Re: Spirits

From: David Weihe <blerg2_at_eY5xSsdvriSZuCe2GUS2Y-McmUut3la_g_eYUpIVREiImSKnbHOYrpDlKdjtgcpUxUZmw>
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 08:31:12 -0700 (PDT)


> Heya. This advice is very good when you are only thinking
> about these generic nature spirits but I'd like to hear what
> treatment you'd give to spirits from the Praxian Sword Man

Ah. You picked a hard case, since Sword Man himself is, in fact, Humakt, a Major God. This misapplied worship means that Sword Men have to work harder than Humakti for the same magical result; fortunately, they cannot hook up a meter to tell them this, post-GodLearners, and so the 2 (3, actually, with St. Humakt/Humct) sides exist, looking at the other(s) as infidels on those rare occasions when they DO think of the other groups at all. OTOH, there will be El Cid analogs able to get the groups to work side by side (as during Onslaught's Crusade in the West) with reasonable military correctness.

Some of the spirits will be predator or omnivore analogs, some analogs of particularly vicious herbivores (like RW Cape Buffalo) who stand up to their predators (at least in folklore), and some will be spirits of Sword Man or Humakti dead. And then, there are the tricky ones: spirit views of Humakti daemons, spirits of Humakti guardians from before the separation of gods and spirits back in the Gods' War, or refugee spirits come to Sword Man either for protection or as spoils of war.

Spirits of Humakti dead will be the shed bits of Humakti dead, left to wander when some disaster interrupted their normal laying to rest. Spirits of Sword Man dead will be heroes sent to aid their fellows, like some of the allied daemons and guardians among the Humakti. Some might have taboos from their now-extinct minor tribes, or from the manner of their death. Many will have taboos similar to the Humakti Geasas. The Refugee Spirits will have likes and dislikes either similar to other Praxians, or diametrically opposed (like MUST swim on Waha's Holy Days, or MUST start a Ball Of Tails).

You might also research the RW Voodoo loa Baron Sambdhi (sp?), who seems like a RW aspect of Humakt (Geoffrey Holder played him in Live and Let Die), and non-musical aspects of the crossroads loa (Legba, I think). Also any Santeria analogs, or any other Afro-syncretic beliefs, or even real African ones where documented. Also, Cheyenne Contraries (to go back to my Anthro 101 report), who do everything backwards (as in "Hello, I must be going", or bathing in dust then "drying off" in the stream).                   

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