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The Meta(Physics) of the Ghost
Magic doesn't have to have rules, but I'm of the view that settings like the RWBY-verse work better when symbolism is tied to some sort of rational. Things don't have to be scientific, but they should make sense, and so Jaune being a ghost had an awful lot of planning put into it straight from the get go.
To start off with, ghosts like Jaune are basically composed of aura-echoes- the residue of living aura that sticks around and marks something after a person passes. In the same way that Crescent Rose is 'Ruby's' weapon and no one else's even if she puts it down, Jaune's ghost is still his soul for the residual aura imbibing it. Jaune had the aura reserves, and a family sword packed with generations of it, to stick around awhile. That same aura can be used for the ghostly techniques, such as lifting his sword and what not.
But, as the Initiation ending foreshadowed, undeath is a temporary condition- residual aura sustains the ghost, but is a limited resource. Since they aren't alive, it can't be generated. As aura is expended, ghosts have to regain energy from residual aura generated when they were still alive. When ghosts use up all their energy they begin to lose their memory and sense of self, deteriorating until they fade away for good. If the aura loss is sudden, such as for someone who loses/doesn't have residual aura, it's a far more painful experience. Jaune's 'life' as a ghost, even when prolonged by Crocea Mors family aura reserves, would have been measured in years not decades if he just used his own residual aura. Jaune and friends discovering that his life force is finite, and being expended rapidly, would have been a significant plot point.
But- and here would be the upside- while ghosts can't generate aura they can conserve it, and even take the aura of others. The best way to conserve energy is to only tamper with things that are 'theirs' and already imbibed with their residual aura. Using Crocea Mors costs Jaune almost nothing in residual aura, but trying to lift anyone else's weapon would take much more. Practice would make him more effective at it- like how spending energy to work out can make it easier to lift heavy things- but Jaune's main technique is to possess and inhabit a small number of things that are increasingly 'his.' The more he does, the easier it is in the future. This applies to his possessions… and his friends.
Using the aura of others was a more abstract thing, something 'new' that no one even in-story really understood, and so something that the Teams would discover and develop. Think of it as 'leaching', or 'borrowing,' or even 'siphoning' at its worst. It's not that Jaune could store up and increase his aura reserves, but rather that he could use a bit of someone else's aura without expending his own. If Jaune had a Jaune Dream with Ren, for example, then the next day 5% of Ren's aura is available to Jaune. The closer the relationship and more time in the dream, the more aura loaned.
Initially tied to willing sacrifice- the friends take turns letting Jaune use their bodies and aura- by the end game Jaune would be able to leach aura from the very enemies he was fighting, such as ghosts he fights with Crocea Mors. Not much- not as much as he would use when fighting- but enough to mitigate his gradually dwindling reserves.
Jaune's development of his powers was going to be one of the key progressions of the story, and provide the basis of story arcs. Jaune's steady loss of aura was going to be a reoccurring tension point.
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A List of Ghost Powers That Be (Or Could Have Been)
Jaune's powers as a ghost were his means of interaction and the basis of various plot arcs. These include-
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Possession (Inanimate Object)
Jaune's simplest, earliest power, and the one he used to 'puppet' his own corpse and Crocea Mors. Jaune can expend ghost-aura to possess an item and move it at will. Bigger items are 'heavier' and cost more aura- but every time he possesses something, some of his residual aura is left behind and the object becomes 'lighter.' Crocea Mors, with generations of Arc aura, is effectively weightless to him- but a new pencil would feel like a gallon of water.
Jaune can not possess 'owned' objects, which are objects so frequently used by a person that they carry someone else's residual aura. Personal weapons and clothes are the primary examples, though Ruby's cloak is a prominent exception both because Ruby is willing and because it's Summer's aura in the cloak, not Ruby's. The so-what is that Jaune can't lift weapons out of an aura-users hands. However, Jaune can possess the aura of the willing- and so can lift the weapons of his friends once they trust/accept him enough. So, as examples, Jaune could lift mass produced blades from thugs who didn't have aura, but wouldn't be able to steal Cardin's weapon, but would be able to catch Nora's war-hammer mid-air and return it to her as an assist.
Over the story, Jaune would get a collection of items that, by virtue of frequently possessing them, become 'his' and no one elses. These objects would become lighter as Jaune grows stronger.
One of Jaune's items, for communication, is an oija board for regular séances whenever Ruby (or Ren) aren't around.
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Marionette (Puppeting)
An extension of possession, except that instead of going 'inside' and object Jaune controls it from the outside. This was 'seen' by Ren when Jaune puppetted his own body from the outside. Marionette allows Jaune to control a body that isn't his and interact with the world more directly.
Ghosts can not possess the unwilling, as the auras of the living interfere with possession. Jaune could not possess anyone, even a lowly goon, against their will. Ghosts can possess and manipulate those who can't refuse- including the unconscious. So while Jaune can't possess a waking goon, he could posses one a friend knocked out and use it to fight. This can cause complications, or comedy, when the body Jaune is possessing wakes up mid-fight.
Jaune's marionette skill could be used on objects, people, or- since Grimm don't have auras- eventually even Grimm. The people Jaune would marionette would be his own friends- 'borrowing' their bodies when they're asleep, or giving them a chance to keep on fighting after getting knocked out of a fight. The friends allow Jaune to borrow their bodies at night as a way to preserve aura and let him live a little, while the revival strategy becomes Jaune's assistance to fights he's outmatched in.
Jaune's most common marionette would have been his pseudo-body for class attendance purposes- a stuffed animal doll. Jaune's toy doll body, the same as in Coeur's From Beyond story, is constantly being abused and constantly being repaired. Eventually the doll has a voice speaker, which Jaune can possess for limited speaking, but he tends to burn it out.
Jaune can also marionette bodies in big fights, but at a high aura cost- though robots are easy for him to move. By the end of Season 3, Jaune could- at heavy cost- marionette a Grimm to turn it against allies.
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Possession (Living)
One of the rules of the story is that 'the only body a spirit can possess is its own.' Initially introduced as an iron-clad rule about why people shouldn't fear ghosts taking over, it gets twisted as Jaune realizes how delightfully ambiguous that rule is.
(Shout-out to Last Days of Unit Foxhound, for Metal Gear fans.)
The idea of 'possession', both the action and the idea of ownership- would get bandied around a lot, but what it ultimately comes down to is that as Jaune's friends accept him and his residual aura, his aura intermingles with theirs without resistance to the point that he is their ghost and they're his friends and so intermingled that he can 'slip in' as long as they don't try to do anything themselves.
In practical effects- Jaune can possess/inhabit the bodies of his friends when they're asleep or passed out. This lets Jaune have a body and 'live' a nightlife of sorts, and give his friends a second chance during fights when they get knocked out. When they're awake, Jaune can only guide their movements if they let him- otherwise, he's as easy to shake off as a spider web. (Which would have been the metaphor used for possession attempts.)
The one exception to this rule of consensual possession is Berserker Yang, who has no mind or will of her own to resist possession. Jaune can possess Berserk Yang like a bike… and displace the sane Yang at the same time, giving her an out-of-body experience. Yang gets to be a ghost herself until there is mutual agreement to trade control.
Key word- mutual. As in, Yang has to agree to it too.
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Dream Haunting (Sleeping)
One of the rules the Teams discover is that while Jaune can't possess the unwilling, he can posses the asleep. What the Teams never discover the reason for is why Jaune can fall into their dreams.
If Jaune marionettes his friends, it usually works the same as if he possessed an inanimate object until they wake up. If Jaune tries to possess his friends from the inside, however… he can get pulled into their dreamscapes, where Jaune is a part of whatever their imagination is cooking up. Some dreams are sweet and innocent, like Ruby's. Some are reasonable and even lucid, like Ren and Nora and Pyrrha who realize he's in their dream and take the chance to talk. And the rest, like the first times Jaune falls into the dreams of Weiss and Blake…
Well, Team RWBY is filled with healthy, growing girls.
Why does this happen? No one really knows. They guess that it has to do with the friendship between them all, or that the Sisterhood (Who Murdered Jaune) counts as some sort of coven- but the real reason is something else.
It's related to cannibalism. And Polygamy. And has absolutely nothing to do with Blake, at all, no siree.
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Ghost in the Shell (Electronics)
Jaune's ghost form allows him to possess things- but what about electronics?
While aura is tied to dust, and thus dust to ghosts, energy and electricity are a bit further away. When ghost-aura and dust interact, they tend to stick together in some way. Where ghost-aura and electricity overlaps, they can't both be- and so you get short circuits and flickering lights and other such haunted house paranormal normalities.
Early on Jaune has a tendency to short out the computer processors, breaking microphones he tries to speak through. With practice (and many of Weiss's appliances) Jaune eventually is able to possess computers. The key for Jaune is to have a light touch, and not put too much energy into the attempt- useful training for him to not over-exert himself and waste his life-force. Initially done so he can play video games at night while everyone else sleeps, Jaune eventually reaches the ability to possess robots and droids.
Possession of robots is the hook that causes dramatic tension with Penny, who has a (mostly) comedic fear of ghosts. Aside from fearing what she can't see or hear, Penny's real fear is that Jaune would short out her circuits, thus killing her. Ultimately this would not be, since Penny has a soul and her aura protects her. A ghost can not possess the unwilling… and as a gentleman, Jaune wouldn't even try. Jaune and Penny become friends when Jaune is able to successfully posses a small droid body and speak to her.
Getting a robot body to call his own is eventually one of the mid-game strategies of the friends to get Jaune a 'body' that he can call his own, as possessing 'his own' body would save Jaune life-energy and extend his life span. A reoccurring joke would be that every robot body Jaune tries to claim for his own meets an untimely end, from droids to Roman's Paladin.
A separate gimmick about electricity and electronics is that Jaune can get 'stuck' in an electronic circuit if he's too low on ghost-energy before leaving. Until Jaune regains his energy, he's effectively trapped in the circuit like he can be in Crocea Mors, though Ren can see the object glow and Ruby can still hear him. One of the reoccurring jokes is of Jaune getting drawn in and stuck in vacuum cleaners.
On the other hand, it makes a very significant turn to the M for Mature when Jaune gets stuck in one of Blake's night toys before she uses it.
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Dust attraction
Less an ability and more of a nature of his ghostliness. Where electricity and ghosts (usually) don't mix, dust and ghosts stick together. When dust is sprinkled on Jaune it stays, creating a dust-covered figure of his outline.
Or, basically, a visible ghost.
Initially tested as a way to 'prove' Jaune isn't skipping class, there are a couple drawbacks to this form. Dust is expensive, the dust sticks to whatever he touches if he tries to go through people or walls, and he has a tendency to explode when people sneeze.
I'm sorry, did I say 'drawback'? Try 'totally awesome.' Firedust Jaune, a flaming ball of fire, is a veritable willow-wisp when he's not a screaming man on fire. Ice dust Jaunce can freeze people just by walking through them. Gravity-dust Jaune is spooky, and can make things levitate with ease. Lightning dust Jaune is simply shocking. Like kissing a battery. Etc. Etc.
Grimm ash, the dissolving bits of Grimm, also act like dust, sticking to ghosts. Unlike 'regular' dust, which doesn't affect a ghost's personality, Grimm ash irritates a ghost and can drive them insane.
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Energy Drain/Vampirism
A late ability of Jaune's via Crocea Mors that gives him the ability to drain aura for himself.
Crocea Mors- the Yellow Death- starts to shine whenever it fights ghosts. The more ghosts the spirit-weapon hits, the brighter the shine. Crocea Mors- the weapon and the spirit within- can drain the aura of ghosts. That ability doesn't work on the living unless it's a sustained stab or killing. When Jaune stabs someone and pierces flesh, the sword can drink aura from the spilled blood that way as well.
The ability- basically spiritual vampirism- is a potent but dark ability that Jaune is very uncomfortable with. The pragmatic Crocea Mors is accustomed to it- taking the life-force of others to sustain themselves is how old ghosts survive- but the temptation for abuse (and the fact that Jaune used it as a Revenant on his friends during the Cardin incident) frightens him, and he refuses to use it.
Eventually, Jaune and Crocea Mors reach a compromise- only on mad ghosts and willing people. Mad ghosts can't be redeemed, while (eventually) some of the friends will willingly offer blood-sacrifice to give Jaune power for specific feats.
Yes, eventually we were going to get vampire and self-harm jokes as well. Truly this fic had no boundaries.
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Spirit Marriage
Not a thing Jaune does on his own, but rather something Jaune does with his friends.
Spirit marriage is an old pagan practice of binding the spirits of the living to the dead. Doing so creates a bond between souls, and opens up some new abilities- namely dream haunting, an ability to share auras, and summoning.
A spirit marriage can between a ghost and anyone alive, not just the Seers able to sense them. In death, as in life, someone can have multiple spirit marriages. In ye old times, spirit marriages could be both romantic things to keep lovers united, or loveless transactional contracts for mutual benefit, or just done between friends.
Spirit marriage typically starts with the person who unlocks the aura of a spirit and makes them a ghost. Jaune and Ruby have the first spirit marriage in this way. Any other spirit marriages require some sort of catalyst, usually consuming some source of the ghost's residual aura and making it your own.
The key to any good marriage, spirit or otherwise, is heart. Literally.
Not that Blake would know anything about that. No siree. She put her own heart in the cookout at Jaune's funeral post-Cardin. Well, a heart that belonged to her anyway. It's not like Jaune had any more use for it.
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Summoning and Fast Travel
Ghosts like Jaune normally move 'normally'- either floating through space and objects or within objects that are themselves moving- but two other means of faster-than-normal travel are possible.
Fast Travel is the simplest. It's not quite teleportation- the ghost still goes from A to B through the space between- but it's the easiest to do. Ghosts can sense where their bodies are no matter the distance, and return to their bodies lightning-fast. When their bodies are in multiple places, they can identify all of them. This means that- with some aura usage- ghosts can cross great distances very quickly to return to their bodies. They can't stop in the middle- so they can only travel between bones- but they're faster than a speeding bullet.
Call it 'Homeward Bone', rather than 'Homeward Bound,' but it's the same principle. A return spell to their body.
Teleportation can be done by a ghost alone, but summoning is done by spirit-spouses. Spirit spouses can 'pull' on their bond to call their ghost to them, using their own aura to speed the process. It's basically the same mechanic, but initiated and aura-covered by the spouse. If two summons come for a ghost at the same time, it's a painful stretch as the spirit is pulled in both directions at the same time. The summoners get a little feedback, though, and can release the summon.
If a summon and teleportation occur to the same destination at the same time, the speed of travel is phenomenal. Jaune streaks across the sky fast enough to appear to be a shooting star.
This leads to a 'ritualization' of Jaune being called by his Coven in season four, where they agree to call Jaune on certain days at certain times and do it by a little ceremony in order to summon Jaune across Remnant to them. This allows Jaune to be a link between all of them, carrying messages across the group and ensuring no one is truly alone for long.
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Some Non-Jaune Ghost Mechanics
Because it's not all about Jaune.
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'Seers'
People who have a sixth-sense for the supernatural, which allows them to detect the supernatural with one of their other senses. Not all of them actually see ghosts- in fact most don't- but 'Seers' is the common term. Being a Seer is a quasi-heriditary thing, almost like a recessive gene, and quite rare- for unhappy reasons.
Ye long time ago before the Kingdoms, ghosts were a normal and accepted part of civilization. Seers were highly valued for their ability to act as mediums. Things changed with the rise of the kingdoms and 'enlightened' civilization. When the Kingdoms began organized study of ghosts and Grimm, 'scholarly' consensus blamed ghosts and Seers for Grimm attacks.
Realizing that Grimm consumed souls, but didn't need to eat bodies to survive, ghosts were blamed for attracting Grimm into human settlements. When it was realized that Grimm have all ghost senses, like some sort of uber-Seer, Seers were suspected of consorting with Grimm. Seers were hunted by Exorcists, specialized anti-ghost Huntsman who believed ghosts attracted Grimm attacks and that people would be safer if Ghosts were kept away. Seers, who attract ghosts, were hunted to find ghosts. In the hysteria that followed, Seers were suspected of consorting with ghosts and Grimm and burned at the stake as witches. This was when most ghost-lore was lost and destroyed, and the survivors were those who could hide their talents or never knew they had them. Most Seers who survived had the less obvious senses- Taste, Touch, and Smell.
All Seers have a special ability associated with their sense.
Seers, with the visual ghost sense, can see ghosts in their normal state. They can also identify objects being possessed by ghosts. Their special ability is to see residual ghost aura- and, with care and careful aura control, move it between objects. Seers used to be the most common sort of Seer, because they were the easiest to identify. Ren is a Seer.
Listeners can hear ghosts speak. Listeners are uniquely suited for pacifying uneasy spirits by understanding their lingering regrets, and Listeners attract more ghosts than any other sort of Seer because of it. A Listener's special power is Rebuke- the ability to order ghosts to do (or not do) something, giving them great power over ghosts. Listeners used to be the most valued mediums, as they alone could talk to both the living and the dead. Ruby is a Listener.
Tasters can, well, taste ghosts. Ghosts taste like sausage. Or fish. Depends on the gender. Tasters are the rarest kind of identified Seer, because most go their entire lives never knowing their ability. More ominously, though- Tasters have the unique ability to consume ghosts. These 'Ghost Eaters' can devour residual aura and take it for themselves- empowering themselves while destroying the soul, much like a Grimm. Eating a ghost grants power, including more Seer senses, for temporary periods. Tasters had the darkest reputation amongst Seers, with one Legend being of a Ghost Eater who consumed so many Ghosts she became a True Seer, one with all the Ghost senses. Cinder is a Ghost Eater. Neo was a Ghost Eater, but had her tongue removed for committing the taboo of consumption.
Feelers (or touchers) can feel the energies of a ghost. Like Seers, they can also feel residual aura in an item, and so can identify if an object is possessed or if there's a ghost hiding inside just by touch. Feelers have the unique ability physically interact with ghosts- touching them, being touched by them, but also holding onto them and preventing them from fleeing. Most of all, Feelers can 'force' a ghost into an object by pushing them in, and then keep the ghost from escaping. During the Witch Hunts Feelers were highly prized by Exorcists, and allowed to live in exchange for their cooperation in restraining ghosts. Feelers are the most common Seer alive today, being among the most numerous and the easiest to identify. People who aren't Feelers would normally fill a deathly chill when touching ghosts, but Feelers feel a sensation of cobwebs. General Ironwood is a Feeler, and lost his arm putting Penny's soul in her new body. A major Exorcist OC, the one who recruits Ren, would be the primary Feeler in the story. As someone who lacks the ability to see the ghosts, Feelers depend on other means to identify ghosts to grapple and trap.
Smellers… well, you get the pattern. They have the 'worst' Seer ability. Most survivors of the Witch Hunts were Smellers, due to how easy it was to hide and how hard it was to prove. Now a days, most Smellers don't know what they are, or that they are smelling ghosts. The primary ability of a Smeller is that they can 'smell' the mood of a ghost- ie. Whether the ghost is happy, mad, etc. Cardin is a Smeller.
Before the Witch Hunts, Seers were uncommon but normal, like being left-handed. Seers were the earliest shamans and spiritualists, and some of the earliest Hunters who worked with ghost companions. Sometimes Seers dominated communities, but other ghosts would turn against abusive Seers.
The Witch Hunts began when early Kingdoms studying Grimm realized they were True Seers, and had all Seer attributes. When it was proven that Grimm didn't need to eat flesh to survive, but did consume souls, the link between Seers and Grimm and the blame on Ghosts for attracting attacks caused a hysteria. This was a dark age where much ghost-lore was destroyed and forgotten, and most Seers who survived did so by hiding.
Since the Witch Hunts, Seers are little more than myth or legend. Most Seers never realize they are, having the less obvious senses and attributing ghosts to other things. Seers and Listeners are the rarest, and usually hide it- though being called crazy now is more of a childhood burden than a desperate defense by family against Exorcists.
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Exorcists
A secretive, private order of Hunters who hunt Ghosts as much as Grimm. Tracing their origin to the First Kingdoms and the Witch Hunts, Exorcists came to believe that Ghosts caused Grimm attacks and that exorcising Ghosts would protect villagers by decreasing the number of Grimm attacks. The Exorcists weren't directly responsible for the Witch Hunts, which were a period of mass hysteria, but they were involved in hunting down Seers… though most Exorcists tried to recruit them to the cause, not burn them. Those that refused were left to the villagers amongst them.
After the Witch Hunts, the Exorcists retreated from public and maintain their exorcisms discretely. Exorcists maintain the public cemeteries, go to distant villages as regular Hunters, and hunt down any sign of the supernatural run amuck. They run the businesses of death, as undertakers and cemetery managers and hospice care, all so that they can exorcise ghosts quietly and discretely. Exorcists only publicly reveal themselves as such in the rare cases there is a rampant bad ghost. Otherwise, they act as normal Hunters in all respects. Unlike Cardin, who was immature, while Exorcists consider ghosts a danger they also try to respect the dead and avoid acts such as desecration.
Modern Exorcists look back at the Witch Hunts as a regretful excess, but see themselves as protecting the public against ghosts and the Grimm they bring. Exorcists would argue that that current age of peace and expansion of civilization in the wilderness is because there are fewer ghosts to prompt Grimm attacks. They would point to the wars creating ghosts as a cause of increased Grimm attacks, and their lack of presence and exorcisms in Mountain Glenn as the reason it fell to Grimm.
It's a non-verifiable argument, and a bit circular in cause and effect, but Exorcists believe they are exorcising Ghosts for the greater good of the living. They are not genocidal towards Seers, and actively recruit them with arguments of protecting people against ghosts- though those that refuse are watched with suspicion.
Exorcist oppose all ghosts, though how best to dispose of them a matter of debate. Helping a ghost 'move on' is indisputably the best-case scenario, but the hardest to achieve due to limits in communication and resources. Banishment expels and keeps a ghost from an area, but could turn them into grimm food. Exorcism removes a ghost possession and all residual aura from an object, but can be resisted by strong ghosts and only targets their aura reserves. Sealing traps a ghost in an object, but sealed ghosts use almost no energy and can last for decades or even centuries. Sealing is considered the most reliable technique, and Exorcists have multiple ways to seal ghosts. The ultimate sealing devices are the artifacts known as 'Lanterns.'
The one way Exorcists will not get rid of ghosts is Ghost Eaters. Eating ghosts is treated as the ultimate taboo, as bad or worse than cannibalism.
The Exorcists retain the largest known surviving lore repository on ghosts, and the most means to exorcise them. The Exorcists and Beacon Academy are not on good terms.
Cardin Winchester is from a family of Exorcists, famous within the Exorcist community. A separate Exorcist OC, who is also a Seer with the ghost-sense of Touch, is the primary Exorcist representative, and the one who tries to recruit Ren.
After the destruction of a Lantern during Season 3, the Exorcists have to raise their profile to deal with all the ghosts returned to the world. The Exorcists are an organization in flux, adapting to a change in the world order, and one where the old ways of treating all enemies ass ghosts and sealing them all away may no longer be possible. Even so, Exorcists still have a role in countering bad ghosts.
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Killing Ghosts
Ghosts 'die'- are permanently dispelled- in three main ways: aura loss, moving on, and consumption.
Aura loss is the natural way. Residual aura is a limited resource, and ghosts naturally consume it when they act or use their powers. Ghosts that stop acting and do almost nothing can last for decades, even centuries, but active ghosts will burn themselves out in months or years. Desecration or exorcism will destroy the residual aura stored in a body or object.
When ghosts get low on aura available, they'll dissipate, and reform from residual aura. This is what happens after Initiation, when Jaune 'recharges.' When ghosts run low on aura over a long period of time, ghosts begin to lose parts of themselves- their memories, activities, minds- as they lose more and more aura. As ghosts hollow-out they become simpler, and more simplistic- focusing on whatever mattered most to them in life, and obsessing over whatever they regret. 'Dying' ghosts can become unstable- burning out in a chaotic last gasps- or wither away into almost nothing as lingering wisps.
Aura loss can be prevented by siphoning or tapping into other aura sources. Residual aura between families can be shared, such as the Arc family legacy of aura build-up in Crocea Mors. Aura can also be taken from the living through spirit marriage. When possessing a living person, a ghost uses no energy of their own, but people with aura can't be possessed against their will.
Aura loss can be accelerated by dissipating the residual aura buildups. Acts of desecration, exorcism, or destroying the repositories will dispel the residual aura. Most Exorcists will attempt to dissipate a spirit by destroying residual aura if they can't seal or convince it to move on.
'Moving on' is the idea way for ghosts to depart- willingly and dissipating with an easy spirit. Ghosts are, at the end of it, people who die with regrets and unresolved desires. Not everyone creates a ghost when they die. Resolving those desires can allow the ghosts to find peace with themselves, and go to the next plane of existence. No Ghost knows for sure what comes after- only that there is something, be it heaven or hell or reincarnation.
Helping ghosts 'move on' used to be the primary role of Seer Shamans. Exorcists admit that moving on is ideal way to resolve a ghost peacefully, but as it is harder and more difficult they rely on quicker, more forceful alternatives instead.
Jaune's reason for not moving on is his lingering regret- his dream of being a Huntsman. Even if Jaune survives until then, upon graduation he may move
Consumption is what happens when a ghost's soul and residual aura are devoured by someone or something else, primarily Grimm. Grimm- who have all Seer senses- will hunt and consume spirits in the wilds, just like anyone else. Seers with the Taste sense can do so as well, and consuming ghosts grants them more Senses. Aura/soul-affecting machinery, such as Maiden Machine, would also consume a soul. Consuming a soul grants power at the cost of the existence of the soul consumed.
Consumption is the ultimate taboo in dealing with ghosts. The Aura-unlocking oath was a vow by the First Hunters and Seers to protect ghosts (their lost friends and ancestors) from the Grimm. Ghost Eaters were villains of legend, consuming the dead in mad quests of power that brought them closer to Grimm. Even Exorcists are put off by the tactic, seeing it too close to Grimm. While early Exorcists banished Ghosts to be eaten by the Grimm and distract from settlements, modern Exorcists prefer to seal ghosts or exorcise their residual aura.
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Weapon Spirits
Weapon spirits are an idea tied to the idea of spirit marriages and significant weapons. Weapon spirits are products are the offspring of spirit marriages, but more equivalent to a Hunter's weapon gaining a soul.
Weapon spirits are ghosts who have never been alive. They survive entirely on the ambient energy of the weapon (or object) they inhabit. As Weapon Spirits always stay within the weapon they inhabit, and (almost) never use any actual power or energy, they are almost never seen or noticed. Weapon spirits only exist in weapons of people with locked aura, who can't 'own' their weapons, or 'willing' Hunters. 'Willing' is where spirit marriage comes in. Weapon spirits are the offspring of spirit marriages and ghost unions, and were never alive to generate ambient energy of their own because they were 'born' after death. Because weapon spirits have no ambient energy of their own to forcibly 'possess' things, and because the only aura a ghost can co-exist with is their own or a willing family, weapon spirits can only really survive in a parent's weapon.
Crocea Mors is the first weapon spirit in the story, and explains the restrictions of sharing residual aura to non-family to Jaune when Yang has her out-of-body existential crisis. Crocea Mors serves as the exposition device bringing up spirit marriage as an actual, explicit, ghost mechanic.
Crocea Mors is a pretty reclusive weapon spirit and was present the whole time. No one knows it's actually a spirit because no one asked, and even if they did it probably wouldn't have responded- Crocea Mors has seen many Arcs wield it, and seen even more Arcs die. The product of an Arc spirit marriage ye long time ago, Crocea Mors and Jaune have their fates tied when Crocea Mors becomes Jaune's only aura source. Since they both cease to be if Jaune uses up all the Arc ambient aura stored in the weapon, Crocea Mors eventually begins to help Jaune develop ghost powers and pushes him towards getting a new body.
Crocea Mors is an old spirit, and spirits only live long enough to become old if they learn to gain more aura than they use. That means taking it from others, and Crocea Mors has survived both by the gradual residual aura buildup from countless generations of Arcs wielding it, but also by spiritual vampirism. Crocea Mors, if it had form, would be a vampire, albeit a knight in sour armor sort. Crocea Mors is ruthless and exploitative- even considering draining Yang's ghost- but has to compromise to Jaune's sense of morality. Crocea Mors is committed to survival, though, and so won't stand by silently if Jaune wastes aura.
There aren't many weapon spirits around due to Exorcists acting freely for all these centuries and 'blessing' the weapons of Hunters regularly, banishing latent spirits without the residual aura reserves to resist. One of the few is Roman's Melodic Cudgel- a weapon he stole, but with whom he has a willing relationship due to his partnership with Neo. Melodic Cudgel allows Roman to put up a fight against ghosts. There are also legendary cursed weapons, ancient artifacts, and a few non-weapons haunting around. At one point in the story there would be a 'Beauty and the Beast' sort of section, where an entire mansion is filled with possessed tea cups and other things.
A few more weapon spirits are conceived in the story… through the Jaune dreams with his coven.
Spiritual marriage doesn't require dream sex to produce weapon spirits, just spiritual/emotional intimacy- and so ghost-Jaune spiritually knocks up his entire coven. Including, yes, Ren. Somehow. It doesn't make any sense to them either. But, hey, it's friends with (spiritual) benefits.
Ruby is the first to get spiritually pregnant despite never having a dirty dream with Jaune, which makes her 'baby' something of a special case as a ghost virgin birth. It was conceived due to their closeness right before/after the Cardin incident, and Ruby delivers during the Season 3 finale. The rest of the Coven picks up their spiritual conception at different points in arcs 1 and 2. Yang conceives after her out-of-body crisis and resulting ghost marriage, Blake picks up after the Docks when she starts a friendly friends-with-benefits dream-only relationship with Jaune, and Weiss conceives at the end of the Dance Arc.
Team JNPR, despite being platonic, also conceive. Ren conceives through the bromance he and Jaune gradually build up, especially when Ren is coerced into joining the Exorcists for Jaune's sake. Nora conceives after the climax of Season 3, during a post-breakup comfort session with Jaune after she feels betrayed by Ren's decision to go with the Exorcists. Pyrrha is the last to conceive, and hasn't as of the end of Season 3. She and Jaune would get closer as a result of her quest against Cinder, and get close enough some time in Season 4 or 5. Ren- it's platonic, but it comes from Jaune helping Ren through his investigation of the Exorcists, and helping set up Ren and Nora.
The coven splits at the end of Season 3 more or less knocked up in spirit, with weapon spirits pregnancy being born in season 4 and inhabiting the weapons of their mothers. Thus, Ruby's 'my baby' for Crescent Rose takes a new meaning. Spiritual pregnancy is mostly played for comedy, what with hunger craves and comedic mood swings being blamed on it, but also plays to drama. The break-up of the teams, the limited time Jaune can spend with any of them as he's summoned back and forth across Remnant, and their own individual plots. Blake in particular has to deal with a real pregnancy with her resumed relationship with Adam as part of her cover. (The baby, when seen, has blonde hair... which causes more drama.)
The weapon spirits, once born, aren't really meant as real characters, or squalling babies. They'd effectively be empowering the weapons with 'life,' making them capable of occasional feats of ghostly power. Actual sentience/awareness for the new spirits would be years away. Crocea Mors would be the only weapon-spirit 'character' for the core group.
Ruby can 'hear' the weapons murmuring softly, and Ren can see the ghostly aura, and the weapons start getting described in terms of personality or emotion, but otherwise they are latent characterizations of the character-weapons rather than new characters in and of themselves. They would 'grow up' well after the story. They can appear in the Jaune dreams, however, where they have shifting and highly symbolic forms ranging from weapons to children.
The biggest mechanic of the ghost babies, besides Crocea Mors as an exposition device, is that weapon spirits allow physical weapons to damage spirits. This is why Ghost Jaune can fight ghosts with Crocea Mors, why Roman can fight with Jaune rather than Jaune pull the breaks and stop the Breach immediately, and why all party members will be able to deal with hostile ghosts even when Jaune isn't there.
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Covens
The Sisterhood Who Murdered Jaune is a mouthful, but it was important because the Sisterhood (as it refers to itself) gradually becomes an actual Coven when dealing with Jaune.
Covens are groups of witches, the seers and mundanes who consort with ghosts and spirits. Since the Witch Hunts ye long ago, Covens have been secretive and reclusive. Covens have a cooperative relationship with ghosts, sharing their aura through spirit-marriage in exchange for a ghost's assistance. Covens have secret rituals, questionable intentions, and dark rumors. Covens can be centered around one ghost or many.
The Sisterhood Who Murdered Jaune is Jaune's coven. First identified as such by the Exorcists, it's not the only one to have existed. Salem and Glynda were both members of covens back in the day, and the Exorcists regard covens with suspicion. The Sisterhood practices, when spied upon, show that a lot of the secret rituals are really just silly friend games done for atmosphere, like a group of geeks dressing in costumes before playing D&D. A coven's nature depends of the quality of the people, and as far as intentions go…
The Sisterhood's intentions are to keep Jaune alive through graduation by sharing aura through spirit-marriage. There's a theological dispute between RWBY and JNPR about whether they should aim for a new body or help Jaune move on, but it's not a real issue (yet). It might come forth when Jaune really does near the end of the Arc Aura Reserves, but until then they're delying that day and willing to respect Jaune's wishes.
Despite starting platonically, the Coven unintentionally becomes a quasi-polyamory as the girls (and Ren) 'share' Jaune, have Jaune Dreams, and Jaune helps brings them closer together (and back together after Season 3).
Covens other than the Sisterhood don't factor much in the plot in seasons 1-3, but in Season 4 Pyrrha, Ruby, and Nora would encounter another coven. This coven- a bad coven with bad ghosts led by Brenda Badwitch- would illustrate the harm that conspiratorial covens and bad ghosts can do to a community.
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Grimm Ash
Grimm Ash is the stuff Grimm are made of- literally. The black material that dissolves when Grimm are killed, Grimm Ash has spiritual properties that affect ghosts. Grimm have all 5 ghosts senses, being able to taste/touch/see/smell/feel Grimm, and Grimm will target spirits as much as the living. Even after being killed Grimm are a threat.
Grimm Ash is like dust, in that it sticks to ghosts. The negativity of Grimm can affect ghosts, overpowering them and turning them mad if they lack the will power or aura to resist. Grimm ashen ghosts are called 'Revenants,' and they are Bad Ghosts to the max. Grimm ash dissolves too fast to be used, but it is effectively a type of dust in how it relates to ghosts.
Grimm have unclear relationships to ghosts and seers. Grimm will devour ghosts, and the first Hunters (and the aura-unlocking ritual) were living people who swore to protect ghosts from Grimm. Unlike the common thought that Grimm grow older with age, they truth is that Grimm really grow stronger and wiser when they consume spirits. Animal spirits (nature spirits) do exist- which Grimm will kill in the wild for hunter/power- but it's really the consumption of ghosts that evolve Grimm.
When 'taste' Seers consume enough ghosts, they become Grimm. This implies that the first Grimm were power-hungry Seeers who consumed so many ghosts they literally became monsters, possibly as a result of a curse. This is what happens to Cinder in the season 3 finale, when she feasts upon souls in an Exorcist Lantern.
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The Lanterns
An Exorcist Relic. Lanterns were created Ye Long Time Ago by a primeval civilization to deal with ghosts. A Lantern literally looks like a shuttered lantern when closed, and has no special indicators to Seers or Grimm, but when it's opened it beams brilliantly and golden. Any ghost that sees the Lantern is attracted like a moth to a flame. Any ghost that touches the Lantern disappears, and only the strongest ghosts can resist its pull.
Lanterns are great spiritual prisons built by the Primeval Civiliation to contain ghosts. Inside the Lantern are countless 'jails' like a cell block, with a seemingly never-ending number of stories of cells built on a 'cliff' that is actually the inside of the Lantern. Inside the prison, 'golems' serve as the guards keeping the prison maintained and returning ghosts to their cells even if they manage to escape.
Spirits within a Lantern are in stasis, neither dying or able to pass on to the next phase of existence. Nora's Grandmother is one such spirit trapped on the edge of non-existence, unable to move on. The Lanterns are not 'cruel,' they don't cause pain to the ghosts, but the ghosts inside are unable to move on. If a Lantern is destroyed, all ghosts inside are released and scatter across the world, looking like shooting stars in the sky.
Lanterns were originally created with the help of both ghosts and the living. The Lanterns fell to the Exorcists during the Witch Hunts, and are now closely held and hidden. Once exclusively used to seal away bad ghosts, the Exorcists have used it to seal away all types of ghosts. The breaking of a lantern has released many innocent spirits, but also let loose ancient and evil spirits back into Remnant. The Exorcists have many lanterns, but their over-use on good and evil ghosts alike has filled many of them to capacity. Were the Exorcists able to release good ghosts, they could use the lanterns on the evil ghosts let loose by Pyrrha, but they've lost the means to do so.
Cinder hunts the Lanterns to consume the souls trapped inside. Just one Lantern holds enough spirits to turn Cinder into a Grimm, albeit incompletely since Pyrrha destroys it to save Jaune and Summer. The Exorcist OC who recruits Ren works to protect the remaining Lanterns from Cinder.
Jaune and Ren work to infiltrate one Lantern to rescue Nora's Grandmother in Season 4 after finding that she was sealed, not banished. Removing a good spirit but not the bad ones would be a new capability for the Exorcists, and open up the possibility that the currently filled Lantern-prisons could gradually be emptied of good ghosts so the Lanterns could be used against Bad Ghosts.
The light of a Lantern can repel Grimm, but only briefly. Because souls have power, and Grimm are the True Seers with all ghost senses, Grimm need to be prevented from consuming souls whenever possible. The Exorcists protect the Lanterns from Grimm at all costs, because if any Grimm were to devour a Lantern and all the ghosts within, the results would be world-shaking (or moon-breaking) cataclysm.
To prevent such a mythic cataclysm from happening, again, most Lanterns are protected deep within the Hunter Schools. The Exorcists have a few of their own. Because the shutters of Lanterns hide the ghosts within from the Grimm, there are rumors and legends of lost Lanterns in forgotten Ruins.
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Types of Ghosts
Ghosts are a broad category with lots of special conditions. All ghosts survive on residual aura and/or dust.
Ghosts- Ghosts is a general term, but can specify 'aura-using' spirits who are awakened and have individuality and awareness. Ghosts can use residual aura from life for ghost abilities.
Spirits- Spirits are pretty much anyone who dies but doesn't move on. Since all individuals have latent aura, anyone can produce a spirit, but only spirits who have their aura unlocked before or after death become ghosts. Most spirits who aren't ghost are simplistic, harmless beings who simply fixate on what they couldn't do in life. Spirits typically have minimal impact on the living because they don't have the aura reserves or awareness to do much.
Wraith- Wraiths are angry spirits, driven mad by fury at their deaths. Wraiths can also be Spirits who are driven mad by the desecration of their bodies. The White Fang turns harmless spirits into wraiths by unclear means of desecration. Blake goes undercover to find out how, especially when it's shown that the White Fang is somehow corralling ghosts and taking them to Vale before turning them into Wraiths. Bodies are moved in coffins, but everything else is a mystery. (Totally not an excuse for not being planned.)
Revenant- Revenants are ghosts who are corrupted and empowered by Grimm ash. Revenants are aware, awake, and angry. Revenants can control or direct Grimm. When a Revenant is around its bad news, though the corruption of the Grimm can be lessened by dispelling the Grimm ash on a ghost. Legends tell of Revenants overthrowing and even ruling small kingdoms, using Grimm as their servants.
Specters- Ghosts who aren't directly malevolent, but who feed off the residual aura of the just-died. The vultures of the ghostdom, specters follow people they think are going to die to steal as much residual aura as they can when they do. If someone becomes a ghost, their after-life may be much shorter if a pack of Specters is ready when they just get used to being a ghost. While specters are usually too greedy/covetous of aura to expend it and be a threat, there are some specters who 'help' someone meet their timely demise.
Wisps- Wisps are ghosts and spirits who have lost so much residual aura that they barely hang on. Frequently phasing in and out of existence, wisps typically simplify to what was most important to them in life or the after life. Summer Rose is a Wisp, trapped in a state of barely existing off of the residual aura of Ruby's cloak, but unable to be close due to Ruby's rebuke.
Guardian Spirits- Benevolent ghosts who regret leaving someone behind, and refuse to move on in order to continue to watch over them. Guardian spirits can be parents, lovers, or even close friends. Guardian spirits are more active spirits, willing to use their residual aura to help their favored. Tragically, Guardian spirits will often use up all their aura rather than move on, self-sacrificing to the last. Moving on typically requires some goal or moving on to occur on the part of the subject- such as a child growing up and being happy. Because guardian spirits focus on their targets, they frequently devolve into wisps. Summer was a guardian spirit before becoming a wisp.
Will-o-wisp- Wisps that have accumulated fire dust for some reason. Fire dust can provide a faint glow easily visible to the living, even as the spirits mindlessly move for their own purposes. Also known as 'fool's fire.'
Weapon spirit- Spirits conceived between a ghost and living person in a spirit-marriage. Because they are never alive, they have no residual aura of their own and can only survive based off their parents. Weapon spirits can grow personalities and identities, like Crocea Mors, but are mostly treated more as a person's weapon 'awakening' than as an actual character or personality. Weapon spirits allow weapons to damage otherwise intangible ghosts.
Nature Spirits: A natural occurrence in the wilds. Nature spirits are produced when Grimm die without human/faunus involvement. Whether to natural causes or exceptional animals, the Grimm Ash is purified over time and becomes a nature spirit. Nature spirits are born of nature, and protect nature, defending their environment from external threats. Grimm hunt nature spirits as they would human spirits, but nature spirits can fight back, albeit often at a disadvantage. While Nature Spirits typically fear/oppose the encroachment of mankind, spirits have no quarrel with those in tune with and respectful of nature. Nature spirits aren't sentient, being basically magical animals of the Grimm, but protecting them from Grimm can get gratitude and reciprocity.
Unlike most ghosts, nature spirits don't run out of aura. They gather ambient aura from the environment and all living things around them, without harming anyone. While Nature Spirits are victims of Grimm more often than not, there are areas where particularly powerful nature spirits keep zones Grimm-free. There is at least one Dragon-type nature spirit who exists and keeps an entire region free of Grimm- though development of the region threatens to despoil the nature that sustains the Dragon who keeps the Grimm away that makes the settlements possible. Ultimately, Jaune learning Nature Spirit aura-absorption is a key point to stopping his death and decline.
Legion: A Legion is a gestalt (collective) of spirits sharing the possession of a single object or individual. These spirits are so closely binded that they actually do merge, 'sticking' together and unable to separate for long/at all. A Legion is a collective, and the collective will dominates as a singular but shifting persona. Neo is an example of a legion spirit, possessing a single body. A Legion spirit has the power, and residual aura, of all the ghosts it is composed of- meaning that for a ghost with a vessel, like Neo, if she has 5-7 ghosts she'd have 5-7 times the normal residual aura reserves to use for ghost powers. Legions are powerful spirits, but the collective nature makes it almost impossible for them to move on.
Angels: Ghosts of Atlas who have created a society/civilization in the frozen, dust-filled North. Angels are ghosts who organized to protect people from Grimm, rather than the Hunters who organized to protected ghosts from Grimm. Angles have a hierarchy- and a mostly-benevolent but isolationist god-king- and an idea of a 'Kingdom of Heaven.' Angels are broadly benevolent towards the living, but can obsess about strict codes of conduct. Angels exist in Atlas thanks to the frozen tundra killing Grimm and protecting them from discovery, but also due to the rule of their god-king keeping them back from Human society. The god-king is an ancient ghost, almost a whisp now, who remembers a time when the Moon was Whole and Ghosts Ruled the World. The Angels are uber-isolationist, and preparing to fight some long-forgotten Great Enemy.
The Schnees have a special tie to Angels after discovering the Angels, but keeping their existence a secret. In exchange, the Schnees were blessed with their semblance and have a guardian angel who's trying to protect President Schnee.
Devils: Ancient and extremely evil ghosts. Tainted to the core with Grimm Ash, Devils are Seriously Bad- wicked, clever, powerful, and malevolent. Devils are ghosts from the Primeval Empire- the ancient, cruel civilization that built the golems as slave-warriors and created the Lanterns. The Devils have survived… somewhere, somehow, and probably off of tyrannizing the living in some secret and deep place. The Devils- and the Primeval Empire- had something to do with the rise of Grimm, the shattering of the Moon, and so on. They were an extremely, extremely late-game enemy who would first be foreshadowed by the Angels. Despite their ghost powers, including an ability to manipulate/incite Grimm, they are vulnerable to disruption or exorcism and so depend on others. The Devils are tied to Cinder.
Crypt Lords: Mummies, Vampires, and every other kind of dead but moving ruler. Undead ghost-god-kings of the Primeval Empire, and more recent ghost-tyrranies, Crypt Lords still have their powers and residual aura to spare. Unlike the Devils, who have survived as ghosts all this time, the Crypt Lords retained their bodies- and the bodies of many of their followers. Crypt Lords still rule their necropolises, burial palaces or entire cities in which hundreds or thousands of their followers would be buried alive with them to serve them after death. Crypt Lords are generally evil, but occasionally sentient, and can even be bargained with- but they are very covetous, and don't give their treasures lightly. Crypt Lords- though not a faction- would have information on the Devils, ancient relics, and one would even have a Lantern. The Necropolis would be filled with ghosts enslaved (or devoured) by the Lord of the Crypt, but while enforces would be zombies/skeletons or even, for the oldest sorts, golems. Crypt Lords and necropolis would be a 'boss zone' or sorts for the group to get Ancient Artifacts or find information on the Devils, and so on. Crypt Lords are not unified- too selfish and insular to care- and not aligned with Cinder or the Devils even if they know of them. Cinder would attack some crypt lords in a order to devour their souls/steal ancient artifacts.
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Curses
Curses are a broader concept of malevolent intent by ghosts. When ghosts curses someone, they trade their own life force to negatively harm someone else. Curses are a mark of obsession, an expression of hatred so intense that someone would die just to make someone else suffer. It's typically done by 'sane' mad ghosts- rather than near-feral wraiths- who died cursing their enemies and know they'll die a second death unable to hurt them any other way.
Curses can have 'magical' effects on people, from bad luck to madness. When most people would assume is 'that person is possessed,' it's usually a curse. Curses can target rooms or locations- like a cursed room where objects will fly through the air- or people. When targeting people, curses can cause the same sort of instability and corruption of spirit that grimm ash causes ghosts.
President Schnee, Weiss's father, has been cursed by the ghosts of Faunus who died under the SDC's influence. Weiss's father is also cursed by the ghost of Schnees and other humans who died for the SDC, and are attempting to make Weiss's father ensure their sacrifice was not in vain. It's the Schnee's curse to bear the curses of both sides of the Human/Faunus racial strife, and it's a curse President Schnee never wanted Weiss to bear.
Weiss's father sent/drove Weiss to Beacon in order to protect her from the curses that haunt the Schnees.
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Familiars
Animal ghosts tied to a person. Familiars would be spirits of animals, specifically animals with unlocked aura, who bonded with specific individuals. In exchange for sharing the living person's aura, Familiars are loyal companions who use their ghost abilities to see the partner succeed. Familiars are typically pets whose loyalty extends beyond the grave, but their exact creation might require the assistance of a human/faunus ghost.
One idea for Cardin was that he'd have a familiar of his own, a grey zone for Exorcists who normally oppose spirits and showing that the Exorcists are not quite as anti-ghost as they appear. Cardin's familiar would have been responsible for framing Jaune. However, this was a bit too hard to plan, and if the familiar died it might have been too sympathetic for Cardin and too villainous for Jaune.
Zwei is an example of a would-be familiar. If Zwei died- probably for tragedy in season 4- his spirit would stick around as a familiar for Ruby and/or a ghost-dog companion for Jaune. (Zwei's residual aura would- ironically- be on Jaune's bones that Zwei keeps as a chew toy.)
No familiars were actually killed in the planning of this story.
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Golems
Technically what Penny is, and what Jaune tries to be during the times Jaune tries to claim a robot body.
Golems are constructs that serve as artificial bodies for ghosts. They provide form, protect the ghostly aura inside, and because they are 'owned' by the ghost they take almost no aura to move. Golems are actually an ancient lost art from the same primeval civilizations that invented the Lanterns, and were used as both laborers and warriors. Because they were inhabited by ghosts, and not living spirits, golems could touch and affect ghosts.
Ancient golems didn't create aura, like Penny, but preserved the aura of the ghosts inside almost perfectly. Some golems still function within the forgotten ruins of ancient civilizations. Only archeologists, and the Exorcists, know of their existence or have ever seen any. The same technology used to trap and preserve ghosts was used in the Lanterns. The Exorcists studied the golems and Lanterns to develop sealing technologies, but were never able to replicate the Lanterns themselves.
Penny was designed based off golems. She was given free will, as Ironwood never intended to have a slave, but slavery is what the original golems were made for. With the return of ghosts, and the fallout of the Penny Project, nefarious actors in Atlas turn to creating golems as both a means to combat the White Fang and rogue ghosts, but also for more militant objectives.
The idea of building a golem army to face the grimm would be a 5/6/7th season problem, foreshadowed for seasons before becoming prominent. A golem army is impressive, but it begs a question-
If the ancients had golem armies, why did they fall?
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Unborn and Unwanted
Unborn are the souls of children who died before birth. Unlike weapon spirits, who never had a body, the Unborn had a body and lost it. They have little residual aura, little time left, and can sense it. They burn out fast, like fire flies. Despite having never lived, they have the intelligence of a young child, and are frequently emotional even as they soon starve away.
The Unwanted are souls of aborted children- either those fully aborted, or the souls of children turned into homunculi during pregnancy. Like the Unborn, they have intelligence. Ripped from their own body, they can possess no other. They're doomed, and they know it, and they are angry. Unwanted are angry, vengeful spirits- either at the perpetrator who harmed their mother, or the parents who conceived but refused to have them. Unwanted are some of the most dangerous ghosts, murdering their 'parents' so that they won't die alone.
Blake would be faced with an Unwanted spirit as a consequence of her 'resuming' a relationship with Adam after her fake defection back to the White Fang.
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Genesis Pools
Like a Grimm spawning pit, but for Homunculi.
The Angels of Atlas have their own ghost-Kingdom without relying on the Kingdom of Atlas. They do this through the Genesis Pools, which… well, basically spawn soulless homunculi that the angels ration and share for aura. The Angels use these homunculi to dig and build their kingdom.
Genesis Pools, according to Angel Lore, what predated the Grimm spawning pits. The most evil of Seers and spirits corrupted the Genesis Pools, creating the Grimm, who went on to taint all others. Atlas has the last Genesis pools, frozen beneath the ice and tundra that not even Grimm can survive.
The Schnee Family semblance- which allows summoning- is tied to the Genesis Pools in some way. When the Schnees mined Atlas, they broke through to the Kingdom of Angels and found the Genesis Pools. In exchange for keeping the location a secret and protecting it from Grimm, the Angels blessed the Schnees with the Semblance, which summons Angels to the aid of Schnees.
Salem Arc, Jaune's mother, is aware of the Genesis Pools. She can't access or make one herself, but she believes she can use a Grimm spawning pit to spawn Jaune a new body. Such a body would be Grimm-born, and have dark Grimm influences if inhabited.
Genesis pools, and Homunculi, offer a prospective way for Jaune to have a living body.
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Homunculi
Artificial humans, they are the opposite of weapon spirits, empty shells waiting to be possessed. Weapon spirits are souls born without bodies- homunculi are bodies born without spirits.
Strictly speaking, homunculi can be made the old-fashioned natural way- if a child is born brain-dead, a ghost can take over and provide new life and soul to the body. 'Homunculi' comes from that in Remnant there exist natural herbs and potions to deliberately do this. A baby's soul could be aborted, or prevented from forming at all, thus allowing an empty shell to be born and be possessed. In ancient primeval empires, Homunculi were used to preserve ghost-kings across generations.
Homunculi can also be formed in other, non-abortive ways as well. Cloning could be used to create homunculi. Rituals and Magic on spawning pools, like what the Grimm are formed from, might suffice as well. This is what Salem would have attempted to do for Jaune- spawn him a new body from a Grimm spawning pool. There could be a 'frankenstein' homunculi as well- bodies patched together by mad scientists and re-animated with ghost and a bit of science. By and large, though, homunculi refer to flesh and blood.
Despite having no soul and being 'empty,' homunculi can function without one- they just operate on base instinct and stimuli. If a Homunculi is left alone and unpossessed long enough, it can even start to form a soul of its own, though Homunculi souls are almost non-existent and have a shakier hold on their body than 'real' people.
Besides the prospect of a Homunculi body for Jaune, three Homunculi were tentatively planned for the story.
First, and firmest, is Neo. Neo is a homunculi- who is possessed by multiple ghosts. The ghosts take turns, 'sharing' Neo's body, which is what causes Neo's constant eye-color change.
Secondly, and far more tentative, would be a child of Blake's. This was undecided, since I wasn't sure of timeskip and other things, but after 'defecting' to the White Fang Blake 'resumes' her relationship with Adam and becomes pregnant for reals while also pregnant with a weapon spirit. When Adam discovered the baby wasn't his- that it was blonde- he'd try to force Blake to abort it. If it was born alive- if- it would have been a homunculi.
The third, and final homonculi of the story...
Yang.
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Author Note:
And who says summaries can't have cliffhanger plot twists?
A lot of mechanics and ideas, many of which never really got planned into anything in particular. Sorry for the delay- stuff and things happened. You know- stuff. And things.
I think there was a glitch with FFN yesterday, so if you left any thoughts I can't seem them. Feel free to add them again to any thoughts about these mechanics.
Next will be character concepts and some of the future character arcs for the future. This will go further into season 4 and beyond. If stuff and things continue to happen, you may have to wait a day longer than usual.