Shikigami

Spirits summoned to do their master’s bidding and pacified with powerful magic focused on that part of the servant spirit’s soul. When respected and freed quickly, they are often not dangerous to the summoner. But if they are treated as a slave or kept for long periods of time they resist pacification and turn on their master, exacting a terrible revenge.

It is best to bind the spirit to a paper figure or another item, for ease of control and to be able to utilize the ki from the binding item in helping to keep the spirit soothed. The paper’s ki is limited, so the spirit knows it won’t be bound for long and can return to the Spirit Realm without much delay.

This school of magic receives mixed reactions from the magic user community. While it was created to provide helpers for the summoner, it has been used for many a dark deed that a summoner didn’t wish to do themselves—tainting the servant and master.

Work in Progress

This article will be expanded in the future.

Stub

This article will be expanded in the future.

Definition

This article stub serves as a simple definition.

Abe no Seimei and his Shikigami servants by Artist Unknown (14th century)

Material Components

Paper or another binding material (optional if the summoner has the ki reserve to sustain control)

Levels of binding

(lowest to highest ki cost)

binding to paper
binding to materials that had no life (metals, man made materials)
no binding, just use the summoner’s ki to control the spirit