Spirit Beast
Spirit Beasts are the spiritual essences of creatures that have dwelled in a given locale. Skilled characters can bind them to a talisman, which can be used by anyone to make them fight other Spirit Beasts to gain levels and become more powerful. There are three types of Spirit Beasts: Common, Uncommon, and Legendary.
The Spirit Beast system premiered at Ebon Gate 2014. It is a strategic game, similar to siegery, but with much more depth. See Spirit Beast stats for more information about specific beasts. GM Auchand redeveloped Spirit Beasts shortly after their debut and introduced Talondown Arena aboard The Firebird airship for players to battle each other and NPC Spirit Beast masters.
Talismans
The talismans are available off-the-shelf, are neck-worn, and can be altered. They are functional items. Talismans are not attuned in anyway. Anyone may use any other talisman and the beast(s) within the talisman will be able to battle at the level it has been brought to.
Each talisman can hold three beasts: one common, one uncommon, and one legendary. A common beast must reach its twentieth level before the talisman can take an uncommon beast. Likewise, an uncommon beast much reach level 20 before the talisman can hold a legendary beast. Talismans can be purchased on The Firebird (pendants), in Ilixil's shop at Ebon Gate, or in various player run shops.
Common beasts are easy to find; locations are listed below and on the Spirit Beast stats page. Uncommon beasts are a bit harder to find, lurking in special locales. Legendary beasts only exist in a single place (i.e. room). These will take some serious hunting to find.
- LOOKing at a talisman will give all of the essential information about the beast
>l my tali
A colorful clay talisman is currently attuned to a spectral yeti of 2 trains, with the following traits:
Power: 116 (moderate), growing quickly
Defense: 136 (above average), growing quickly
Speed: 102 (low), growing slowly
Insight: 104 (low), growing at a measured pace
Accuracy: 104 (low), growing at a measured pace
Health: 107 (low), growing slowly
It is a Humanoid.
It has 204 experience remaining until it reaches level 3.
- RUBing a talisman while it is worn will tune the wearer in to receive fight notifications as they happen across Elanthia.
>rub my tali You rub a colorful clay talisman. Primal roars and cries of wild birds drown out your thoughts for a moment before fading into a dull hum. You will now sense Spirit Battles nearby. Roundtime: 5 secs.
- FLIPing a talisman will cause the beast to level match against lower level beasts. Beasts will gain experience according to their actual levels, meaning that experienced Spirit Beast gladiators can help their friends gain experience more quickly.
>flip my tali You flip your clay talisman over to its rear face. Spirit beasts summoned by this talisman will match the level of lower-trained beasts when called.
- New bottom line of LOOK:
Beasts summoned by this talisman will currently match the training of less skilled opponents.
Statistics
- Specific Spirit Beast stats article
Initial stats for any Spirit Beast can be seen by LOOKing at the talisman containing the beast. The descriptive ranges for stats and growth rates are as follows:
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Additional Stat Notes
- Max Speed allows for 1 attack per 7 sec.
- Extremely high levels of Speed now qualify beasts for the "Blinding Speed" buff, which begins as a passive 3% boost to attack avoidance and climbs from there.
- Insight allows for increased ability to automatically detect and change stance.
- Accuracy provides a chance to do more (but still reduced) damage while guarding.
- Accuracy boosts special attack damage.
Alignment
Many beasts are aligned to an element, the spiritual world, or wild magic, and that alignment will affect how that beast does in battles vs. other aligned beasts according to this chart:
| Element | Weakest Against | Weak Against | Strong Against | Strongest Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Water | Earth | Air | Spirit |
| Water | Spirit | Air | Earth | Fire |
| Earth | Air | Water | Fire | Spirit |
| Air | Spirit | Fire | Water | Earth |
| Spirit | Fire | Earth | Water | Air |
| Wild Magic | Elements | - | - | Spirit |
| Rift Armament | Spirit | - | - | Elements |
Classes
Beasts are also sorted into classes: Humanoids, Beasts, Elementals, Arthropods, and Aberrations. This is only important for armaments.
Special Abilities
Finally, all common and uncommon beasts have a special attack (1 of 14). Uncommon beasts may have special abilities, and legendary beasts all have special abilities. These are accessed using the TELL {BEAST} TO ATTACK command.
| Attack Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Primitive Strike | Used by most uncivilized humanoids. |
| Bestial Fury | Used by beasts. |
| Rage of the Elements | Default elemental special. |
| Drain Life | Used by undead. |
| Sky Rend | Used by birds. |
| False Security | Used by adorable creatures. |
| Ambush | This one is really self-explanatory, no? |
| Swordplay | Used by armed creatures. |
| Fierce Strike | A generic attack, usually used by uncommons and rares with once-per-battle stuff. |
| Stampede | Used by hooved creatures. |
| Stinging Swarm | Used by bugs. |
| Witchcraft | Drain Life for living beings. |
| We Are Pack! | Used by wolves. |
| Catscratch Fever | Used by cats. |
Common
Common Spirit Beasts have base level 1 stats ranging from 90 to 130 and have a growth potential from 1 to 3 points per level. This means that, at maximum, a common spirit beast with a fully potion-enhanced stat, maximum stat growth, and with a 130 base stat can achieve a 170, or "very high" rating for that stat. They have a stat pool of 635 points and a growth pool of 12 points, but the stat numbers do not go above 130 or under 90, and stat growth does not go over 3 or under 1.
Uncommon
Uncommon Spirit Beasts have a stat pool of 645 points and a growth pool of 14 points. They have a stat range from 90-140 and a growth range of 1-4 points. In addition, some (but not all) of them have access to unique abilities instead of the common ones.
Legendary
Legendary Spirit Beasts have a stat pool of 655 points and a growth pool of 16 points. They have a stat range from 90-140 and a growth range of 1-4 points, but they all have unique special abilities like Sympathy, Bleed, Airwall, Bone Shield, and more. A legendary beast's maximum enhanced stat could reach 220 provided that they started at 140 and had a growth potential of 4.
Binding
- Original instructions provided by Brian, Sepher's player
Step 1: Purchase
- Obtain necessary items
- Talisman(s)
- Vial(s)
- Syringe
Put vial on syringe and make it readily available during hunt. Vials and syringes are reusable. Multiple vials are recommended.
Step 2: Blood
Collect blood by killing creatures and DRAW their blood with the syringe. The higher the level of the creature, the better the blood will be. This is important as it makes offering a talisman to a beast easier. Leopards in the Gyldemar Forest yield "moderate" quality blood while war griffins in OTF yield "incredible" quality blood.
The process of drawing blood is thus:
- Kill the creature
- KNEEL
- DRAW {CREATURE} WITH SYRINGE
It looks like this:
K>draw rad with syr You draw some of a triton radical's blood into your syringe. The radical shrivels slightly. Roundtime: 3 secs.
Repeat this process 9 more times to completely fill a vial. A full vial (10 kills) is needed to prepare your talisman. LOOK at the syringe to see how much blood has been collected.
- 1-3 doses
- A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. A bit of sluggish war griffin blood sloshes inside, deep red in color.
- 4-6 doses
- A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. It is about half full of dark red war griffin blood.
- 7-9 doses
- A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. The syringe is mostly full of war griffin blood.
- 10 doses
- A small crystal vial is locked into place within the syringe. The syringe is full to the brim with war griffin blood, which appears to be of incredible quality.
Note that the quality of the blood cannot be seen until the vial is full. Also, in the somewhat likely event of a failure, another full vial may be needed to prepare the talisman. Multiple vials are recommended.
Step 3: Prepare Talisman
Once the vial is full, UNLOCK MY SYRINGE and POUR MY VIAL ON MY TALISMAN.
Moderate Magic Item Use training is required to prepare a talisman, but anyone can do the preparation; talismans are not attuned to any character in any way.
- Success
>pour my vial on my talis You pour the mastodonic leopard blood in your vial over the surface of a rippled clay talisman. A faint thrum of a sensation akin to stirring awareness answers from within the blood-drenched talisman. The blood seeps into the surface of your talisman, and a feeling of faint satisfaction wells up from within. The vial is now empty.
- Failure
>pour my via on my tali You pour the triton radical blood in your vial over the surface of a painted clay talisman. A faint thrum of a sensation akin to stirring awareness answers from within the blood-drenched talisman. As quickly as it came, it flickers out like a dying candle, and the blood beads on the surface of the the talisman as it rejects your offering.
- Major Failure (talisman breaks)
>pour my via on my tali You pour the troll king blood in your vial over the surface of a simple red and white orb. A faint thrum of sensation akin to stirring awareness answers from within the blood-drenched orb. Cracks form all over the surface of a simple red and white orb just seconds before it crumbles away in your hands. Perhaps you just weren't skilled enough to prepare the orb, but now, you'll never know for sure. The blood on your hands commingles with the dusty remnants of the orb as if to compound your miserable failure. You get the feeling you just aren't skilled enough to prepare the vial.
Once the blood is poured successfully, it does not wear off.
Step 4: Find a Beast
Now the talisman is ready to take on a spirit beast, but one must be found. INVOKE TALISMAN will show what beasts are around, if any. Invoking the prepared talisman in a single room multiple times may get different results each time.
- Messaging
You focus your thoughts on a rippled clay talisman, attempting to align yourself with the spirits floes within the area, but fail to detect anything at all. Roundtime: 15 sec.
- Same room, different results
You focus your thoughts on a rippled clay talisman, attempting to align yourself with the spirits floes within the area, and a wash of foreign sensation floods your mind. You detect the presence of a common griffin spirit. You sense the presence of at least one spirit whose nature you cannot discern. Roundtime: 15 sec.
Common Spirit Beast Locations
- Originally compiled by Eruheran
| Town | Spirit Beasts |
| Broken Lands (WL) | hyena, jackal |
| Cysaegir | butterfly, aelotoi guardsman |
| Ebon Gate | swamp witch, mire wight, giant mantis, skeletal warrior |
| Four Winds Isle | snapping turtle, great tortoise, capuchin monkey, seagull |
| Icemule Trace | thyril, penguin, timber wolf, vereri, silverback orc, snowcat |
| Pinefar | arctic wolverine, seeker, glacei, fox, snowy owl |
| River's Rest | aardvark, pale crab, chimera, krolvin, pirate |
| Shadow Valley (WL) | mare, pony, stallion |
| Solhaven | shan, lobster, fenghai, roa'ter, daggerbeak, hound, alleycat |
| Ta'Illistim | griffin, moulis sapling, yeti, kiramon |
| Ta'Vaalor | hawk, fanged rodent, urgh, wolfshade, bobcat, grass snake |
| Teras | tsark, water elemental, fire elemental, cinder wasp, wind wraith |
| Wehnimer's Landing | kobold, rat, rolton, goblin, thrak, manticore |
| Zul Logoth | krynch, bat, whelk |
Steps 5 & 6: Attune and Offer Talisman
After receiving a desired INVOKE TALISMAN result, ATTUNE TALISMAN to set it to a specific beast. ATTUNing may need to be done multiple times to get to the specific beast.
Finally, KNEEL and OFFER TALISMAN to bind the beast to the talisman. Having some Spiritual Lore, Summoning skill will help greatly. While kneeling is not required, it is highly recommended. See below for a wind wraith.
- Messaging/Success
R>invoke tali You focus your thoughts on a painted clay talisman, attempting to align yourself with the spirits floes within the area, and a wash of foreign sensation floods your mind. You detect the presence of a common tsark spirit. You detect the presence of a common cinder wasp spirit. You detect the presence of a common wind wraith spirit. You detect the presence of a common fire elemental spirit. You detect the presence of a common water elemental spirit. Roundtime: 15 sec. R> R>attune tali You tighten your grip on a painted clay talisman, willing it to attune to the presence of the tsark spirit lingering in the area. Roundtime: 1 sec. R>attune tali You tighten your grip on a painted clay talisman, willing it to attune to the presence of the cinder wasp spirit lingering in the area. Roundtime: 2 sec. R>attune tali You tighten your grip on a painted clay talisman, willing it to attune to the presence of the wind wraith spirit lingering in the area. Roundtime: 3 sec. >kneel You kneel down. K>offer talis You hold out your clay talisman and reach out with your mind, calling to the wind wraith spirit lingering in the area. Sudden warmth draws your attention to your hands, where beads of blood begin welling from the surface of your talisman. The blood rises in a cloud of sanguine mist that illuminates a shrouded form hanging in the air before you. The spirit drifts closer to a painted clay talisman, its outline glowing as it nears. Golden light spills from the surface of the talisman, consuming the spirit. A thrill of satisfaction echoes up your arm and through your body. Roundtime: 13 sec.
- Minor failure
You hold out your clay talisman and reach out with your mind, calling to the kiramon spirit lingering in the area. Sudden warmth draws your attention to your hands, where beads of blood begin welling from the surface of your talisman. A stray thought causes you to lose your focus, and the blood seeps back into the talisman. Roundtime: 14 sec.
- Major failure (blood must be reapplied to the talisman)
You hold out your clay talisman and reach out with your mind, calling to the kiramon spirit lingering in the area. Sudden warmth draws your attention to your hands, where beads of blood begin welling from the surface of your talisman. The blood rises in a cloud of sanguine mist that evaporates into the air, and you sense that the spirit you are trying to summon is little pleased with your offering. Roundtime: 20 sec.
LOOK at the talisman to see the beast.
>l my tali
A painted clay talisman is currently attuned to a spectral wind wraith of 1 train, with the following traits:
Power: 112 (low), growing at a measured pace
Defense: 111 (low), growing slowly
Speed: 108 (low), growing quickly
Insight: 128 (moderate), growing quickly
Accuracy: 106 (low), growing slowly
Health: 92 (pathetic), growing at a measured pace
It is attuned to the element of air.
It is an Elemental.
It has 301 experience remaining until it reaches level 2.
Battling
- See also Talondown Arena
Now that the talisman has a beast, the battling can begin.
To initiate a battle POINT MY TALISMAN AT {OPPONENT}. Opponent will respond in kind.
Beasts will start in randomly assigned bestial stances (might end up being the same stance), in strike mode, and automatically attack each other at a rate dependent upon a comparison of each beast's speed stat. The fastest a beast can attack is once every 7 seconds with maximum Speed.
Players should adjust their beasts attack stance and bestial stance to achieve success, but should not forget the factor of Spirit Beast alignment (see chart above).
Commands During Battle
- TELL {BEAST} TO ATTACK
- Commands creatures to execute special move. This requires energy, which is automatically gained one some successful strikes and blocks. The maximum energy a beast can store is 8 points.
- This incurs roundtime of between 11-15 seconds.
- TELL {BEAST} TO GUARD
- Commands creature to change to a defensive stance. In this stance the beast will be very poor in attacking, but will regenerate health upon attacking and boost its insight into its opponent's stance. Beasts will also be more likely to gain special move energy from blocking, but special attacks cannot be executed from guarded.
- This incurs roundtime of between 5-7 seconds.
- TELL {BEAST} TO STRIKE
- Commands creature to change to an offensive stance. This is the default stance that the beast will begin the match in, thus there is no need to use it unless it has been told to guard. The beast will need to be in this stance to execute a special attack.
- This incurs roundtime of between 5-7 seconds.
- TELL {BEAST} TO SWITCH
- Commands creature to change between the five bestial stances -- Turtle, Wolf, Serpent, Hare, or Crane -- each with their own merit.
- This incurs roundtime of between 7-13 seconds.
Bestial Stance
Success in attacking/defending, besides the Strike and Guard stances, is dependent upon the current bestial stances of the attacker/defender. At the start of the match the bestial stance is randomly set to Turtle, Wolf, Serpent, Hare, or Crane.
Each of the five stances is strong against two of the others, but also weak against two of the others. These never overlap for two to be strong or weak against the same pair.
| Bestial Stance | Strong Against | Weak Against |
|---|---|---|
| Turtle | Hare and Crane | Serpent and Wolf |
| Wolf | Hare and Turtle | Crane and Serpent |
| Serpent | Turtle and Wolf | Crane and Hare |
| Hare | Serpent and Crane | Wolf and Turtle |
| Crane | Wolf and Serpent | Hare and Turtle |
- Turtle is strong against Hare and Crane; is weak against Serpent and Wolf.
- Wolf is strong against Hare and Turtle; is weak against Crane and Serpent.
- Serpent is strong against Turtle and Wolf; is weak against Crane and Hare.
- Hare is strong against Serpent and Crane; is weak against Wolf and Turtle.
- Crane is strong against Wolf and Serpent; is weak against Hare and Turtle.
A beast's Insight may give a glimpse at what stance its opponent is in, but observation of relative success can also be an indicator.
Insight will allow a beast to possibly see its opponent shifting stance, or to detect the stance its opponent is in upon being attacked. In either case, the beast might also shift its stance to a better one to counteract its opponent.
Enhancives and Customizations
Potions are available that improve Spirit Beast traits. These can help improve already good traits (like making a beast with a lot of Power really, really strong) or shore up ones that a beast lacks (such as enhancing the Insight on a beast that's not very aware). Potions can be used to enhance a beast's stats by a total of 20 in any combination, but the merchant Ilixil can enhance ones that have already been fully enhanced by potions further.
| Stat | Fluid color |
|---|---|
| Power | Indigo |
| Defense | Emerald |
| Speed | Gold |
| Insight | Violet |
| Accuracy | Mauve Saffron for common |
| Health | Crimson |
| Clear enhancives |
Black |
Ilixil can also work on a beast's appearance and what its special attack looks like, within reason.
Armaments
Armaments come in three different levels: Lesser, Sturdy, and Potent armaments. More powerful armaments can do things like allow a beast access to new skills. All armaments will modify Spirit Beast stats in new and interesting ways.
- PUT armament in a talisman to add.
- DISARM the talisman to remove.
Replacement Potions
Replacement potions will trade out an existing beast with another of the same rarity level. All mechanical enhancements will be maintained, but all physical customizations are removed.