#Lore24 – Entry #168 – Wild West Month #17 – The Wrathful Spirits
As told by Kumiko Stalks-Amongst-the-Stars, shaman of the Midnight Panther tribe of Kerra-Kerra
The Many Spirits are as they are. They are the world around us: wild, free, sometimes violent, sometimes deadly, sometimes kind, sometimes helpful. Some spirits are more often some ways than others. We learn to listen to these spirits, to honor them as we live our lives. However, there are some of the Many Spirits who are different. These are the Wrathful Spirits, and though we honor them, we also do not seek their aid, for to do so brings much pain and suffering, and usually, death.
Hungry is the Spirit of Rage, its fury hot and angry, and it is always seeking a willing vessel to imbue with its dark gifts. There are tales amongst our people and the others of the Bitter Frontier of those warriors who have become possessed by the Spirit of Rage, and they are to serve as warnings. The Spirit of Rage consumes all reason in return for the strength, stamina, and resilience it offers in return, making even your closest allies as enemies. It is a spirit of chaos, seeking only to spill blood and consume flesh. Never assume you are capable of withstanding its influence should you ever willingly accept it into you, for it cannot be reasoned with, for it consumes such thoughts as fire consumes dry wood. If your enemies do not slay you, your closest allies surely will, for you will be long gone from the Broken Cage that Still Imprisons when the Spirit of Rage takes you.
Perhaps the youngest of the Wrathful Spirits, the Deadeye Spirit is growing more and more powerful in this age of Thundering Weapons, as it has never been easier to slay a person. Though not as hungry for blood as the Spirit of Rage, the Deadeye Spirit is still a bringer of death; it simply prefers to savor the death it brings as though savoring the Holy Fire Water. This spirit joins with those who seek to become the best at slaying with Thundering Weapons, granting them remarkable accuracy that may seem impossible, speed which is beyond what is normal by any of the Many Peoples living upon this world. It is said by those who have witnessed this spirit that shadow covers the face of the shooter, leaving only a single glowing eye visible, an eye which fills those around it with dread as the slaying starts.
The Reaper Spirit looms over all other Wrathful Spirits, for all eventually must share their bounty of souls with that of the Reaper Spirit. It is different from the Spirits Which Guide us to the Heavens upon our death, for it is not a guide for the soul; it is a dangerous and powerful force of destruction. The Reaper Spirit is a bringer of death in all its forms: violence, plague, natural disasters…anywhere there is great loss of life, the Reaper Spirit is likely to have had influence. Some once believed that the Reaper Spirit could be called upon to enact revenge against those who wrong you, but far more deaths than you can imagine were the result, for friend and foe alike are forfeit when dealing with the Reaper Spirit. Were all life to end upon the Broken Care that Still Imprisons and the Reaper Spirit consume every soul of every person and animal here, it still would not be satisfied.