Spirits

A Spirit is a metaphysical entity, often inhabiting areas that are unchanged by Humans. They come in different shapes and sizes, with each tending to have their own set of unique abilities. Spirits are often referred to as 'Familiars' as well, given that they are typically only seen when called forth by a contractor. Some are made up entirely of spiritual essence, while others often take the shape, or even possessed simple creatures.

Origins
Spirits Origin

Like other sentient beings, a Spirit may be born from the union of one or more other Spiritual Entities. This can be done either through asexual, or sexual reproduction. In these cases, the spirit would fall under the parent's or original entity's caste - taking up a large portion of the original characteristics, and subsequently being type-cast into that specific species.

However, some spirits may be formed from the deceased - most commonly from dead non-sentient animals, or in rarer cases, even humankind. The process in which this occurs isn't quite understood by local scholars and religious leaders.

Hierarchy
Spirit Hierarchy

Like in the animal Kingdom, there seems to be a hierarchy among most Spirit sub-types. This hierarchy tends to be based on a mixture of power, age, and experience. At the top of each hierarchy normally is a deity-like spirit residing and ruling over all else. These specific entities typically have great influence over the earth's nature.

Types of Spirits
Types of Spirits

Spirits are among the most varied and versatile creatures in all of the cosmos. They far out-strip even mortals in their ability to adapt to an environment, or develop different tricks or abilities in order to cope. As a result of such an immense level of versatility, Spirits have effectively been separated into sub-types, each with their own unique set of characteristics and traits. Some examples are shown as below.

Fox Spirits
Fox Spirits

Fox Spirits are a variety of fox-based Spirits. They tend to reside in thick forests, often opting to remain elusive to travelers. In the rare cases in which they grow violent, these specimens tend to inhabit Fox-like creatures, or other relating animals.

One notable family of this sub-species Spirits are the Kitsune, renowned for their manipulation of illusions and ability to deceive.While not primarily known for their powerful, or dangerous attributes, Kitsune are known to be very mischievous and playful. They are known for to play tricks on stragglers, and often team up with other mischievous entities as well.

Evolution
Evolution of Spirits

Spirits have certain stages in their life, much like an average human goes through different stages as well - such as adolescents, teenage, adult-hood and so forth. However, for Spirits this is a tad more varied.

There are up to five different stages that a Spirit can potentially obtain, although most tend to plateau around the second or third stage of their evolution. Normally, the head or deity residing over a particular core group of Spirits tend to be at the very least in their fourth stage, automatically making them a fearsome and respected figure.

The evolutionary types are as followed: [find names soon, scrub].

Powers and Abilities
The average ability of a spirit varies. For example, Fox spirits are often proficient in the manipulation of wind and illusions, while a Wolf spirit may be proficient in tracking or close-quartered combat. All in all, their power relies mostly on their own spiritual fortitude, but it may also be reliant on their contractor as well.

Age and Longevity
Spirits are able to live for extremely long periods of time. Most have a natural life-span of several centuries, while upper-class Spirits are capable of living for entire millennium. It's said that some spirits are so old, that they can accurately recall events going back as far as the beginnings of human civilization - even before the infamous Forgotten Age,

In addition to living a long time, they can sustain vast amount of damage, and normally require that their core are extinguished before a spirit no longer exists.

Contracts
Spirit Contracts

To become a familiar, a Spirit must be contracted. This is normally done by upper-level Spirits of a particular tribe or clan. Once a contract is summoned, a contractor is enabled to call forth any spirit that are entailed in this particular agreement - so long as the summoner has the skill and fortitude to call up a familiar based on their power. Some contractors may have a 'fee', often in the form of servitude from the contractor or even apart of their essence.

Alignments
Spirits are highly susceptible to human interference, and tend to be wholly reactionary. For example, a Forest spirit may see human with contempt if they were to be harmful to the local environment, and thus may began going on periodic rampages. In these scenario, normally docile entities will morph, often taking on the form of a 'Vengeful' spirit, leaving much of their abilities heightened and dangerously out of control.

However, not all spirits are reactionary.

Some are prone to corruption, while others seem to be rotten from the very beginning. The latter is normally the case in the scenario in which a vengeful human eventually dies, and becomes a spirit themselves. A vengeful spirit may also be developed if infected by other Tainted spiritual entities, or even if corrupted by practitioner in the dark arts. For the most part, they will remain into this state - although with enough taint and time to fester, if not vanquished or purified, these spirits may sometime advance into a Yokai.

Once that occurs, there is no going back.