Katalog av mystische Geister

== Katalog av mystische Geister ==
A guide to the spirit world around us.
=== Prologue ===
We form our ideas, beliefs, opinions, and dreams based on how we perceive the world through the limited senses we possess. However, unbeknownst to most, there exists an ancient and mystical presence in the air around us: the Geisterwesen. These spirits dwell in every corner, nook, and cranny of the natural world, and if you pay close attention and are willing to see beyond the ordinary, you might catch a glimpse of their existence.
Geisterwesen, often described as the spirits of the world around us, inhabit a realm eerily reminiscent of our own. They reside within or represent what we often regard as inanimate or lifeless. These mysterious beings form deep connections with their surroundings in ways we have yet to fully understand.
While we know a few of the ways these spirits come into existence, grow, and eventually fade, making concrete observations and drawing definitive conclusions is incredibly challenging. The primary reason for this is our inability to see or communicate with them directly. On normal days, most can, at most, sense the spirits’ presence through an instinctual gut feeling or through phenomena that defy the physical laws of our world. However, some individuals possess a rare gift known as Geistersicht. For reasons unknown, these people share a closer bond with the Geisterwesen than most, allowing them to have a heightened sense of intuition. In rarer cases, this gift enables them to see or even communicate with these spirits—a form of Geistersicht found in only a tiny fraction of the population. These individuals provide us with most of the information we currently possess regarding the spirit world. More details and examples of this will be provided later.
The full red moon holds great significance for the Geisterwesen, as it thins or completely removes the veil between our two worlds for a single night. This event offers not only those with Geistersicht but also ordinary individuals the chance to see, hear, or communicate with these spirits. This night is best described as a time when our senses are sharpened, giving us a rare opportunity to connect with the Geisterwesen. However, even on this night, contact is not guaranteed and largely depends on chance and the spirits' willingness to be seen.
Their ability to influence our world beyond our control has led us to establish rituals of offering peace offerings, both as a gesture of respect for occupying their domains and as a means to appease the hostile, 'eerie' spirits. For these reasons we decided to write a catalogue, explaining everything we have so far come to know, in the hopes of discovering more, and getting to know them better.
=== Table of contents ===
# Geistersicht explained
# A guide to shrines and the importance of the red moon
# Principles of recreation (physical change, manifestation, reproduction)
# The growth and death of spirits
# Different kinds of spirits
## Unheimliche Geister (Eerie spirits) - "OON-hime-lich-uh GHY-stuh"
### Schattensucher (Shadowseeker) - “SHAH-ten-zoo-kher”
### Fleischreißer (flesh ripper) - “FLYSH-rye-ser”
## (more to come *hopefully* soon)
=== 1. Geistersicht explained ===
Geistersicht as we have come to call it manifests itself through 4 distinct abilities, best explained as: sensing the presence of a spirit, seeing them, hearing their voices and understanding their speech, however, some extra explanation will be needed.
The first thing to understand about Geistersicht is that neither it, nor any of its abilities, should be viewed in absolute terms. While those with Geistersicht have a higher chance of encountering spirits, if a spirit doesn’t want to be seen, no one will see it. However, this doesn’t mean that someone without the gift will never experience a spirit, they simply have lower odds of doing so.
While the abilities to see and hear spirits are fairly self-explanatory, sensing their presence and understanding their language can be more nuanced. 
The sensation of a spirit’s presence is often described as a deep, instinctual feeling—like being watched, whispered about behind your back, or even quietly protected. These sensations can vary depending on the spirit: they may evoke comfort, safety, and familiarity, or, conversely, discomfort, fear, and a sense of threat.
The language of the most human-like spirits we’ve observed so far resembles deep, guttural sounds, as if emerging from deep within the throat, difficult to describe in terms familiar to humans. In contrast, the sounds made by lesser spirits are more recognizable. For instance, a tree spirit’s voice might resemble the rattling of small stones inside a wooden box. Those who have understood spirit speech often describe it as if they instinctively knew the language, rather than the spirits suddenly speaking in a human tongue.
=== 2. A guide to shrines and the importance of the red moon ===
Shrines come in many shapes and sizes depending on the type of spirit, but all share the same purpose: creating a space for peace offerings and / or providing a dwelling for the spirits. Shrines can be classified into two categories. Most shrines, known as altars, are built for offering gifts to appease spirits. The other type creates a living space for a spirit, consisting of two parts: the outer shrine, which protects the inner shrine, often with doors or windows leading to the outside world, and creating a physical barrier between the mystical and the human world, and the inner shrine, which embodies one or more spirits, or attracts is meant to attract spirits. However, not all shrines have inner shrines, in some cases shrines are built near landmarks known or thought to have spirits inhabiting them, such as the river or the mountain. In these cases, the shrines usually function as a sort of connection point between the 2 worlds.
People often decorate shrines with light sources such as candles or lanterns, as well as flowers and images or paintings depicting what the spirit is believed to look like.
Activity around shrines comes and goes with the cycle of the red moon, as it plays a huge role in our connection with the mystical world. We’ve not been able to figure out much about the night of the red moon yet, but somehow the moon spirit turning red must have a significant influence on the mist separating our worlds, as it is a night during which the mist thins or nearly disappears. During this night we have higher chances of coming into contact with these otherworldly beings, and the general consensus is that the frequency of spirit sightings is at its peak when the full red moon stands high in the sky.
=== 3. Principles of recreation (physical change, manifestation, reproduction) ===
In this chapter and the next, we will explore some of the least understood characteristics of spirits. Due to our limited knowledge, we rely heavily on examples to illustrate these concepts. We’ve divided the ways spirits regenerate or recreate into three general categories: physical change, manifestation, and reproduction.
An excellent example of recreation through physical change can be observed in powerful water, earth, and fire spirits. For instance, when a new river is formed, a spirit will emerge alongside it, growing and fading with the life cycle of the river. The same holds true for the birth of mountain spirits as mountains form, and fire spirits tied to the rise and fall of large wildfires.
Manifestation is most commonly found in spirits that don’t physically inhabit anything. A prime example is the Schattensucher (shadowseeker), a spirit that stalks its target from any available shadow. When a person is fearful or believes they are being watched by one, the likelihood of the spirit manifesting increases. Confidence and disbelief act as deterrents.
Finally, reproduction is typical among minor spirits like tree or river spirits, whose methods closely resemble human or animal reproduction. These spirits often give rise to offspring, ensuring the continuity of their kind within their natural domain.
=== 4. The growth and death of spirits ===
Just like recreation, the growth and death of spirits are very vague subjects which are incredibly hard to study, as they strongly vary between spirits, and are hardly ever observed.
=== 5. Different kinds of spirits ===
==== 5.1 Unheimliche Geister (Eerie spirits) - “OON-hime-lich-uh GHY-stuh” ====
===== 5.1.1 Schattensucher (Shadowseeker) - “SHAH-ten-zoo-kher” =====
====== Physical Appearance ======
Shadowseekers are hard to describe as they are very rarely actually seen.They have long slender, sharp, ragged and stick-like dark bodies. Their eyes glow a faint white colour in the dark, and the colour of their skin makes them barely visible in the dark.
====== Domain ======
These odd spirits live and thrive in the shadows. Unable to pass into the light, they reside in whatever dark corner they can find, managing to fold their twig-like bodies in even the smallest crevices to escape the light.
====== Behaviour ======
Although their habits of stalking people, and following them from the shadows while the person isn’t watching, shadowseekers aren’t actually harmful. The presence of a shadowseeker is often indicated by a feeling of fear, terror and distress.By making the nearby light flicker or even dim and extinguish, they are able to manipulate shadows to follow you when you have your back turned to them. This key feature is a big reason as to why there aren’t that many sightings of them, although the guess is that many people have been in the presence of them, and stalked them. It is unknown what causes this obsessive-like behaviour, as it seems they only do it to humans. It is hard to differentiate a shadowseeker from an regular shadow, as we currently believe they close their eyes when looked at, hiding their most prominent feature.
===== 5.1.2 Fleischreißer (flesh ripper) - “FLYSH-rye-ser” =====
====== Physical Appearance ======
As Fleischreißers inhabit stone statues, they do not have their own form. Instead, they take on the appearance of whatever statue they occupy. On rare occasions, after their statue is destroyed or, they can be seen as small, bright blue and shell-less crustaceans scurrying in the shadows, frantically searching for a new host. When in this state, they are soft and vulnerable, unable to withstand a hit.
====== Domain ======
Flesh rippers reside within stone statues of various types. Multiple times in their lifetime, they transition between statues, leaving an empty husk behind, ready to be picked up by future spirits. 
====== Behaviour ======
Fleischreißers act as the protectors of their fellow spirits. When a helpless spirit is in need of aid, an adult flesh ripper will come to its rescue. While no spirit is inherently malevolent, flesh rippers are unique in that they are the only spirit that, without being directly aggravated, will actively hurt humans to protect their brethren. Due to this, flesh rippers often come into conflict with the misbehaving members of Ejznrosa, although they are not considered enemies by the Ejznrosii public which can generally be attributed to a propaganda campaign led by Aculf Rednerfüst. Yet despite their best efforts, they are still often feared by children due to their grotesque name and violent behaviour. 
(more to come *hopefully* soon)