Difficulties

"Hey, are you seriously planning on going down? Nothing good down there~. Key Ghast

"Why do you care? What's with you anyways? No tethers or regrets to tell?" Dan

"Well, I can't be cleansed unless all other ghosts in this mansion are gone. That's what a 'Key Ghast' is. Meant to keep large quantities of ghosts locked up. You should know this crap." Key Ghast

She goes quiet and thumbs her chin in thought.

"No wish. As for a tether.... The whole mansion is my tether." Key Ghast

".....Nevermind then...." Dan

------

Dan explored the ground floor for a while looking for a way down. He searched through several kitchens, dozens of bedrooms, a couple massive living rooms. All of different styles and fashions. As if someone slapped together a whole bunch of houses from separate generations. Still, he was unable to find any way down.

"You seriously can't find the steps down? You just seem more and more sad as time goes on~!" Key Ghast

"Where are the steps? Perhaps what you've told me are all lies and you're just screwing with me." Dan

"Why would I tell you? Just live on the surface. I've happened to get my hands on a television! I need help with setting it up a bit though..... You humans make some difficult contraptions, ya know?" Key Ghast

"Tell me, please." Dan

"Really plan on committing suicide, huh? Hope I can convince the next one. The steps are behind a boarded up door real close to the entrance hall. Surprised you didn't go back there to check." Key Ghast

The Key Ghast floats up through the floor as Dan runs back towards the entrance. The door looks to be a chainlink one that has had boards attached. He pushes it open and prepares himself mentally. The Key Ghast wasn't hostile but, things will be different from here on. From what was said the first group didn't last long..... Guard up, Dan descends.

Concrete steps with a thin blue-green carpet that covers it leads down. Light-bulbs that are hanging above are emitting a weird ghastly glow onto them giving the entire staircase a creepy impression. Dan slowly makes his way down as he prepares himself to be ambushed on the staircase. He made a huge mistake when he first entered and was surprised by that ghost. It takes a couple seconds of air-headedness to be killed.

Its lucky that he did go on high alert as-

"Holy crap!" Dan

A black claw strikes through one of the steps just barely missing his ankle. It redraws itself in wait for it's next victim. Dan goes down a few steps and stabilizes himself to prevent himself from falling.

"First ghost.... Should be a wraith based on the black claw. Nasty place, this. If you weren't on alert you'd go tumbling down.... Wonder if it's tether is nearby. Hmmmm?" Dan

A chunk of concrete that is missing from the wall which catches Dan's attention. Inside he can see a small blackened finger bone. He takes out a hammer that he packed along with rations and various other useful tools. He strikes the bone as a shriek erupts while black smoke bursts out of the staircase.

Tethers are objects that keep a ghost grounded to this world. All ghosts have them. Destroying makes them go away. Simple. However some tethers are not quite destructible..... Another way to get rid of ghosts is fulfilling their wishes.

What options you go for really depends on the individual ghost. "Ghost" itself is an overarching term for all spirits as well as the most common variant of spirit. Wraiths are different from regular ghosts as they are not usually intelligent, just driven by instinct, so its best to go for their tethers.

"Luckily, it was an unintelligent one.... If it had any semblance of self-preservation..... I would've been injured by it at the very least." Dan

Dan precedes down the staircase with even more caution. However, nothing else attacked him. As he reached the bottom of the staircase he reaches a small corridor that has a split at the end. There are three different doorways to choose from. One seems to lead to a reception area, while the other two are long hallways. Dan goes to the reception area which has a ghost sitting behind a glass window to greet people in. A pale lady with thick glasses looks bored as she looks at Dan. An annoyed look is plastered on her face as she taps her desk with her index finger.

"Another group? Rather it looks like someone randomly walked in." Ghost lady

"Ummm, not going to sneak attack right?" Dan

"Yeah, you're more polite than the previous group. Once they saw me, they were like 'search for her tether! Quick'. Annoying right." Ghost Lady

"Ehhhh.... Yeah, so should I fulfill whatever your wish is then?" Dan

"I want something tasty." Ghost Lady

"Really?" Dan

"Really." Ghost Lady

Dan digs through his stuff and pulls out an oatmeal bar that has chocolate chips embedded in it.

"Here." Dan

"Thanks" Ghost Lady

Her hands become solid as she grabs the bar. She tears off the wrapper and eats it.

"Chocolate. Nice. If only those previous guys listened I wouldn't have gotten so hungry.... Well nevermind about that. Thanks kid." Ghost Lady

The lady glows gray as she turns into smoke which dissipates. One of the easiest cleansings was finished just like that.

"Based on her words, she probably killed the previous group.... What about their bodies thou--.... Ohhhh....." Dan

Many people have been killed by mild ghosts due to hostility. Dan knew that hostility and anger should be held back as it clouds judgement and can lead to your own death. When dealing with unknown ghosts it's best to find out if they are hostile themselves. Some just want to pass on. Others however, want to live on as ghosts and may try to trick people into believing that they want to pass on. Then there are those that are just completely hostile.... An example would be the wraith on the staircase from earlier.

With that matter settled. Dan looked around. Nothing else remains here..... Which leaves the two hallways for him to check out. They are both long. About 100 meters each. Dan preceded down the first hallway very cautiously, throwing a stone repeatedly as he went along. This place is dangerous. Dan could have died twice already so these long hallways are extremely suspicious. About halfway through the first one a section of the floor opened up to a weird Grey pool..... Similar to the one outside. It can only be assumed that there is something super nasty about this goop.

"Damn, this whole place is dangerous..... After clearing this floor maybe I should head back up..." Dan

Eventually he reaches the end. He uses his hammer to push down the door handle making a clink as he pushes it open. Inside is a small theater with about 50 seats. On the stage on the front stage is a golden-haired ghost actor. He seems to be quoting something as he is holding a brain up in one hand, It's stem dripping juice.

"Oh, how my boredom lead to my lingering. Won't some random human entertain me and allow me to pass on?" Ghost Actor

'Hmmm.... Something is really off about him. I should try to go along with this and search for his tether. The previous lady didn't really move around and asked for something simple.... Entertaining this ghost may be really difficult....' Dan

'I can't see anything suspicious after scanning the room. Nothing out of the ordinary..... It could be that brain but, that could also be a bait.' Dan

"Ahem. It seems that a human has come! Shall we get the show started then? Come my friend. Let's get you dressed." Ghost Actor

"What kind of entertainment do you want?" Dan

"Only the best play of your choice! Pick something interesting now. If you need I can act along with you. Come, Come." Ghost Actor

Dan and the theatre ghost go behind a bunch of heavy curtains to a backroom full of costumes. He sets the brain down on a crate and precedes to talk about showbiz crap. About how critics should just shut their mouths and swallow the soup of his labors.

'I need to find his tether! I highly doubt that it is the brain, tethers aren't part of the ghost.... As far as I know anyway. I guess there are unkown ones.....'

Eventually, Dan's eyes focus on a certain costume. A man's costume that is covered in frills. On it's chest is an out of place golden gun placed in a chest holster. The actor goes over to get some makeup and Dan springs in action while ethereal eyes are away!

*Smash

Dan rips the gun from it's holster and wacks it good with the hammer. It goes into pieces as-.

"Human! Don't damage the accessories and clothing! What kind of upbringing does one need to take to be so errant..... Here, take my brain. Your bullish nature has spoiled my day and now I don't even want to...." Ghost Actor

'Can't tell if this is bait or not. It may not be....' Dan

"Toss the brain over." Dan

"Promise not to hurt the clothing first." Ghost Actor

"I promise?" Dan

He looks at Dan with a drained expression and then tosses it over. It gets smashed mid-air resulting in ectoplasmic brain matter exploding down towards to floor. He bursts into smoke as he passes on....

'It really was the brain? That could've been bad! Luckily he wasn't the violent type. .....I think I've had my fair share of stress for one day. I think I'll head back up for now....'