[INFO] Spiritbound

[shibrogane]

The spiritbound were the cause of the Charter's creation. With the new Charter, they have returned.

The final evolution of the warg or the moonwalker, the spiritbound are bridges between the two enforcement classes. They serve as officers of the Court, much like nobles, though their powers are much less focused on the preservation of justice and more on being a one-stop shop for preventing the fallout of sudden incursions from the otherworld.

 

[shibrogane]

at a glance.

The spirit-bound were erased from existence in the fourth cycle of the original world. Why this was done depends on who you ask. The Sorrowful One, Noeh, insists that they were a real and present danger to the safety of the world around them. The Prideful One says that their existence threatened the cage. Whatever reason led to their destruction, they are returned now.

Born from the moonwalkers and the wargs, the spirit-bound is the best of both. They have an animal familiar, and the ability to shift into that animal's form. They have the ability to communicate with their familiar and see through its eyes, but also access to the fullness of their powers while in their own animal form. The spirit-bound lose access to the half-form of the moonwalker, but maintain the boost to speed and strength while in their animal form. They lack the limiting yoke to the moon cycle, and are not infectious, but in all other ways maintain the details of the moonwalker.

A spirit-bound familiar possesses a greater intelligence than that of a warg's familiar, and their lifespan matches that of their bonded human. The spirit-bound familiar is nigh human in its ability to think logically and recall facts, and is a powerful ally in the magical world and the mundane one. However, should the bonded familiar die before their human, madness is a guarantee: one cannot share one's mind so fully with another creature without incurring an equal cost. A spirit-bonded whose familiar meets an untimely death will find themselves trapped in a warped, twisted version of a moonwalker's half-form and horribly, terribly empty, a danger to all around them.

There is no such thing as a natural spirit-bound. The spirit-bond is a life-changing piece of irreversible magic that must be chosen by a fully trained warg or moonwalker; attempting the bond or the shift without a thorough grounding in one's natural class is a quick trip to living life as a fetch instead of a Visitor. It is impossible to accidentally become spirit-bound; the consequences are so great that the magic demands that this bond be entered into with intention.

 

[shibrogane]

becoming spiritbound.

The spirit-bond is, as stated above, a terribly costly piece of magic. Entering into the bond without full knowledge of the consequences is not done, and so the rites to join the ranks of the spirit-bound are not taught to Visitors who haven't demonstrated particular talent in their initial class, whether that is warg or moonwalker.

The requirements are as follows:

• Your character must have a warg or moonwalker Beyond power upgrade.
  
• 5 RPs which do not fit any other spiritbonding requirements, but focus upon the duties of a moonwalker or warg, or are otherwise related to one of those classes.
  
• MOONWALKER ORIGIN: 2 RPs where your character attracts a spirit-bonded familiar. These RPs should take place in the otherworld for extirpated species. For currently residential species, they may take place in the otherworld or the real world.
  
• WARG ORIGIN: 2 RPs where your character studies their familiar creature's biology and teaches themselves to shift their shape.
  
• 1 RP finalizing the transformation and completing the first shapeshift.

Once these requirements are complete, they should be collated and posted into shibrogane's modbook.

 

[shibrogane]

unbecoming spiritbound.

You cannot unbecome spiritbound and remain alive. There is no turning back from this path once you've completed it; it would be like attempting to amputate part of your own soul. Even the death of your familiar will not end your connection to them.

The only ways to break the spirit bond are to become a fetch or to die.