A geist is a special type of ghost (in some ways, a ghost-spirit hybrid, which can cause issues with Werewolves) who has spent enough time in the Underworld to become completely reshaped by it, becoming an extremely powerful, sometimes archetypal, representation of death. Craving to influence the living world and feel life again, they make pacts with humans near death to share their flesh with them in exchange for returning the human to life. Such humans are called the Bound, or Sin-Eaters.
Geists made their first appearance in the Geist: The Sin-Eaters line.
Second Edition[]
A ghost becomes a geist by drinking from one of the Rivers of the Underworld. This transforms it from a representation of a single individual to an archetype of death, at the cost of much of its humanity and identity. Geists are always at least Rank 3, but are typically not recognizable to the living after this transformation, and their memories of their mortal existence are confused. By making the Bargain, geists hope to reconnect to the world of the living.
Unlike other ghosts, geists have no Anchors, but do not suffer from Essence bleed or the pull of the Underworld. They also have no Influences, trading them for a single innate Key.
When an Avernian Gate forms in the living world, it is always guarded by a geist. The guardian geist may represent the first body buried in a cemetery, the first casualty on a battlefield, and so on. These guardians do not always stay with the gate, though the fate of the absent guardians is unknown.
When a geist is permanently destroyed, it leaves behind a kind of Memento called a Deathmask, which in turn can empower a Reaper.
References[]
- GTS: Geist: The Sin-Eaters Rulebook, p. 20-21
- GTSE: Geist: The Sin-Eaters Second Edition, p. 197
