Otherworlds & Spirits

The lands and waters of the Archipelago make up the waking world. It is vast and strange, filled with magic and mysteries, but it is nonetheless a world that is concrete and tangible. The sun rises and sets, the seasons change in a predictable pattern, and the laws of cause and effect are not easily bent.

There are numerous otherworlds that exist in the shadow of this waking world. The strider enclaves are one example of an otherworld; the dreadful Garden Wall is another. These otherworlds are visible from the Archipelago as the stars that fill the night sky, remote and mysterious. Where the waking world is concrete, the otherworlds are abstract. Concepts and ideas hold more sway than causality, and the laws of mundane reality are malleable.

Each of the otherworlds embodies some aspect of this abstraction, a blurred medley of the fundamental forces of nature and the collective mind of the Archipelago’s inhabitants. They are chaotic places where the abstract crashes against the mundane, straddling the divide between what is real and what is not. Physical laws and space are elastic; dreams and ideas build up like layers of sediment. In such places, words can bind and the boundary between dreams and reality is thin. An otherworld follows its own rules, and no two are alike.

Spirits

The native inhabitants of the otherworlds are called spirits. Like the otherworlds themselves, they are abstract beings. They follow strange laws and possess strange powers, resonant with the thoughts, ideas, dreams, and energies that suffuse their domain. The physical guise and inner nature of a spirit are are one and the same. If their emotions or desires change, it is often accompanied by dramatic changes to their appearance and form.

Spirits are immortal. They can die, but it doesn’t usually stick. Under normal circumstances, a spirit can only really die if it no longer wishes to live, so emotional injuries are far more lasting and impactful than physical ones. A spirit can hold a grudge for a long time, and a festering bitterness can quite literally transform them into something very different. Likewise, a spirit that has been dead for a century might be convinced to live again by the right person.

Inhabitation

It is possible for spirits to enter the waking world. They might be called by arcane craft, for example, or find their way to our world by following certain paths under the light of the full moon. They come to the Archipelago as invisible and insubstantial shades, limited in their ability to affect the waking world. These unclothed spirits cannot withstand the pitiless light of the sun; it will burn them away, destroying them forever. If they wish to remain in the waking world for a long time, they must find a vessel to inhabit.

When a spirit comes to inhabit a person, we call that possession. An inhabited person gains strange powers from their passenger, but they also undergo physical transformations. These powers and changes grow as the spirit continues to inhabit you, as does its presence in your body and power over your mind. The stronger the spirit, the faster this happens. Inhabiting spirits that make a habit of outstaying their welcome are known as demons.

When a spirit comes to inhabit an object, we call the object a redoubt. They rarely do this willingly, and find it difficult to leave. Most inhabited objects are the result of desperation or occult binding. Like an inhabited person, inhabited objects often possess strange powers related to the spirit that dwells within them. The one who wields or touches the inhabited object can converse with the spirit within; in some cases, they may even be possessed.

When a spirit comes to inhabit a place such as a river or a forest, we call them an elemental. Such spirits become one with the place they have chosen to inhabit, making themselves a part of the waking world by wedding themselves to it forever. When angered, elementals can rouse the fury of the elements against those who trouble them. The older an elemental becomes, however, the harder it is to rouse them.

There is a fourth and final option for spirits that wish to enter the waking world: they can cross the chasm of night, plummeting to the Archipelago as falling stars. Having physically travelled to the waking world, they are incarnate spirits, as potent in our world as they would be in theirs. To make this journey, however, they must give up their immortality and become a mundane being. Many of the monsters and strange entities that fill the Archipelago are descended from spirits that made this choice.

Manifestation

Some spirits are able to reach out and touch the waking world without ever entering it, allowing them to meddle directly in mortal affairs. This kind of direct intervention is generally reserved for those who are revered and worshipped as gods. Even then, they may only exercise it through their Chosen faithful, who must serve as a conduit for this divine power.

In essence, divine manifestation is something between a summoning and an incarnation. The profound faith and reverence of their followers acts as a kind of invitation, opening the door for these “exalted spirits” to work their miracles - reshaping the world, just a little, to make it resemble the energies and ideas that they embody.

This invitation is not unconditional, though. If a god is forgotten, their power will diminish. If their identity becomes blurred, their strictures are abandoned, or their Chosen fail in their sacred duties, they will fade from the world and become mere spirits once again. Not as lofty as they may seem, then: the gods have a deeply personal stake in the fate of their favourite people.

The Disembodied

When a person dies, the thing they become is not so different from a spirit. On its way to the Garden Wall, the soul of a person will take various forms. In the mouth of a necromancer, words like “ghost” and “shade” become technical terms, the vocabulary of the craft. Here is how they divide the disembodied dead.

Ghost. In the moments immediately after death, an immaterial ghost rises from the body. Though they usually depart immediately for the stars, it is possible for a ghost to remain in the waking world through arcane binding or unfinished business. Like an unclothed spirit, ghosts are capable of inhabiting people or objects. Being caught between life and death is profoundly disorienting for a mortal being, however, and ghosts are rarely stable or even coherent.

Departed. Once the soul has crossed the veil of night and passed over the Garden Wall, they are no longer an immaterial ghost. They are as real and tangible as any other spirit in its native realm. The Tangle is thronged with these incarnate dead, which necromancers simply call “the departed”. Unable to cross the Garden Wall, the departed must wander the Tangle in search of their ultimate fate. Not even necromancers know it.

Shade. The departed cannot leave the Tangle by their own power, but they can be conjured by magical craft. In some cases, they can even appear to those they knew in life - especially in dreams. This is not a true manifestation, however. It’s only an immaterial shade, a distorted echo that breaks the surface of the waking world for a brief moment. Necromancers often call upon the shades of those long passed, hoping to plunder the knowledge of the dead.

Sundered. There is only one way to reclaim the dead. Travel to the Garden Wall in the flesh. Offer them hot, living blood. That alone can give them the strength to climb back over the Garden Wall and return to the waking world. This is not a resurrection; one who died can never live again. It is the incarnate departed that returns with you, an unliving and unfeeling being which does not belong in the world. Creating these sundered is the necromancer’s highest taboo.

Glossary of Named Spirits

There are countless otherworlds and countless spirits, but most are nameless and obscure to humans. If a spirit interacts frequently with mortals, though, they might have a title by which they are known. When the GM needs to embody such a spirit, they can draw from this glossary for a starting point.

	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	The Observer	Face Collector	Cherished	Anticipated Dawn	Rising Voice	First of Dragons
2	The Stranger	Firewatcher	Reunion	Unfathomable Deep	Web of Life	Moon Swimmer
3	The Pursuer	Heartdrinker	Ravening	Promised Destiny	Distant Smoke	Winged Messenger
4	The Forsaken	Keeper of Tomes	Withering	Moment of Retribution	Shared Burden	Loyal Hound
5	The Refuser	Doomsayer	Uncrowned	Wound Unhealed	Weary Bones	Father of Gambits
6	The Remembrance	Player of Games	Covenant	Bright Eyes	Accursed Name	Queen of Magpies

Although a spirit’s name may give some indication of its disposition or desires, the motives of spirits are as varied as the motives of humans. One spirit of loneliness might be a parasite that feeds upon the loneliness and bereavement of humans. Another might be a gentle patron that seeks out the lonely and desires to help them. Still a third might simply prefer its own company and look kindly upon those humans that feel the same way. No two spirits are alike, and their intentions can change even more quickly than those of people.