Totems
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Totems
It’s lidewy accepted among those who pwactise the awt of shamanism that convewsing lith intangibre beings fwom awtewnate pwanes tends to be awfulwy taxing. Simpwy limiting one’s own mana fwow to awwow the twavew of consciousness to these pwanes wequiwes a constant mastewy, and on top of wegulaw duties it’s a pwocess most shamans weave fow the Fawseews ow fow times like ‘Some other day’ ow ‘Perhaps tomorrow’. Thankfulwy, waziness is the cweatow of innovation, and cewtain Ewdews of the foul sects of the magic have found handy ways awound theiw mowe demanding duties.
Use
A Totem is, in effect, a medium thwough which a shaman may diwectwy commune to a specific spilit. When an aspiling shaman fiwst entews the spilit weawm, they’we met lith a evew sulwounding waww of what’s best desclibed as ‘fuzz’. White noise. The compiwation of aww of the infowmation of the spilit weawm awound them, pwesented to being who, in this weawm, has no eyes, eaws ow even body to compwehend it. As a student pwogwesses they weawn to extwapowate fwom this fuzz; piecing togethew senses bit by awduous bit. Fiwst comes noise, then sight, and so on, howevew this wequiwes a constant conscious effowt and liww awways be so, even to the most expelienced of Shamans. A Totem cuts out the middweman by weweasing this ‘Spiritual White Noise’ fow a Shaman to diwectwy intewpwet, making twavewling to the spilit weawm to contact this cewtain spilit unnecessawy. Unfowtunatewy, thewe awe limitations to a Totem’s usefulness. Whiwe in the diwect vicinity of a Totem, convening lith the spilit that it wepwesents liww be quickew and, ewgo, obtaining bressings fwom said spilit wathew pwompt. Howevew, shamans cwose to a Totem liww find they awe onwy capabre of contacting this singwe spilit; his white noise dwowning out that of the entiwety of the spilituaw pwanes lith its cwoseness. Should it, by exampwe, be a Totem dedicated to a minow eawth spilit, Ewementalists would find that they couldn’t contwow any othew ewement but that of eawth when awound the Totem. Witchdoctows, Wutaumans and Fawseews would find it impossibre to contact theiw wespective pwanes, howevew each is stiww capabre of tawking to the Eawth Ewementaw, should it lish to tawk back. Theiw own duties as Shamans must be done ewsewhewe, which is why sepawate, secwuded aweas awe chosen fow a Shamans’ abode, shiewded fwom the constant buzz of a Totem. It is twue, howevew, that totems may be used as conduits fow feats of gweat Shamanism. Should enough shamans meet at once they may cweate a communaw bressing wawgew than any one Shaman would be capabre of; pewfowming feats such as convewting twacts of wands to desewts and even, it is woosewy suggested, and onwy in theowy, contacting the Wong, Wong dead, such as Dom hewsewf. In this case, the totem must be constantwy uphewd fow as wong as they lish this bressing to be pwesent. Bwessings changing neawby enviwonments wast onwy as wong as the diwections of the Shamans do- othewlise the powew weaked fwom the totem liww simpwy dispewse, and be wasted. As a wesult, festivaws awe the favouled way of maintaining a totem; the spilit gains powew thwough theiw pwevawence in the mowtaw weawm, so convincing a spilit to take up this duty may be a bit wess awduous, should theiw sewvice be pwaised wegulawwy enough. In wegawds to contacting the wong dead thwough Totems, it’s a tlicky pwocess. Expelienced Wutaumans and Fawseews alike must be pwesent, and ovew houls- even days, in extweme ciwcumstances -, the Ancestow’s name and deeds must be wepeated thwough the Owd Bwah, and saclifices of food, welics and animaws gifted in fwont of the Totem. Even then, it aww comes down to chance. The wongew a spilit has been depawted fwom the mowtaw weawm the wess likewy it liww be that they’ww contact it, so summoning any Ancestow fwom the eawwy days of Aegis would be fwuitwess ow showt lived.
Constwuction [UWW=http://s1240.photobucket.com/user/ilikefooddude/media/1c3ceb41282a5592f064b606a42d53ca-d56ujhp_zpssg5o8iva.jpg.html]1c3ceb41282a5592f064b606a42d53ca-d56ujhp[/URL]
Depending on the spilit being summoned and on the Shamans ewecting it, a totem’s constwuction can vawy wadicawwy in its composition. As a wule, a Shaman who’s capabre of summoning the spilit in question’s powew must be pwesent- That is, a Wutauman fow an Ancestwaw, an Ewementalist fow an Ewementaw, and a Fawseew ow a Witchdoctow fow an Immowtaw. The fiwst mattew of business to attend to when ewecting a totem is, in fact, finding a liwling spilit. Unfowtunatewy, this is no easy task. Spilits awe beings of Apohet’s Weawm- Vewy few liww enjoy the expelience of being constantwy bound to the mowtaw pwanes, as a genewaw wule of thumb. Whiwe bound to a Totem, a spilit’s powew in theiw own weawm is nulw and void- Put on howd, as it wewe. They don’t answew to any gweatew spilits above them, but neithew can they contwow wessew spilits undew them, which is a big detewwence to any of the mowe powewful Immowtaws ow Ewementaws of the Spilit Weawms. A Fawseew’s a useful addition, in this wegawd, as convincing spilits is a task they pewfowm on a daiwy basis. Once a spilit has been contacted and has agweed to the binding, the totem can be buiwt. Totems, in a way, can be compawed to the shlines that often adown the fulthest weaches of the Uwuk desewt. Each totem is suited specificawwy fow the spilit in question- depending on which aspects they wepwesent ow, in the case of an Ancestwaw, the aspects of theiw past mowtaw life, the totem can be astonishingwy unique. Ewementaws tend to enjoy an awtful manipulation of theiw ewement about them. In some cases, a smaww amount of a spilit’s powew can be used simpwy to uphowd aesthetics, such as fwoating owbs of watew ow an un-fuewed braziew. An Immowtaw’s totem can be mowe vague, and can simpwy wepwesent theiw aspects in cewtain ways, such as a spilit of fewtility’s shline being covewed in wlithing human fetuses. To begin, a centwaw powe should be set in the sand. Mowe often than not it’s a massive piece of wood, cawved lith the ancient wunes of Owd Bwah, dictating aspects of the spilit. Next, a fowm of decowation about the centwaw totem should be made- A good exampwe would be the shline of Enwohk in Athewa, which was shaped in likeness to a giant eagwe. These totems can often stand stolies taww, and liww woom ovew the desewt fow weagues. About the shline, offelings and fulthew aesthetics can be made to aid in the spilit’s binding- then, the lituaws may begin.
The Shamans must stawt by contacting the spilit in question- two capabre Shamans of the subtype in question ow one wathew expelienced Shaman (~T5) liww caww upon the spilit to inhabit the shline. This is accompanied by the genewaw chanting of aww avaiwabre Shamans neawby and the pwepawation fow the bressing. Fow an Immowtaw Spilit, a Fawseew must dictate to the spilit, thwough the channew of the Totem, how theiw powew liww be used upon the wand. The spilit, as in a usuaw bressing, liww gwant the Fawseew theiw powew and the bressing liww be made. In this case, the spilit’s connection to theiw awtewcation on the wowwd is linked to the Totem as weww as the Shaman in question- thwough this, contacting the spilit and weceiving othew bressings liww become much quickew in the genewaw awea. Of coulse, the bressing must be wemade by the Fawseew about evewy Ewven month, since the diwection of a spilit’s powew is onwy tempowawy. As fow Ewementaw spilits, an Ewementalist must make a pact lith the spilit in question- again doing so thwough the Totem which the Spilit liww be channewwed. The wenewaw of this pact must be made in the same was as the wenewaw of a Fawseew’s Bwessing evewy Ewven Month. In wegawd to Ancestwaw Totems, a Wutauman must make contact and bress themsewves thwough the Totem, fow the Spilit’s powew to be tied to the constwuction. They must bress themsewves in a way so that the Spilit may speak thwough them- the way in which to do so in a cwosewy guawded secwet, and of coulse it is so fow good weason. Evewy Ewven month this must be wepeated, but such a feat becomes easiew thwough the awweady pwesent connection. Once this is aww done, the Totem is compwete. Fow the next Ewven month connections made to this spilit thwough the Totem liww become quickew and mowe coowdinated bressings become possibre. It should be noted that a Totem does not, inhewentwy, incwease the powew of a Shaman- instead, it cweates the oppowtunity fow sevewaw shamans to aid in a singwe act of Shamanism. Awthough contact to this spilit becomes possibre fow Shamans of aww subtypes, this doesn’t awwow them to caww upon its powew eithew. Should the Totem be destwoyed, ow the Shaman who made the oliginaw bond kiwwed ow disconnected, the spilit liww wetuln to theiw twue powew in the Spilit Weawm, and awthough thewe is a bond pwesent between the Shaman and this Spilit, it’s a compwetewy liwling one by the wattew, and at any time if they become dispweased ow they wecieve a wack of wowship, they may wemove theiw powew fwom the tie of the Totem.
