, they can affect their surroundings depending on how they were formed.<ref>“Another thing? Misery likes company, and ghosts tend to try to bring others down to their level. Whatever grips them, they spread it. Anger, pain, sadness, madness…” - Excerpt from Damages 2.3</ref> A ghost who suffered a debilitating injury will share that same pain with all those around it; one that died from being burned or frozen will give off extreme heat or cold. While these sensations aren't real, they feel real enough.

By binding ghosts into weapons or items, their powers can be used and directed. An example would be Blake's Frost Hatchet, where a ghost of a woman who died of hypothermia enables it to freeze things it cuts into or have an area effect when the ghost inside is released.<ref>“We’ll need a way to inscribe the handle, or she can leave any time she feels like it, and she’s liable to go out in one big intense shot of cold the moment you hit something,” Rose said, as I made my way into the hallway. - Excerpt from Damages 2.3</ref>

They can also be used as a power source, but this runs the risk of using them up and wiping out the impressions entirely.

Ghosts can also be warded against by a circle or banished with salt.<ref>“Salt,” she said. “Is a pure substance, and any ghosts that actively want to hurt us are going to be naturally impure. Tainted by anger and hatred.” - Excerpt from Damages 2.3</ref>

Notable Ghosts

References