Spirits Their Capture and Binding (ಸ್ಪಿರಿಟ್ಸ್ ಅವರ ಕ್ಯಾಪ್ಚರ್ ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಧಕತೆಯು ರಂದು) is a chapbook of 115 pgs. that contains the musings and practical knowledge of Historian Bern and his understanding of the ways of spirits in the Horn.
Bern defines a spirit as "an entity that lies outside of mortal ken whose intellect and powers can be manipulated through ritual or magic". While the Bernian system of spiritbinding only supplies information on vague types, the Bern Classifications are common among academic spiritcallers, Chanters, and Binders. The book is also one of the few widely available books on the creation of the basic trap, known as the Bernian Candle, for luring spirits. The Bern Classifications of Spirits lay in four forms:
փոքրագույն (Lesser, Class I): The most common spirits, Lessers (also known as Spooks or Leeches) are usually tenuous in their bonds to the Earth. Usually newly-dead spirits or weak spirits of the land or sky, Spooks rarely have natural protections to prevent their capture. Most Spooks require a link to a living creature to survive, and many can be draining essence from plants, animals, or even humans.
Lessers who are not bound to a Summoner maintain a full range of weaknesses, and can be dispatched by destroying their host or severing the link between the spirit and their location. Salt and Iron objects are usually used to bind a Spook, and Bern suggests a "box with iron framing surrounding six salt plates" to create a Bernian Candle.
իջեցնել (Degraded/Inferior, Class II): Inferior Spirits are cause for concern to most spiritualists due to their violent nature. While not as powerful as an Overspirit, the Inferior Spirit can kill dozens of individuals in relative stealth if not handled appropriately. Bern discuses that the Inferior spirit may require larger versions of his Candle, along with "additional supportive measures" including charms, rituals, and bindings to weaken the spirit before it may be captured.
վերադաս (Superior/Overspirit, Class III): Overspirits are only to be handled individually through well prepared rituals and fine prison traps. Overspirits can freely possess sapient beings but usually burn through their vessels at an alarming rate. The text discusses four Overspirit encounters, and the fact that an Overspirit's immunities and weaknesses seem to vary widely among the Overspirits encountered, though two encounters with a wielder of one of the Hundred suggests that the creatures are universally weak towards pure mystic weaponry.
Պարտվածները (Lost, Class IV): Creatures that fall into the category of the Lost can fully manifest in the material without any binding, have no known immunities, and have unique abilities. Bern discusses one case study from early in the time post-Voyage when a Lost was released by one of the Hands. It took seven hundred men, fifty spiritualists, and the death of one of the Hundred to finally place the creature into an enormous ritual circle. Bern does not give the location of the circle, but states the following:
Any academically trained Summoner of the Horn will know the way of creating a Bernian Candle, even if they do not have the materials. Carving panes of salt to place into the iron fittings along with an investment of spiritual essence in the form of blood or other vital humors can help to bind a spirit to a location. A single candle is placed afloat in the humor and spells are used to channel the spirit.
Bernian Candles can be made in any size, and there are multiple forms can be found around the Horn.
Bern defines a spirit as "an entity that lies outside of mortal ken whose intellect and powers can be manipulated through ritual or magic". While the Bernian system of spiritbinding only supplies information on vague types, the Bern Classifications are common among academic spiritcallers, Chanters, and Binders. The book is also one of the few widely available books on the creation of the basic trap, known as the Bernian Candle, for luring spirits. The Bern Classifications of Spirits lay in four forms:
փոքրագույն (Lesser, Class I): The most common spirits, Lessers (also known as Spooks or Leeches) are usually tenuous in their bonds to the Earth. Usually newly-dead spirits or weak spirits of the land or sky, Spooks rarely have natural protections to prevent their capture. Most Spooks require a link to a living creature to survive, and many can be draining essence from plants, animals, or even humans.
Lessers who are not bound to a Summoner maintain a full range of weaknesses, and can be dispatched by destroying their host or severing the link between the spirit and their location. Salt and Iron objects are usually used to bind a Spook, and Bern suggests a "box with iron framing surrounding six salt plates" to create a Bernian Candle.
իջեցնել (Degraded/Inferior, Class II): Inferior Spirits are cause for concern to most spiritualists due to their violent nature. While not as powerful as an Overspirit, the Inferior Spirit can kill dozens of individuals in relative stealth if not handled appropriately. Bern discuses that the Inferior spirit may require larger versions of his Candle, along with "additional supportive measures" including charms, rituals, and bindings to weaken the spirit before it may be captured.
վերադաս (Superior/Overspirit, Class III): Overspirits are only to be handled individually through well prepared rituals and fine prison traps. Overspirits can freely possess sapient beings but usually burn through their vessels at an alarming rate. The text discusses four Overspirit encounters, and the fact that an Overspirit's immunities and weaknesses seem to vary widely among the Overspirits encountered, though two encounters with a wielder of one of the Hundred suggests that the creatures are universally weak towards pure mystic weaponry.
Պարտվածները (Lost, Class IV): Creatures that fall into the category of the Lost can fully manifest in the material without any binding, have no known immunities, and have unique abilities. Bern discusses one case study from early in the time post-Voyage when a Lost was released by one of the Hands. It took seven hundred men, fifty spiritualists, and the death of one of the Hundred to finally place the creature into an enormous ritual circle. Bern does not give the location of the circle, but states the following:
The creature is seen through the mass reflections of the Great Circle, and its rippling appearance ran through images of the dead I have known. As it asked for release I felt the room temperature drop as it beat on its Circle, sending sparks of mystic energy through the whole contraption. It then change to a creature of such unknowable proportions that a single glimpse of its form causes me to wake at night twenty years later.
Three blind summoners stand around the artifice, ready to jump into action. When asked of their ordeal the summoners claim they are willing to sacrifice their life's blood to power the circle's defenses against release. I can only hope that the elder's blood is enough to cage the beast.
Three blind summoners stand around the artifice, ready to jump into action. When asked of their ordeal the summoners claim they are willing to sacrifice their life's blood to power the circle's defenses against release. I can only hope that the elder's blood is enough to cage the beast.
Any academically trained Summoner of the Horn will know the way of creating a Bernian Candle, even if they do not have the materials. Carving panes of salt to place into the iron fittings along with an investment of spiritual essence in the form of blood or other vital humors can help to bind a spirit to a location. A single candle is placed afloat in the humor and spells are used to channel the spirit.
Bernian Candles can be made in any size, and there are multiple forms can be found around the Horn.
