Spirits are creatures of the Fade. It is believed to be in their nature to seek out and latch onto specific purposes. These purposes can be perceived as good, such as spirits who heal. But they may also appear evil, as is the case with the many demons that prey upon denizens of the waking world. Some spirits, like wisps, are too simple and impressionable to be good or evil.
Wisp: These minor spirits tend to act on command rather than on their own accord, as they seem to possess very little independent consciousness. Because a wisp is so easily influenced, it's behavior outside the Fade depends on the instructions of its summoner. Without influence, a wisp may be content to simply float around.
Spirits of Justice: Powerful and benevolent, justice spirits embody the noble virtue of justice in the Circle Tower at Kinloch Hold by a spirit of faith, which bonded tice. It is rumored that the mage Anders was the host body for a justice to her, sustaining her life. spirit when he played a part in the destruction of Kirkwall's chantry in 9:37 Dragon.
Spirits of Valor: Valor spirits exist to seek out the perfect expression of combat in the pursuit of valor. Some mages tell stories of encountering valor spirits in the Fade during their Harrowings. These mages speak of being challenged to combat. If deemed worthy, a valor spirit would support a mage in their final test of the Harrowing, battle with a demon.
Spirits of Compassion: While not as strong as spirits of justice or valor, many compassion spirits have good relationships with healing mages, who call them from the Fade to help treat disease and injury in the waking world.
Spirits of Faith: Spirits of faith are very strong and quite rare. Little is known about them. Some mages say the great mage healer @Wynnewas once saved from death in the Circle Tower by a spirit of faith, which bonded to her sustaining her life.
Spirits of Hope: Spirits of hope are some of the strongest benevolent spirits in the Fade. However, they don't appear in the waking world because little attracts then there.
Demons
Wisp Wraith: While still relatively weak spirits, wisp wraiths have more consciousness than average wisps. Said by some to be demons that have lost their power, wisp wraiths have either existed in the real world for too long without finding true hosts, or they have been cut down-often by other demons.
While their ability to target a living creature is limited, these wisps often mindlessly attack when encountered in the Fade. ln the living world, it is said that wisp wraiths will maliciously trick the living into thinking they're lanterns and lead them into dangerous areas. This, however, seems to be the limit of their cunning.
Pride Demon: Pride demons draw their incredible power from the prideful thoughts of those in the living world. While possessing a host-dead or alive-these demons can channel their power into many weapons, freezing people in place one moment, then burning them the next with magical flame. They can also repel the magic of others, rendering themselves immune to spells cast upon them. the pride demons," Mirdromel wrote, "perhaps because they, among all their kind, most resemble men."
Shade: A shade is the true form of a demon when it occupies the living world. Some scholars believe their confusion with the waking world leaves them unable to possess the living or dead. Some shades may spurn possession, content to float as shadows, preying upon the psyche of anyone they encounter. It his been speculated that shades may still believe themselves to be in the Fade.
The living are weakened by a shade's proximity. Dangerous, they have been known to assault the minds of the living, causing confusion or horror that make their targets ripe for killing. Draining a target entirely only strengthens a shade's appetite.
Hunger Demon: Rare even in the Fade, hunger demons are characterized by a compulsion to consume-or attempt to consume- everything they encounter, including other demons. Hunger demons often appear in the waking world by possessing abominations orskeletons, although they have been known to possess people.
Rage Demon: Among the most common and weakest malicious spirits, rage demons are fueled by and attracted to rage. ln the Fade, a rage demon's true form is pure fire, its body seemingly made of amorphous lava, its eyes two pinpricks of baleful light radiating from its core. demons most often appear in the waking
Their abilities are drawn fro m the fire they generate. Burning anyone who draws near, the most powerful can lash out with bolts of fire or firestorms that engulf entire areas.
Even powerful rage demons are less intelligent than most other varieties. Their actions arc irrational, even by spirit standards, and fueled by unbridled anger.
Sloth Demon: Sloth demons are not themselves slothful- they are so named because they feed upon the slothful recesses of the psyche: doubt, apathy, and entropy. A sloth demon weakens, tires, and tears at the edges of consciousness and would much rather render its victims helpless than engage in true conflict.
Sloth demons can disguise their appearance outside the Fade so as to more covertly spread their influence. It is said that they can influence entire groups of people. A community afflicted by a demon of sloth could soon become a dilapidated pit where injustices are allowed to pass without comment and none of the residents are aware a change has even occurred.
Desire Demon: Desire demons use the yearnings of waking-world inhabitants-lust, wealth, and power- to lure their prey. Far more intelligent than the bestial hunger and rage demons and more ambitious than sloth demons, these dark spirits are among the most skilled at tempting mages into possession.
Many who serve the whims of a desire demon never realize it. In some cases, a desire demon may resort to outright mind control. But they seem to take greater pleasure in more subtle deceit.
If overpowered, a desire demon will attempt to bargain its way to freedom. Tales are told of mages who defeat desire demons and wrest wishes from them. However, these stories also usually end with the demons getting the upper hand, even when the mages believe their wishes are granted.
POSSESSED CREATURES
Sylvan
For demons crossing over into our world, mankind is not always the preferred prey. As possessing humans means risking encounters with powerful mages and templars, some demons find it far easier to seek out animals or even plants. Those that possess trees are known as wild sylvans.
Generally, only rage demons become sylvans. The demon will spend considerable time and effort twisting and molding the host to make it mobile. A sylvan is a walking tree and if violent can prove very dangerous. Other, more intelligent, spirits have also been known to become sylvans. These arc rare, but generally much less threatening.
Slow but immensely powerful, wild sylvans prefer to lie in wait for a victim to become lost, tired, or trapped in the forest. They hide among regular trees, nearly undetectable until they begin to move and reach. When they "come to life," as some travelers say, sylvans stand tall, with roots forming legs and branches stretching into lashing arms.
Corpse
A dead body may be possessed by a demon. Generally, weaker demons possess corpses or skeletons, unable to tell the difference between the living and the dead.
The possessed corpse may act differently depending on the kind of demon that has possessed it: Corpses possessed by rage demons attack residents of the waking world mindlessly. Corpses possessed by sloth demons weaken and fatigue their prey. Those held by hunger demons feed upon the living.