”Ghost boogers. Yuck!”
A most basic description of Ectoplasm if there ever was one, but past research has shown that this was a joking name for Ectoplasm until more of its properties were discovered.
Ectoplasm comes from ghosts when they take on a material form in the realm of the living. They draw energy from the realm of the dead to create their bodies, but when the spirit goes back the beyond, that body dissolves into a puddle of goo that we call Ectoplasm. When the energy from the ghost is gone the goo will evaporate within a few minutes, leaving only a stain on some surfaces that is easily washed away.
However, if acted upon with the proper magic within a few moments the Ectoplasm can be preserved and thereafter used for many useful things, not the least of which is creating potions and certain items. Once that process was discovered it was soon refined and a booming business sprouted up in which spirits were summoned and made to form physical bodies after which they would be banished from them and the Ectoplasm collected. This worked for a time until the spirits became restless by constant summoning and banishment and started to haunt those living beings that had been harassing them.
Now, willing spirits that are more than happy to help are used for the collection of Ectoplasm, and with certain mages being able to cross the plains of Life and Death they to have started to collect Ectoplasm for sale. Prices are still steep for Ectoplasm, however, and its uses are still being discovered. Below is a list of known items that Ectoplasm helps in the creation of, in no particular order.
Items it is used in: Reyansh's Endless Bag http://www.revaliir.net/items/shops/purchase_item/endless-bag/
Cursed Ankh http://www.revaliir.net/items/shops/purchase_item/cursed-ankh/
Glow Worm http://www.revaliir.net/items/shops/purchase_item/glow-worm/
-Grell Lovelace, Scholar from Iria