WELCOME

You're in a strange land surrounded by strange beings called spirits

Explore both this unusual world, face unknown friends and foes.

Where will your journey end?

The path you take can define who you are...

Where You Are

You’re in a universe where Earth coexists beside an alternate immaterial plane called Pandemonium, which overlaps with the real world location-wise. This chaotic realm is home to spirits -- manifestations of thoughts and emotions -- roaming in search of a place to settle and form their own ‘world’. There are really no uniform category of spirits -- it's just a very wide spectrum of different natures and personalities. Because these two worlds operate on entirely different laws, an inter-dimensional Barrier prevents either world's reality from colliding with the other. Very little is known about Pandemonium because of this.

Due to some cracks in the Barrier, these spirits are able to cross over to the real world, albeit to a limited extent. The chaotic energy they bring with them distorts and melds with surrounding areas to create an ‘Environment’ for the spirit. Any humans or animals who happen to be nearby can feel the otherworldly influence, due to the spirit interacting with their minds’ ‘soul energy’.

Known as Wild spirits, they may be hostile or passive towards humans, because of the wide spectrum in their nature. Generally, these rogue spirits, named Gui, are more hostile and feed on living organisms' soul energy to grow stronger and expand their world. Once they grow powerful enough, their Environments evolve to Infestations, places drastically changed and filled with spiritual energy that it barely resembles what it used to be. These Environments or Infestations can only be dispelled by banishing the Gui back to Pandemonium or destroying it completely. Additionally, these Rogues may possess certain animals, turning them into hostile creatures called Guaiwu. Other monsters are created from corpses to form Jiang Shi (zombies), or even mentally-vulnerable humans into mindless Mogui (demons).

Meanwhile, there are spirits who are either more neutral or friendly to humans. They are called Shen. Some of them choose to coexist beside the natural world, adapting to it rather than changing their surroundings. They become forest gods or river gods, protecting their new home from any invaders or evildoers. A key feature is that any spirit who encounters a spirit of adverse or opposing natures (light versus dark, calm versus anger, harmony versus discord) will come into conflict, simply because that spirit’s presence contradicts their nature. The humans understand this as Gui and Shen being natural foes, hence why Shen are adopted as wards against the hostile influence of the Gui.

These priests and monks set up Spirit Temples to house the Shen as protectors. They are large enough to be seen in the distance by travelers, who treat it as a sign that the presiding spirit is a benevolent one rather than a rogue Gui. During their stay, travelers or adventurers can be rejuvenated by the Shen’s positive presence.

Certain religions have been formed around Gui and Shen alike, categorizing them as ‘demons’ or ‘deities’. Mythology has also risen surrounding these supernatural entities, depicting Guaiwu and Jiang Shi as evil monsters meant to spook children from going out at night. Meanwhile, the Shen are treated as deities from another world, sent by Heaven itself.

Certain people are drawn to the Gui or any wild spirit’s power, and voluntarily form a contract where they offer to link their souls to them, in exchange for that power. The only trade is that linking their souls means the spirit is forever bound to them, until death. Unless they’re a monk or priest, such people have been called witches, or Wushi, and treated as outsiders. Some Wushi work as either traveling exorcists or shamans to heal people, contrary to those who use their newfound powers for darker means. Generally, Wushi are shunned, due to fear from the risk of them losing control of their spirits. This only occurs if their minds and souls are completely absorbed. When they do, they turn into Mogui, similar to animals transformed into Guaiwu but much more dangerous. With their personality and self completely disappeared, they are a shell of their former shelf — only beastly creatures with the spirit going wild.

Some other kingdoms may carry a tradition honoring these spirits. One such ceremony would be when one of the king’s sons is selected by the ‘great spirit’ to be the next ruler. It’s not uncommon either to see spirits act as ‘guardians’ or ‘protectors’ of the kingdom, defending it from intruders, Guiwai or Yaomo, and enemy kingdoms alike.

To counteract the influence the ‘evil’ spirits may have on the human world, people band together to form organizations known as Spirit Hunters or exorcists. In order to combat spirits, they make soul contracts with ‘good’ spirits to borrow their power and use it to dispel enemies. In this region, there are many subsects in Taoism, Buddhism, and other folk religions who use spirits in exorcism or training for spiritual harmony. In places controlled by spirits or their puppet rulers, these religions are used as a front to avoid being found out and persecuted. Meanwhile, they undergo training for their souls to better harmonize and control their spirit’s power, to avoid losing control and ending up as Yaomo.

Some fun social or cultural related stuff I came up with: the fear related to spirits has been used by religions to define good and evil. These religions have created the classification of witches and demons, applied to anyone other than Spirit Hunters who bond with spirits. Many myths and legends have also arisen, though most are old wives’ tales and intended to keep children from going out at nighttime. It’s not unusual to see paranoia or persecution, usually “demon-hunts”, which is why those with a spirit partner tend to keep it a secret.