Toxic spirits or poison spirits are Nature Spirits or Spirits of the Elements that have been corrupted and distorted by the poisoned, polluted, or distorted environment of their domain or the place where they are summoned. The toxic variant of spirits of fire are the rarest of all Toxic Spirits and may be found on sites of hazardous radiation such as the SOX, the Kent and the Scottish Irradiated Zone, the Libyan desert, Chernobyl in Russia or Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Japanese Imperial State.
Basics[]
The appearance of a toxic spirit differs drastically from that of a common spirit. In addition to the classic toxic spirits that would be summoned from a toxic waste dump or the twisted and polluted North Sea and that have been shaped by their environment, there are those that have been shaped by a toxic Summoner. The latter are the toxic variants of spirits of man, protective spirit, and counselor spirits. The moral and mental corruption or the prevailing total hopelessness of metahumans in an area - such as the worst corners of the Barrens - also produces toxic human spirits. However, the same is true of places where numbness, uniformity, and sterility define metahuman existence, such as some high-security corporate facilities, where human spirits can also become toxic. At times, it is difficult to draw a clear line between Toxic Spirits of Man and Shadow Spirits, as both groups are very similar in their malevolence and anti-metahuman nature.
Types of Toxic Spirits[]
- Abomination: Toxic Spirit of the Beast. Appears as a mutated, distorted, and deformed animal or hybrid creature.
- Suffering: Toxic spirit of man. Physical form resembles humans with malicious facial expressions. They haunt people's dreams and thoughts.
- Massacre: Toxic Guardian Spirit. Embody all aspects of bloodshed, mass killing and genocide. Appear as a raging animal or humanoid form, flaunting madness and bloodthirst. Can easily be mistaken for blood spirits.
- Nuclear: Toxic fire spirit. Often appears as a glowing, radioactive cloud or fallout.
- Omen: Toxic counselor spirit. Often appears as emaciated figures or formless shadows and clouds.
- Acid: Toxic water spirit. Appears as a cloud of acid that corrodes everything it touches.
- Cinders: Toxic earth spirit or water spirit. Semi-solid apparition made of toxic waste and contaminated earth.
- Pestilence: Toxic spirit of man. Appears as feverish, disease-ridden humanoids with plague sores and canker sores.
- Smog: Toxic air spirit. Appears as a choking cloud of air pollutants such as particulate matter, solvent vapors, and exhaust fumes.
- "What is extremely interesting and at the same time disturbing is the fact that all toxic embodiments known to us so far are normal shamans or nature spirits perverted by toxic influence. So the toxic attracts creatures to its side, but there are so far - and hopefully it will remain like that - no real embodiments of the toxic essence, as is the case, for example, with blood or insect spirits. Unless, of course, the perversion itself is already the toxic essence." - Century Child
Like nearly all spirits, Toxic Spirits can become Free Spirits, often appearing spontaneously, manifesting or materializing in poisoned and contaminated environments, and pursuing their own corrupted agendas. Among the unique, powerful, and almost unclassifiable wild spirits, incidentally, are also toxic manifestations, such as the Tungak, a wild plague spirit.
Summoning[]
Toxic spirits cannot be summoned and controlled by normal mages or shamans, but can usually only be consciously and intentionally summoned by Toxic Shamans.
- "Many inexperienced or careless shamans have made the mistake of trying to summon an ordinary nature spirit in a contaminated environment, only to have a toxic spirit appear and immediately descend upon its summoner, neither allowing itself to be bound nor banished..." - Dr. Magness
However, even Toxic Shamans and Distorted Mages often have little real control over the Toxic Spirits they summon. They usually only carry out orders when they meet their own destructive nature, and otherwise seek to destroy their summoners as much as any other living being, whether Human, Meta, Plant, or Critter.
- "...which doesn't mean that it wouldn't be possible to force a free poison spirit into a spirit pact by means of a suitable spirit formula and its True Name...
...the risk and price of doing so, however, are - even when such an endeavor succeeds - usually too high!" - Black Magicians
Index[]
- Street Magic (expanded reprint in Pegasus V) p. 161 - 164
- Running Wild p. 181, 183, 189
External Links[]
This article is based in part on the paragraph Toxische Geister in the article Toxische Magie in the Shadowhelix wiki, where it is licensed under GNU FDL. For a list of authors, see here.