Empyreum is abuzz tonight with an ethereal blue glow, but it’s not ghosts - not yet, anyway! The housing district currently finds itself covered in aetherometers, selectively placed all around Ishgard by the EMET-SELCH paranormal investigations team.
They’ve been hoping to uncover the truth about the area’s alleged mischievous blue spirit. But have they found any concrete evidence?
EMET-SELCH spokesperson Quirky Rabbit believes they have. She’s released a pair of unusual images to the public (below) that she says may point to contact with the now-infamous ghostly elephant.
The ghost has allegedly haunted locals now for the better part of six months.
One photo reveals a tiny illuminated orb, circled here in red. Another shows what the team claims is an “ethereal veil” interfering with their camera equipment. EMET-SELCH believes this to be the irrefutable proof they’ve been looking for.
“Our investigation has been strenuous,” Quirky Rabbit told The Babbler, “We’ve spent every night for the last five days out here. And finally we got something.”
Asked why the spirit would appear as an elephant to witnesses but as blue mist and lights in their photos, the paranormal investigators told us the answer is “unclear.”
It has, indeed, been rough work for the EMET-SELCH team. Along with the numerous aetherometers littered throughout Empyreum, they’ve also brought in large instruments and tuning mechanisms, which they use not only to detect spirits, but communicate with them were the opportunity to arise.
Their most important tool is what they call the Ghost Box. This large cubed structure, they say, contains an aether field generator capable of restraining spirits. If placed in an area of increased activity, a ghost can be captured and, hopefully, spoken to.
Many residents, however, remain skeptical, particularly after an incident Saturday morning involving the home of Maurix Jacoud.
Jacoud says he awoke around 3:02 a.m. to the sounds of screaming and a large fire outside his small estate. “I swear to Halone they tried to burn my house down,” he said, “One of them had some gods-forsaken contraption strapped to their back and was chasing who knows what. I need to sleep!”
When asked about the incident, EMET-SELCH agreed that, while it was unfortunate, they can’t rule out a supernatural cause for the fire. “As we all know, 3 a.m. is the Witching Hour. While we were present in the area at the time and did have an intern running tests in the field, it is entirely possible the blue elephant ghost is to blame.”
Speculation regarding a fire and tragic death nearly a year ago in Firmament may add fuel to their claims, but it’s clear their presence is beginning to take its toll on nearby homeowners. Hollaux Presuet, who lives in Empyreum’s Northeast Subdivision, says he’s more bothered by the noise than any pesky spirits.
“It’s a constant buzzing!” he says. “It was fine at first but at a certain point I’d rather have a blue elephant wandering around than listen to this for another second! I can’t take it!”
The EMET-SELCH team will soon wrap up their investigation, though they hope to capture an entity in the Ghost Box before doing so.
“We have what we came for,” one member told us, “The pictures clearly show something. An entity is here.” But why is the ‘blue elephant’ suddenly so coy?
“We’re ghost hunters. If a spirit becomes aware of our presence, they might retreat. But the blue elephant is out there, somewhere, and we will catch it.”
