Spirit

The Arcana of Spirit governs interaction between the material and spiritual realms of the Fallen World. It deals with communion with spirits, manipulation of Essence, and control over the Shadow Realm. A mage skilled in the use of this Arcanum can see across the Gauntlet, summon spirits into objects, creatures, or directly into the material realm, enter the Shadow Realm, and even create his own spirit court. This Arcanum is primarily used by the Thyrsus, and they draw their title of Shamans from its power.

Asclepius

(Initiate)

Aurora

(Master)

Chambers

(Initiate)

Nature and Power

The Arcanum of Spirit is the Subtle Arcana of the Supernal Realm of the Primal Wild, a realm from which the energies of Arcanum of Life also flow. The Primal Wild is a place where even the very land seems to be alive. The realm is lashed by the elements, storms slamming at each other across the sky as though the weapons of warring gods. This assumption, overly poetic though it is, is true. The Primal Wild is alive with mighty spirits, dwelling inside every phenomenon to be found there. Indeed, the Realm itself is alive, a rank 10 spirit in its own right, and everything within that place is as a cell in the body of a terrestrial organism. With the separation of the Supernal and Shadow Realms from the material world, the Fallen World is by no means as awash in spirits as it once was. But they aren’t gone.

Unlike most of the Subtle Arcana, the Arcanum of Spirit’s primary realm of influence remains within the Fallen World, not seperated from the material sphere by the Abyss. This is the Shadow Realm. Though it is technically a part of the Realms Invisible, the Shadow Realm is somewhat closer to the material world than the Supernal Realms. There is still a harsh barrier, the Gauntlet, but this barricade is weaker than that of the Abyss, and its strength fluctuates. In places, called verges, the Gauntlet doesn’t even exist, and even in the places where the Gauntlet is strongest, a determined enough traveller from either side can penetrate it, with the proper tools.

For mages, the Arcana of Spirit provides those tools. It can be used to cross the Gauntlet, or to call something from the other side. Sufficiently powerful mages can even materialise such beings in their true forms on the other side of the barrier, without needing to bind them into an object or creature. A mage can alter the strength of the Gauntlet, bond familiars with a mortal master, tear at the Corpus of spirits or make shields against their powers, or awaken the spirits slumbering in objects. He can create paths through the Gauntlet, allowing travellers to pass to and from Twilight, and he can regulate access to these roads. He can reattach stolen souls to their original owners or store them inside objects. His powers can heal the bodies of spirits, weave Essence out of Mana and store it in containers or gift it to an allied spirit, alter the nature of spirits or create new ones, even give himself a rank in the courts of the spirits. As the power of a mage using the Arcanum of Spirit grows, he becomes less and less of this world, connected to one of a very few of the Realms Invisible that can still be reached and touched by mankind.

Levels of Proficiency

Initiate (●)

With the power of the first level of mastery, an Initiate of Spirit gains the power to see, hear, and converse with spirits in their own language. He can determine the strength of the surrounding area’s Gauntlet using the Mage Sight, detect the presence of spirit creatures possessing corporeal beings, and can rouse the spirits of material objects slightly, not actually awakening them but making his use of them a little easier.

• Spells: Coaxing the Spirit, Counterspell, Cowing the Spirit, Exorcists Eye, Gremlins, Otherwordly Instrument, Second Sight, Spirit Tongue Spell
• House Ruled: Coaxing the Spirit, Cowing the Spirit
• Banned:

Apprentice (●●)

The second level of mastery allows an Apprentice of Spirit to grant his perceptions of the Gauntlet upon others, and can glimpse across the Gauntlet into the Shadow Realm proper. He may summon lesser spirits (a specific spirit or simply lesser spirits in general, as he pleases) to attend to him. This compulsion may be voluntary or forceful, but he cannot make the summoned spirits manifest or command them yet. The mage may create soul jars, vessels in which to store disembodied souls. He can reach into the Gauntlet and Twilight, allowing him to physically interact with spirits and spirit objects, and allowing them to affect him in turn. His powers may be used to alter the strength of the local Gauntlet, so long as he is near a Hallow, and can create a shield to protect himself from the attacks of physical or ephemeral entities.

• Spells: Analyze Spirit, Communion with the Messenger, Ephemeral Shield, Gain Skill, Gossamer Touch, Grant the Second Sight, Invitation to the Orishas, Lesser Spirit Summons, Peer Across the Gauntlet, Place of Power, Soul Jar, Spirit Pact, Spiritual Bulwark, Sustenance
• House Ruled: Ephemeral Shield, Gain Skill, Sustenance
• Banned:

Disciple (●●●)

A Disciple of Spirit, with the third level of mastery, can forge pacts with willing spirits, creating a familiar for himself. He may directly interact with the Corpus of spirits, rending it with arcane power or fixing wounds within its substance. He may perform exorcisms, driving possessing spirits out of their hosts, and may directly command them with magic, forcing them to submit to his will. His ability to call spirits to him extends, allowing him to summon spirits of all levels of power to his side, though he still cannot make them directly manifest in the material world. He may create a shield to ward off the Numina employed by spirits, as well as the Gifts used by Werewolves. He may create pathways through the Gauntlet, allowing free passage between the Shadow Realm and material world (though spirits that enter the world by this path come into it in the state of Twilight). The spirits of inanimate objects can be roused to action, giving it intelligence, a limited measure of power that grows over time, and the ability to affect beings in Twilight. The mage can reattach severed souls to their original owners, and can reach out directly into the Shadow Realm, allowing him to interact with the spiritual world (and also allowing the spirits there to interact with him).

• Spells: Animate Objects, Augment the Mind, Bestow Skill, Control Spirit, Create Fetish Tattoo, Curse of Ostracism, Divining Spirit, Exorcism, Familiar Pact, Greater Spirit Summons, Harm Spirit, Hone the Pack Spirit, Nullify Shadow Resonance, Numinous Shield, Otherworldly Armory, Reaching, Read Spirit, Restore Corpus Spirit Spell, Restore Lost Soul, Rouse Spirit, Spirit Road, Spirit Steed
• House Ruled: Animate Objects, Augment the Mind, Bestow Skill, Hone the Pack Spirit, Read Spirit
• Banned:

Adept (●●●●)

An Adept of Spirit, using the fourth level of mastery, can create a Medicine Bag, a mundane object which can be used to store spiritual Essence. He may channel this Essence from the bag or from a spirit or locus and gift it to another spirit or place it within another container. His power to bind familiars increases, allowing him to grant a familiar to someone other than himself. He may create fetishes, trapping spirits within objects in order to utilise their powers, or bind them as guardians to people, objects, or places. He gains the ability to control access to his spirit roads, barring those whom he wills from travelling these paths. He may bind spirits in the material world, trapping them in Twilight unless they have to power to materialise, or cause such spirits to possess a living creature, wilfully or otherwise.

• Spells: Activate Spirit, Augment Other Minds, Bind Spirit Spell, Create Fetish, Essence Gift, Goetic Evocation, Grant Familiar, Living Land, Medicine Bag, Road Master, Sacramental Chain, Skill Mastery, Spirit Guardian, Spirit Possession, Supreme Augmentation
• House Ruled: Activate Spirit, Augment Other Minds, Grant Familiar, Living Land, Skill Mastery
• Banned:

Master (●●●●●)

At the fifth level of mastery, a Master of Spirit’s power to affect the strength of the local Gauntlet becomes great enough to allow him to increase or decrease its power without needing a nearby Hallow. He may temporarily alter the powers, influences, and fundamental nature of a spirit, or even create one from scratch. He may bring the material forms of spirits out of Twilight and into the material world, even if they cannot normally materialise there, and may create a safe haven within the Shadow Realm. He may also create for himself a spirit court in which he is the most powerful noble, giving himself a spirit rank in the process. Spirits of lesser power will seek to attach themselves to this court, and he may quickly gain much influence within the Shadow Realm.

• Spells: Control Gauntlet, Dragons Call, Materialize Spirit, Secret Marriage, Shadow Slave, Shape Spirit, Spirit Court, Spirit Manse, Triumphant Will
• House Ruled: Triumphant Will
• Banned:

Conjunctional Arcana

Death

A Master of Spirit and Disciple of Death can summon shadows and infuse them with a guiding spirit, creating a blot of raging darkness that serves as a thrall to the caster. This shadow creature can be contained within a corpse, or simply employed in its unbound form, as the mage pleases.

Prime

An Adept of both Spirit and Prime can convert his Mana into Essence, and gift this Essence to a spirit as a trade object or store it within a vessel for later retrieval. This spell is often used to entice familiars or to create a fetish.

References

• Mage, pp. 245-256