Summoning spirits
Summoning spirits are immortal beings that takes on a physical animal form once summoned. They live in the three realms of Delv Ihoo known as Chyu, Sylglia and Relaytra, or otherwise known as Earth, Heaven and Hell. When born, depending on the right circumstances, some wolves will become summoners and form a bond with a companion spirit. This spirit can be summoned to aid them in everyday life or in combat. They can also form pacts with different spirits as well. Summoning spirits are generally extremely rare in Delv Ihoo.
Companion spirit
Companion spirits are the most well known, and they are the foundation to become a summoner and form pacts with other spirits. A ritual has to be followed in order to gain an earthly companion spirit. A summoner can only gain a spirit at birth, meaning that the parents hold the responsibility if their child should become a summoner or not(for earthly spirits only). These spirits are immortal and while they can die they can be re-summoned afterwards. Some companions take longer to rest before they can be re-summoned, depending on what type of companion they are. Communication is done through deep telepathy.
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Earthly spirits |
There are many spirits that wander amongst the living but are not visible to them or able to communicate. When the ritual is performed to bond a spirit to a master, they will take the form of an earthly being, hence the name “Earthly spirits”. They will resemble a type of animal in its normal form with the only difference being that they take on the coloration of their master. When they are bonded, they will be loyal and follow any order that is given to them. They are immortal and therefore require no food or water, and when destroyed they can be re-summoned after a cooldown period of one day. They don’t require anything but their masters call to be summoned. Earthly summonings can stay out as long as the summoner has elemental energy. The larger the summoning is the quicker this drains, so it can vary between hours and days depending on the size of the summoning. While through the ritual they will be born, they are actually much older, and will always appear as adults. However, they don’t recall a past life or have any previous memories. Powers will depend on the natural abilities of the animal they became and they will gain properties of their master. While not as strong, they will have the possibility to learn elemental attacks based on their masters’ element.
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Ritual: An “Earthly” companion spirit can only be gained if a parent allows it and does the ritual. Wolves have to collect the following; Obsidian, animal remains (shed snake skin, feline tooth, bear claw etc...) and an Azure stone. Once collected, they have to pulverize the stones and mix it with the animal remains. With the help of an Earth or Psychic wolf, they will be able to refine the material into a stone they call a “summoning stone”. Upon birth they have to present this stone to their newborn as it will trigger a reaction and a spirit to take place within the stone. The stone will be consumed by this spirit as it will finally take shape and appear loyal to the newborn pup. For the ritual to work, the same amount of stones as there are newborns are required. Spirits will become confused if more than one newborn is available to bond to. Therefore to have success, the entire litter requires a stone per individual. The animal remain that was gathered will determine what animal the spirit is, though the remains itself does not limit what animal it will be. There are two methods used by Delvihen wolves in order to gain a specific animal for the summoning spirit.
- If several items are used of different types of animals of the same class it can result into an animal from this very line. Ex. Shed skin of 2 different native snakes to Delv Ihoo can result into a different species of snake from the main land. There if mixes of remains are used they will be capable of gaining snakes(or other animals) not native to Delv Ihoo. Mixing different animal remains will result in a random animal of any class not a mixed or chimera like beast.
- Having a summoning spirit with the form of an animal from the past can sometimes be less useful than Delvihen species. As most animals from the mainland are smaller compared to those that evolved on Delv Ihoo. Not only that summoning spirits come with natural abilities found in Delvihen species. This means that a "Fire bison" of Delv Ihoo could belong to a summoner of any type of wolf species and maintain their natural fire based abilities. To get a specific animal for the summoning ritual it will require the parent to only use material that comes directly of this creature. So rather than having remains of several animals, to gain a specific creature the remains of only that animal will be used. Daglor based summoning spirits are extremely rare, as remains of fossilized dagloren have to be used. Due to how old the remains are, rumors say that mixing fossils has caused defects and therefore failed causing no summoning spirit to appear at birth. For fossilized remains it is a must that they remain of the same creature. Some wolves who attempted to gain scales of the dragon gods have also learned that such huge forms cannot be gained for a summoning spirit.
- Earthly spirits will always resemble their master color wise and partly marking wise.
- A stone is required per pup, which means that in most cases the parent figure will create several stones. This also means that the parents can choose if the stones all consists of similar animal remains, or if there are differences. So it's not unusual for a pup to have a different type of animal spirit in comparison to their sibling. It is common however for parent figures to use similar remains, as in some families it can be tradition to have a specific animal serving their family line.
- Earthly spirits can be as large as Delvihen bears. Some believe larger is possible, but most attempts for larger animals have failed.
Heavenly spirits |
After life, it is believed that the souls of the living will move on to “Sylglia” (heaven). It is believed that guardians of this realm will watch over those that passed. These spirits are known as “Heavenly spirits”. There is no easy way to obtain this as a companion, as rumors speaks of many ways but none of them are proven to be successful or real. In rare occasions, it is believed that prayers to the ruler of this realm have resulted in heavenly spirits. Despite this, very few have ever obtained such a spirit. These spirits will always appear in white-golden colors and can be both regular and mythical beings. Their cool down is said to be seven days before they can be re-summoned. As they can only remain present for 7 days as well. They will always be weak to the element of Shadow.
Ritual: There is no known ritual for gaining such a spirit. It is believed that this type of spirit can only become a summoning spirit on their own will. If one become a summoning spirit, the master has to offer a citrine stone each and every time. These spirits can completely ignore or choose to not serve their master as they have a will of their own. But unlike demonic spirits are said to be loyal. Their powers will always be light based. But they will only use their powers for good. |
Demonic spirits |
It is believed that some souls will never make it to heaven and instead will fall in “Relaytra”, otherwise known as Hell. Rather than spirits, they are demons who became half spirit and so are referred to as “Demonic spirits”. There is no easy way to obtain these as some believe that wolves can summon them by making a contract with a demon, and that this is the reason they can obtain such a spirit. While extremely rare, it has happened on multiple occasions but it is heavily frowned upon. Wolves who commit themselves to demonic rituals or prayers are often hunted down. Because of this not many who had a spirit actually lived to tell the tale of how they did it. The Tanlin Clans strictly forbid any form of communication or worshiping towards the realm of Relaytra. Their cool down is said to be six days. While they can only remain present for 6 days. Demonic spirits can take all sort of forms, from standard animals to mythical and even hybrids. They will always feature a type of horn and resemble the colors of their masters. They will always be weak to the element of light. They are hostile by nature and many will not hesitate to get their master killed. They will always control shadow and darkness, with the added partly powers from their master. To summon blood is always required. Dark rituals if successful binds the demonic spirit automatically which is why they are so hostile towards the "master" they usually don't accept.
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Side effects & communication
Side effects will always occur, and these can benefit the master of the spirit. Depending on the animal the spirit became, the master can be born with features not seen in their kind. Using a snake as an example, a master could obtain slit pupils or even gain poisonous abilities. Changes can be present but generally they will not alter traits or give traits that make a huge difference from their original appearance. But it goes further than that, some will even gain behavior traits seen in the animal it’s companion spirit became. Wolves with a feline as a summoning spirit can gain the ability to purr, and will likely groom themselves more than standard wolves. A summoning spirit can also greatly affect their master’s mind, as they grow extremely attached to their spirit companion. If a master grows too weak during battle, their companion will automatically disappear and must wait for the cool-down to be gone. Heavenly and demonic spirits are not affected by this and do not require their master to be in good health.
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In Delv Ihoo, animals are capable of communicating with one another. This still depends heavily on what type of species the animals are. Mammals can communicate with fellow mammals, birds with birds, reptiles with reptiles etc... Because of this, where the spirit is a mammal, it could actually communicate with non-summoned species as well. But if the spirit is born as a bird or reptile, only their own master will be able to understand them through deep telepathy. All spirits communicate through deep telepathy, but can choose to communicate with others. For non mammals this is not possible aside from communicating with their own master. Summoning spirits can also sense how their masters feel, and hear their deepest thoughts.
Gender/Immortality/PassingSummoning spirits can be male, female or gender less. No matter the gender, they do not reproduce nor bond with other spirits with this intent. Summoning spirits are immortal and do not require the basic needs, they do still have taste so many spirits will eat despite not needing it. When defeated in battle they can be re-summoned after a cool-down period, depending on what type they are the timing may vary. Despite their immortality, it is believed that there are ways to forcefully separate a master and it’s companion spirit’s connection. If this happens, both master and spirit tend to struggle heavily as they feel they lost a part of themselves. When their master dies, the spirit has the option to stay with their soul or to become a wandering spirit that awaits a new master. It depends on the bond the spirit had to what choice they will make. Not all masters have been good to these spirits, so some will choose the potential chance of a new master.
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What animal?
There is a huge variety of animals that a spirit can become. While the form of an “Earthly spirit” can be influenced by the ritual (Shed snake skin => Snake spirit), heavenly and demonic spirits have their own form/body that they will always resemble which can be both pure or mythical or even a hybrid with intact memories of themselves and past life. Summoning spirits can be at its largest a bear (Delv Ihoo sized bears), rituals are said to fail if larger spirits are attempted. Spirits can also be native animals on Delv Ihoo itself. Wolves will generally go for animals that match their species, such water wolves preferring semi-aquatic creatures.
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Summoning pacts and variations
Only when a wolf gains a companion spirit can they proceed to form pacts with “Guardians”. These are powerful spirits that usually live in secret on Delv Ihoo, guarding forests, lakes and more. These spirits will not recognize or communicate with wolves that lack a companion spirit. When they are summoned, a Guardian spirit will give the wolf several trials. If the trials are perfected, the Guardian itself will form a pact which allows the summoner to summon it on command. Unlike the companions, it is possible to form pacts with Guardians that are connected to both heaven and hell. Guardians are neutral, so no matter what purpose they are used for, they will obey when summoned. During the trial, some Guardians have killed the summoner if they deem them unworthy.
There are a total of five variations that can be found in Guardians, as they have different properties, it will fully depend on the summoner on how to use them. Wolves can form as many pacts as they like.
There are a total of five variations that can be found in Guardians, as they have different properties, it will fully depend on the summoner on how to use them. Wolves can form as many pacts as they like.
- Changers: The wolf itself will be able to take on the shape of this Guardian for a short amount of time to attack. A lot of energy is drained when they perform this and need a day to rest.
- Attackers: The wolf itself will strike their target with the Guardian appearing for a brief period of time in spirit form for the attack. Their cool down is half a day as they don’t require a lot of energy to be used.
- Healers: These Guardians have one purpose only, and that is to heal. When summoned, the Guardian will appear and heal wounded targets or the wolf they formed a pact with. Their cool down is usually a lot higher, as at least 4 days are required before they can be re-summoned.
- Shifters: Amongst the strongest types of Guardians, if a pact is successful it will allow the wolf to take transform into the Guardian for 24 hours. The downsides are that the wolf cannot revert back to their wolf form before the time is up, and will be powerless for a couple of hours after changing back. The cool down is at least a week.
- Protectors: These Guardians will only serve a defensive purpose. Once summoned they will usually shield the summoner by all means possible. This can be shields, walls of fire and more.
HistoryAll spirits are said to have started a normal life as a living being. But after deadt some souls simply could not find peace or felt they still had a duty to perform. Because of this restless souls turned into spirits. Some simply choose to wander the lands but others such as Guardians had a purpose to protect the land. It is believed that the earthly realm has a secondary spirit realm within the realm itself. While both demonic and heavenly spirit reside within their standard realm. Heavenly spirits are said to be souls fused with angelic beings, or as some believe, to be past spirits whom chose to leave their original master in order to bond with another. while Demonic spirits are said to be fused with demonic creatures. They maintain who they are, Earthly spirits do not recall the past.
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