Spirit

Theurgists

Theurgists are people who have some experience or make it their life-trade or skill to summon any form of Spirit into Aloria. Theurgists are sometimes also called Karamatologists (though this is a Suvial term), or Warlocks (though this is a far less common vernacular), and some Theurgists who believe themselves to do good work, consider this a slur. Theurgy as an art is almost widely reviled by all Religions and all legal systems, save for those where the exact nature of Transdimensional Spirit and Cultural-Religious Spirit, somewhat overlap (discussed further below, in the Interpretations section). Theurgists always try very hard to hide their practices from the prying eyes of the government and any organization that hunts Spirits or Spirit summoners. There can be some genuinely skilled Theurgists who know exactly what to say to make the right pacts and bargains with Spirits to always come out on top, but generally speaking, the history fo Theurgy is littered with the corpses of the unprepared and overconfident summoners who either were invaded or just exploded on the spot for contracting powers they could not control. Out of all Magical practices, Theurgy is considered the most dangerous and unpredictable, but also the highest reward yield, as Spirits are commonly held to be the most powerful and versatile tools to acquire more might and influence.

Theurgists distinguish a difference between what they call Summoning: the act of calling forth an independent Spirit with their own mind, and Evoking: the act of calling forth a lesser Spirit. Summoned Spirits are always vaguely humanoid or some other form of monstrous appearance and speak with their own will and thoughts. Evoked Spirits usually don't have a voice or just make bestial or magical grunting noises, and are rarely ever humanoid, more often appearing either like magical essence clouds or lights, or some form of demonic-looking creature or impish fiend. Evoked Spirits are dumb, but can be trained to do simple tasks like cleaning or carrying things around, while Summoned Spirits can only be tricked into these activities, and are more liable to rebel and kill the Summoner if they let their guard down thinking they successfully reduced a powerful Spirit into being their personal house servant. Evoked Spirits have no functional will of their own and will always be under the control of the Summoner, even when the Summoner leaves. Summoned Spirits (or even Spirits that were bound to a Summoner's will, like for example Suvial captive Spirts), are extremely dangerous because they become independent when they leave the vision range of their owner. The Summoner can only give commands while near the Spirit, and so a Spirit will always seek time away from its master to do things that the Summoner neglectfully did not tell it not to do. Theurgists who ignore or let their Spirits roam freely without oversight or a complex 100-layered command contract, are considered extremely novice and carelessly naive Spirit-owners.

Cultural/Religious Interpretations

If a Religion is not mentioned in this section, assume that it just has a blanket negative view on any form of Spirit presence.

Fornoss View

The Fornoss Religion distinguishes a difference between what they call Fjandi (Spirits who are from other Dimensions) and Fylgja (Spirits who may be from other Dimensions but are defined more by being ancestor Spirits, or believers of Fornoss faith). Fylgja are always defined as either having been a mortal Fornoss believer in life and ascended to Vaarda where they were made into Void Spirits by Rand, or Void Spirits associated with Rand or Thirun that were bound in faith to Fornoss. This binding process in particular is important, as Spirits cannot naturally experience spirituality and belief in Religion without a strict spiritual binding. When spiritually bound to Fornoss, these Void Demons worship and obey all the Fornoss Gods (even the Eili), and are considered benign in the eyes of the Fornoss believers. Fylgja are respected, and sometimes even fought alongside with, if religious goals align, but in other instances, they are treated just like any other Fornoss believer would. If they happen to be supporting the wrong side in a war, they are killed just as likely as Fjandi would be. Note, just because Fornoss believers distinguish this religious difference between Fjandi and Fylgja, does not mean Regalia sees it this way. Fornoss is a tolerated, but not state Religion.

Unionist View

Any form of ghost or Spirit is considered evil or corrupted in the eyes of the Unionist faith, even if they were Primal Revenants who formed from the most pious of worshipers. Any form of un-life, undeath, or life after death, is considered a violation of the judgement of the Everwatcher, and a refusal to be judged in his eyes on the Great Way. However, the reality is that Unionist history is littered with examples of extremely Unionist pious entities, like for example Burning Choir Undead, or Primal Revenants of Everians who continued their holy quests through the body of a (sometimes willing) Unionist worshiping host. Religious doctrine is against Spirits as a whole, but a Primal Revenant who is not planar corrupted and holds onto their beliefs of Unionism, can sometimes find sympathy among the lay folk and sometimes even priests, who would rather seek to help this wayward soul complete their holy quest and duty and pass on peacefully, than to inflict violence on the image of piety. There are however also fanatics who simply refuse to listen to any moderating views of Unionist life in between the living and dead, and try to put it out of its misery. This is also the legal stance of the Regalian Empire, so that pity and sympathy for Unionist Revenants and Burning Choir Undead, is more incidental than the norm.

Evolist View

Evolism as a Religion considered transcendence to Spirithood to be a true blessing from the Gods, and widely considered all forms of Void/Ordial Spirits to be good things. Opinions fluctuate on Primal Revenants, mostly because Primal Revenants are very temporary, which Evolism believers consider more of a stay-of-execution until actual death sets in for the individual, thus not the truly wholly freeing experience of becoming a Void Spirit. Note, because of the tonal difference between Void Spirits and Ordial Spirits, Evolists strongly prefer Void Spirits (considering Ordial Spirits diminutive), but practically always look down on Exist-based Spirits as weak and incompetent, purely because there is no Exist alignment in the Evolist pantheon, which means that Exist Spirits must by default serve other false religions. Note again that Evolism is a tolerated and not state Religion in Regalia. As such, even if one of the aspects of Evolism is to transcend and become a Spirit after death, this concept itself is illegal, and anyone who engages or professes a desire to become a Spirit, will face persecution.

Spirit Arken

Spirit Arken are immensely powerful Spirits like Sovereigns, but because they are Alorian-native, their rules of engagement in Aloria is vastly different. While Spirit Sovereigns represent entities formed in other dimensions coming to Aloria, Spirit Arken (usually just called Arken) are formless essences from these other dimensions taking shape and manifesting entities in Aloria. The word Arken comes from the Meraic word Aanker or Anchor, which represents their identity as metaphorical chains by which the Arch-Exist and Arch-Void could manifest in Aloria. These Arch entities are considered the highest forms of intelligence from their respective Dimensions, but they are so terrifyingly powerful that they cannot manifest in Aloria without having some form of physical attachment there, which is why the Arken were created. The Arken cannot physically enter the dimensions from which they were born, they are bound to Aloria, though they can create pocket-dimensions of their own, the most notable of which is the Void Arken of Power, who created Vaarda, which would eventually become a form of Fornoss religious afterlife. Spirit Arken are complex entities because as they are born to Aloria, and bound to many of its mortal whims and urges, they are often some form of slave to the emotions of mortals. Each Arken is born in order of power, and in order of the power of emotion. This means that for example, the first-born Void and Exist Arken Pride and Justice are the most powerful Arken of them all, and specifically born first because pride is the strongest vice, and a desire for justice the strongest virtue of all mortals of Aloria.

Spirit Arken can also create Spirits and induce Spirits into their Legions, but are less likely to do so. Their Spirits are usually just mindless entities meant to seduce mortals to their nature, for example, a Pride Demon would cause a person to become more prideful and self-serving, while a Justice Apparition would make a person more inclined to exact their merciless justice on what they deem as wrong, morally or legally. Because of their intrinsic connection to Aloria, some would claim that Arken are more like real people than other Spirits ever could be, because they are manifest through parts of the mortal world, rather than just created from magical energy devoid of any attachment. This has led some to conclude, that Arken are more morally gray entities, as opposed to the Spirit Dukes and Spirit Sovereigns, who are purely out to benefit themselves. The world of Aloria does not have Arken, because the concept of a Spirit Arken birth can only happen from an un-bound dimension. Thus, Ordial Arken also do not exist, because the Beyond as a realm is somehow linked to Aloria as its mirror dimension. There is always an even number of Arken of both Void and Exist in the world, with each also being mirror opposite traits: Pride-Justice, Diligence-Sloth, Greed-Charity, and so on. Arken are theoretically immortal, but because of a fluke of the laws of reality concerning the Draconism Denial of Immortality, they are forced into a cycle of rebirth, meaning they can die and be killed, and reborn as a mortal infant each time they do, with no memories of their past self.

Spirit Sovereigns

Spirit Sovereigns are considered the tier of power below the Evolist Gods, with powers akin to that of actual Gods. Spirit Sovereigns command legions of Spirits, and inevitably, all Spirits that are either revived from mortal souls into Spirits, or Spirits created from other realms, are subject to one such Spirit Sovereign. It is possible for a Spirit to break free from their Spirit Sovereign or to betray their command, but this does create animosity between them and other Spirits still bound to that Sovereign's legions. Spirit Sovereigns are ancient Spirits, some speculate they may have been around since the Seraph era, making them 70,000 years old at least, and they were the first-born of essences breaking into Aloria. The Spirit Sovereigns led the legions of the Void in each successive Void Invasion, and as such could be considered "Generals of Hell". The majority of Spirit Sovereigns that are found in Aloria, are by far and large Void-aligned. The Beyond does not produce Spirit Sovereigns, because Shades are not powerful enough souls to become so influential, and obey commands of the Death Gods of the Beyond instead, like the Malefica, Machinist, Consigner, or Glacial. The Exist does produce Spirit Sovereigns, but because of the bound nature of Estel (the Arch-Exist) for tens of thousands of years, and her alignment with mortals for so long, the Exist Sovereigns just lacked the time and repeat-warfare against mortals that the Void Spirit Sovereigns enacted, that created their vast legions. As such, Exist Spirit Sovereigns are rare, and usually a lot more solitary, not only avoiding the creation of extensive legions of Spirits, but also hiding away from being attacked by Void Spirit Sovereigns, who are constantly on the lookout to destroy their polar opposites. A list of all available and widely known Spirit Sovereigns can be found on the Mystech Page.

Spirit Dukes

Spirit Dukes are Spirits of immense power, but not strictly as powerful as Spirit Sovereigns. Spirit Sovereigns command legions of Spirits to serve under them, while Dukes only rule a handful of Spirits, as their notable talent is terrifying powers over curses, magic, and space and time. Spirit Dukes are generally not evil in the strictest sense, they are creatures with a love for the art of the deal. Summoning them is extremely straightforward Spirit Dukes are so widely known that one does not need a traditional Spirit Summoner. Any person who has gotten their hands on a scroll or some kind of writing that describes the summoning circle and accompanying ritual can summon these Spirit Dukes, even if they have never dealt with Magic or Spirits before in their lives, which makes them so dangerous. When summoning Spirit Dukes, one must always contract a time and place in Staff Ticket so that a Staff member can represent the Spirit Duke. Spirit Dukes are extremely dangerous when summoned. When summoning a Spirit Duke, the Summoner gives kill-perms for both them, and anyone else present to the DM, and if things go wrong during a Spirit Summoning, these Characters may receive semi-permanent debuffs, maims, or other long-term character ailments or curses. At the same time, Spirit Dukes offer some unique functions that are not conventionally possible in Roleplay. Interacting with Spirit Dukes should always be treated as something extremely dangerous for someone who is either just so power hungry they don't care, or full of themselves that they think they can outsmart the Spirit Duke. Spirit Dukes will always seek to outsmart their summoner and take more than they are offered, so everyone who shows must be incredibly cautious of what they say, even in mutter and whisper, as Spirit Dukes can hear far and wide, while some Spirit Dukes consider whispering in their presence an offense by itself worthy enough to strike someone down then and there. Spirit Dukes may ask innocuous questions which are pacts in disguise, and may impose more if too much information is given to them, or take more if they are angered by being too secretive. Interacting with Spirit Dukes is always a fine balance between seeking Good Roleplay, and it being a Challenging Experience that tests the Player's tenacity and wit. Spirit Duke interactions are sometimes hidden, but generally always leave some kind of trail of hints. The end product should be satisfactory roleplay between the summoner, their friends, and people who might choose to investigate a person's suspicious behavior, who can still hide behind some form of plausible deniability. Most Spirit Dukes transcend Planar Alignment, meaning that they have become a little bit of everything.

Desidor, the Foul Earth-Shaker Desidor is a Spirit that feeds on the misery of destroyed homes, the anguish of those deprived of a safe place to sleep, and the glee of the demolitioner. Its entire focus in Aloria, has been to destroy buildings and cherish the aftermath of its destruction. It usually does this by causing magical earthquakes, but has been known to appear as a massive Spirit and bite buildings in half with its steel teeth. Offer: Desidor's Pact involves the summoner choosing a building in Regalia for it to demolish. Some buildings may be protected by Gods and thus defy destruction by its hands. Demand: Desidor's Pact has an unclear demand, which is what makes this Spirit unpredictable. Sometimes it asks for a service or object, other times it reveals the summoner to the victims.

Corporus, the Twin-bound Bodysnatcher Corporus is a Spirit that is generally considered more mischievous and benign than evil and cruel, but even its comedic demeanor should not ruse summoners into letting their guard down. It takes glee from confusion and hopelessness of others around it, and will seek to create circumstances in which both its victims, but also its summoner, feel sore regret over ever having summoned it. Offer: Corporus's Pact involves choosing two people to swap bodies indefinitely, or choose a person and to physically appear as them indefinitely. This does count as a Disguise. Demand: Corporus's Demand, is always the body of the Summoner. It will make a Homunculi clone of the Summoner, to do with as it pleases at a later point in time.

Hana, the Lead-burdened Beautyfade Hana is a Spirit that feeds off the misery of those who fear growing older and having their beauty fade. Hana as such is a much-beloved Spirit by those who have run out of potions and Magic to restore their youth and beauty, having instead to rely on the dominion of Spirits to resolve their issues. Yet like all other Spirits, Hana takes a terrible price from society for each summoning. Offer: Hana's Pact involves the summoner asking for aspects of beauty, whether they wish to look young, or receive more beauty, or Beautyborn Magical Gifts. Demand: Hana's Demand, is that for each request, two random people in society are cursed with Hana's Rot, which makes them old, or ugly, or diseased.

Turael, the Sky-rise Hubris Turael is a Spirit that feeds on the ego and hubris of the tower builders and those who build for pride. What exactly it gets out of building towers for mortals is unclear, but it seems to take particular glee in those towers falling to decay and becoming ruins of their former owner's inability to maintain control or influence. Turael's Towers are often dark and foreboding in their environment. Offer: Turael's Pact involves choosing a location for Turael to construct a Dark Tower. This Dark Tower is then owned by the Summoner until they are pushed out, or it is destroyed. Demand: Turael's Pact does not have an immediate cost, but burdens a massive and unclear cost on the summoner should they lose the Tower, which leaves them at the Spirit's mercy.

Phasnar, the Cosmic Misalignment Phasnar is a Spirit that most consider quite benign, even if his intentions and actions aren't always clear. Phasnar is an incorporeal being that does not directly interact with the world, but takes its summoners with it on journeys of astral projection to lands far away, where they may be witness to objects, people, and events out of their place, and sometimes even in time. Offer: Phasnar's Pact involves choosing a location to astrally project to, after which the Spirit takes the summoner with on an incorporeal journey over long distances. Demand: Phasnar's Demand is very unclear. Sometimes nothing happens, sometimes the Spirit reveals the person where they projected to, and other times, it steals something from them.

Stratalymus, the Thousand-soldier Decree Stratalymus is a Spirit that is notably active around the Marshal cabinet of Regalia, constantly seeking a way in by offering the delectable gift of divine victory in battle. It rejects summonings from anyone who does not have military leadership, but will gladly treat with anyone who is desperate enough for a military victory to cement their legacy or fame to last generations. Offer: Stratalymus's Pact involves a deal by which it weakens or strengthens an army involving the summoner, guaranteeing their glorious victory on the battlefield or the fleet. Demand: Stratalymus's Demand is always not immediate, meaning it will extract something of great value later from the summoner, like a lover's soul, or a firstborn child, or family wealth.

Falicopus, the Perfect Lie Unfolded Falicopus is considered a very benign Spirit, as even though its Pact does have a negative consequence, this outcome is always very exact, and Falicopus does not lie or deceive the summoner in turn. Falicopus is a Spirit of truth and verity, that when told something, will reveal its value as truth or a lie, while also punishing the would-be liar with tormenting anguish and anxiety. Offer: Falicopus's Pact involves stating a statement made by another person during a Summoning, after which Falicopus will say whether this was a truth (from the speaker's pov), or a lie. Demand: Falicopus's Demand is enacted on the person who made the statement. If the statement was a lie, Falicopus will tell them someone summoned it, and that it revealed the lie.

Nobilius, The World-rule Soulrot Nobilius is a Spirit that likes to pretend itself to be of noble venerability but is one of the most vicious and cruel Spirits. Nobilius only treats Nobles and Knights and seeks to be involved in Noble politics or Knightly competition to stake its claim on the aristocracy. Nobilius is a well-known name among the upper classes of the Regalian Empire, with some having met it in summonings. Offer: Nobilius's Pact involves asking it for help in some sort of Tournament, Plot, Politics, Appointment, or just a piece of useful political blackmail to be used art Court. Demand: Nobilius's Demand is unclear, and can manifest in more ways than one. Sometimes it brands the summoner its mark of the Spirit, or possesses the host at a later time.

Ularanus, the Serpentine Facsimily Ularanus is a Spirit of deceit and betrayal, and despite this, many summoners try to make a pact with it, because of the unique gift it provides. The Domain of Ularanus is the unseen serpents, snakes with opaline scales that cause them to become completely invisible until they strike at their hapless prey. And yet, Ularanus always finds a way to betray even the summoners, to his gift. Offer: Ularanus's Pact involves requesting invisibility, which is granted for a determined amount of time from summoning, or until the summoner attacks or is revealed. Demand: Ularanus's Demand is to be seen on all his crafts, meaning that if invisibility granted by him breaks, his opalline snakes slither away, heralding his work.

Thunetor, the Afterlife-eating Worm Thunetor is a Spirit of death and the afterlife, having broken into all afterlives, even the Beyond. It summons the souls of the dead and long deceased, capable of puppeteering them in much the same way as their gods or even the Ordial terrors could. Only the most holiest of souls or god-protected are outside of its reach to be bent to its will and used as bargaining chips. Offer: Thunetor's Pact involves his summoning to call forth the Spirit of a dead person, which will then answer 3 strict questions from the summoner's mouth. Demand: Thunetor always demands a Temple Raid of his choice, which if not done in some time, results in him taking the soul of the summoner. Divinium can be kept by the raider.

Malechis, the Scales of Soul-weight Malechis is a Spirit of wealth and gems, who relishes in the greed of others and feeds from the misery of the captured and bound. It seems to have a particular interest in Aristocrats and is one of the few Spirits that demands the summoner has the Demand at the ready before summoning, for if they show empty-handed, he will turn them into crystal. Offer: Malechis offers a unique soul-bound crystal, materializing out of the summoner's abducted aristocratic life essence, which does not harm, but feed on their joy and happiness. Demand: Malechis's demand must be met at summoning, a bound and gagged aristocrat of status. Malechis will be offended and angered if an irrelevant cousin or adoptee is offered.

Clarifex, the Unsung Truthseeker Clarifex is considered perhaps the most benign known Spirit Duke. It speaks fairly, softly, and in truth, and only seeks to establish truth. It never extracts something from its summoner that it does not deem just. Upon summoning, it will evaluate the summoner, and give them a numerical value. This value represents how many questions it will ask of them, and they must ask in return. Offer: Clarifex knows all of time in present, past, and sometimes even future. It can be asked questions, but each answer, must be rewarded with a question to the summoner. Demand: Clarifex's demand are the questions it asks of the Summoner. If the summoner refuses to answer, lies, or skirts around the question, Clarifex can become violent.

Tay-Kondis, The Chitter Critter Creature Tay-Kondis, or sometimes referred to as the Scurrying Rat Spirit, is a "cute"-looking Spirit that likes to take the form of seven-eyed kittens surrounded by an amalgam of smaller (Spirit) critters and creatures. It is generally considered quite a benign Spirit, but one must never forget that this benign appearance hides an underlying mischievous and pranking nature that does a lot of actual harm. Offer: Tay-Kondis offers a pact that involves placing a Curse of the Animalia on a person, either turning them into an Asha, or a more diminutive animal mentally. Demand: Tay-Kondis demands nothing from the summoner, but may play mischief on them, as if the target person accepts and embraces their curse, they will know who did it.

Chalarion, the Involuntary Soulmate Chalarion is considered one of the more evil Spirits, because it is a Spirit of forced affection and infatuation, but never true Love. Spirits do not understand true love, so Chalarion creates Curses that approximate the experience, but one that is deeply unpredictable. Between Love and Obsession, a thin line lays that Chalarion does not understand, and frequently crosses into foul nature. Offer: Chalarion's pact offers to put a Curse of Love on a target person, which causes them to be (lovingly) infatuated, or (toxicly) obsessed with the summoner. Demand: Chalarion does not demand anything, but should always be approached with as many compliments and graceful words as possible, as flattery puts it in a good mood.

Eragius, the Ever-swelling Mass Eragius is a Spirit that is obsessed with combat, violence, rage, and physical strength. It is generally considered a very dumb Spirit that is so singularly obsessed with its interest, that many summoners consider it easy to fool. However, one should always be very careful, as even this stupidity can lead to misinterpretations of what it means to say, meaning that due diligence is required. Offer: Eragius can and will increase the physical power of the summoner, enlarging them, or adding (for example) more Strength Proficiency to them. Demand: Eragius is always proportional in its requirement of the summoner, meaning it will take something away from the summoner for the power it gives.

Brasis, the Unsundered Horn-blower Brasis is a unique Spirit Duke, in that it is believed he might have been a living person once, an Urlan named Brasius that lived some centuries ago. Through machinations of the Void Gods, however, it is believed he became a Spirit Duke, and has been delivering his cursed gift of the Beast to those willing and unwilling ever since. This is why Brasis may behave erratically in summonings. Offer: Brasis offers to make any of his summoners and their friends Corrupted Urlan. If they refuse, they must choose someone to place this Curse upon. Demand: Brasis demands long-term loyalty, meaning that those who chose his gift, will need to do quests for him later, or face the rot of enfeebling.

Tiradus, the Symphony Mind Tiradus is another widely considered benign Spirit Duke, but this one genuinely seems to be incapable of doing anything evil, malign, or even accidentally mischievous. This Spirit is generally thought of as an old confused soul, that gets so caught up in its rhetoric that it ends up forgetting to even ask for anything in return. That being said, unintelligent people have been known to anger it. Offer: Tiradus offers to teach critical and pragmatic thinking to its summoner and their friends. It does this by dissecting a theory they propose. Demand: Tiradus demands nothing in return. It genuinely seems to enjoy teaching people how to critically think, but leaves if it thinks they are incapable.

Stethis, the Loose-fingered Keychain Stethis is an extremely idiosyncratic Spirit that many describe as arbitrary, but some consider truly shrewd and dangerous because of its extreme precision in cheating the summoner. This is the Spirit of thieves and theft. It will always seek to steal more from the Summoner than is promised, and every word and phrase should be highly considered, when conversing with it. Offer: Stethis is capable of stealing (not player-owned Artifact) objects from people or places, even the Imperial Palace, or even from the clutches of Gods. Demand: Stethis always leaves behind a calling card for what it stole, including both a calling card to identify itself, and whoever now owns the item.