"I don't know why the police referred me to you," Lydia said, looking nervous and out of place. "Are you a specialist in stalkers or something?"
Emilio Lorenz considered how much he should tell the distraught housewife about what he actually did for a living, and decided instead to get right to business.
"I'm a special consultant to the police," he said, gesturing for her to sit down in the chair across the desk from him. "Now, I've looked over your report, and I have a few questions."
Lydia sat and nodded dumbly. Something about the Italian man's voice was very reassuring, if not particularly warm or comforting.
"You say that a stranger approached you and began to ask you about personal matters of which he should have had no prior knowledge. Is that correct? That's why you feel you are being stalked?"
"Yes," Lydia said. "He asked me about a manuscript my husband was working on. But my husband died two years ago, and he'd never talked about it in depth to anyone but me. Anyway, this weird man said the title, and asked me if I, of all people, was going to finish it. Then he started asking me how I was doing and what I was thinking. I got so scared I just ran away."
"Understood," Emilio said, marking something on a yellow legal pad. "How exactly did your husband die?"
"A car accident," the woman said, not sure why the consultant had brought it up. "It was sudden. he was on his way back from a meeting with his agent when it happened."
"I see. And this manuscript. Was it something your husband had been particularly hard at work on?"
"It was all he talked about before . before it happened," Lydia said, suppressing remembered tears from that horrible time. "Is that relevant to my case?"
"Quite relevant," Emilio said. "I'd wager that you and this manuscript were the two most important things in your late husband's life, were they not?"
"Yes," Lydia said. "But why does that matter? What does that have to do with the weirdo who came up to me on the street?"
"Oh, more than might be immediately apparent," Emilio said, standing and picking up a steel cane from a stand beside his desk. "Do you mind if we take a look at your apartment?"

Ghost Lore x1
You know (or at least believe) that ghosts exist, that some people go on to an afterlife. It may be that all of the dead congregate in one eternal place, or that they go on to separate unlives, or that some do not go at all - you haven't met enough ghosts to know for sure. Some ghosts are just plain nasty, apparently only being reflections of all their pain, hate, or fear in life; others mindlessly repet their actions from their living days. A few are still sensible and able to talk, though they can freakily change moods with extreme rapidity.
Many ghosts seem to hold on to places or people that were familiar or important to them in life. Not all do so, though. Some even keep ties to special things, strong enough to reach into the living land and affect these subjects. Occasionally, objects manifest in the ghost world, but you don't know how they get there or why.
Ghosts seem to manifest a variety of powers, though you're not really sure of the range and versatility of them all. Some ghosts haunt areas through cold spots or lights; others speak in eerie whispers; still others even possess people or objects. There's no telling what powers a particular ghost manifests, though. You do know that ghosts are immaterial, but can still see and hear things in the living world. Even if driven off, most ghosts eventually return.
A ghost is supposedly barred by sea salt, according to old tales, and it may also be vulnerable to exorcisms, to strewing an area with rose petals, or to threatening the people or objects it holds dear. Swings or blows just seem to annoy them, not injure them, however some ghosts can interact with one another.

Ghost Lore x2
Apparently, not everyone becomes a ghost on dying, or perhaps some of them go on to a place unable to reach the mortal realm. Whatever the case, ghosts seem to be nothing more or less than the souls of the dead, still clinging to some semblance of life. A few - which other ghosts call "spectres" - are malicious and violent, but most are just a little unstable.
You also know the term "fetter." A fetter is an object, person or place with some significance to a particular ghost. Apparently, ghosts can use them for protection, and they hang around such objects or places due to some spiritual tie. Destroyed fetters sometimes become ghost objects, though not under any conditions that you can conclusively nail down.
Ghosts possess a vast range of abilities. Some can haunt areas, and some can briefly appear material. You only know of perhaps a half-dozen such powers, but there are supposedly a great many. Aside from that, ghosts have very sharp senses, and sometimes see images of death or life swirling about things or people. They are also immune to most physical strikes.
A ghost can be exorcised by a skilled priest, or kept out with magical wardings and strong belief (pure sea salt works best). Most ghosts have a hard time affecting the living world, if at all. Also, if they suffer too much ghostly "injury" they disappear for a time - sometimes forever.
There is supposedly an infinite distance to the lands of the dead. The Shadowlands refer to the reflection of the mortal world, beyond which there is some sort of eternal storm or ocean, and there are apparently Heavens and Hells in the Underworld, though they are barred to most (you have to be worthy of entry, or something).

Ghost Lore x3
Many people can and do become ghosts after death, however not many retain their sentience, some become "spectres" and a few just never seem to show up. Regardless, all ghosts seem to share in common deep desires to do something they left unresolved in life, or which the regret. Some items also pass across the barrier between life and death, which ghosts term the "Shroud," particularly those with important memories attached to them, but they tend to fade away over time. You've even heard rumours of ghosts who cross back into the living world physically, inhabiting corpses, but this may well be nonsense. In any case, most ghosts belong to a large hierarchy which calls its members "Wraiths," and which declares it illegal to interfere with the living, though this doesn't stop rebels from doing so. Sometimes, other creatures come to the dead lands, or so it is said, but they leave as quickly as they can. If they can.
You know a little bit about fetters - almost any young wraith has some, and they keep the wraith tied to the living lands. They're all objects, people, and places important to the wraith in some way, though the wraith may not understand why. A fetter is more easily influenced by the wraith than other things in the Living world, but injuring a fetter is damaging to the wraith and destroying one can cause it serious problems.
Wraiths manifest various strange powers. The hierarchy of wraiths calls them "Arcanoi" and you know that they were once taught be powerful guilds amongst the dead, but that those guilds were disbanded. You know that using an Arcanos to deal with the living lands is apparently illegal. Those who are caught may be turned into slaves or punished by using parts of their bodies to make ghostly objects!
Wraiths do have some weaknesses. Without special powers they have trouble interacting with the material world. This is most true in areas of disbelief, science, or vibrant life - a mundane supermarket is harder to haunt than a run-down abandoned house. Even when a wraith affects the material world, its passage and powers are often remembered vaguely and incorrectly or forgotten by mortal witnesses entirely. Exorcisms can sometimes bar or send away wraiths, but apparently only a few priests know how to do them properly. Sea salt and those other old wives' tales have no effect at all. Thankfully, a dedicated physical assault on the area a ghost occupies can discorporate it, eventually forcing it away. This is called "Harrowing."
You're most familiar with the "Shadowlands," the edge of the Underworld nearest the living world. However, you know that the "Tempest" is a storm-tossed layer somehow "underneath" the Shadowlands. Some wraiths go there out of need or desperation, and powerful cities stand in islands within the Tempest itself. Rumour speaks of distant Heavens and "Dark Kingdoms" beyond the control of the hierarchy of wraiths, but you know nothing specific about such matters.

Wraith Lore x4
Very few people actually become wraiths - only those with powerful memories, drives and passions, or horribly violent deaths. Some become mindless drones while others keep their consciousness; rumour has it that a few people actually become Spectres immediately upon death. It is those incomplete passions of life that drive a ghost and give it power. However, those very same passions can be turned to dark ends, fueling the dark half of the wraith's persona (also called a Spectre?). It is possible for a ghost to rise from the dead, though such a thing is apparently chancy and random. It is also possible for some creatures such as vampires to walk in the Shadowlands, although this is exceptionally rare, and possibly only rumour - do vampires really exist?
Fetters tie a wraith to the material world but also offer succour. When a fetter is destroyed, it Harrows a wraith, much in the way that too much physical disruption can do so. However, wraiths can often home in on their fetters and use them for shelter. Certain Arcanoi work more easily on fetters than on other things. Most fetters are objects that were important to the wraith for some reason, even if the wraith does not kow why or denies the connection. Aside from fetters, objects of importance in the living world can become "Relics" when destroyed, passing into the Shadowlands. Most such items disappear as memory of them fades, but some possess an inner power that sustains them; these last are exceedingly valuable to ghosts. Other objects in the Shadowlands comes from Soulforging, the process of turning a whole wraith into a simple item.
All of the common guild arcanoi are familiar to you, at least in a broad sense. You know that the guilds once held power in the chif city of the wraithly hierarchy called "Stygia" but that they were broken apart and made illegal. You do know that some of the guilds were not only disbarred, but that even their Arcanoi were forbidden, and there are some powers unique to non-Western ghosts, and to those who rise from the grave. What these powers are called and what they can do, you do not know. Even Spectres have their own powers - you've heard a few names like "Contaminate" although specifics are sketchy. Aside from that, you are familiar with the usual ghostly powers of insubstantiability, sharpened senses, lifesight and deathsight, and healing through passion alone. You've become familiar with the hierarchy, its division into Roman Legions and bureaucracy and the politics thereof, and perhaps can name a Heretic cult or two.
You know that ghosts are mostly immune to harm in the living world. Only special magic weapons and spells can really capture, bar, or injure them. With the proper Arcanoi, a wraith can also affect the material world, though this usually takes a great deal of effort. Mortals generally don't remember a ghost's interactions with the material world.

Wraith Lore x5
A wraith seems to be nothing more than a memory of powerful emotions. Thus, ghosts are motivated only by their strongest passions. Those who have very dark desires can fall prey to the whisperings of their Shadows - sort of a Spectral side in every wraith. This can in turn make them become Spectres, wraiths who have succumbed to the lure of self-destruction and the desire to wreak pain upon others. Lastly, a very rare few wraiths actually inhabit their old bodies, rising up from the grave to take matters in hand in the material world once more. These Risen wraiths are startlingly tough and can even develop incredible physical powers, but they rapidly fall prey to the Shadow. Rising also requires a modicum of proficiency in several Arcanoi. Rumour still holds of vampires, werewolves, and sorcerers who can visit the Shadowlands too, but it is exceptionally dangerous for them.
A wraith's most important connection to the "Skinlands" is its fetters. Through these fetters, the wraith maintains a fragile link to the living world and its reflection in the Underworld. Should a wraith's fetter be destroyed, the ghost plunges into a Harrowing, a bitter parody of the trials it faced in life; if all of its fetters are gone it can no longer come near the Skinlands. Fetters are easier to affect with Arcanoi, and offer shelter to its owner against Tempest Storms.
You've heard of all the common wraithly Arcanoi and their associated guilds - Argos, Inhabit, Usury, whatever; you even know of one or two of the rare Arcanoi such as Mnemosynis and Intimation, the various spectral Dark Arcanoi (which CAN be learned by non-Spectres, surprisingly) and the Risen Arcanoi of Fascinate. You can even recognize most guilds by their guildmarks, should opportunity arise to actually see them. This level of knowledge, of course, means that you're also familiar with the concept of soulforging, and you know about Stygian Steel.
You're aware that very few things can bar a ghost in the material world. A physical object can injure a ghost slightly and make it completely immaterial, but otherwise has little effect - wraiths can effectively walk through weapons, walls, or whatever. Magical wards can sometimes keep out wraiths.
You've heard about the Shadowlands, the Tempest, the Labyrinth, the Far Shores and the Venous Stair; you've even heard of the Dark Kingdoms - the deadlands of Jade (Asia), to such obscure places as the Enclave of Wire (Auschwitz) and the Dark Kingdom of Sand (ancient Egypt). Were you to somehow enter the Tempest, you think that you might recognize most hazards, including plasmics and other non-wraithly - things - that dwell there.