The Spirit World is similar to the mundane, mortal world. Where a great mountain stands on the mortal world, the same mountain stands in the Spirit World—but in the Spirit World, the mountain is taller and grander, for the Spirit World is home to the great spirit of that mountain. Places on the mortal world that exhibit some evil spiritual influence—graveyards and haunted inns, for example—are sinkholes of evil in the Spirit World, the land itself dark and deadly. Conversely, hallowed areas on the mortal world are green and fair in the Spirit World.

Living creatures and their constructions, from beaver dams to palaces, do not necessarily have direct analogs in the Spirit World. However, where a citadel stands in the mortal world, a similar citadel (though grander and stronger) may stand in the Spirit World, occupied by the revered ancestor spirits of the ruler of the mortal world citadel.

Most of the Spirit World is the domain of nature and elemental spirits that are closely tied to locations on the mortal world. Most of these spirits are bound to a specific location—a mountain, a spring, a single tree—that exists in both the mortal world and the Spirit World. Other spirits may wander the Spirit World more freely, either at the behest of more powerful spirits or by their own choice.

Time does not pass in the Spirit World as it does in the mortal world. For all intents and purposes, the Spirit World is timeless: Creatures there do not age, hunger, or thirst. Days and nights pass within the Spirit World as they do in the mortal world. However, the nights are ebony black and set with brilliant stars, while the days are dominated by great clouds arching across a vault of purest blue.

Shamans serve as intermediaries between the spirits of the Spirit World and the mortal plane.

Credits

Art by TWPictures (Tobias Watzl).