Astral Creatures

Astral creatures are spirits that refuse to lay to rest and cling onto the astral plain and return to the Domain of the Living within Dark Blaze. These creatures will come back not wholly as they once were and usually cause more damage than good. Depending on their deaths and their purpose for returning, the astral creatures may come back as different variants, more pacifying souls may remain regular ghosts whilst those of maleficent intent would become poltergeists. Animals can also go through this process, this is displayed with the fact black dogs exist in Dark Blaze.

Warning, spoilers below.

An example of why a spirit would return from the astral plain and not go to either Hell, Heaven or Purgatory, is with Deacon Charles Pelletier. Charles was a deacon in a small French commune who raped the boys there once their fathers went off to fight in the Great War, upon discovery, Father Couture attempted to cover it up whilst the mothers took action and lured Pelletier out to a field, where they murdered him. The deacon's spirit returned as a vengeful poltergeist, desiring the souls of the boys who were his victims during his time alive. What kept Pelletier within the Domain of the Living after the burning of his corpse was his clerical robe, which was hung up on display within the church.

Background:
Darryl M. Finch-Ellis knew that it would not be an inclusive monster story without the inclusion of various spirits, so he included poltergeists and ghosts, with the mentioning of black dogs so casually that it would not be questioned whether or not that black dogs existed.

Origins:
Since the dawn of time, there have been souls that have been trapped within the astral plain, whether accidentally or on purpose, and have remained able to return to the Domain of the Living in their astral forms. Certain things may keep a spirit within the astral plain, whether that's the way they were killed, a demand for justice or revenge, or the dependency of another soul that is still living.

Sub-Species:

 * Poltergeist
 * Ghost
 * Black Dog

Powers & Abilities:

 * Increased speed.
 * Increased strength.
 * Telekinesis.
 * Intangibility.
 * Ability to enter the astral plain.

Weaknesses:

 * Burning corpse.
 * Items bound to (E.G. Pelletier was bound to his clerical robe).
 * Salt.
 * Binding Circles.
 * Cast-iron.
 * Graveyard Dirt.
 * Holy land / barriers.

Trivia:

 * Astral creatures are named as such as the astral plain is what connects Earth, Heaven, Hell and Purgatory all together. Finch-Ellis described it as "if the domains were islands, the astral plain would be the sea that connects them together."
 * Evil spirits cannot step foot on holy ground.
 * Astral creatures are the basis for the souls which are tortured and twisted in Hell and become daemons.