Spirit

Spirit is the force within a person, believed to give the body life, energy, and power, or supernatural beings or essences. There are various kinds of spirits.

Types

 * Archangel: A powerful form of guardian angel that has remained with one family for several generations. They can cause an impact on the corporeal world. A type of Breacher.
 * Boundling: They are spirits that have been captured by a binder. Sometimes compared to guardian angels, they are more aggressive than defensive, obeying a binder's commands rather than acting automatically to defend him or her from harm. They can change the appearance of a clairvoyant's dreamscape. They can only be spooled by their binder.
 * Drifter: A general term for spirits that voyants can use. They are the spirits of people who fear death too much to succumb to their second death in the "last light." The most common kind of drifter is a wisp, which are spirits bound to a person or place.
 * Fallen angel: These are spirits that have been killed, then forced to defend their murderer. Nashira Sargas controls several fallen angels. Precisely how they are bound is unknown. They are a "dark" form of guardian angel and behave in a very similar fashion.
 * Ghost: A spirit that has chosen a particular place in which to reside, most likely the place in which he or she died. Moving a ghost from its "haunt" will annoy it.
 * Guardian angel: The spirit of a person that has died to protect someone else. They remain with that person and continue protecting them. They will respond with extreme aggression if their charge is threatened.
 * Poltergeist: The most feared of all spirit types. The poltergeist is a breacher that can leave physical wounds, which can hurt for the rest of a person's life if the poltergeist wills it. Poltergeists usually died violently, or have a vendetta that remains unfulfilled. Amaranth is known to allay the pain of a poltergeist's mark.

Description
It is possible, but rare, for a spirit to fall into two categories. For example, Nashira controls a fallen angel that is also a poltergeist. Voyants have the natural ability to create spools, which is a group of at least two spirits. Spools can be used in combat. Breachers, such as archangels, have apport, a type of ethereal energy they can command that allows them to affect the physical world.

A spirit can be banished to the outer darkness, a place in the æther that lies beyond the reach of voyants, if the threnody is uttered. Banishment requires knowledge of the spirit's name, but chanting the rest of the threnody will still weaken and distract a spirit to the point that they may not be able to defend their "host" voyant.

New spirits almost always linger close to their empty bodies. When a spirit enters the Netherworld, they are known as shades.

Known Spirits

 * Sarah Metyard
 * Anne Naylor
 * Rhynwick "The London Monster" Williams: under the control of the Undertaker, after Hector's death he is under the control of Jaxon Hall
 * Sgt. Edward Badham: a police sergeant of the famous H Division from the time of the monarchy; purchased by the Abbess
 * Pieter Claesz: 17th century Dutch muse and artistic spirit; Eliza's favorite muse
 * Philippe de Champaigne: one of Eliza's muses
 * Rachel Ruysch: one of Eliza's muses
 * JD: 17th century muse and artistic spirt
 * Jack the Ripper: under the control of Nashira Sargas, responsible for the scars inflicted on the Ranthen