WORLD : SPIRITS

Spirits are incorporeal beings with no discernible common shape, as they tend to imitate other beings, typically animals (in the case of Wyld Spirits and some Elemental Spirits), and often inhabit rocks, trees, rivers, etc. Basically all aspects of life more or less have some form of spirit attached to it.

Spirits originally came from Ai-Thera. In the ancient times of the planet Nym's forming, one of the three lesser shards that broke of from the greater Worldshard after Sol'ah shattered it was to become the Spirit Realm. Sol'ah's warmth melted the shard-piece into a mist, which wrapped itself around the planet Nym after the Worldsoul awoke and pulled it in. From the combined energies of Ai-Thera, the Aetheric Sea, the Worldsoul and the magical Worldsea were born the first spirits, who entered into the Mortal Realm and mingled with its Primordial lifeforms.

There are many kinds of spirits, having evolved over the many thousands of years since they anchored Ai-Thera to Nym through the Spiritstone and the Nymshards. Their interactions and involvement in affairs pertaining to the world as a whole led to the creation of life and sentience, but their meddling also created forces of despair, such as the Elemental Titans and Darkspirits.

Spirits depend on the world just as much as the world depends on them. They protect the world and its many aspects, guided the first Primordials and gave purpose and instinct to them; and in return energies from the world helps to keep them alive. A spirit's life is long, and upon death is is reborn anew from the soul that helps sustain their form, and in that sense they are perhaps the only truly eternal beings that inhabit Nym.

Without spirits the world would likely not have taken a hold and it would have died long ago from the lack of spiritual guidance. The Worldsoul might have shrunk and diminished into nothing, Primordials would have had no purpose or interest in maintaining the world, and it would have been a short-lived world absent of life; barren and lifeless. In many ways spirits helped create the first iteration of the world, and laid the foundations for its future growth at the hands of beings that came after them.

Most spirits have no discernible language, or at least they don't seem to communicate the same way as Nymborn Kith and Kin. It seems they rely heavily on emotion and feelings, which they share supposedly telepathically to convey their thoughts to each other, or even to mortals. Simply put, spirits don't speak, but that doesn't mean that they can't listen or understand.

First Spirits

Spirits that reside in Ai-Thera are known as the First Spirits, but are more commonly referred to as the Aithereal. They were the first of the spirits to exist, and all spirits come from them.

The Aithereal are the guardians of the Spiritsoul and protectors of Ai-Thera; ensuring that their Half-Plane remains anchored to Nym, that the Nymshards stay closed to outsiders, and that the Aetheric Shroud never falters. If an Aithereal dies, it is reborn from the Spiritsoul in Ai-Thera.

Aithereals roam and wait within the Aetheric Sea to attach themselves onto rebirthing souls, thus becoming Mortal Spirits in the process. They can also be found inhabiting the Planeworld of Kalam, where they often act as guardians of the resting souls there.

World Spirits

The natural spirits of the land. The World Spirits typically inhabit the land itself inbetween the Mortal Realm and Ai-Thera. They are the spirits that remained on Nym after the Nymshards were shut by the Aithereal.

World Spirits would become one with animals, plant-life, and inject themselves into almost anything, even stones; the latter of which creates Aethra Stones. Shamans and druids frequently communicate with World Spirits, since they are the most common of all spirits.

The Kal'Mar is the better known and the most powerful of the World Spirits, who aids in keeping the World Spirits under control. The Kal'Mar is the Spiritual Entity and extension of the Worldsoul, and is thus mainly found in the Mortal Plane, likely existing somewhere within the Aetheric Shroud and Sea. The Overgod Tariel is partially one with the Kal'Mar, as both supposedly share consciousness.

When World Spirits die they are reborn from the Aetheric Sea, but drawn to the Mortal Plane by the Kal'Mar's calls.

Elemental Spirits

Similar to the Elemental Shadjin, but not to be mistaken for them, as Shadjin are more physically materialized and more intelligent. Elemental Spirits are the animalistic descendants of the Elementals the Elemental Titans created to serve them during the War of Titans.

Elemental Spirits might inhabit various places in Nym, infusing those sites with elemental Aether. But the greater majority of Elemental Spirits are found in the Elemental Courts, where their Aether is more easily regrown with their access to the Elemental Souls.

When Elemental Spirits die they are reborn in the Courts from the Elemental Souls. They tend to come to Nym and stay there because of mortals who summon them (either from magic summoning, or spiritual prayer), or they are attracted to the more abundant and varied forms of Aether found on the Nym planet.

Wyld Spirits

Faeric spirits that inhabit Malendii's Dream and otherwise serve Malendii in her Dreampact. They frequent Wyldtrees and other powerful sites of nature.

They were once World Spirits, but after they helped Malendii plant and nurture the Wyldtrees, they became her loyal servants, and transformed to be more of use to the naturistic aspects of the world, as well as the oneiric powers of Malendii's Dream.

Some Wyld Spirits are attracted to dreamers, often entering into the dreams of mortals, although in most cases it is either unnoticed or harmless. Common types of Wyld Spirits are creatures like Fey Wisps or Sprites. Wyld Spirits that die are reborn in Malendii's Dream by growing from flowers and plants, though it tends to take quite some time, and they are usually very disoriented when they do return.

Wyld Spirits are regarded as playful and enjoy trickery, and sometimes they inhabit dryads or faeries. It is believed that somtimes Wyld Spirits will grow envious of the dreams of mortals, and thus they tend to play out or imitate what they see. Especially agitated Wyld Spirits might even become aggressive towards dreamers.

Ancestral Spirits

The spirits of deceased mortals are known as the Ancestral Spirits. They are still attached to their souls either from still remaining in the world, or through a link maintained between the soul in the Great Fade or Kalam/Shaz-Kadar and some kind of anchor in Nym.

Unlike how common Mortal Spirits are separated from their ascending souls, the Ancestral Spirit is a spirit that remained in Nym as the soul it was a part of went to the Great Fade or Kalam/Shaz-Kadar. This often creates Ancestral spectres or ghosts, but not necessarily violent ones like those created from Darkspirits.

Once an Ancestral Spirit dies or is finally separated from its mortal's soul, it returns to Ai-Thera and is reborn as an Aithereal, usually.

Mortal Spirits

A Nymborn mortal is only given life when a spirit from Ai-Thera merges with a soul that is bound to inhabit the unborn mortal's soul. Memories of the spirit are erased before it merges with the soul, thus preventing any lucid connection between the mortal and Ai-Thera. This process occurs with animals as well.

An Aetherial will typically latch onto and merge with a passing soul as it returns from the Great Fade, and is only separated from that soul when it goes back to the Great Fade, or if it goes to either Kalam or Shaz-Kadar. The attachment process takes place mainly in the Aetheric Sea, when the soul is most receptive of being latched to.

As an effect of its merging with another soul, the spirit prevents the soul from being consumed by Endomundo's Darkspirits by way of creating a spiritual shield. But when the soul travels away from Nym and through the Aetheric Sea, the spirit is weakened from years of mortal life. It will use its last energies to protect its soul from Darkspirits, but it won't always succeed. If the soul reaches the edge of the Aetheric Sea, the Mortal Spirit separates and returns to the Spiritstone, where it can recover its strength and await a new soul to merge with in the Aetheric Sea.

A Mortal Spirit has no real consciousness as it lies deep within the mortal's soul, but its presence there maintains a small connection to Ai-Thera. Exactly why the Aithereal merge with souls isn't understood, although theories suggest that it is simply within a spirit's nature to do so, or it is an effect compelled by the effects of the Mortal Soul, or perhaps it is a way for spirits to gather Aether provided by the Worldsoul to feed Ai-Thera's Spiritsoul.

It is all in the realm of theory for now.

Darkspirits

Spirits that primarily hail from Endomundo are known as Darkspirits, or Shazari; sometimes just simply called Shades or Wraiths. They are demonic spirits that have been starved from the connection to the Spiritsoul, and are unable to gain nourishment directly from Ai-Thera. Instead their desperation might lead them to try to consume or inhabit souls rising from Nym, which in many cases leads to the creation of violent wraiths, spectres and twisted ghosts. The first Darkspirits became the Elemental Titans, which was a result of their constant desire for more power and Aether.

Darkspirits have no clean way of being reborn should they die, and rely on consuming souls to create new Darkspirits. Necrotic and shadow Aether are strong in Endomundo and have shaped the Darkspirits since their isolation from the Spiritsoul. In many ways they are dependent on those energies to survive, as they help keep a Darkspirit's form and thoughts held together.

Darkspirits are violent and extremely dangerous; capable of corrupting and damaging souls even if they don't succeed in consuming the soul.

Witherspirits

Witherspirits, not be be confused with Darkspirits, are spirits who are lost and wander Nym aimlessly without purpose or thought. When spirits have been denied nourishment for too long, or had their souls taken from them, they become Witherspirits. At this point their recovery is too late, as their weakened incorporeal forms can no longer hold onto the Aether they need.

Similar to Darkspirits, a Witherspirit might naturally seek out mortal souls for the purposes of consumption or possession, but won't be able to merge with the soul or gain anything from it. Instead a Witherspirit will tear the soul apart, possibly in anger, which is what makes them dangerous.

Witherspirits frequent places of the long dead, suggesting that they might also be created from souls that were unable to enter the Cycle. It is also likely that these sites attract Witherspirits because soul Aether is strong there.

In larger concentrations of Witherspirits, a phenomenon known as a Withering occurs; a storm of many Witherspirits that collectively seeks out souls in its area until it eventually dissipates and breaks up. Anyone caught in a Withering might have their souls ripped apart, denying them from ever entering the Cycle again. Few survive such an encounter, yet some manage to live even after having their soul removed.

However, absent a soul, these individuals slowly turn into husks, and they're called the Withered. The process can take anywhere between days to years, and over time they will start to lose more of their identity and memories, until nothing is left. There is no known cure. Soulcrafting is studied to try to infuse new souls into Withered, but it often clashes with faint memories that still cling to the body, as well as the person's identity embedded deep in his or her blood.