- For the Arcanum in Mage: The Awakening, see Spirit (MTAw).
Spirits are natural denizens of the Shadow Realm, beings composed of ephemeral matter. As in animistic belief, spirits take a vast variety of forms, embodying the nature of anything from inanimate objects to living things to emotions, concepts and events.
Nature[]
Spirits have a complex relationship to the Material Realm; they may be birthed by strong emotions, the creation of objects or the birth of new life, or perhaps ephemera simply finds a home and identity by connecting with such things. Spirits begin their lives as tiny dormant motes of Essence. Eventually, as their material reflection grows and strengthens, they become powerful enough to awaken (or be awakened by something else). While some spirits may exhibit complex behavior and high levels of intelligence, they always act according to their natures: wolf spirits hunt, toy spirits play, and disease spirits spread disease.
Regardless of their nature, however, all spirits require Essence, or spiritual energy. They may gather Essence by acting in accordance with their nature, but primarily they gain it by feeding on Resonance. If a spirit can feed on enough Essence, it can grow more powerful, but mostly they do this by consuming other spirits. Usually a spirit will consume spirits that somehow strengthen its identity: a wolf spirit may hunt and kill the spirits of prey animals, reinforcing its identity as a predator, or it may consume other less powerful wolf spirits. Sometimes, however, a spirit may consume another with a disparate nature, giving rise to hybrid spirits known to the Uratha as Magath.
Spirits use their Influence to propagate their flavor of Resonance so they can continue to feed on its Essence. A spirit of nature will cause a garden to thrive and run wild - a spirit of gluttony will cause those in a restaurant to gorge themselves. While they can do this from the Shadow - and some Spirits can reach across the Gauntlet to Influence the Fallen World directly - the most effective way to do this is to cross over into Twilight and manipulate the Fallen World directly.
While almost anything else may have a spirit reflection in the Shadow, humans and other similar beings (like vampires, werewolves and Prometheans) never do. This may be because they possess souls (or an equivalent). Human beings may leave behind ghosts when they die; such ghosts are distinct from spirits in that they do not naturally exist in the Shadow but in Twilight, and are thought to be mere echoes of a person, rather than a true reflection of their nature.
Organization[]
Spirits intrinsically feel a connection to other similar spirits, forming groups that the Uratha call umia and mages call "choirs". These are broad categories defining spirits with compatible natures, such as Weather spirits, Tree spirits or Vehicle spirits. They work together to create the Resonance they require to feed, and protect each other and their food supply from other predatory spirits. Powerful spirits may also be accepted into "descants" (ilthum in the First Tongue), groups of more specific concepts, like Thunder spirits, Gum Tree spirits or Car spirits. Minor spirits are never considered part of a descant regardless of their natures, since membership in one conveys significant status.
Apart from this organization, spirits are also intrinsically aware of their Rank, a measure of their power and ability which determines their place within the spiritual hierarchy. Spirits do not generally use names to refer to particular ranks or choirs, instead using descriptive terms or merely recognizing another's level of power. Uratha and mages, however, have devised names which they apply to an abstraction of the levels of spiritual power, as follows:
| Rank | Description | First Tongue Name | Uratha name | Mage name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newly self-aware spirit | Hursih (pl. Hursihim) | Lesser Gaffling | Squire or page |
| 2 | Minor spirit | Hursah (pl. Hursihim) | Greater Gaffling | Knight |
| 3 | Average spirit | Ensih (pl. Ensihim) | Lesser Jaggling | Baron/Baroness |
| 4 | Powerful spirit | Ensah (pl. Ensihim) | Greater Jaggling | Count/Countess |
| 5 | Minor god | Dihir (pl. Dihim) | Incarnae | Marquis/Marchioness |
| 6 | Lesser god | Dihar (pl. Dihim) | Incarnae | Prince/Princess |
| 7 | Greater god | Dihar (pl. Dihim) | Incarnae | Duke/Duchess |
| 8 | Ancient or immense entities; universal concepts, planets etc. |
Ilusah (pl. Ilusahim) | Lesser Celestine | King/Queen |
| 9 | Greater Celestine | Emperor/Empress | ||
| 10 | "Beyond manifest conception" | |||
Spirits of less than Rank 1 (muthra in the First Tongue) are tiny and exhibit no more intelligence or self-awareness than an insect; they are disregarded by all other spirits. Uratha, being spirit beings themselves, also have Rank, derived from their renown, though the Forsaken find most spirits acknowledge them only grudgingly.
An Awakened Master of the Spirit Arcanum can also instate herself into the spirit hierarchy by casting the Spirit Court spell, and carries an effective rank equal to Gnosis or dots in Spirit. In Second Edition, mages with at least 4 dots in Spirit are automatically bestowed Rank equal to their dots.
Powers and abilities[]
Spirits do not possess learned skills or normal physical, mental or social attributes; instead, as they grow more powerful, they become simply better at doing whatever their natures require. In addition, they possess supernatural powers known as Numina and Manifestation Effects which allow them to manipulate Essence to produce various effects, from bodily possession to crossing the Gauntlet into the Material World.
Spirits are also able to exert influence over whatever it is they embody. A Wrath spirit would be able to influence anger, making the emotion stronger, changing its target, or even making a calm person angry for no reason. Minor spirits generally have influence only over the single thing which they most embody. More powerful spirits have greater control over these influences, and may gain other influences as well.
Ban & Bane[]
Each spirit (in fact, all Ephemeral Entities) also possess a Ban and a Bane. A Ban is a prohibition or compulsion they cannot resist. A spirit of police may for instance be unable to turn down a bribe, while a spirit of homelessness may not be able to enter homes or dwellings. A Bane is instead something that the Spirit is mortally afraid of, and causes them great harm when they come in contact with it. Simple spirits tend to have simple Bans or Banes - a cat spirit may have dogs as their Bane, while a powerful Spirit of War may have a Bane that is the UN General Secretary's ID card.
Spirits (or Werewolves, or Mages) that are three Ranks higher than another Spirit can deal damage as though they are that Spirit's bane.
References[]
- WTF: Werewolf: The Forsaken Rulebook, p. 265-285
- WTF: Predators, p. 14-67
- MTAw: Mage: The Awakening Rulebook [citation needed]
- WTF: Werewolf: The Forsaken Second Edition [citation needed]