Spirits

Some Spirits seen in Ushaw Moor

Most Theurges (the Mystics) should have a head start on other Garou when it comes to speaking with spirits. Spirits will generally be nicer to anyone known to be a Theurge, or who introduces themselves to the spirit as a Theurge. Totems will also give preferential treatment to Shifters who are associated with the tribe which they are the patron of. There are always exceptions to the rule. The mystics of at least 2nd rank or higher should know the celestial order of the spirits (in order of Highest to lowest):

Gaia

Among all shifting breeds that all spirits it is universally accepted and breeds are of Gaia. Gaia loves all her creations and extends an unconditional acceptance and respect to all. Gaia is more conceptual, and not a “person” or “spirit” that can be played... it’s much akin to having someone literally play “god”... its never going to happen.

The Triat

The Weaver, The Wyld, and the Wyrm. At their basest of levels these three make up the forces of Creation, Growth, and Destruction. They also embody Chaos, Order, and Balance, and more recently Potential, Materialization, and Unraveling. The Triat themselves are more conceptual and will never show up in game.

Wyld: The Wyld is Potential. The Wyld is nothing without the other two; it needs the Weaver to give definition and direction to its creations otherwise it loses form and returns to its primal forge at the moment of its birth. The Wyld needs the Wyrm as well as it completes the cycle destroying part of the weaver and returning uncreated matter to the Wyld.

Weaver: The Weaver is Growth, Order; The Weaver defines the meaningless potential of the The Wyld and gives it direction to grow. This structure is referred to as the Pattern Web. The Wyrm Prunes/trims off areas of the web to keep things balanced. There is debate over whether the Weaver sought to spin the entirety of the wyld into a patterned existence, and the Wyrm, overwhelmed at its job of bringing the Weaver into balance, got caught in the Weaver's web by accident. Others say the Weaver saw the Wyrm as an obstacle, following the rules given it by Gaia, and not the Weaver's better rules. The Weaver then ensnared the Wyrm and limited its power. And yet a third interpretation is that the Wyrm sought to destroy the Wyld altogether, throwing all of creation into the Weaver's web. This caused the Pattern Web to grow out of control, driving the Weaver mad, and capturing the Wyrm in a trap of its own devising as a result. No creature or spirit can say for certain what is true.

Wyrm: The Wyrm is Destruction, Balance, and Unraveling. The Wyrm completes the Cycle, by bringing balance to the Chaos of the Wyld, and the order of the Weaver. When the Wyrm became ensnared in the Weaver's web it went mad, and fractured into 3 personalities. The Wyrm has now become that which spawns entropy, decay, and corruption, instead of destroying overtly and honorably, it now destroys from within breeding temptations of envy and hatred.

Celestines

The greatest of these are Luna (aka Seline, the moon) and Helios (aka Hyperion, the Sun). The only ones to ever see a Celestine are the Incarna. Shifters simply cannot comprehend the true form of these beings and so the Celestines create avatars of themselves to interact with the lesser beings. Celestines may have many avatars active at once. Celestine avatars cannot be destroyed by anything of lower potency than another Celestine. Solar spirits and lunar spirits (referred to as Lunes) may come into play but are not avatars of the Celestines themselves. They are just servants of those avatars. The Celestines or their avatars have not been known to appear in Europe, even by the Galliards whose knowledge spans centuries. The Lunes and solar spirits are far enough down the chain of command that they are as of Jagglings or Gafflings.

Incarna

These get closer to what most shifters communicate with as Totems. The Incarna are the actual Totems themselves. The Incarna create avatars in much the way the Celestines do, while their avatars are not nearly as powerful, they are still rather powerful nonetheless. Interaction with the actual Incarna is extremely rare and usually a life altering experience. When Totems are summoned it’s their avatars or servant Jagglings that are sent out to meet with the one who summoned the totem. It is appropriate to refer or honor the avatar as if it were the actual Incarna. This spirits usually appear wearing a tabard depicting the Incarna they serve. Any Theurge can expect that any spirit of this power level attempted to be put into a fetish will fail, and will anger the spirit. The usual rules on approaching/interacting with the totems should be observed as per what is contained in the rule book, but ultimately the role play is left up to you. However, the totem/avatar will be appropriately amused/offended/honored based on how they are treated.

Jagglings

These are servants to the Incarna and Celestines, they are very loyal to the one who had created them and are relatively common sorts of spirits shifters interact with. These spirits are powerful enough to teach gifts, but are rarely bound in fetishes.

Gafflings

These are the most common sort of spirit which shifters interact with they are usually very limited in their ability to teach gifts, but are most commonly the types of spirits to be placed into fetishes. In the grand scheme of things spirits of this level should be viewed as approximate equals to 2nd to 5th ranked shifters (depending on the circumstance) , spirits higher in the celestial order (Jagglings, Incarna, and Totems) should be considered above the rank of elder for purposes of following “submission to those of higher station”.

Naturae

These are a classification of Gaffling that do not represent a particular totem but rather nature itself, this includes elemental spirits.

Englings

These are lesser spirits which other spirits and shifters sometimes ritualistically prey upon for gnosis. They are also known as “Glade child” and “Blight child” spirits which go out and replenish the gnosis in the masks. These spirits are too weak to power fetishes... attempting to do so just destroys the spirit.

Glade/Blights

The masks represent Englings that have chosen to reside in a natural location. These have the Glade and Blight tags in them. Once you have bargained with the spirit, you may gain the energy that it holds (remove the tag and return it Backstage). Gaining energy from Blights gives you temporary taint; gaining energy from Glades does not.

Emanations

Emanations are lesser spirits that are spawned by the realm they are part of. They always look like either humans or animals appropriate to the realm they are in, and will act as such. Emanations do not leave their realm, and the “reality” of the realm they are in is all they know. These are not in game as the deeper umbra realms are not represented. They are only mentioned here for completeness.

Banes

Banes are tainted versions of all of the above types of spirit. They have varying power levels and expectations. They usually server the wyrm in some form, and oftentimes have a higher ranked spirit they serve.

Renown, Recognition, and Spirits

Renown is delivered to spirits and then to the Septs elsewhere in the world, though this is an idea to incorporate into roleplay and does not entitle you to any particular ST actions.

Downtime rank challenges that are off screen will not be honored. After character creation, all increases in rank are done must be done with roleplay at an Event or Moot to be accepted.

Chiminage

At its simplest it is either a service or a gift you perform for a spirit. Gafflings and higher level spirits will not do anything for free. And usually when a spirit is summoned you should offer some sort of chiminage up front. This is basically “payment for the trouble of calling you over here”. This sort of offering commonly allows you to open communication and the spirit usually will allow you to ask a few questions or ask advice. Failing to do this commonly just causes the spirit to be uncooperative, and in rare cases the spirit will lie if they feel particularly offended. Oaths or service is another form of chiminage where you agree to perform a task or quest on the behalf of the spirit.

Remember that the Spirits are a talkative and gossipy sort. If you offend one spirit, they will tell others. Also if you help spirits, they will tell others. It goes both ways.

Further Reading

The Spirit world of the game is vast, and such vastness often breeds misconception. For this reason, we have complied a Frequently Asked Questions about Spirits to perhaps alleviate some of those problems.

If you do not see your question being asked or answered to your satisfaction, feel free to email the Character Guides or drop in at the Resource Section of the forums and ask directly.