SPIRITUAL VESSELS
This information is mostly unheard of in the public, and cannot be used to metagame. It is advised to roleplay spiritual interactions properly, and seek information through them.
Among sacred texts within history, few scriptures mention mortals who gain superhuman abilities, the powers of the dead. Be it through willing pact, trickery, or forceful implantation, spirits hold the power to shape their own souls, and chip pieces off of the living. The formation of such, creates a Spiritual Vessel. A living mortal, whose soul has been deliberately fractured through covenant, allowing a fragment of a spirit’s soul to take root within their being. This act creates a spiritual conduit, through which a spirit may exert physical influence upon the world without manifesting in full.
After successful creation, the Vessel may draw upon foreign spiritual energy to aide them. The soul, though fractured, becomes reinforced around the spirit’s shard, granting a durability alien to ordinary mortals. Wounds that could outright kill, could leave death prolonged. Senses might find themselves heightened to superhuman levels, or the very shape of their soul warps, allowing them to strike with a fraction of the spirit’s power. Though pieces of the soul are shared, a Vessel does not wield a spirit’s true abilities. Power is filtered through the mortal psyche, reshaped by belief, fear, and identity into force made manifest. No two Vessels bound to the same spirit will ever express power in identical form, though some traits may be recognized between them.
Though it does not come without great cost. Both parties suffer immensely upon creation, as the spirit is diminished, and the mortal is broken. Inherently unnatural, they gain something from one another that does not belong.
The soul, once fractured and replaced, is only capable of holding a single spirit's soul-shard. A second implantation, would be utterly catastrophic, as the foreign souls fight, and rend the host to a soulless husk. Thus permanently killing the Vessel, and shredding their soul, forsaking any hopes of an afterlife.
While Lesser Spirits are far too weak to utilize a Vessel, A Greater Spirit may have a maximum of [2] Vessels, and have the capability to grant them [1] combative ability, and [2] non-combative effects.
Elder Spirit may have as many as [4] Vessels, and can grant them [2] combative abilities, and [3] non-combative effects.
Kami, are boundless spirits, and such, have no limit to the number of Vessels they may create, or the amount of abilities they may possess. They typically restrict their Vessels with various tiers of abilities, granting more power for greater costs.
Among these exist, the Shōchōka, or Jinkakuka, beings whom have transcended individuality and mantled concepts themselves, Personifications. Mortals lucky enough to have bound themselves such entities are sometimes called Exalted Vessels, though the title is a cruel misnomer. Their power grows exponentially, yet the cost is erosion of self. Their identities bleed through the cracks, as they warp the vessel in accordance with the mantled concept.
Despite such promises of power, one must be wary to trust spirits, as yokai are known liars, tricksters, and will abuse such lies to consume souls entirely. It must be understood that becoming a vessel, is exceedingly rare.
The dead, can lie.
Shattering your soul, and replacing it with shards of another, is quite obviously, a dangerous process. Forgoing your safety, should you choose to proceed anyway, the easiest and safest way to do so, is to become a Remnant Vessel. With only a small portion sacrificed, enough to house the spirit’s shard, the Vessel gains the ability to glimpse unto the spirit realm, and often times utilize a mere fraction of the spirit’s power.
Choosing to take it a step further, one may sacrifice a much larger portion, to properly anchor the soul-shard in place. A stable, yet dangerous connection to the conduit, creates a True Vessel. With a stronger connection, Vessel’s often gain more of their patron’s power, for the cost of their sanity, and the numerous mental effects one would afflict upon themselves from interacting with the dead.
Sacrificing even more, a Vessel may choose to surrender nearly half of their soul. Further fusing the shard into their own soul, the fracture is no longer fragile, as they become a Perfect Vessel. The spirit’s power is able to flow freely, and clearly, without distortion or instability. Instead of a patchwork of their soul, it appears fluid, as if it was always meant to be there.
This however, is not how it ends. With connection to an even higher power, if one makes contact with the Kami above, or a living Personification, they have a chance to become an Exalted Vessel. An extremely rare, and gruesome process, as the mortal is often reforged in their patron’s image. Replacing a majority of their soul with the spirit’s it no longer simply houses it, but they are twisted into their concept, given physical will and image. This often, is not a choice, atleast not for the mortal in question.
VESSEL GUIDELINES
Spiritual Limitations:
Yokai are spirits with flaws and mystery. Do not power-game, metagame, or publicly flaunt supernatural powers without explicit faction lead and narrative reason. As a vessel, one is acting as an extension of the spirit, as such, the rules are just as harsh.
Ability Restraint:
Any mind-affecting, possession, dream-walking, or body altering abilities require explicit OOC consent from the player affected. Vessels cannot curse, or bless mundane humans. Each use of a spiritual ability will be closely monitored, and scrutinized to avoid power-gaming. In addition, Vessels are created to allow a way for mankind to “combat” spirits.
Research & Respect Folklore:
As an extension, you are expected to uphold the spiritual side of Norowarejima, and shine it in a positive light. Understanding the lore behind your bonded spirit, as well as respecting cultural, and narrative depth are equally as important.
Separate IRP from OOC:
Do not use OOC information to gain advantage on other players. Actions should remain within IRP reasoning, and OOC dispute should never influence roleplay.
Consequences:
Frequent rule-breaking may result in character removal, power lock, or narrative consequences. This can be as minor as having abilities stripped, to as harsh as having that character killed, account warned, or banned.
Permissions & Crime:
Spirit characters are strictly prohibited from passing injury permissions to mortals. While you can still participate in Crime RP as a vessel, it is strictly prohibited to use any spiritual abilities in crime.
On Romance:
You may not RomanceRP with yokai. This rule is non-negotiable. You can, however, still hold love for the spirit of a loved one if they have passed on. As a spirit, you no longer hold any sexual desire, nor will to act on romantic feelings. You can still cherish your living loved ones, but keep it at that.
Character Pacting:
While you can have both a spirit, and a human character, creating a pact with your own characters is explicitly prohibited. Proper roleplay should be carried out prior creation of a vessel.
Failure to follow these basic guidelines, will result in character removal.
written by @usercultist
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