Spirits
These metaphysical creatures are able to metabolize emotion. They can form pacts with humans, turning emotional energy called Ardor into fuel for magical effects.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Spirit morphology is innately fluid. They can change their form to almost anything they wish, though they are often limited in size, color, and in a few very common ways. Most spirits, in whatever shape they choose, have at least three eyes and six limbs. A spirit choosing to appear as a creature with no eyes must generally incorporate at least three eyes into their designed form in some way, or else be limited with increasing severity. Likewise, a spirit who chooses to possess less than six legs hamstrings themselves in terms of mobility. Being metaphysical beings, their forms are under no requirements to make physical sense; a spirit can see just as well through an eye that appears as a pattern on shell or fur as they can through one that appears to be a true eye.
In many cases, a spirit's projected size greatly influences their abilities. A spirit choosing to appear as an insect (approximately the smallest size most can manage) uses Ardor and senses its surroundings much less effectively than normal.
Speed is somewhat more complicated. The top speed of a spirit form is often difficult to calculate. It is inversely proportional to size, but is directly proportional with the size of the legs or wings on a form relative to the rest. Thus, to move the fastest, a spirit would want a relatively small form with exaggerated legs/wings/fins.
Genetics and Reproduction
How spirits reproduce is unknown. Certainly they live for a very long time, so there are theories that spirits simply do not reproduce, and have all always been alive. These theories are contradicted by spirits not all having memories from thousands of years ago.
They are universally mysterious and vague when asked about this.
Growth Rate & Stages
Similarly to their mysteriousness about their reproduction, spirits are very cagey about their stages of life, though more experienced spirits certainly seem to possess a wider range of abilities than their less experienced lessers.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The perception of a spirit is innately two-way with other spirits. In other words, the more information a spirit chooses to take in about its surroundings, the more information it broadcasts about itself. Spirits generally do not make noise, and instead use a short range telepathy to both hear and speak.
In all cases, a spirit can only be seen by a human if they wish it, or if another spirit assists the human in doing so. By looking through certain specially prepared materials, such as certain specially prepared glass lenses, a human may perceive a spirit with at least one eye open, but generally cannot gain any additional information about the spirit if it has more than one eye open.
Spirits are capable of perceiving light with at least one eye open, so they see much the same as humans do, and more, depending on how many eyes they are presenting.
When they project only one eye, a spirit can perceive only light, but likewise can only be perceived by other spirits with a direct line of sight.
With two open eyes, a spirit becomes able to specially perceive creatures that produce Ardor (most living animals, though it requires more effort on the spirits part to see non-human animals, especially if they are very small). This perception pierces through solid objects. If a spirit perceives an individual through an opaque wall, they are unable to see more than that creature's silhouette. Other spirits with two eyes open also become visible to the spirit, and he can discern if they are bound by a pact to any nearby creatures.
By opening three eyes, a spirit is able to perceive Ardor, whether it be mist or crystal or otherwise. With three eyes open, they can also examine in detail the flow of Ardor around them, and are able to determine when it is ebbing and flowing in response to a pact bound pair using Ardor to create a magical effect. Skilled spirits are also able to determine what kind of effect is being produced before it becomes obvious. This is called Ardor Reading and is a crucial skill for those who might wish to make pacts for combat of any kind. It goes without saying that by opening their third eye in this way, the spirit also advertises all of the relevant information about themselves. Often times, if leaking this information would be a liability, a spirit may choose to keep their third eye open unless they would be able to get more information than they are giving up.
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