Re: Greg Stafford on Fetches and Commentary

From: Wulf Corbett <wulfc_at_...>
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 13:47:57 -0000

> > Hmm... I don't see why though... best place to capture any enemy
> > is where he's in alien territory, and weakened
>
> I think the point is that a (disembodied) Spirit on this side can
> always escape back to the Spirit plane when threatened - a sort
> of "reverse shamanic escape".

That's a very good point, thanks. But, by inference, it is possible that the spirit FAILS it's escape (unless it has an infallable innate ability, unlike the Shaman), and thus could be captured.

> If you allowed your Shaman to capture
> spirits in this way, then you would have to allow them to capture
him
> when he is on the spirit plane...

But they CAN if she fails her Shamanic Escape.  

> <<But, with a Complete Success, can the Shaman demand one service
of
> the spirit and release it, thus either sending it out on a single
> task, or learning enough about it to add it to his Tradition?>>

> I think, per the rules that you need a complete defeat to add a
> spirit to your tradition anyway.

Agreed.

>Presumably this is talking about
> either disembodied spirits in the mortal world of spirits which
have
> possessed someone that the Shaman is trying to exorcise. In these
> circumstances I think that you probably do need a complete success,

Well, there can be embodied spirits in the mortal world not posessing a 'victim' (disease spirits in rotting corpses, various spell spirits in fetishes may count, etc). But, given that, you would allow the 'one command or add to Tradition'?

> due to the Spirits ability to escape back to the Spirit plane under
> normal circumstances. A normal success will drive the spirit off,
> but won't give you anything else from it, unless you are prepared
to
> follow it onto it's home territory and capture it there

That's another point - if you perform the combat within a Shamanic Circle (like ost exorcisms would be), I presume that would count as being in the Spirit World, so then the spirit COULD be captured?

Wulf

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