I have a burning few questions about summoning....

Because the embodied spirits have a will of their own they can't be commanded, only called. To become a summoner one must find the spirit, challenge the spirit's test, win and make a covenant with it. Loyalty to the covenant is the key to the relationship's strength.

I'm a bit confused by the difference of called and commanded. Does this mean that as a summoner you can technically call a spirit you have found but there is no guarantee they'll show up or no guarantee they'll listen to anything you say when/IF they do show up?

Also, what repercussions are there to a broken covenant? Besides the spirit's disobeying it's summoner, is there more than one way to break the covenant?

Each element and force of nature has it's own spirit. The spirits are in essence highly intelligent animals, kings and queens, the alphas of their sphere. Other animals and creatures of Idumea worship and serve them as their protectors and providers.

There is only one spirit for each element. They hide in their nests that are well protected by the environment and other creatures.

So, with there being only 8 elements (water, air, soil, wood, fire, lightning, ice and gravity) does that mean there are only 8 spirits to be called in the whole world? Also, if there are more than 8, are there not spirits of different tiers or are they all on the same level? (Like a little dust bunny spirit (for a comical examples) compared to a hurricane spirit). Just wondering how it works if there are only 8, since I'm sure there must be hundreds of summoners.

I have a burning few questions about summoning....

<Snipped quote>

I'm a bit confused by the difference of called and commanded. Does this mean that as a summoner you can technically call a spirit you have found but there is no guarantee they'll show up or no guarantee they'll listen to anything you say when/IF they do show up?

Also, what repercussions are there to a broken covenant? Besides the spirit's disobeying it's summoner, is there more than one way to break the covenant?

<Snipped quote>

So, with there being only 8 elements (water, air, soil, wood, fire, lightning, ice and gravity) does that mean there are only 8 spirits to be called in the whole world? Also, if there are more than 8, are there not spirits of different tiers or are they all on the same level? (Like a little dust bunny spirit (for a comical examples) compared to a hurricane spirit). Just wondering how it works if there are only 8, since I'm sure there must be hundreds of summoners.

A summoner can call a spirit to its side, but can't actually force it to do anything from how it reads. The more one honors the covenant the more the spirit will be willing to do for the summoner. Of course there's probably certain actions that spirits will refuse to do and will probably strain the relationship between spirit and summoner. Presumably if a summoner pisses off the spirit enough it'll probably just kill them.

The spirits don't seem to be limited in number of contacts given they're living representatives of the natural world. No idea if they rule over lesser spirits though.

That still doesn't really explain how one is supposed to honor the covenant and which actions dishonor it. I would assume it means being disrespectful or using the spirits for purposes that do not align with that spirit's moral compass, but I'd like to know for sure.

The phrasing for whether a creature can be called could be taken either way. I call my cat all the time, but it doesn't mean she comes. Why would a spirit bother showing up if it has no intention of helping the person who called them. Also, the way it reads it sounds like almost anyone can call a spirit- you're not actually a summoner unless you can control them. "Summoning" implies that the spirit HAS to show face. "Calling" implies that it doesn't have to if it doesn't want to. (At least that's how I read it...)

I'm honestly hoping that there are more than 8 spirits, since if summoners are just summoning such spirits for their powers, it seems like a lot of unnecessary work when you could just be a sorcerer instead and command the elements yourself. I'm also hoping there are tiers, since if every spirit is at the same level of power, there would be no skill level amidst summoners-- no way to tell a good summoner from a mediocre one (aside from number of spirits one can summon I suppose...)

@Baklava I think a covenant is basically a promise to help out if they need to. The way I see it, the spirits test the dudes to see if they're worthy enough to back up, and it seems to rely on how much the spirit likes the summoner. The way the GM pitched it, I figure the summon only helps if it wants to, so both trust and likeability are kind of necessary for a summoner to summon stuff.

Also, not really sure about this part, but it honestly sounds like the spirits don't have a lot to do as they're both revered and taken care of by everything around them, so I figure it wouldn't be too bad. But summoners would probably be pretty rare anyways as you have to find the summon and then fight it.

With that said, I'm not the GM so it's probably best to wait for his input.

I appreciate the responses, but yes I think I'll await the GM's final word before I put the finishing touches on my character sheet.

I have a burning few questions about summoning....

<Snipped quote>

I'm a bit confused by the difference of called and commanded. Does this mean that as a summoner you can technically call a spirit you have found but there is no guarantee they'll show up or no guarantee they'll listen to anything you say when/IF they do show up?

Also, what repercussions are there to a broken covenant? Besides the spirit's disobeying it's summoner, is there more than one way to break the covenant?

<Snipped quote>

So, with there being only 8 elements (water, air, soil, wood, fire, lightning, ice and gravity) does that mean there are only 8 spirits to be called in the whole world? Also, if there are more than 8, are there not spirits of different tiers or are they all on the same level? (Like a little dust bunny spirit (for a comical examples) compared to a hurricane spirit). Just wondering how it works if there are only 8, since I'm sure there must be hundreds of summoners.

Called VS Commanded ... Have you seen the cartoon Sinbad where he has to get the Book of Peace from the goddess of chaos? The goddess crosses her heart as a sign that when a promise/deal = a covenant is honored she will hold her end or stop being a goddess. The same principle is here. The spirits WILL play their part as long as a summoner plays his/hers. The spirit won't come unless it is going to work.

When a spirit comes (rather immediately = summoner's next turn to put it into logistics), the summoner can give a command and the spirit will heed but the output will be more powerful and efficient if the summoner is exact in honoring their deal and honors the spirit in every possible way.

Regarding breaking a covenant ... If the summoner straight up breaks a part or the whole of their deal, the power can be withrawn temporarily or permanently. If the covenant included someone's health or life, it is lost. Life cannot be restored.

I have not thought of individual spirits, their nature and form but if a spirit is violent by nature it might attack the summoner if a covenant is broken in it's prescence. I give room for your imagination here.

Then the lesser spirits ... I think there was a word on this at the IC. It is okay with lesser spirits. Trees, plants, places, other animals and so on but there is only one that rules the element. And I guess a beginner can't really take on an alpha ;)

The thing that separates the summoners is their ability to be in unity with a spirit. Of course like all magic and supernatural skills, summoning requires stamina and absolute focus. Once the summoner runs out of stamina, the spirit leaves or doesn't come.

Maybe a practical example makes a covenant clearer.

A summoner makes a covenant with a fire oriented spirit (not necessarily "alpha"). Now, completely as an example!

Spirit demands a burnt sacrifice every sunset. Fire is hungry and wood burns best. Which means that after the covenant has been made, the summoner must make a fire every evening, not to stay warm but to give thanks to the spirit. This practice would then take the summoner on the "black book" of a wood/green spirits. The greater the fire, more pleased the spirit would be.

Maybe the spirit would further demand that if the summoner fails to honor the covenant, his right arm would be burnt as a punishment and it would leave a permanent scar, a mark of a broken promise.

Fire is generally seen as aggressive in the western world. Aggressive behavior then would align the mind of the summoner with the spirit's nature.

This has been a total and complete example.

I have added the rules to the end of the opening post. If there is anything that you'd like to say/suggest/ask regarding them, please do :)

Alright, that answers all my questions. I'll have my CS finished by the end of today. I'll let you know if I have any other questions.

Ok... as I typed that I did come up with more questions;; Does it take stamina from the summoner both summon and keep the spirit there, or just to summon it. (Particularly wondering bout this for summoners that have more than one spirit and would like to summon both at once).

Also, I'm assuming spirits cannot be killed? Only damaged so much that they retreat. Is that right?

Yes, you are correct. A spirit cannot be killed. But the stamina question... Since the spirit is an independent being, it doesn't make sense to me that the summoner would lose stamina keeping it on the battle field. Instead the actual summoning is more exhausting. Then as the action moves on, of course naturally it exhausts the summoner.

Okay, cool beans. Thanks.

This looks good! We'll wait for @Shikaru and @Jozarin until Monday and then we'll begin with or without :)

Done.

Awesome! Thank you@Shikaru!

@Jozarin

I suggest posting character apps here before you put them on the characters' thread, just so there's no taken space, if your app doesn't slide through for some reason.

@Jozarin When are you planning to finish your character?

@BytheSpleen, @Lord Santa, @Shikaru, @Jozarin, @Baklava, @nrtashi

Okay folks! The game is on. Make your entrances!

The order of round will be according to the entrance posts.

@Jozarin I hope you make it to finish your character for the entrance round!

Few quick questions... are our characters the only ones in this group that has already been traveling together for three days or are there more people in it? If it's just us, I'm assuming character meetings and greetings are over with at this point so... perhaps we should discuss what sort of terms everyone is on with each other? I really haven't put a ton of thought into how everyone will get along since I expected to be writing about when he introduced himself to everyone, but I'm a little lost as it stands now.

Also... Lord Santa, I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel like Steven is saying an awful lot to be assuming nobody will respond. Abel is very outgoing and would have been the first person to respond to anything he might have said if given the chance. It's making it a bit awkward for me to think of how I should have my character enter his 'conversation'. Lyra's character didn't really strike me as the type to ignore people either. Perhaps you could leave us with a better opening to respond? Someone might want to point out the troubled boy that taistelusopuli mentioned as well (and they likely would have done it before traveling too far).

Alright, let me fix that. Wrote it at 10 at night, so I should probably have put more thought into it, but hopefully the edit fixes it somewhat.