Spirit Lore

(thanks to Tyler)
The Nature of Spirits and other Supernatural Phenomena in Altaire Da’aut

The world of Altaire Da’aut is a diverse place overall. However, nothing is so diverse in this world than the world beyond humanity’s eyes, living right beside it and within it. While beliefs about this world range from the total disbelief of it to the belief that it is around us, within us, above us and below us, it is still considered by many sages and philosophers as a subject of great debate and interest. The Spirits in Altaire Da’aut cannot be stereotyped, for they are too diverse in abilities and natures as well as in their affects on humanity and their goals. With regards to how these spirits directly affect humanity, the spirits usually relate to the emotions or actions of an individual emotions or group of individuals. Many professors have divided them into emotions and from there named generalities of the spirits to both show diversity and continuity at the same time. Whether these charts are accurate or not is yet to be proven completely true.

Love – This emotion tends to attract benevolent spirits, though sometimes spirits of mischief have been attracted to it as well, if for just a distraction. The following spirits have been categorized in the emotion of Love by the majority of professors at the most esteemed – and pitiful – Universities in civilization.

Nymphs – beautiful spirits generally pictured as women, a single look at them could possibly kill a man. They are attracted to hopeless romantics – men who look for the purity of beauty and spirit, but never find it. At least, not in a human.

Absolvers – a type of Absolver spirit which takes away negative feelings between lovers whom the Absolver believes are meant for each other. Of course, this conveniently feeds the Absolver’s emotion hunger, as well.

Breakers – spirits of mischief, these spirits actually find the cracks between lovers and widen them into canyons. Normally they search for a couple where only one of the party is responsible for the cracks in the love, and it’s even better when the other party is not aware of it. Eventually, the relationship ends in agony and bitterness.

Anger – Part of the human condition. This takes up a large part of a human’s psyche and spiritual energy – it can create great energies within a person, simply waiting to be harnessed, though all humans except a special – or cursed – few can actively harness the spiritual might created. Spirits attracted to this emotion are almost always of evil origins, and usually feed off the energy produced by anger. They are a cancer of the heart and spirit. Three Spirit-Gods generally rule this, and they use millions of Avatars to find victims across Altaire.

Gekijou – This Spirit-God feeds off of the violent emotion and passion of a human. The most powerful and well-known of the Spirit-Gods, he is responsible for the curse of the Berserker. When a being experiences something traumatic enough – and they experience untold rage – they become veritable spiritual beacons, and the Avatars of Gekijou are attracted to this. Entering their hearts, these poor souls are given untold strength and endurance at the time, their rage feeding their power. However, after they have ‘exacted revenge’ (though by the time this happens whatever they grieved over will probably have been destroyed or killed), the spirit remains in the being’s heart, forever feeding off the being’s emotions and hearts. Usually, it becomes a psychological condition – whenever the subject sees something that reminds them of their ‘traumatic event’ they go berserk. Berserkers fight until their body literally falls apart, so there are not many among the people of Altaire. Unfortunately, this spirit is too powerful, and no shaman or magus has ever been able to exercise it successfully – thus, these berserkers live out the remaineder of their lives as veritable sociopaths, all of their emotions eaten before they know they’re there by the Spirit-God, Gekijou.

Kyouran – Kyouran is the second most powerful of the three brothers. He not only feeds off anger, but increases it into madness to feed his energy. He responsible for many village slaughters and mad warlords, and is said to be the patron spirit of serial killers. His presence in a being is short lived, however – he expends much of his power in the spike in human madness and anger. It feeds him quickly, but soon leaves the human physically and spiritually drained. The being does not live much longer after that, as the authorities soon catch up with him.

Moui – This spirit is generally benign, and a sort of annoyance to his two older brothers. He quickly feeds off of the anger energy produced by a single being and then spreads it across many leagues, creating a thin layer for anger to build. Once anger and hate has built up to a sufficient amount in the surrounding area, he feeds off everyone there, and repeats the process. Eventually, everyone in the area dies from the strain of having emotions and energy invade their minds daily.

Sadness – Spirits attracted to this emotion are generally either very evil or very sympathetic. They are responsible for many people suddenly feeling better, or many mass suicides.

Assuage – Assuage is a generally female spirit who comes to those with depression and sadness on their minds in dreams, and comforts and soothes them however she can. Why she does this is unknown – she is a singular entity, but can exist simultaneously in the dreamscapes of hundreds of people at a time. It is speculated that she is responsible for much of the sorrow in human lives and is trying to atone for it. Another, more cynical viewpoint is that she feeds off of happy emotions, and depression shortens her food supply.

Abyss – This spirit generally increases one’s depression and sadness to a point where the subject eventually commits suicide, or turns to some evil diversion. Abyss feeds off of the energy produced right before death by depression – a very ecstatic energy, and one which can feed Abyss for months per person. This makes him a very powerful spirit – which explains the high suicide rates.

Triad – Bravery, Courage and Valor. This is a benevolent emotion and thus all of the major spirits having to do with it are benevolent as well. It’s sometimes hard to judge if these spirits’ eventual goals are benevolent, however.

Yuuretsu – This spirit is attracted to the Triad, and is responsible for spreading it throughout a large number of people if the subject’s Triad is strong enough. This explains a person’s charisma – and why an army will follow a single man into battle screaming to their last breath. Yuuretsu is also responsible for what modern doctors call adrenalin bursts, giving people sudden bursts of strength if they have enough hidden valor and courage within their hearts.

Gouka – The Spirit, generally characterized as a woman with beautiful, long flowing hair, is responsible for the inspiration of valor and bravery through art, dreams, ideals and speeches. She uses more conventional means to spread her power through peoples hearts, for indeed her power is increased with each person who has the intent of bravery and courage – the actual act does not give her strength, but the intent and the thought does, making idealists her prime targets. It is speculated that she is somehow related to Yuuretsu in some way. If they are indeed Spirit-Gods with many Avatars, they may be lovers.

Parn – Responsible for the need in many to right wrongs and banish darkness from a world of light. He finds a place in a being’s heart and becomes a benign cancer, not harming them spiritually but perhaps driving them to physical harm through a constant need to express bravery and valor. This results in many duels and even useless wars, and Parn is thought to be a thoughtless spirit. However, as of late, Parn has been said to begin making actual decisions, as if he had become aware, by Sages nad Mystiks alike. Whether this is true or not has yet to be seen.

Black Triad – Cowardice, Trickery, Jealousy. In direct opposition to the Triad listed above are the two spiritual incarnations of the Black Triad. Responsible for much of the greed, suspicion, envy and scandal in Altaire, these spirits are evil.

Okayaki – Okayaki (called Oka for short) is a spirit who encourages and feeds off of jealousy and envy, and the trickery and negative energy that results from it. Oka is a spiteful spirit who usually ends up combating Yuuretsu for control of a person’s heart. This leads to split personalities and the resulting polar opposites of the two personalities, and their constant switching. Okayaki is a very devious spirit and sometimes even addresses his subject as if he were the subject’s conscience, giving advice that could only end in misery.

Hikyou – Hikyou is the spirit of cowardice. He feeds off of the spiritual energy given off by the immediate transformation of bravery into cowardice, valor into trickery and respect into jealousy. He generally searches for people who have these virtues and hold them very high, and then wriggles his way into their heart. He then commences slowly but surely setting things up for that person to do a 180 in terms of their philosophical viewpoints – but makes sure that the person doesn’t change yet. Then he makes it so that the person changes quickly, giving off so much energy that the spirit is ejected from the being before the spirit can even get it all. This allows the being to recover, but it is a slow recovery, and is not assured.