How do I handle the cycles of the soul?

My campaign changes the nature of Nephilim from elemental spirits possessing human bodies to paredri symbiotically bonding with human bodies to awaken the higher self. This has consequences for how my cosmology handles magic like resurrection, exorcisms, and the link to past lives.

I'm not giving concrete game rules since I'm still thinking about what system to use.

The incarnation and awakening

A paredrus is little more than another elemental beast. It operates purely on instinct. However, it is linked to the stars and can find suitable hosts to merge with. In general, a prospective host fulfills two criteria: 1) they currently sit at an emotional crossroads in their life that makes their Solar-Ka permeable to the Ka-elements, on some level desiring the bond and inviting it into themselves; a paredrus cannot bond with just any human in proximity. 2) the host's personality and life experience is preferably analogically linked to the Dominant Ka-element of the paredrus, but this isn't mandatory for PCs; e.g. a mechanic or history teacher for a Hydrim, a judge or antiques dealer for a Pyrim, an archaeologist or humanitarian doctor for a Faerim, a municipal librarian or meteorologist for an Eolim, or an undertaker or private club owner for an Onirim.

When the human's Solar-Ka and the paredrus' Ka-elements bond, a microcosm of the Solar system is created: the Ka-elements orbiting the Solar core. This dissolves the human's ego, a construct formed in early childhood, and releases the higher self. This is the Nephilim, an emergent being formed of the alchemical marriage of human and elemental. All Nephilim are aware that their soul predates their physical existence and the cycle of reincarnation, but at best they only vaguely recall this state of grace. Eventually, all of them seek to regain this state of grace by pursuing Agartha. Indeed, even uninitiated humans feel this subconsciously and it has influenced all religions and afterlife beliefs.

The afterlife

The Nephilim can channel their past lives to ask questions about their lives, but neither the Nephilim nor their past lives know the nature of the afterlife. They know that mortals die and their solar-ka evaporates into the solar field, but whether the soul retains consciousness after death and what form this takes is unknown to them. They generally cannot even attempt to speak with the dead using the occult sciences, as this risks infecting them with the Black Moon. However, third circle air magic can draw upon the collective unconscious to find any knowledge that was ever known to a human being.

For the Selenim, it is a very different story. The Selenim alone can practice necromancy without fear, allowing them to speak with the dead. They know that after death, part of the Solar-Ka remains within the corpse and retains an impression of the memories of life. Necromancers can speak with these spirits to acquire knowledge and even raise them as ghostly or undead familiars. This residue eventually decays, and the spirits generally cannot persist more than a couple of centuries without necromantic means to preserve them. Even so, the necromancers don't know what awaits the spirits when they eventually evaporate into the solar field.

The Immortals can live for millennia, but they can also be destroyed. Nephilim can be destroyed by Orichalc or the loss of their stasis item, while Selenim can starve without Solar-Ka. What awaits them after this fate is unknown, but all Immortals fear destruction. However, necromancers of the third circle can speak to the spirits of deceased immortals, provided they have a magical connection like the stasis item or the litharge produced when they were struck by orichalc. Indeed, whenever an Immortal is destroyed by any means, litharge residue is left at the site of their demise due to the trace orichalc within all the magic fields.

The stasis item bond

The link to past lives comes not from the paredrus, but from the stasis item. When a paredrus incarnates within a simulacrum, their solar spine is permanently bonded to the stasis item. The solar spine is a part of the solar-ka that separates humans from other animals, granting them the capacity for higher intellect and self-awareness. Even when the person dies, the bond between the stasis item and the solar spine persists. Through the stasis item's bond to that past life, the Nephilim is able to recall their memories and skills, even speak to and channel the personality of their past life. Sometimes, a past life personality can even become malignant and possess the Nephilim!

The bond with the stasis item presents unique challenges for necromancers. When a simulacrum dies, their solar-ka is split between their corpse and their stasis item. The corpse is thus usable as a magical connection to the Nephilim, if he reincarnated. The necromancer can still interrogate the spirit, but if the Nephilim reincarnated then he will be aware of someone else touching his past life and can channel the spirit to learn whatever the necromancer asked. 

If the corpse's spirit remains intact after the Nephilim was destroyed, then the latter is simply ignored. In this case the spirit always remembers the mundane side of its life, but how much the spirit remembers of his occult adventures is up to the GM. 

Necromancers with access to a stasis item can interrogate the past lives linked to it. If the owner is incarnate, then he will sense this intrusion but cannot actually see or hear the interaction directly. Ex-Nephilim necromancers who still have their former stasis item as a memento can commune with their lost past lives this way, which can either alleviate or worsen their mourning of their lost Ka-elements.

Astral projection

As explained in Major Arcana, mortals and immortals can learn the Shemmut technique in order to astral project. This allows them to project their souls from their bodies in astral form, for use in scrying the physical plane and/or the astral plane. While most of their Ka exits their body to form the astral body, a minority of their Ka remains in their body. This acts as their link to their body and insurance in case their astral body is "killed" in spiritual combat.

The astral projection can cast any spells they know that don't require physical components to cast, such as Casual Magic and Inscriptions, but nothing else. 

During episodes of exorcism or possession (see below), the GM may opt to use the astral projection rules to give players agency during such episodes of disembodiment. Unless the character knows Shemmut, then they're limited to exploring the physical plane and cannot navigate all that well. Along with means for the astral self to communicate or otherwise interact with the other PCs, such as poltergeist activity or riding a shaman, this is probably the easiest way to retain player agency while disembodied.

Exorcism

Certain spells, effects and techniques can exorcise a paredrus from the simulacrum. Justice Initiates know a spell to exorcise the paredrus and force it back into stasis. Certain secret societies affiliated with the Catholic Church know techniques to exorcise Nephilim, mistakenly believing they are demons possessing innocent people.

Exorcism cannot sever the link between the human soul and the paredrus. The former host will enter Shouit and dismiss their memories of the occult as mere flights of fancy, but on a subconsciously level they will yearn to reunite with their former companion. A particularly unfortunate ex-host may even attempt suicide! Meanwhile, the paredrus will trapped in limbo and unable to reincarnate until the link is severed via the former host's death. In this state it will either re-enter stasis, enter narcosis shock, or behave like an astral projection (see above).

Other than the ex-host's death, it has few options: 

  1. the Nephilim's companions can attempt to reintegrate the paredrus and former bearer, reviving the Nephilim. 
  2. A practitioner of shamanism can channel the paredrus and allow it to "ride" them temporarily, granting the Nephilim action until a permanent solution is found. This gives the player some agency during such episodes, so they don't have to sit on the sidelines. 
  3. The GM can simply declare that the paredrus reincarnates within the next suitable host encountered, following the same criteria as above, if they deem the limbo too difficult to adjudicate. 
  4. After a period of separation similar to a prolonged Shouit episode or astral sojourn, the paredrus and its bearer reunite without external assistance. This may be roleplayed as vision-quest or the astral body trying to reclaim the simulacrum to give the player agency during the adventure. The other PCs may help them.
Selenim and Arkaim cannot be forced out of their simulacrums. Any successful attempt kills them, as their Core or Heart cannot survive outside of a body. If the player doesn't want to create a new character, then the majority of their Ka becomes a projection on the astral plane until reunited with their body.

Possession

There are certain times that a Nephilim can be possessed by another spirit, such as a summoned being or a ghost raised by necromancy. When this happens, there are several ways to handle it:

  1. The Immortal is stuck in the body while possessed. The possessing spirit must be forced out or into dormancy before he can regain control. The owner may be able to retake control temporarily, similar to Shouit or Khaiba episodes. 
  2. The soul is forced out of their body by the possessing spirit. See Exorcism, above. Alternatively, the PC astral projects and must fix the problem while projecting. The projection may be able to temporarily take back control or even fight the spirit to end the possession.

Resurrection

Third circle earth magic can be used to resurrect mortals, but not immortals. The longer they've been dead, the harder this is. It is generally impossible to resurrect someone dead for longer than one month. Those resurrected do not remember anything from their time being dead.

Third circle necromancy or "thanatology" may be used not only to speak to the spirits of destroyed Immortals, but also to resurrect them. According to rumor, a master of third circle necromancy is able to resurrect himself! However, the limitations of such magic is unknown to anyone besides the thanatologists themselves.

Attempting to resurrect a deceased simulacrum is more complex, depending on the GM's interpretation of the cosmology and the needs of play. There are several potential ways to handle this:

  1. The former simulacrum is revived, but generally doesn't remember their time as a Nephilim. They may remember it only in dreams, or dismiss it as flights of fancy.
  2. It is simply impossible to resurrect a former simulacrum.
  3. A former simulacrum can only be resurrected if their paredrus is available to reincarnate in the resurrected body. Otherwise, the resurrection fails because the soul isn't available in its entirety.

The former simulacrum of a Selenim or Arkaim cannot be resurrected separately from their Core or Heart. At most, a soulless but living zombie is created.

These ideas are not set in stone. I'll probably revisit them in the future. I just wanted to get this out now.

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