Invocation, Answers from a Free Spirit Options

[Ancient History]

Kale made his way to the little shrine. Not much to see, really. A niche in the wall, a bowl of black sand set between two black candles before a black-framed mirror. This was where his contact said he could contact a spirit that might give him answers. Kale flicked out a switchblade and pricked his finger, dribbling blood onto the sand as he intoned the ritual three times.

Sator. Arepo. Tenet. Opera. Rotas.

He felt the ritual work in him. You always recognize the feeling when you sacrifice yourself to a spirit. Maybe the ritual held it's True Name. Now where was it?

"You have called me, with blood and spirit, with the proper words and in the proper place. Do you wish a bargain with me, mortal?"

The words echoed from behind him. Kale turned to see what might have been an obscenely thin ork, covered in a black leather trenchoat with a wide-brimmed black hat, and with eyes like polished obsidian.

"I want to know more about free spirits. Their history, and their nature."

The spirit considered for a moment.

"Very well. I will answer three questions. One I will answer tonight. Tomorrow night, return and perform the sacrifice again, and I will answer another. The night after that, sacrifice to me a final time, and I will answer your last question. Do we have a bargain?"

Kale nodded. The spirit smiled.

"Very well. Ask your question, magus."

"How did metahumans and free spirits first come to interact?"

"I do not know the beginning. When I was first summoned, and I escaped my bondage, spirits had already claimed domains or areas of influence upon this plane. The mortals recognized the claims of the spirits. Some sought to placate them with offerrings. In time, the leaving of offerrings became traditions, and sometimes rituals. Mortals believed in the power of the spirit, and their devotion to them was focused in prayer and ritual sacrifices. These Free Spirits learned to tap the power the mortals offered. The time and effort the worshipers expended to placate the spirit or tend its shrine is a valuable energy, to both spirits and magicians. Some spirits were content with the small sacrifices they received, while others hungered for more. Even the smallest spirit used their powers on occaison to aid their worshippers, lest they be forgotten.

In time, the most ambitious spirits appeared to mortals in their preferred form, and created priesthoods for themselves, with more complex rituals and full-fledged temples rather than mere shrines. You yourself can no doubt imagine from there at how the spirits grew fat, and their worshippers suffered. Most of them have been destroyed, now, or forgotten. They went to war with one another, or ran afoul of greater powers, or were betrayed by the treachery of their servants.

Spirits have always been both wary of and attracted to the magi, you see, and you magi in turn have been wary and attracted to free spirits. You, magus, are our greatest source of nourishment. Your magic may improve the transfer of spiritual energy between mortals and ourselves. But at the same time, it is the nature and power of the magi to bind and enslave us for your own power. Even now, you fear my power, while calculating if it is too great for you to enslave me.

Such was the downfall of these spirits-that-would-be-gods. As their worshippers grew, magi came among them. Some of these ousted the false gods, while in other cases the spirits caused their priesthoods to purge themselves of magi. Eventually, nearly all took to incorporating the magi into their priesthoods.

I do not know the origins of most magical knowledge, but there is much that spirits know simply as native beings of magic, and from passing between planes, that you mortal magi must learn through years of experience. We may tap our full powers from the moment we are defined by our true names, whereas you magi must learn your potentials. In any case, the spirits taught their priesthoods, and some magi, mystic lore. The nature and extant varied from spirit to spirit and magus to magus...but many weakened and toppled gods created mystery cults around their ancient holy places, instructing their chosen disciples in the intricacies of initiation, and acting as their conduit to the higher planes. So to did some of the false gods.

Invariably, a false god would teach too much, or allow a magus to grow too powerful, and was bound or destroyed. Some few were merely forgotten, as their priesthood died out and they did not replenish them. Their lore and names still haunt the ancient places of this world. Some of them haunt those places, too.

To this day, a lonesome magus or order of magi, some of which trace their traditions back to the rites and orders of the false gods, come across this knowledge. Thus are many ancient spirits invoked, released, or bound anew. So it is to this day.

I have answered your question for tonight, magus. Return tomorrow with another question."

Kale left, his mind sifting through all the spirit had said to him. Still, one thing burned in his mind. What would he ask the spirit tomorrow?

Once more, he spilled his blood on the sand. Again, he chanted the words, and felt the pull within him. This time, he focused on the ritual more, strove harder to do each part perfectly, and this time it felt easier, as he gave less of himself to the spirit while it gained the same. Once more, a voice spoke from behind him.

"You do well, magus. Perhaps you should become my high priest, and perform my rituals for me."

A dry chuckle followed Kale as he turned around. This time, Kale noticed the sharpness of its teeth rather than the dull blackness of its eyes.

"You have kept the second part of our bargain, magus. Ask your question of me."

"Why do metahumans bargain free spirits?"

"Ah. An excellent question, with both a simple and a complex answer. I will give you both.

The simple answer is that few mortals and even most magi cannot hope to bind a free spirit and force us to your power. It is possible, of course...with our true names, we can be bound or destroyed more thoroughly than a mortal might bind or destroy another mortal. But even with our names, and the tools you craft and the rituals you design, free spirits are difficult to defeat. We do not give up our freedom easily. So instead, your mortals and magi bargain with us, for many things. Sometimes, of course, we seek out bargains with you, for there are things a mortal may accomplish easier than a spirit, just as there are many tasks we may accomplish easier than you.

The more complicated answer deals with what we spirits have to deal with. Aside from the obvious use of our powers to accomplish some feat, be it to pave a road or bedevil an enemy, we may augment the might you magi and mortals with our own. The elementals and those spirit familiars crafted by you magi are best at this, acting as wells of mystical power that a magus may tap to augment the might of their own spells, but any spirit may develop a version of this power.

Indeed, in the ancient days it was not uncommon for a magus to make bargains with free spirits he encountered, asking for a loan of power. Typically the magus would make the pact, then the spirit would teach it a fragment of its true name. If the magus invoked the spirit while casting a spell, they could draw power from the spirit to aid in that spell, and would owe the spirit a debt to be paid later on. In other cases, a spirit would teach a magus a spell that was tied to its own power. Thus, a magus would be pleased to possess a potent magic, yet be bound to the spirit for its continued use and their own continued health!

More darksome spirits occaisionally engage in more personal bonds, investing part of their energy with a dark magus in a pact. A rare few may even engage with multiple pacts, forming circles that hark back to the fallen false gods. Beware such beings, for while they typically have power, they are also the most degenerate of our kind. Some are said to be dependant on sacrifices of life-force, and find their own essence draining away should they not be given sacrifices at regular intervals. More than one such fallen god, consumed by hunger, has fed on their priests only to starve to death without anyone else to sacrifice to them. A horrible fate.

Again, magi and mortals approach us for our knowledge. Along with the great deal of arcane lore we possess, or spells and techniques that are useful to you magi, a spirit is a font of lore on the nature of magic, where we dwell, and our domains or areas of interest. Many a spirit is well-versed in history, because we do not age as mortals do, and our unusual services sometimes give us strange lores.

Speaking of such services, as I told you last night, a free spirit may act as an astral contact between a magus or order of magi and the higher planes. Spirits in such a position have a great impact over the magus or magi in question, and so they are carefully guarded by the wise magi so that their enemies do not bind them, and gain control over them! Such was the downfall of other false gods.

Wealth, or divinations, are perhaps the most legendary of the powers of free spirits. Yes, we can create wealth from nothing, and become aware of future events through our powers. Material goods and the news that can lead to such are always in demand from us.

For mortals, more than others that seek bargains with the spirits, it is the desire to experience magic. Even if the rituals they invoke do little more than feed us, a mortal can feel the flow of their spiritual energy. It is a validation that there is an invisible part of themselves, one that is valuable to others. In other cases, of course, a spirit can give mortal worshippers a glimpse of the astral plane, or even possess their body for a time. Spirits and mortals differ on possession, even willing possession...for the mortal, the lack of control may seem frightening and strange, while for the spirit it is walking around in actual flesh that some find a delight, and others find discomfiting. Still, possession is a validiction of faith, both to the possessed and others who witness it. Naturally, clever magi have learned to ape this power...and to create an odd reversal of it, where a magician channels the power of a possessing spirit! Indeed, spirits often react worse to channelling than mortals due to possession. Perhaps it is because it is too similiar to slavery for our tastes.

Finally, of course, some spirits may invest their life in a foolish mortal that desires immortality. Very rare, but not unheard of. Mortals are a poor choice...our natures are so different, and you are such poor containers for our essence. The experience often drives the mortal quite mad...although I think that may be deliberate in some cases. Your sanitariums of this era are much safer than in previous ages, though even then the mad hermits were seen as prophets and holy men, cared for rather than killed. Few who know the consequences choose to be the receptacle of a spirit's hidden life, for this reason.

I have spoken to you of all that a mortal or magus may gain from a spirit, but I have not yet spoken of why a spirit might engage with a mortal or magus. Most of the time, the answer boils down to the spiritual energy we gain when you venerate us, and perform our rituals. Such is the only way we may add to our substance and grow more powerful...save for certain darksome spirit, that consume other spirits to survive. I will not speak of those.

At other times, spirits are threatened into bargains, by our true names, by being entrapped by clever magic, or bullied by the raw power of a dragon or other magus of greater power than we. Spirits often chafe at such servitude, but when possible we extract oaths which prevent us from being threatened with such again.

Finally, we spirits may seek to trade our powers and services for those of others. For better or worse, spirits interact with your world, and we often seek to increase our influence there. This means we must often have servitors to carry out our will and business, those who are more knowledgable concerning the rules of your society than ourselves. Or simply to prevent others from being aware of our existence as we accumulate physical or magical assets we desire. It is not uncommon for us to engage pawns such as yourself to attack an enemy, such as a rival spirit or even a magus that might know our true name!

I have kept my bargain, and answered your second question, Kale. Think well on your final question, and return tomorrow night."