Spirit world

The Crystal Trees

There exist large, holy trees with-in the center of the solar temples that produce a clear strong sap, that when flowing can be shaped to produce a very strong and durable building material, however, the trees are a rare species needing a special environment, for instance a large greenhouse. These trees provide the materials to build the soaring cities and supports for the most opulent of buildings. This comes at a price however, as the trees require certain...sacrifices to produce the necessary quantities.

The highest priest in the tallest, clearest tower hear the required sacrifices in the sound of the chimes or in the play of a rainbow across the clear play of water. The Ancient trees, clear of all pigment, made of a strange material halfway between this world and the other, needs to feed on that rarest of materials, the soul. This is the clearest truth the universe offers, and to extract it requires a diligence and steady hand. The Mirror wraiths are the result of this going wrong, but it succeeds, then the trees grow, whispering secrets and producing the materials to let the cities thrive. The price is growing however, as more young men and woman disappear from the edges of the alleys. It is said that some trees develop certain taste, and others will consume the souls of things strange than people. The most anceint tree is said to require the soul of a god, and it grows hungry.

At the heart of each of the five factions there are the crystal trees, that serve as the holy grove of each faith. Initially a very rare species of plant based on silicon and growing at a relativly slow rate, these trees serve as the perfect ideal, a living creation in tune with the spirit and the body. These trees originally grew only in the spirit world, but a few were brought over to the other side of the glass and planted. As has been written before, these trees feed on the souls and spirits of the world to survive and grow, and take on the characteristics of its diet. (think NWOD spirits, but only for these special trees.) Every city of any note will have a grove of these trees, and the richest citizens may have a small sapling or even a small orchard. The largest city's have ancient trees that have stood for hundreds, even thousands of years, if the sages are to right. The shadows cast are rainbows and each of the four fold paths trees correspond to the ideal of the location. The four subspecies are all offshoots of the original tree, lost somewhere in the spirit world, and if ever found, would allow for the creation of another path. It is because of this that many seek it, and few ever glimpse even a hint of the thing. The void, the great darkness, that which consumes and stifles, is not a tree but a shadow. It is the missing parts or pieces of creation, or lost paths and forgotten dreams. Some say the darkness is truth, and that the light can blind, and it is for this heresy that they are blinded, to forever follow the crooked path they choose, and to be ever denied the joys of the four paths.

--stephen_dean

The spirit tree of Iridos has an opalescent trunk, iridescent branches, and leaves of every possible color.

--shanoxilt

Sacrificing

Many outsiders look to the practice of raising the Sacrifices to feed the crystal trees as an evil act, and say that this path follows towards the void. many make comparisons to the Hollow men and other nefarious groups. However consider for a moment the life of an A future sacrifice. A young mother already has six children, and the seventh happens to have white hair, red eyes and is sensitive to the sun. Rather than suffer a life of pain and squaller, the child is given to the Temple of Clarity to live a life of quiet study, preparation and luxury. Then, perhaps decades later, the child has become a master of an ideal, and willingly walks to be embraced by the world tree, knowing that her soul will guide the city for years. This noble sacrifice is not evil, no more than a soldier fighting the legions of the damned eating away the reality of the world. No, it is beautiful. Would you rather we did like those cities of brick and stone you speak of, and let the child starve in the streets instead? No, no-one starves in the city of Transparency.

The Nature of the Spirit World

The spirit world forms, and conforms, according to the particular themes of any given place. Despite this, the goals and basic nature of the spirits and their world are the same in every themed location. Spirits percieve themes simply as a "wardrobe" in which to reveal themselves.

Nobody is sure how or why spiritual objects form. They are brought into the physical world through the mirror fisheries and other magics.

--shanoxilt

The Nature of Spirits

Once a spirit is alive, it never truly dies. Many spirits are created by, and feed on, human emotions. Any spirit that has not been created, either by accident or on purpose, has existed since the beginning of the world. Spirits do not seek worship, but they will accept it. Some spirits choose human forms. When spirits are not around human influence, most spirits take no form at all. Some spirits desire to experience the physical world. Spiritual objects are inanimate, just like mundane objects. Spirits do not depend on themes to exist. Spirits choose to conform to a theme, if it pleases them. The soul resists a spirit's attempt to achieve bodily possession. Ghosts are incorporeal souls. Spectres are fragmented souls. Ghosts and spirits are not the same thing. All spirits are native to the spirit world. Ghosts and spectres are not native to the spirit world because they are former humans.

--shanoxilt

A spirit may "clothe" itself in new guises or stay the same. The spirit's appearance depends on its choice. This explains why one may see a mirror-wraith in a moonlit pool or in Diaphane's crystal walls.

--shanoxilt

Spirit Classification

regular spirit objects: inanimate things that are native to the spirit world.

magical spirit objects: a spirit object that has magical properties or abilities.

ghosts: the incorporeal soul of a deceased human.

spectres: a fragmented, incorporeal soul of a deceased human. The fragments share a weakly unified consciousness.

spirit (generic): an incorporeal entity that was never human.

wraith: a spirit that is spawned by human emotion.

the First: the spirits that have existed since the beginning of the world.

--shanoxilt

Spirit World of Narcissus: the Other Side

The Metropolis of Narcissus is stalked by creatures that live entirely in the reflected world, similar to our own but warped by mirrors of imperfect craftsmanship. The mirrors reflect the worst aspects of the person, or amply fears of the onlooker, and over time, feed a desire for perfection leading to strange alterations. A person can inadvertently become the city's namesake, looking helplessly as every flaw and fear are amplified, until slowly starving to death. The spirit of the person then roams the mirror world forever. The only known non-magical way protect oneself is to catch the creature with it's own reflection in a crystal of fine quality. The resulting crystals are used to power some of the more hidden aspects of the city.

The other world is the world of the reflection, a place embraced by the narcissistic faction and declared heresy by the other. It reveals truths, but ones that are altered or slightly warped, and is inhabited by things other than the mirror wraiths. It is not a true world, but rather like a shadow, existing only as a reflection, but can be used to travel great distances if one is willing to risk the passage from one mirror to another.

--stephen_dean

To enter the spirit world from Narcissus, one does so through mirrors and reflections. Indeed, there are so many mirrors in Narcissus that the borders between worlds have grown thin -- it is possible to enter the Other Side easily, or for things from the Other Side to come through unaided. There are many wonders and horrors on the Other Side, though, which are exploited by the Mirror Fisheries. The mirror-fishers use silver fruits from the mirrortrees to bait their lines.

--Kakito Kojiro

Mirror-Wraiths.

Mirror-wraiths are spirits created by the reflection of a person focused on one desire or emotion. They may be created inadvertently from imperfect reflections in places where the mirror-world is easily entered (as in Narcissus). They are also created deliberately by mirror-casters, using reflective magic. Although they are similar to ghosts and specters, they are all different kinds of spirits, despite speculation by theorists such as the Invisible College that they are somehow congruent.

Sorcerers categorize mirror-wraiths by emotion or desire, for each mirror-wraith is utterly focused on only one emotion or desire. Often the way this emotion or desire is expressed is in a distorted form of the personality that the mirror-wraith was cast from. As normally intangible spirits (Insubstantiality), mirror-wraiths usually cannot satisfy their one emotion or desire. They can possess anyone whose reflection is within their grasp of the mirror-realm, and they can also be caught into mirrors or reflective crystals.

Mirror-wraiths who possess people influence them to act out the spirit’s one emotion or desire (Possession). Eventually the will of the possessed host drives out the spirit, or the mirror-wraith is sated and fades away. They require regular experience of their driving emotion or desire, or they will fade away. Although their motives may be predicted by their one emotion or desire, their utter focus is easy to misjudge.

Mirror-wraiths are used in many ways. Narcissus uses them to imbue their soldiers with indomitable emotions for battle, and to afflict enemies with fear. They are also used in Narcissus to temporarily focus on one goal or task. People often use them to explore novel emotions or desires – either as a form of self-exploration, or decadent entertainment. Sorcerers also make use of appropriate mirror-wraiths as messengers to other mirrors, spies to peer through mirrors, scouts into the mirror-world, or for other esoteric tasks.

Skills: Area Knowledge (other side) Advantages: Insubstantiality (affect substantial, usually on, 128 pts), Possession (spiritual, access only through reflections, sense-based sight, 40 pts), See Invisible (15 pts) Disadvantages: Dependency (common, -10 pts), Easy to Read (-10 pts), Obsession (-10 pts), Low Empathy (-10 pts), Magic Susceptibility -3 (only vs. reflective magic, -5 pts)

--Kakita Kojiro

The Capture and Care of Mirror Wraiths

So you finally caught a mirror wraith in the crystal caves, or perhaps you inherited one with you new Wizard tower. The first question you have to ask yourself is, what is the nature and possibilities of your new boon/problem. The key to understanding the Wraith is that, first, you cannot grasp the motives of an entity focused on one desire. If it is vanity, your wife will certainly look better for awhile, or your husband might head to the spas more, but eventually they may not be the person you fell in love with. If it is anger, well, lets just say that is easier to notice. The key to keeping a Mirror Wraith is a careful and regular mixture of emotions. If well fed, the Wraith can act as a useful source of information, advice and potential favors. The more affuent among you may even have a crystal tree sapling. Now I know your asking youself "why can I not just feed that Anger Wraith to my crystal tree, whats the problem?" Just look to the first shattering. The Crystal trees are clear because they are given only the purest of souls. A wraith is a twisted shard of a person. One aspect of the whole. Feed a Crystal Tree this and you have a real problem on your hands. How do you suppose these laws came into being my good sir. The ruins of the Immaculate Concave make it clear. A crystal tree fed an unwilling supplicant or an impure soul, one who has fear in its heart, or one with hate or spite, will warp the trees into those strange obsidian trees that litter the ruins. Those glass valleys in the deserts of Hubris were once cities of great power, now they are only places without even grass. The madness that comes from these places can be prevented by you. Remember, only you can prevent Shatterings.

--stephen_dean

Mirror-Wights

A mirror-wights is much like a normal person's reflection, but of a normal person who had never existed to cast that reflection, but it is rather like a person otherwise. Albeit one that is probably left-handed and writes backwords in mirror-writing. But they can often be hired for work in this world, and blithly ignore mirror wards and suchlike, so they make good spies and thieves.

--Kakita Kojiro

Doppelgangers

Dopplegangers are a spiritual "twin" of an individual. They are usually dangerous spirits. Each year, several children die because they summoned a doppleganger in a darkened room.

At other times, they spontaneously appear in a crowded area. When they do this, they do not wantonly kill. Some occultists suspect that they are omens of their human "twin's" death. Some occultists believe that they cause the death of their human counterpart. Yet, other occultists believe that dopplegangers wish to replace the human, whether or not the human lives.

Some citizens suspect that there is one doppleganger for every individual. Anyone who has actually visited the spirit world seriously doubts this.

--shanoxilt

Spirit World of Diaphane: the Invisible World

One does not enter the spirit world of Diaphane -- the Invisible World is already here, all around us, unnoticed and imperceptible. The spiritual enlightenment of Diaphane allows its inhabitants to perceive, somewhat, the Invisible World around them. True masters interact with the Invisible World as though it were the natural world -- and may, in time, fade away completely into the Invisible World (as their city's founder is said to have done). The inhabitants of the Invisible World are considered full citizens of Diaphane, causing much confusion and peril to outsiders to whom they do not even exist.

Invisibles, the Neighbors

It is said that the poor of Diaphane leave their newborn children outside overnight, in case the Neighbors might take them off to a better life. It has never occurred so, but they remain hopeful.

“Why are the Neighbors perilous? Once, in the times between the Shatterings, a foolish philosopher asked a question that offended them. In a fit of pique, they tied invisible bells to the tails of every cat in Diaphane. The unceasing cacophony drove everyone – and the cats! – near mad. Eventually the foolish philosopher was able to bare his heart to the Neighbors, to demonstrate there was no malice therein. It was a gruesome enough solution, but it mollified the Neighbors. Contrite for the city’s lost cats, the Neighbors gifted Diaphane with the glass cats. Some lucky families still inherit the small and invisible bells, which fortunately do not bother the glass cats one whit.”

The spirit inhabitants of the Invisible World in Diaphane are considered full citizens of the city. They are called the Neighbors there, and cause much confusion and peril to outsiders to whom they do not even exist. They are invisible and intangible, live in palaces that are invisible and intangible, and go about their inscrutable business without interacting or apparently noticing the material world around them. When they do notice, they occasionally give strange and wondrous gifts to people, on a whim or following their own inscrutable wisdom. Other times – particularly if offended – they punish people by plaguing them with invisible maladies.

Most people imagine the Neighbors as merely invisible people. Pellucid magic reveals the truth hidden behind outer appearance, and to those that can truly perceive beyond their outer invisibility, the Neighbors are highly variable. The perception of their appearance seems to correspond with the activities they are engaged in. One who is ignoring humans may seem human but with no face, or may seem to be made of crystal revealing pale organs within. One who is observing humans may seem humanoid but instead of a head have a giant eyeball as its face, or may seem human but with hundreds of eyes all over its body. One who is interacting with or trading with humans may have six or seven arms, or speak from mouths in its hands. It is also not easy to identify one from another, as each Neighbor may appear completely different when encountered again.

Despite the perils of dealing with the Invisibles, there are also temptations to do so. They will occasionally agree to trades, taking intangibles such as ideas or memories or dreams, and giving wonders seemingly made of glass or crystal but with magical properties. No one dares cheat the Neighbors on such deals, and it is said that they always get the best of the bargain.

Skills: Area Knowledge (invisible world), Occult (spirits), Thaumatology (reflective magic) Advantages: Insubstantiality (affect substantial, always on, 120 pts), Invisibility (can carry objects, extended, substantial only, 40 pts), See Invisible (15 pts) Disadvantages: Cannot Speak (mute, accessibility to See Invisible, ), Colorblindness (-10 pts), Loner (-5 pts), Magic Susceptibility -3 (only vs. pellucid magic, -5 pts), Contrary (-1 pt), Staid (-1 pt)

--Kakita Kojiro

Spirit World of Iridos: Yingarna

The spirit realm of Iridos is accessible through natural rainbows, artificial rainbows, and colored glass.

--shanoxilt

To enter the spirit world from Iridos, one does so through prisms and rainbows... or one would, if one could survive being fragmented into a rainbow of primary spirit-selves. This is considered a humane manner of execution in Iridos, however, so murderers and other heretics are refracted into rainbows, which are then harvested for use. There are a host of strange entities there -- infra- and ultra-colors unseeable by human eyes -- and they all tend to be rather monomaniacal. But it is difficult to exploit this spirit world; you can look, but it's difficult to touch. The scitalis and simorgh emigrated from there, however, so color sages still seek the means to enter safely.

--Kakita Kojiro

Specters

Executed criminals whose spirit-selves are not harvested become seven ghosts. These ghosts are fragments of the individual's personality. They share a weakly unified consciousness. They wander Iridos, yearning for wholeness. These ghosts are known as "spectres".

--shanoxilt

After the criminal's death by fragmentation, his or her spectres remain corporeal for one hour. Once that hour has ended, the spectres can never again physically manifest. Harvesters must rapidly capture and process the spectres.

Despite numerous vain attempts, no magic can join the seven souls of a spectre. Only their struggles for peace and unity will unite the souls. This is the source of their pain and the reason for their hauntings.

--shanoxilt

Advantages doesn't breath [20], doesn't eat or drink [10], doesn't sleep [20], duplication (7 souls; always on -10%; shared resources -40%) [123]; hyperspectral vision [25]; immunity to metabolic hazards [30]; insubstantiality (always on -50%) [40]; invisibility (switchable +10%) [44]; telecommunication (telesend: vague -50%; racial -20%) [9] Disadvantages amnesia (partial) [-10] ; confused [-10]; obsession [-10]

--shanoxilt

Spirit World outside the cities

Despite their belief in spirits, very few nomads, including shamans, have actually seen a spirit. In the wilds, away from themed cities, spirits are felt as presences. The Wandering Peoples listen with shocked disbelief, when they hear tales of mirror-wights and doppelgangers.

Ghosts, however, have been seen by the Wandering Peoples. As former humans, ghosts do not have the strange habits of spirits. Some shamans suspect that ghosts can not choose their forms as spirits do.

--shanoxilt

Away from the cities, the borders to the spirit world are more fixed, and the spirit world there may shift from the Other Side to the Shadow World or the Invisible World -- or may be a mix of all. There are shamans in the wilds who have a smattering of lore, enough to peer into reflective pools, or see invisible spirits, or perform other tricks considered petty and mundane in the cities. However they are the only ones away from civilization capable of dealing with the escape of a rogue mirror-wight, or of tracking a shadow-beast, or of exorcising an unseeable color.

The followers of the Clear Prophet have speculated that a spirit may change its nature if taken from, say, Iridos to Narcissus -- but the only entities capable of answering that question, the invisible citizens of Diaphane, were gravely offended to be asked it, and the questioner disappeared soon thereafter.

Amidst the ruins of the Thousand Flowing Waters, there is no spirit world of any sort, of course. It was eaten or corroded by the undead in ages long past. There, mirrors are only mirrors, shadows only shadows -- unless one of the Empty Masters or a vampire is around...

To enter the spirit world of the Cult of the Opaque, one does so through shadows -- but only particular shadows, special ones formed by the intersection of specific geometries under specific illumination patterns. Most of these have been discovered by accident (when someone goes missing, having accidentally fallen into the Shadow World), but are recorded and kept secret by the Cult of the Opaque. Shadows and opaque things glow there, whereas the sun is black. Spirit entities of the Shadow World seem to be regular creatures, plants, and objects -- but their essential properties are exaggerated. There are apparently no strange entities as there are in the other spirit worlds (e.g., mirror-wraiths, color spirits, etc.)

--Kakita Kojiro

Ghosts

Ghosts are the incorporeal remains of a human. They appear as brief glimpses in reflective surfaces. Much to the dismay of the ghost, they are usually mistaken for dangerous doppelgangers.

Unlike spectres, normal ghosts do not have fragmented souls. The seven souls of a ghost are completely integrated. A spectre may become a ghost, if it can ever manage to unify its souls. Normal ghosts appear as the white ghosts of traditional ghost stories.

--shanoxilt

The Invisible Typhoon

The Invisible Typhoon is a reflection of a storm from the spirit world that crossed over due to a sacrifice of an unwilling victim, and a misguided Cabal in the Spice Kingdoms, it is said it follows a strange path along the world, appearing and disappearing along the sea, and in and out of season, raining down odd items and high winds, yet with no sounds, producing an area of complete silence, and other times takes the sounds and smells and thoughts of one area, and produces then in another, across time and distance. It dries up lakes, and drowns deserts, however luckily it only affects an area of around a mile, and has never appeared in a city. The voices of the cabal's screams are carried before it, and serve as a warning of its approach.

--stephen_dean