Ghost (n): The spirit of a living entity. Also the spirit of a living entity freed to the spirit, or astral, plane after the death of said being.
Ghost (v) vulgar: To trick; to fool. To make one seem helpless to oppose, such as if the individual did not exist physically. i.e.: "Man, he ghosted you!" i.e.: "You got ghosted by that mugger!" i.e.: "You gonna let that punk keep ghosting you?"
Demon (n): 1. A spirit that exists independently of life. A being of independent spirit matter, that may be controlled by an Animist in a manner similar, but not identical, to that of controlling ghosts. 2. According to some religious traditions, a malevolent entity of sentient intelligence with great power. 3. A versatile piece of multi-tasking software popular in the 2020s.
The Kingdoms are actual bounded regions of the spirit world, and it requires more than a simple summons to traverse the areas these kingdoms bound. Indeed, it irks many Animists to think that their summons are subject to the whims of civilizations long past and surpassed. To travel into a Kingdom other than that into which they were conducted at the time of their death, the spirit must obtain permission to pass, either from a ruling spirit, or by paying their passage. In olden days, it was often the custom to bury the body with possessions, or with a coin or two to pay for passage. This is, indeed, an act of some significance. A spirit 'possesses' (owns, not exerts mastery over) any items that are buried with it. Chinese Hell Money, Greek burial coins, Egyptian burial sacrifices and items; all are items with which passage may be bought. In older days, this would allow a person to leave the Kingdom into which he passed, perhaps going to a more familiar one if desired, or a foreign one for a new experience. In the present day, few sacrifices are offered to the dead, and so few are able to leave the kingdom of their death. The practice has been rapidly renewed in Asia, where many have only now realized that their ancestors may be trapped in a foreign Kingdom.
For those unable to pay their passage, appeal to a ruler of the realm is the only way to travel. This is generally a very hard task. Few demons are sympathetic to mortal concerns, even after centuries of coexistence. In fact, this task should generally be considered near impossible. To determine if a spirit can travel beyond its Kingdom, an Empathy + Persuasion/Fast-Talk skill total should be made, versus a difficulty of the demon's Cool + Intimidate (for undetermined demons, assume difficulty 25. Yes, this is rather hard, isn't it?). It should also be noted that as ghosts tend to have so few skills (3 or so, and usually of low or mid-levels) the ghost does not often possess Persuasion/Fast Talk. In other words, ghosts that want to travel are pretty much fucked. To further reinforce this, see Dying later in this document for an explanation of how to determine ghostly skills.
The relative difficulty a ghost will have in traveling beyond its Kingdom is one reason that few Animists make their summons directed at a specific spirit (they prefer to summon spirits by general conditions, such as 'a low-level spirit with keen observational skills,' instead of 'the spirit of Elliot Ness.'), unless the spirit's Kingdom has already been divined. The divining of a spirit's Kingdom can be relatively easy. Relatively. One must either summon a demon, and inquire as to a spirit's location, or one may simply find the point of the individual's death and consult a local spirit as to the Kingdom said point is within. This example makes demons seem rather all-powerful, but in matters of the spirit world, they rather are.
In terms of scenery, the spirit world offers none. This is, in fact, one of the qualities of the spirit world, its inability to imitate physical faculties, such as sights, sounds, or tactile sensations. The ghosts who inhabit the Kingdoms claim that each is a perfect representation of its claimed culture at its finest. Many archaeologists have been interested in this idea, either for the sure absurdity of it, or for its immense possibilities. Most archaeologists accept this claim, after an Animist in contact with a spirit from the Mayan Empire proceeded to write a short letter in Mayan hieroglyphs, taking the time to explain each character, several of which had not been translated as of that point in time. Similar feats were performed by Chinese, Egyptian and Greek spirits. However, more interesting than the depiction of these ancient civilizations to ghosts is the way that demons have chosen to interact with their ghostly subjects within their realms.
In the case of each of the spirit Kingdoms, demons fulfill the roles of the major gods or of the royal caste of the society. The only region in which demons do not play at deification is in Israel, where no demon has taken the role of JHVH, Jesus or Allah. Many take this as a sign of respect, others as a sign of fear, though most Animist think the positions lack the diversity of pantheonic deities, and that demons would be unable to reach a consensus as to who should fill the position. This should not be taken to show demons as a democratic group, but simply to illustrate the fact that they do not agree on anything for long. Still, in other regions, demons play the roles of Zeus, Huang Ti, Osiris, Kangaroo, and any number of others. The roles demons play tend to be those of power, though demons of lesser rank are often found among mortal ghosts.
>> Enough on the spirit world in specific. I'll cover that another time. -Geomancy<<
It is known that demons are part of a hierarchical structure, in which the strong dominate the weak. It is also known that each demon is particular to a Kingdom of the spirit world, and could leave, if allowed to travel to another Kingdom, but the rulers of the Kingdoms are often hesitant to have a demon who has proven himself disloyal or dissatisfied (by leaving his previous Kingdom) as part of their regime. In all the Kingdoms, those who play the role of gods are the most powerful, followed by those who play the royal caste. Among nobles or offices of great importance, one will find more demons still, travelling down the ladder to the position of the average mortal. In this, demons are much like present day people, a structured, power-based society. It is also known that some demons play the role of messenger and diplomat, sent by the rulers of the Kingdoms to their neighbors for purposes of better relations, or for the acquisition of one or more ghosts. These messengers are treated with 'diplomatic immunity', allowed to travel as necessary among the Kingdoms.
All Kingdoms engage in a system of trade for mortal ghosts, with each Kingdom trying to obtain both the greatest souls and the greatest number of souls. A common trade commodity is lower ranking demons. Often, rulers will trade a highly-prized advisor, or even several score demons of the lowest rank in exchange for a ghost or ghosts. This trade is both an attempt to achieve a sort of racial or regional purity, and also an attempt to gain the greatest of mortal souls to advise demons of greater rank. This system of exchange and the status it offers a demon is in fact the key to their summoning as well.
The summoning of ghosts is not the same as the summoning of ghosts. Demons are wholly intelligent creatures, and expect an exchange, whereas most ghosts can simply be coerced. With regards to Animist power, demons are superior, and they know this. Summoning a demon can be simple or complex, either by a loose designation, or by their name. To appease a demon, one must most commonly release bound souls.
>> I know what you're thinking. Does he mean human sacrifice, or does he mean releasing spirits bound by an Animist? Both, actually. Human sacrifice is banned by AERS, but some wonder about the Meistern des Lebens und der Toeds. This is one of the more debated practices of ghostspeaking. Many question the worth of a demon's opinion if this is his price. Of course, not many of those who question are Ghostpeakers. Most Ghostspeakers know that if you keep asking questions about the spirit world, you'll eventually have to question a demon. That doesn't mean they like it. -Geomancy<<
The offering of bound souls can be random and quantitative (in the case of lower-ranking demons) or very specific (usually in the case of higher-ranking demons). In fact, such deals can be very hard to achieve, depending on the demon's whim. Some high-ranking demons consider giving a challenging task to the Animist both a way of showing how valuable their cooperation is and of acquiring souls they would otherwise never gain. In fact, one should exercise caution in some cases, as a demon may use the opportunity to remove another high-ranking demon's charge-to-be. Another (safer, less bloody) option is to offer goods, like Chinese Hell Money, in tribute to the demon much like when offered to a ghost. However, the quantity is usually exceptional, and the demon less helpful. When not presented with some form of sacrifice to appease them, demons can become quite agitated. One case of a demon becoming agitated was recorded in 2034, in China. The first verified instance of a demon slaying a man occurred at a summoning in Beijing, in which three Animists working in unison made a summons for 'a member of the ruling class of the Kingdom', without any more of an understanding of what the Kingdoms were than the enigmatic statements of a handful of ghosts that had been summoned in the past. The summons in fact brought them one of the Imperial Magistrates of the Middle Kingdom, who was angered by the lack of a proper sacrifice for the burden placed upon him. The demon spontaneously manifested, taking the form of a Chinese warrior of the Shang, and promptly killed the three Animists and several spectators in what could only be described as 'quickly and with extreme malice' by one of the surviving witnesses. The demon was finally destroyed by an Eastern Son who had been hired by AERS for just such an occasion. Since that time, it has been discovered how to properly appease demons and how to avoid their rather garish tendency to killing if mistreated. However, few outside AERS have any idea of these techniques, another example of how they retain a monopoly on the means of Anima.
Much in the same way that AERS has learned to appease demons other groups have encountered them with increasing frequency. One rumor states that one of the German students who were to become the Meistern des Lebens und der Toeds attempted to share his knowledge with the Catholic Church late in 2034, only to be brutally killed by a demon when he stepped upon Christian ground. In fact, most of the cases in which a demon manifests are related to those who have crossed AERS. It seems that the Alliance is using demons as 'spiritual assassins', though this cannot be verified by any living being. It is noteworthy that no member of the Eastern Sons or any other organization of Chi Masters has ever fallen prey to a demon, but the Eastern Sons alone claim to have killed 6. Similarly, no Geomancer has ever been killed by a demon.
As a closing note, mention should be made of demonic cults. Seen by some rogue Animists as the only way to acquire the favor of some demons, these cults tend to offer the worship of their members in exchange for the favor of these powerful demons. The demon may even manifest to aid its followers if pleaded with. However, such cults are highly speculative, as none will admit to being a member, and none have been prven to be one. The very idea of such worship has started a wave of inquisitory movements across Europe and in the Americas, much to the chagrin of legally practicing Animists, who are often targeted needlessly. Also much to the chagrin of these fools who soon find that Animists are nothing if not capable of their own defense.
