kaisoumods | The Spirit Realm

Spirit Realm
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Called by many names throughout the ages, very little is understood about the Spirit Realm. It's known as another dimension or plane of existence that's connected to Earth, and the source of magic and the paranormal. Humanity has always been aware of it on some level, as seen reflected in our myths and legends. The Nine Realms, Yomi-no-kuni, Hades's Underworld, Heaven and Hell - all of these myths and countless others have been either inspired by the Spirit Realm or was used as a means to explain it. None of these stories have it completely right- but none of them have it completely wrong either. There's a lot of mystery surrounding the Spirit Realm's true nature and what is in there, but one thing is certain: it is a realm of great bounty and of great danger.

Entering the Spirit Realm
Getting into the Spirit Realm itself can be an endeavor on its own. The easiest locations to find a way into the Spirit Realm is in areas with an active Spirit Vein like Kaisou. However even being in such an area doesn't guarantee that an entrance to Spirit Realm will present itself, as the Spirit Realm itself seems to deem when it'll show itself to reality.

Researchers of the Spirit Realm have categorized four main types of entrances into the spirit realm:

Stable Gates: The most famous yet rarest type of entrance. These are gates that will always show up in the same location and bring people to the same part of the Spirit Realm. However, it can be hard to know when the gate will open up as they only do so under very specific conditions that aren't always clear cut. Many famous sites such as Stonehenge and Mount Olympus are known to have stable gates. Currently there's been no identified stable gates in Kaisou.
Shifting Gates: These are gates that aren't tied to any one location and may appear anywhere in the world under the right conditions. These gates will be open from anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks, and once they shut they will never reappear in the same location.
Tears: Not fully formed gates but rather temporary tears in our reality. These are usually caused by the more dangerous denizens of the Spirit Realm tearing into our reality in order to drag people into their realm. Prior to a tear forming, victims will often get a sensation of being followed or get a sense of dread they just can't shake. Tears created this way will remain open until either the creator of the tear or its victims are dead.
Man-Made Tears: These tears are created by humans who force their way into Spirit Realm, either on purpose with dangerous magics or accidentally. Man-Made Tears are seen as extremely dangerous, as it's impossible to predict WHERE it'll open up in the Spirit Realm. Creating one on purpose is strongly discouraged among most groups in the Underground, though it's been known to happen.

Inside the Spirit Realm
The lands inside the Spirit Realm are broken into an infinite number of regions, each of them distinct in their presentation. The Spirit Realm isn't bound by the laws of physics as reality is, so it's not uncommon to come across sights that'd be impossible in the real world. As the Spirit Realm is constantly shifting and changing, it's impossible to map out all the different regions and researchers all agree they feel like humanity's only been shown the tip of the iceberg.

But what we do know is that each region is shaped by a ruling denizen - usually the strongest being that resides there. A Fire Elemental's region will be a fiery hellscape, while a dragon's may be a mountain full of treasure. In a rare case, a region with no ruling denizen will appear, and it will immediately begin to take shape based on the psyche of any humans who enter it. Once a region is form, lesser spirit realm beings will often flock to it, often causing these places to become dangerous monster dens.

Why ever go into the Spirit Realm?
There's a couple reasons to head into the Spirit Realm! The first and most heroic reason is to save anyone whose been dragged into the Spirit Realm! Usually there's some time to recover a victim, if anyone is brave enough to follow after.

The second reason is resources! There's a lot of special items that can only be found in the Spirit Realm. These can come in the form of treasures that can be sold for a pretty penny, or magical ingredients can be used in potion making, spells, or even in cooking. The food found in the Spirit Realm is said to be among the finest of delicacies --- though it's highly recommend you wait until you're safely OUT of the Spirit Realm to eat them.

The resources found in the Spirit Realm will change from month to month, and many NPCs will request getting specific items for them.

The Elements
There have been six elemental energies identified to associated with the Spirit Realm: Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, Shadow and Light. While there are other elements, these are the most common and currently identified. The Spirit Realm and by proxy, the spirit vein, is influenced by the presence of each of these elements. For instance, fiery-type regions are more likely to appear when Fire is the dominant energy around.

Kaisou is a peculiar place where there's no element that constantly dominates the area. It seems to switch with each month. The months and their corresponding element are as followed:

January	Water
February	Fire
March	Wind
April	Earth
May	Shadow
June	Light
July	Water
August	Fire
September	Wind
October	Earth
November	Shadow
December	Light

Users of the dominant element will have a larger boost to their abilities for that month. Meanwhile users of the element that's particularly weak to that dominant element will find themselves struggling more (Light will only experience these effects during the Shadow months).

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