Spirit

A spirit is the noncorporeal component of a being. That is, a living being made of energy rather than matter, thus it is a kind of supernatural being. Spirits exists across the whole scale of mind and are not limited to be conscious beings.
== Manifestation ==
Spirits are formless in their truest sense, but take on the manifestations that suit them or are given to them. They manifest as light, the bridge between the material and the spiritual. All spirits can choose to be manifest or to be invisible, as is their nature. They are not bound to being visible in the world.
Becoming manifest requires energy of the spirit. They must be well plugged into their attunement, be drawing from latent magic (essentially forming their own aura), [both of these previous are the flow of magic through all things] or otherwise be feeding off of the aura of living physical beings. Some spirits are empowered by devotion, i.e. contributed will, while others feed off of fear, anger, etc.
Lesser spirits of a primary manifestation (i.e. it is quite difficult or only under special circumstances can they change it), return to this true form upon being bound, banished, or otherwise weakened, much like shapeshifters return to their original bodies.
== Influence ==
The phenomenon known as spirit influence or affectation occurs when spirits speak to beasts or people, whether audibly or by an impression, in order to sway their actions. Affectation is used most often for influence of the emotions and wordless thoughts and influence for audible communication. It can occur as a conversation with a visibly manifest spirit, a conversation with an invisible spirit, audible replies to impressions given, impressions with complete silence on the part of the spirit, or other arrangements of these factors. In all cases, the spirit is seeking to work through a physical being to effect the physical world in a way that they cannot. Here are some examples of ways that spirits seek influence:
* Persuading a person to believe something
* Frightening the person
* Convincing a person to do something for them
* Imparting thoughts, which feel distinctly foreign to the recipient, or give visions to a person
Spirits can affect the atmosphere of a place, i.e. sending out their influence to multiple beings in a location, hence the derivative terms air, aura, and spirit to refer to the feeling of a place whether influenced by a spirit or not.
== Devotion ==
When sapient beings (technically other spirits) direct their will power to a spirit in support of them, sentient and sapient spirits are empowered by it. (Cecient and tacient spirits can feed off of emotions or latent magic, but not really devotion. Being devoted to a bug sprite is more about your enjoyment and might help the little guy float just a little faster. It's not going to climb up the scale of mind to manifest personhood and become a god.) Any spirit can contribute its will to another spirit. (Again the cecient bug sprite has no motive or impetus to give its will in support of a person or in the service of a tutelar. Either has the potential to take the sprite's essence for themself.)
If an army kneels down and prays, giving their mind to their patron spirit, then that guardian would likely be able to manifest enough to strike the enemy. Though if they do the same, then the battle comes to be between the two sides' spiritual champions. Merely lending willpower is not enough to tip the balance, focus would be required to provide precise finesse for one of two evenly matched spirit guardians to bring victory to their side.
== Interaction ==
Under normal circumstances, spirits cannot interact with the physical world enough to harm physical beings. They can, however, speak, interact with the mind, and use magic in their own way (most strongly connected to their patronage/alignment) as described in the section on Influence above.
The following are the limited ways that spirits can be a threat to physical beings:
* Fear, stress, haunting, terror
** Mostly through ignorance of pneumitary limitations
* Twisting thoughts and warping the mind
* Causing pain
* Expending a lot of energy to strike a person or to use magic
** Drawing dweomers in a patron substance, a substance easily moved like sand, or in a powerful substance like blood
Interacting with the physical is for spirits like using magic is for bodies. Most weak and common spirits are not able to do so. Basic, elemental magic comes naturally to them, but even then, only ambitious spirits grasp it to a degree that can harm physical beings. It is important to remember that fae are another matter entirely and pose a great danger. As a result, most people carry around some amount of spirit protection at all times.
Some spirits do have patron substances that their connection to allows them to interact with exclusively. For example, a dryad in her tree will easily be able to strike someone or can bend vines to strike them for her. A poltergeist on the other hand will knock on the walls and shake boxes and kitchen tools, but will not be able to do much more. More powerful dark spirits feed off the fear of creatures and through that summon enough power to cause injury. Supernatural wounds, though, heal more easily by magic than natural wounds. The reverse is also true: letting a supernatural wound heal naturally will take much longer than healing with magic.
The essence of an element brandished or passed through a spirit can deter it or make it uncomfortable, due to the magical connection that substance has. This is not, however, the same as magic which disrupts spirits on an elemental basis.
==== The Envy of Spirits ====
This scratches the surface of the envy of spirits. Many of them long to have physical bodies so they can make their way in the world as people do and to have the senses foreign to them. They long to be able to strike down those that oppose their will or tread their territory idly. They long to be able to use brute force to sway men into following them. And to love and embrace as people do. Too many spirits have fallen to this desire as they have observed the world of men and it has lead them down a path darker than that of the necromancer or sorcerer. They feel too that they want to shape the world without being bound by the constraints of magic—to be able to run a man through with a spear and his wound kill him before he can get to any magic. But rarely do they realize the loss of their supernatural command of magic is far more valuable than the chance to participate in the exchange of blows and vengeance in the bodily arena.
Eidolonic Enchantment
Eidolonic or umbral enchantments allow an object to be interacted with by a spirit. For some spirits, this is there only way of interacting with the physical world.
== Attunement ==
In addition to having affinities, spirits are bound to certain land, places, environments, creatures, or feelings. By extension, they can also be bound to individuals, as is seen in hereditary guardians.
Attunement or affinity is required to hold on to aura/aether. (It is, in the most basic sense, a realignment of oneself in that way that opens a person to be able to grasp magic.) Your "aura" as viewed through second (or third) sight is essentially the energy gathered by the attunement of your emotions, states of mind, etc. (Everyone passively is connected to and influences the flow of magic in this way and at times are able to incidentally direct it.) Thus power cannot be absorbed from all life around, but must be drawn according to the flow or bidden from the holders and keepers of it.
== Warding ==
*Amulet
*Talisman
*Giving a simple or non-sapient spirit an endless task
*Distracting with an object of affinity
*Asking confounding question
*Banishing
== Banishment ==
Banishment refers to a sending away of spirits. There are two grades of banishment, although the term banish is usually used to refer to the latter stage. The first could be called scattering, while the second, more severe stage could be called annihilation.
=== Banishment Proper ===
Some magic can repel a spirit from approaching a person or location, hence it is referred to as a banishing spell. Spirits can be turned away, driven to unmanifest, by a mere intensity of will. A heartfelt intension for them to be gone is enough to banish simple spirits.
Lesser spirits can be banished easily, but more powerful beings require powerful banishments to be performed.
=== Scattering ===
: Main Article: Spirit Dissipation
The spirit is diffused and its substance scattered thinly enough for it to be unable to manifest, influence, or interact—essentially, its form is lost, but in time, the spirit gathers back together into form. Scattering causes the spirit torment (ontological, rather than physical pain) and the larger and more powerful that spirit, the greater the torment.
=== Annihilation ===
: Main Article: Annihilation
The least spirits can be annihilated, while greater ones may be scattered in the same way the body is severely wounded, but can only be annihilated by the Most High and the gods granted that power. Undying spirits by definition cannot be annihilated.
== Persistence ==
Lesser spirits (tacient, cecient, sentient) are mortal while sapient spirits are undying.
== Ontology ==
An eala is a spirit that is not made with a body, whereas a fea is a spirit made with a body. Or more accurately, fea spirits arise out of complex bodies but eala spirits are formed as spirits (and can then form bodies in the case of fae). Sapient beings, by definition, are comprised of both a body and a spirit.
=== Life Cycle ===
==== Creation ====
Spirits existed before the material world. They aided in its creation and continue to do so. Many spirits from the beginning of the world still exist. They may take new forms as they choose, as new ideas come to them, and they can slowly grow in power and extent. Many lesser spirits, though, are not able to change form, remaining within the manifesterial bounds they were made in.
==== Birth ====
Spirits are formed from collected magic. When these locations are obvious, they are are colloquially called spirit wells. Nature spirits form out of plants or structures of their affinity. Other spirits can form out of the circumstances or concentration of other spirits (including people) in a place. Without the influence of a higher spirit, they will not be sapient. Without the influence of a deity, they will not be undying spirits.
Dualistic (ontologically liminal) beings, such as humans, experience spirit waking. Like spirit sleep at the end of life, at the beginning of life the spirit attached to a body slowly awakens. It is thought that when the brain is developed enough to carry a spirit, it is formed, and its full awakening occurs at a time of significant experience for that child.
==== Life ====
Spirits do not age, have diseases, or die naturally. Spirits spend their days carrying out their purpose, which often entails protecting or taking care of a particular part of the world by their influence. Sometimes just observing the lives and comings and goings of the world is enough to satisfy a spirit. Many spirits are drawn to enact certain causes in the world and promote an idea or seek power.
==== Death ====
Lesser spirits can be destroyed by scattering, for them scattering and annihilation are the same. Greater spirits can only "die" by divine annihilation and thus are called Undying Spirits. When ghosts are "destroyed" by releasing them, they are sent into spirit sleep and are not annihilated as it may appear.
=== Possession ===
: Main Article: Indwelling
Most organisms have the capacity to carry a spirit, but just don't have one, that is tacient and sentient creatures. If a spirit enters one of these "empty" creatures, that is what is known as possession.
== Kinds ==
*Eala
**Olme
***Nature
****Fairy
****Nymph
****Wild Spirit
****Guiding Spirit
***Time
****Domestic Spirit
****Guardian Spirit
****Sidhe
***Dark
****Mischief
****Ominous
****Evil
****Violent
**Fea
***Dead
== Types ==
Creature	Spirit 	Liminant Spirit
Cecient Creature
(vermin)	Cecient Spirit 	
Tacient Creature
(animal / vermin)	Tacient Spirit 	
Sentient Creature
(animal)	Sentient Spirit	Sentient Fae
Liminant: Sapient Creature + Soul/Spirit
(person)	Sapient Spirit
(talking < tutelar < deity)	Sapient Fae
 	Liminant Spirit: Sapient Spirit + Shroud
Fae (by nature)
Eidolon (by attainment / expression)	
== Appearance ==
Spirits manifest in many forms, but usually have in common a quality of light, flowing and shifting, much like polar auroras.
===Nature Spirits===
Mimic and exaggerate natrual phenomenon and reflect the environment they arise in. Lights, air, gases, fire are very common. Assorted vaguely animal and plant parts are also common.
===Time Spirits===
Take the form of the people they live near or with, often morphing, mixing, and matching different features including crossing traits from species (which they may not recognize as different).
===Dark and Dead Spirits===
They are commonly depicted by people as ominous robed beings—and indeed they sometimes are—but this depiction comes from a reduction of a few phenomena, some of which are not spirits or ghosts. The shrouded look is inspired by:
*Havishamian Demonic Possession
*Auroral Manifestation
*Death State Fixation
*Fear Manifestation
*Undead
*Common Clothing
== Examples ==
Spirit with the ability (tuning) to tear any flesh it comes in contact with. It could pass through shield and armor and then harm just the flesh. Using magic, encountering latent/locative magic, or having a spirit guardian would be the only chance to counter such a spirit.
Migrant populations of spirits moving into an area and taking up dwelling in objects and materials
Shadow spirits that feed of intense situations, emotions, brokenness, etc and holy guardian spirits that feed off of positive intense situation, heroism, humble brokenness to fight off shadow spirits.
Spirit Judges: spirit that lives in an area and resolves disputes for people, generally with objective reasoning and supernatural knowledge
Spirits following people, attaching/binding/imprinting to them for good or ill
==See Also==
List of Spirits
== Sources ==
Spirit on Wikipedia
Category:Spirits