Spirits

## The fickle existence

If certain conditions are met a "Will" shall be created within ambient mana and attain a Mind and a Body. Beings who are made of mana and controlled by a Will are known as **Spirits**.

These beings simultaneously reside in both this World and outside of it, moving between the planes material and their own **Spiritual Realms** freely, making them nigh impossible to find unless they themselves choose to be found.

Spirits should not be confused with Ghosts or Wraiths (which are kinds of undead given a pseudo-Will via necromancy)

## The countless Spirits of The World

The vast majority of spirits can not be considered "sentient" by mortal standards. The air that flows between the valleys, the water flowing within the stream and even the tree that stands atop a hill can contain a "Will" that responds to the flow and color of mana around it. Most Spirits fade into and out of existence without a trace of them ever existing in the first place.

But under certain conditions Spirits can "anchor" themselves to The World and maintain their existence, eventually gaining the ability to think and to feel. Certain Spirits take this one step further: the Spirit of the mountain that has dominated the landscape for eons, the Spirit of the Ocean which is the mother of life and even the Spirits of abstract concepts like the fear of the darkness have existed since the dawn of time and have transcended into existences beyond the scope of what mortals could imagine.

As such, spirits vary wildly from one another. Some are called Fey and are believed to be responsible for all manner of mischief and trickery throughout the ages, others are revered and Spirits or even Gods of the Land, offering their blessings to the people in return for their veneration and respect. Some are harmless or even well intentioned and will aid those who ask them for help while others seek no more then to cause misery wherever they go.

When a Spirit manifests into the world or takes on a form that is visible to the mortal eye their forms are usually closely tied to their "anchor" that sustains them. A Spirit of stone appear as as a strange face-like groove atop the surface and a spirit of the wind may appear as a whispering gale. It should also be noted that some more powerful Spirits with a greater sense of self can even change the way they appear to the mortal eye, sculpting the mana which makes up their body to take whatever form suits them at the time.

There are also plenty of Spirits whose very existence is molded by the "belief" of the creatures around them. The exact reasons are unclear (whether it is due to the nature of mana or something even more fundamental) but drastic re-imaginings of the lore behind a Spirit and the rights preformed in its honor could, over time, cause certain Spirits to change in both appearance and demeanor.

## Spiritual Realms

One of the most notorious abilities that Spirits posses is to fade in and out of the material world by transforming their "bodies" back into the aether they are composed of but few, often higher ranking Spirits, possess the ability to create sorts of segregated spaces or pocket dimensions where they wield power over everything inside. These Spiritual Realms (sometimes called Fey Realms) exist on the boundary of the material world and as such, not all rules of general reality apply there, with powerful spirits being capable of controlling the landscape and even the flow of time the same way a lucid dreamer has power over his dreams.

## Spirits by Power

While some scholars claim that the existence of "Spirits" is merely the product of myth and superstition, there are just as many who dedicate their lives to studding or even living beside the elusive beings. Some of these people have went as far as to attempt to classify Spirits by their level of connection to The World and the influence they can exert on fundamental reality.

* **Lesser Spirits:**
	+ Spirits of the air and environment (no sense of self)
* **Minor Spirits:**
	+ Brownies
	+ Bluecaps
	+ Gremlins
	+ Vimples
	+ ...
* **Mid-ranked Spirits:**
	+ Dryads
	+ Banshees
	+ Grim Hounds
	+ ...
* **High Ranking Spirits:**
	+ Ents
	+ Hounds of the Wild Hunt
	+ Duke of Beasts
	+ ...
* **Lord class ("Land God") Spirits:**
	+ The Spirit of the Southern Mountains (known to some as "Granny Hill")
	+ Queen of Cold Air and Darkness
	+ The Stone Face of Ironbriar
	+ Cat Sith
	+ The Green Man of Albion (when not in the form of the Spirit of Summer)
	+ ...
* **Great Lord class ("Great Land God") Spirits:**
	+ The Spirit of the Mist
	+ The Spirit of Summer
	+ The Lord of the Storm
	+ The Spirit of the Crimson Moon (The Mistress of the Blood Moon)
	+ The Spirit of the Jade Moon (The Lady of the Harvest Moon)
	+ The Spirit of the Silver Moon (The Princess of the Pure Silver Moon)

## Some Spirits:

### Dryads

Dryads are a kind of mid-level Spirit that anchor themselves in plantlife in areas that are abundant with mana. A Dryad can never move far from her tree or both would wither and die. Dryads are naturally shy and care little for the affairs of short-lived mortals.

The best known Dryads are those of **Valenor**: Many stories that tell of beautiful women, whose bodies are made of plantlife, that appear in or around the majestic and ancient **Hylt Trees**. The Elven capital is literally built into and around these giant trees. But even when they are literally apart of the Elves biggest city nobody remembers the last time one of them has shown her face.

At the borders to the Summus Empire lies the **Grove of the Crimson Hylt**. For reasons unknown the trade city of **Marigon** built below the five trees of the grove turned into a ruined ghost town over night a couple of years ago and is considered a cursed place ever since.