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> Invocation, Answers from a Free Spirit
Ancient History
post Jun 6 2005, 04:32 AM
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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."
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DocMortand
post Jun 6 2005, 05:15 AM
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An interesting perspective - I can hardly wait to see what happens on the third date. :) I have my suspicions (after all, it IS blood magic being used...but whether it's benign or malignant has yet to be determined.)

The darksome spirit - That's not Gaf, is it? Or is that a specific type of spirit? (Like bugs?)

Thought provoking as usual...
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nick012000
post Jun 6 2005, 06:23 AM
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QUOTE (DocMortand)
The darksome spirit - That's not Gaf, is it? Or is that a specific type of spirit? (Like bugs?)

Check out MitS, the beginning of the section on Magical Threats.
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Ancient History
post Jun 6 2005, 01:08 PM
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Truth be told, I always thought the karma-transfer thing for spirits was a little too mechanical. No one I know ever spiced it up. But if you see it from the viewpoint that karma represents a certain amount of time and effort as well as raw spiritual energy, then it makes sense that the method for a spirit to gain karma would be tied to some sort of sacrifice or veneration, not unlike is common today or in the past to honor the dead or various nature spirits. Pouring a sip of your drink on the concrete, for example, might effect mininmal transfer of karma, but regularly doing it with a prayer to the spirit for a period of time might count.

This sort of activity, of course, leads to the potential of the false-god complex I presented above...some of the spirits in this case may well be beneficial, while others might degenerate, but the base mechanics are already there in Shadowrun-if somewhat underused, except by insect spirits and the Aleph Society.

To be honest, I first played with the invocation-business when a player wanted to do the Dr. Strange thing in my game. But really, you can spout as much as you want about the Flames of the Faltine, a fireball is a fireball. The answer to that was to let free elementals and ally spirits "loan out" some power when their name was called. Faltine could be a Force 5 fire elemental, Denak could by a Force 3 ally spirit, etc. In cases of the more esoteric or malign entities, Spirit Tap comes into play...the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak become a particularly powerful binding spell that draws power from a spirit tap to the spirit Cyttorak, for example.

So yeah, that might all sound pretty cheesy, but there's no real reason why it wouldn't work.
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Shockwave_IIc
post Jun 7 2005, 12:49 AM
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Why do i feel that anything writen/ Posted by you, should be taken as canon? though it is clearly not.

As always a good read.
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Jrayjoker
post Jun 7 2005, 01:34 PM
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Did I read too much into your post, or did you intentionally allow the spirit to state that there are "false gods", thus implying the existance of real gods?

And his name isn't Sator, is it? Because you used it 3 times in the incantation, but only said it once directly.

QUOTE
Sator. Arepo. Tenet. Opera. Rotas.
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Jrayjoker
post Jun 7 2005, 01:37 PM
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QUOTE (Shockwave_IIc)
Why do i feel that anything writen/ Posted by you, should be taken as canon? though it is clearly not.

As always a good read.

Nah, he doesn't write canon. He just writes thought provoking stuff based on canon, and some of it gets into the books. ;) Or maybe that is the definition of canon?
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Ancient History
post Jun 7 2005, 01:51 PM
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QUOTE (Jrayjoker)
Did I read too much into your post, or did you intentionally allow the spirit to state that there are "false gods", thus implying the existance of real gods?

And his name isn't Sator, is it? Because you used it 3 times in the incantation, but only said it once directly.

QUOTE
Sator. Arepo. Tenet. Opera. Rotas.

I didnae want to step on anyone's deity, hence the specification. Leaves the field open for a true divine power (or more, depending on your creed).

I left the interpretation open as to whether or not the spirit's name was contained within the invocation (which is actually just an old magic square).

CODE

S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S
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DocMortand
post Jun 7 2005, 05:50 PM
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Nice...I thought that looked familar.

So what happens the third day? *whine*
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Supercilious
post Jun 7 2005, 06:05 PM
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He is devoured by the malignant blood spirit. Duh.
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Supercilious
post Jun 7 2005, 06:05 PM
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He is devoured by the malignant blood spirit. Duh.
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Critias
post Jun 7 2005, 06:10 PM
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Twice!
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Jrayjoker
post Jun 7 2005, 06:46 PM
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QUOTE
...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."


Italics and underscore are mine for emphasis.

I speculate that the above is what happens to the magus on the final day. The spirit was never bound to do no harm to the magus, and somehow it has found out Kale's name, though Kale never said it. The spirit is giving fair warning to Kale that there is danger in dealing with spirits, and by saying the name of its summoner it shows how much danger the mage is in.

I think the story stands as is without the need for a 3rd question.

AH, how close am ?. :)
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Ancient History
post Jun 7 2005, 07:45 PM
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You're not entirely off the beaten track. I'll post the third night later, when I get home.
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Jrayjoker
post Jun 7 2005, 08:46 PM
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Cool, nice to know my liberal arts education is paying off...;)
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Supercilious
post Jun 8 2005, 06:36 AM
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QUOTE (Jrayjoker)
Cool, nice to know my liberal arts education is paying off...;)

So what does the man with a liberal arts degree say?

Would you like fries with that? :rotfl:

In all seriousness, though, I totally missed that. Thanks for pointing it out (I did predict the death of the mage, but that is mostly because of my degree in Shadowrun fiction endings).
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Edward
post Jun 8 2005, 07:12 AM
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The problem with such theories is that the author may not be as well educated as you, witch is most annoying when the author wrights something cool sounding in chapter one that /could/ indicate something in the future but doesn’t even realise it. I have seen this happen several limes, and not just in my pore attempts at creative writing.

Edward
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fistandantilus4....
post Jun 8 2005, 07:25 AM
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QUOTE (Shockwave_IIc)
Why do i feel that anything writen/ Posted by you, should be taken as canon? though it is clearly not.

well... since he's a free lancer now...
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Jrayjoker
post Jun 8 2005, 01:03 PM
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QUOTE (Edward @ Jun 8 2005, 01:12 AM)
The problem with such theories is that the author may not be as well educated as you, witch is most annoying when the author wrights something cool sounding in chapter one that /could/ indicate something in the future but doesn’t even realise it. I have seen this happen several limes, and not just in my pore attempts at creative writing.

Edward

Ahhh, but AH has already given me my cookie. I have sated myself on the self satisfaction supermenu of sweet sweet fiction.

:lick:
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Jrayjoker
post Jun 8 2005, 01:06 PM
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QUOTE (Ancient History)
You're not entirely off the beaten track. I'll post the third night later, when I get home.

Apparently he never made it home. That wasn't an autobiographical story, was it?
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Ancient History
post Jun 8 2005, 03:43 PM
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There's a story in that, but for another time and place. ;) I'll post it when I get home, honest.
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Jrayjoker
post Jun 8 2005, 04:26 PM
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That must have been one hell of a party!
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Chibu
post Jun 9 2005, 04:08 AM
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Interesting. I agree with that completely. Free Spirits take a large roll in most games we play. THis is usually becuase the mages get geeked, their spirits go free, and we happen to be a friendly bunch of Runners. ^-^

I actually can't think of a campeign that didn't have an active Free Spirit in it. Be it that of a magical tutor, a roommate/Johnson (that was a good story: We killed a mage and his spirits went free, 2 were very mad about it and tried to kill us, and the stronger Fire Elemental said, "I'll help you, but you owe me one" and had us sign a contract, so, we owed him one.),

Uhm, there was a time we were Running for winternight (WHeeeeeee) and as a group decided that it would be a good idea to search out Free Spitits and Bind them to us to inhabit us to increase our power (we didn't get to play past that though). Our deal was, You lend us your power by inhabiting us, and We will gain power, and give you power to lend to us. This form of Ritual was usually in the killing of others. That was a crazy campeign. We had enough power to take out a small nation. 2 Dzoo-nu-Qua, a Toxic mage, some other mage, and a rigger with a headware remote, all inhabited by powerful (i'm talking force 13) elementals.

There was also the time we did as the Story says. Helped a Fre Spirit to become a false god. We started a church based on helping people (no crazy UB stuff though). The form of worship was having sex. this "Ritual", as it were, was what game the Spirit power. the Passion, hunger, and drive behind it all.

The list goes on. And, yes, The flavor of the the 'ritual to give karma to a free spirit' is very important for the game. It gives it depth and makes it seem real. It makes it believeable.
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fistandantilus4....
post Jun 9 2005, 08:00 AM
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My favorite free spirits in our games were the ones that the players had a hand in. Gives them a sense of grounding, so theyre not all powerful, just damn powerful. Both of them were the result of some 'meddling' of the voudoon PC (characters name was Bourbon).

The first one was Bourbon's Gran' Mere'. They were playing in Denver in '61, and good ol' Gran'Mere' was killed because oof the whole shedim thing. Gran'Mere' (never had a name besides that) was teaching to character magic. So after she died, the PC summoned her up, and ended up helping her become a free spirit, and she assists he with her initiation now.

The scond one was a frined of one of my characters, a Oyabun contact. Short story long (or whatever) he go whacked, but we couldn't be positive of who did it (although I suspected his son). Soooo..... Had little Ms. Voudoon summoon him up and make him into a zombie. Then we Put her inside a nice hefty ward, and dosed her w/ some DMSO, she passed out, he went free, became a grande zombie, and the next day his son was dead. Not really sure what happened to him after that. I mean yeah, so we made a free spirit that has to free off of other people and let him lose on Seattle and he used to be a crime boss...... hmmm..... maybe we could have thought that out better............. nah.
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Ancient History
post Jun 9 2005, 03:28 PM
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A third night. Once more before the bowl of black sand. Once more the words.

Sator. Arepo. Tenet. Opera. Rotas.

"Greetings, Kale. A third night. A third question. Our bargain is nearly complete. Ask, and I shall fulfill my promise."

Tonight the moon was a silver crescent in the sky. The spirit's green ears seemed impossibly long and pointed.

"What do spirits want?"

"Sssssk. Our motivations...range from the mundane to the extraordinary. On our home metaplanes, things are far different. Many of us are content simply to be. In part, it has to do with our true names and why we cannot break our bargains. I will tell you something of that, yes.

Our true names define us utterly. While we may grow more powerful, perhaps change in our perspectives and outlook, we can never change what we are. Forever until we are destroyed. And believe me, forever can last a very long time...

I remember once a woodland glade. A wood spirit, which you magi might call a manitou, became free there. It was a foolish little spirit, and dwelled there a long time, unchanging, until a maiden came into his glade. Together, the spirit and the maiden frolicked. This is when the spirit took on the aspect of the animus, the male seeming. The maiden returned to her village, and told the story. Others came to seek the wood spirit. Some tried to destroy him, others for wisdom or profit. The children merely came for fun, and to give gifts. Over the years, the spirit grew in power from his interactions with mortals. He became wise and strong, canny in his deals, and the glade became his personal domain. Eventually, a great drought came. The spirit watched as the village, and his grove, died. So the spirit remained where the grove had been. The land became as desert, and in time the desert gave forth it's own spirit. You cannot truly know the confusion the wood spirit felt. His time had passed him by. So he went into the world of men, in the seeming of men. I think he is there still...when last I knew him, he had become a scholar. No matter that his trees are gone, he is still a wood spirit. He always would be. There are wood spirits who appear in petrified groves, and are mistaken for the spirits of stone. But they are wood spirits. There is an eminently definable part of us, we cannot change.

When a spirit makes a bargain, it establishes a connection between bargainers. It is rare in the extreme that this can be seen, but it can be felt. I think it might be that the spirit and the entity it bargains with become more like each other, attuning themselves to facilitate the passage of karma, an involuntary and instinctive reaction. If so, it would explain to me why spirits grow more like mortals the more they deal with them...in any case, the reason a spirit cannot break a bargain is because of its true name. Just as we cannot alter what type of spirit we are, so can we not break out word once given. A spirit cannot break its word. Literally cannot. One of us may try, but our true name would not allow us to do so.

As to our wants...spirit want karma. The spiritual momentum and good will that mortals accumulate through their toil. Our essence is static, ungrowing, without such energy. Spirits who desire power crave karma for that reason alone, while others use it for their own pursuits. One air spirit I know made bargains so that she could become adept in music. Flushed with karma, she could pour herself into learning the skills of the musician. Without such energy, she could never have become so learned. Imagine, if you will, having a raw talent, yet never being able to develop it properly with skill and learning, even at a school. Creativity must take the place of skill, instruments become worn rocks with hollows, reeds poked with holes, and the lapping of water...but it is not the same. Not at all. Spirits are bound to your kind, and others, because of our need and want to grow.

That is not all, of course. Certain spirits desire material goods...something as practical as a focus within which to hide themselves during the dark times when mana is scarce, or something as outrageous as a mansion or a car. Most often times, the latter, materialistic spirits wish to support a certain lifestyle among you mortals...or else, to pay one of you off. Spirits of the natural world do not always need to engage in mystical bargains, of course. They can find suitable telesma and arcana more easily than many mortal magicians, and others may tap their domain's resources of oil, metal, gems, rare woods, foods, mineral waters and furs.

Land and dwellings have at times been important tokens between mortal and spirit. Spirits feel protective of their domains, and will bargain to protect or keep them. At other times, a spirit looking for a domain will seek out a place to create one. Often, a potential domain is or becomes a place of power, aspected in favor of the spirit. Spirits enjoy the added power, even as they are wary of those magi who covet such power.

Should a spirit seek to enjoy a mundane existence, posing as a mortal, they become subject to many mortal needs to facilitate their disguise...and enwrapped with a tangle of mortal bargains. No matter how crafty, intelligent, degenerate or despicable the spirit or the guise it maintains, it will always keep its bargains to the letter. It may betray you before, or after, but never during. In this way, many spirits tend toward shady, low-income jobs or menial employment, where few questions are asked; although a spirit may be found in any level of society. Generally, such spirits appreciate their concealment, and go to great lengths and shams to hide their presence. The weight of mortal years can be difficult in the long run, however.

There was once a girl, in New York City. Every day she passed a pawn shop, whose merchant was shy, occasionally gruff, but kind. He kept very precise hours, and did well enough to get by, though he never seemed to prosper. They would stop and talk. Eventually, they fell in love. Their affair was brief, but this would turn out to be a blessing. Imagine an immortal falling in love with a mortal, seeing her grow old and die, fearful to reveal your secret...no, much better the bed-wrecking of those in Gwynned.

Come to think of it, that was a bad example. The animus was a gnome, an earth spirit summoned in a Cornish coal mind, while the anima was female mantid summoned by a rather outspoken female kabbalist. I'm sure her attempt to devour him during their tryst was entirely on accident, but...well, let us say aura masking is not always a blessing, hmm?

Back to the subject. Spirits have little desire for magical devices, which they cannot generally use, and little more desire for spells, which they may craft themselves. Our "magical resources" are rather different than your own, since we dwell within astral space itself, our perceptions are quite different. Dragons, of all others, most closely resemble ourselves in that matter, but even then they must answer to the flesh.

Which is not to say some spirits do not as well. Not only grande zombies and insect spirits, but toxic spirits may desire the bodies of the living or the dead for their purposes. Nomads, wraiths and blood spirits actually feed off the life force of the living, causing irreperable neural and psychological damage in those few cases they don't kill the victim. Such beings may enter bargains to obtain a steady supply. Others might prey only on vampires, or other spirits, and bargain to enlist aid in capturing their meals.

I do know of one spirit, a degenerate member of those I termed fallen ones I termed false gods. Wracked with need but constrained by the mortal impulses oh his former worshippers, he could only feed on those who sacrificed to him. I believe he became a male prostitute working in Athens. Well, at least his tips should keep him in clear heels. Heh heh heh.

Many spirits pursue goals, seeking to enact some agenda or maintain the status quo. Nature and toxic spirits are worst at this, for they tend to embroil all within the area to counter one another's moves. More far-ranging spirits set up churches, cults and corporations to venerate themselves...for an ageless spirit, power truly can be no more than an end unto itself. Spirits can and do war with one another over scanty resources, rival cults and corporations, or even property disputes when two domains border one another. The common factor being, spirits engage with bargains with mortals in other to bring about these changes. Such spirits must often make many bargains, and become constrained by them in their actions and words.

The ultimate example of this, I think, is a minor spirit worshipped by an island cult. He grew powerful, but promised to always care for the spirits of their dead. So even now, when his isle is sank beneath the waves and his worshippers are destroyed, he is surrounded in his domain by thousands of apparitions, whom he must care for. You can imagine he's grown exceedingly grim and demanding from any visitors to his realm.

Oh, I had not mentioned realms before. They are like domains, but more so. Not proper metaplanes or netherworlds, they are fragmented metaplanes of finite size, bound to specific physical areas of this world. The connections between this astral space and these realms waxes and wanes with time. Spirits who own a realm have great power within them...and great difficulty leaving them. So they are both kingdom and prison, for some. A particularly potent or beautiful realm, such as the many belonging to various fae, is seen as a sign of status. A spirit may conquer a neighboring realm, although it is obscenely difficult and costly, usually requiring the assistance of a puissant magus. Those who try and fail, Kale, must find a way to hide themselves.

Which is where you come in. Now, please."

Something hit the mage from behind. They held onto his arms and legs, another placed a gag in his mouth. Kale stared up at the spirit, unable to speak.

"My following is much diminished, especially after my battle with Forskning och Framsteg at the Elfburg. I will hide myself in your flesh, and add your incomplete power to my own."

An old man, came into view, well-dressed with silver hair, holding a black carpetbag. He drew a pair of scissors from the bag, and carefully began cutting open Kale's shirt. Kale attempted a spell. The spirit smiled wider as it protected its servant, the spell harmlessly dismissed.

"I understand your curiosity, Kale. It is why I like you. You have no idea-yet-how pleased I am when you followed the rumor I had planted. I get so very tired of being a backstreet genie."

With Kale's chest bared, the old man wiped it down with a wet piece of gauze. Then the old man took out a fetish, a book covered in dark leather, and a scalpel. Kale struggled harder, but he couldn't budge an inch. The old man recited from the book as he made the first incision

"I sacrifice with my blood thrice in the night, thrice do I call out the spell of compelling and binding. Now do I welcome within myself that spirit I called, welcome it to my cage of bone. Timor mortis conturbat me..."
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