Ghost Knives

Overview

Ghost Knives (a.k.a. "Soul Shanks" and "Spirit Blades") are an anti-ghost/haunting spirit weapon developed in Oakland, CA's Chinatown in the early 20th Century. They are traditionally blunt so as not to cut flesh, but charmed so to damage to the ectoplasmic structure of ghosts. Enough damage can, if the Ghost does not escape, result in a permanent dispelling of the ghost.

History

The making and use of ghost knives was a practice brought over from China, particularly Sichuan province. Small and blunt, they were used mainly to chase away ghosts. It was considered a bad idea to completely dispel a ghost. Some believed that doing so would doom the spirit never be able to resolve the issue that kept them as a ghost, while also never letting it coalesce again once its ectoplasm had been too badly carved up. It was also believed that it was profoundly disrespectful to the ancestors to completely dispel a ghost.

Sichuan Ghost Knives

The Sichuan ghost knife was a small charm in the shape of a knife. It was commonly made out of bamboo carved into the shape of a blunt knife. Special characters were burned into knife to imbue it with its anti-spectral powers. Usually worn around the neck or tied to a walking stick, the mere presence was considered enough to warn away unfriendly ghosts while being nonthreatening to friendly ones.

Ghost Knives in Oakland, CA

The original ghost knives were small, no longer than a finger, and made of bamboo. But with the rising tide of mystical energy throughout the 20th century, there came an increase in ghostly activity within Oakland. While ghost knife charms were common within Chinatown, they were generally unknown to the non-Chinese public until Henrietta Sherman, local monitor lizard ranch heiress and student of Chinese history, began to popularize the practice among her fellow poker players in 1909 of carrying a ghost knife to ward off troublesome spirits.

The practice caught on amongst the non-Chinese population, and in 1925 an unnamed American cutler-sorcerer, collaborating with a Chinese artist, forged the first metal ghost knife made on American soil and stamped into it the symbols drawn by his artist partner. Soon, metal ghost knives were the fashion, and Oakland cutlers could barely keep up with the demand. Some cut-rate magicians offered to inscribe anti-ghost charms on existing blunt knives, but a purpose-forged ghost knife was considered the far superior artifact.

Metal ghost knives were stronger and more powerful, which led to a more aggressive use of them, until all over town people were slashing at anything that glowed in the night. This led to a demand for larger ghost knives, so as to more quickly and effectively (as well as permanently) dispel ghosts.

Controversy

The Dispelling of the Ghost Monkeys

Main article: Ghost Monkeys of Oakland

For centuries, the spirits of apes and monkeys from all over the globe were drawn to the City of Oakland, CA. This was mainly due to the significant presence of graftopi in Lake Merritt and the various streams and waterways in the city. The Ghost Monkeys, due to the ancestral hatred between simians and all forms of octo- and sextopods, used their ghostly monkey howls to frighten the graftopi back into the water, keeping them from causing too much damage on land.

By the 1940s, the growing presence and use of large metal ghost knives within the city, as well as the indiscriminate nature of the dispellings, meant that beneficial as well as harmful ghosts were being routinely and permanently de-ectoplasmed. This included the Ghost Monkeys. By the mid 1950s, the last Ghost Monkey had been dispelled and no more came to replace them. This led to a massive increase in graftopus activity all over the city and the associated weirdness.

Anti-Ghost Knife Sentiment in Oakland

Many citizens of Oakland, particularly members of the Asian communities, spiritualists/mediums, and those whose religious practices involve ancestor worship, are profoundly against the presence of metal ghost knives within the OMN, especially when used to permanently dispel a ghost through irreparable ectoplasm damage. Julius Fentonbury was one of the earliest vocal opponents of metal ghost knives.

They also resent the loss of the Ghost Monkeys and consider the Gig Herons to be an inferior solution at best. Anti-ghost knife advocates have lobbied The Shield for years to have them banned outright, but because they are part of an established magical tradition, The Shield has chosen to regulate them but has not seen fit to completely ban them.

Ghost Knife Regulations

Blade Length

The current understanding is that blunt ghost knives with a blade length of up to 2.25" are allowable within the city. This is long enough to cause great discomfort to a ghost and cause it to flee, but not large enough to do significant (much less permanent) damage to the spirit's ectoplasm. This is considered a compromise between the pro- and anti-ghost knife factions within the city.

Lich Blades

Traditional ghost blades are blunt, cutting only ectoplasm. A sharpened ghost knife is often referred to as a Lich Blade. Such a weapon is capable of cutting both living flesh and spirit simultaneously.

This is considered a particularly heinous weapon, especially within the environment of the Oakland Mystical Nexus which has a tendency to amplify magical effects. Merely wounding someone with a lich blade within Oakland can cause profound spiritual pain and damage. Killing someone with such a weapon destroys both the soul and body, completely eliminating any possibility of rebirth, reincarnation, or resurrection.

Cutting out someone's soul with a lich blade without killing them is one form of creating a zombie servant. This has only been documented to have taken place within the OMN, and may only be possible due to it's peculiar manasphere.

Forging of a lich blade incurs quite a lot of negative mojo. It must be a start to finish process, and any magicians able to inscribe Sichuan-based anti-ghost charms onto a sharp knife will find the blade blunted by the process.

The Shield has not been seen to take definitive action against wielders of lich blades within Oakland, but the presence of one alone is often enough to start a magical citizens posse looking to identify and neutralize the offender. The Shield's official position on Lich Blades as distinct from Ghost Blades is unknown, as no one has gone to the extreme effort and trouble to make one and only make it 2.25" long.

Category: Mystical Oakland

Published under the terms of the CC BY 3.0 license.