Metaphysics101

From The Hunters

Contents 1 Reality 2 Free Will 3 The Material World 4 The Edge 5 The Spiritual 6 Good and Evil 7 Forces of Good 7.1 Angels 7.2 The One Highest Power 8 Foes 8.1 Shades 8.1.1 Demons 8.1.2 Leeches 8.2 Vampires 8.3 Dark Angels 8.4 Black Souls 9 Other Beings 9.1 Ghosts 9.2 Sprites 10 Combat Techniques

[edit] Reality

All is not as it seems.

This is the first rule in observing reality and fully understanding this statement is the first step in understanding Metaphysics. This rule applies to all levels of reality and all things found within it. We look at the world around us with clouded eyes and even those with spirit sight have not removed themselves from the fog entirely. Even as we come to new levels of understanding must this rule ever be kept in mind - for new levels are not discovering truth, but uncovering yet another layer of the illusion built up around and within The Great Beyond.

Our level of reality, this three dimensional world, appears to the clouded eye to be a collection of objects and entities which all interact according to laws of probability and natural, cyclic forces found within each of them. This is only a half truth. One who looks beyond this level of reality will see that there is a larger one behind it, at once within it and surrounding it. It will be seen by the gazer that this world is but a stage for a puppet show with golden strands pulling and tugging at everything around us. These strands, 'souls', at once guide and sustain, direct and support, everything that is; Be it a plant, an animal, an idea or emotion, all leads up and back into the spiritual world.

The deeper one looks, the more one uncovers. Every level is another veil, another mask for The Great Beyond. Ours, the lowest one, is exceptional in its lowness. Our world is the outer shell; we exist as the final refuge before The Great Darkness. Thus on one side of our universe we have Soul, and on the other we have Void; on the one hand Eternity, and on the other oblivion.

These worlds, those of Existence and Non-Existence are not beyond our grasps. Though the number that can peer into them are forever small, achieving such a level is viable for all people. We are connected to both worlds and thus it is a natural extension for our minds to reach further and perceive a deeper reality. It is unfortunate that so many are caught in the fog, their minds lost in the illusion that is reality. It is more unfortunate because awareness of influence is the first step to fighting it, and the amount of powers that attempt to influence our lives is staggering. The poor people, the dreamers dreaming their dreams, unwitting pawns for whatever influence is playing at them strongest. They cannot choose to ignore the demon and obey the angel for they do not know the difference; they believe that all the thoughts passing through their minds are theirs. But the war which rages constantly resounds in every sphere of this reality - on the streets, in our workplaces and yes, even in our hearts and minds. And since it exists at all levels, the war must be fought at all levels.

The sleepers sleep, the dreamers dream. They are not to be scoffed at, nor derided; They are to be nurtured and defended. It is for their sake that this war rages. To deride a sleeping man is like laughing at the air that sustains you - for without the sleepers there would be no purpose and without purpose there would be no life. Of course, it is not to keep them asleep that this war is raged. Quite the contrary, it is to reach out to all of them, one at a time, and awaken them into the true reality. But only when it's safe... only when it's safe....

But remember well throughout it all, that even those few who are freed are yet bound. Even those with the greatest spiritual sight, highest emotional sense or more profound intellectual awareness have still only scratched the surface of what is out there. And since there will forever be forces beyond our view, there will always be force which hold sway over our lives.

But all is not futile; though true knowledge is unattainable, a hint at the Ultimate Truth can still be found. In the greatest of ironies, the hint can only be found in the place where the Ultimate Truth is under the greatest concealment: This Reality. This level is like the outer layer of a person's body: the skin. Though one's skin and face conceal all the inner workings and even the essence of the physical body, its forms, actions and expressions yet reveal the person's intentions. If one were to cut a person open and look at the organs in the body one would not gain any understanding of the person at all, merely the process through which the person's will is manifest. On the other hand, interacting with another's outer shell will reveal a great deal about that person's essence to one who is trained in what to look for.

Thus do we see that in the small is found the big. Our actions in the lowest mundane appear inferior compared to spiritual exploration. But in truth, it is through the lowest that we interact with the highest.

[edit] Free Will

As mentioned above, the spiritual world is filled with forces and entities which all exert their influence on Material Reality. One who delves into a study of these forces will find that every aspect of every action has a ruling angel which guides us and a root cause which inspires us. Every part of our minds and bodies, every thought and emotion that arises into our conscious minds - everything is connected and guided by an external spiritual force.

If this is indeed so, then where does the idea of Free-Will come into play? We are merely puppets at the end of a web of strings, pulling us every which way, struggling to guide us towards furthering another's ends.

Remember always the first rule. Every level is deception: every uncovered truth is yet a lie, and every discounted lie still holds within it some truth.

Yes, we are acted upon by an innumerable amount of forces, but even still the power of Free-Will exceeds them all. This is because through exercising free will any other force can be ignored and, eventually, abolished. Should all of humanity unite and become aware, the collective power of our wills could potentially reach back upwards to reshape the very fabric of space and time. No spiritual force would be able to withstand the might unleashed by the joint focus of avoidance of all our wills combined.

Unfortunately, the power of Free-Will is dispersed in over 6 billion different directions and, furthermore, the vast majority of the fragments are ignorant of the power they hold. Changes in the spiritual world are thus currently only minor ripples in raging torrent. If the river's course is changed, it is changed far too minutely. Thus must we unite and awaken. This is the only way for us to contribute to the war being waged.

[edit] The Material World

This world around us can only be perceived in three dimensions. Physics has long known that there is a Fourth dimension which we have no control over - being time. There is also a Fifth dimension, one which science as of yet ignores - being the dimension of Spirituality outside of us and the Soul-Dimension within us. As mentioned before, our reality lies on the very outskirts of the spiritual: the outer crust. Our world's cloudiness is so distinct from the rest of the spiritual worlds that it is worthy of an entirely different name: The Material World.

The Material is intrinsically distinct from the spiritual in many ways. The first and most important is that on The Material plane things and entities are distinct from one another and cannot directly interact - at least, not in the same way as they do on higher planes. In the material world, one object or entity, including all thoughts, feelings or sensations that are had, cannot enter into another. Each body is isolated from one another and only through causing waves which can be detected by other bodies can interaction be made.

On the spiritual plane, however, all forces intertwine with one another and share their light directly. Entities can reach into one another and interact directly. There is no room for obfuscation or deception - everything is clear and open.

A second way in which The Material is unique is that on this plane every object and entity is a combination of several spiritual forces. Every individual has many different properties, aspects and influences. All is complicated and convoluted and every individual has within a drama which reflects a large section of the external spiritual world.

On the spirit plane, however, all forces are kept separate. Each individual is truly individual and there is no intrinsic tension between elements because there is only a single element within each. Entities do not bound between emotions or struggle to choose between thoughts because each emotion and thought is itself an independent entity.

The third way that the Material is unique is that in the Material plane there are Objects. Objects are defined by being permanently unconscious. They can be acted upon and occasionally can react through intrinsic properties, but they can never act upon others. Objects are 100% passive and do not initiate anything. They are also completely predictable. Objects make up the archetype of the Material World and the closer any entity is to being an unconscious entity the more they can be said to be immersed in The Material.

In the Spiritual World there is no matter and there are no objects; There is no backdrop of things to distract the eye. All that exists are Entities. Entities, as opposed to objects, are fully conscious and aware. They are active and motile, reacting to those who act upon them but also acting upon others below. Pure spiritual entities share one property with material objects and that is predictability. We said before, all entities in the spiritual world only have within them a single force or alignment. Because of this, when it is known which alignment befalls which entity all of their actions can be predicted.

[edit] The Edge

Between The Material and The Spiritual is a thin layer which also has distinct properties. This layer is not quite material in that things within it are not formed and distinct, but it is not quite spiritual in that bound bundles of many forces are manifest there. This layer is known by many names: The Astral Plane, The Spirit World or our term for it - The Edge.

On the edge there is an echo of all things found in the material world. In actual fact it is the material world which contains an echo of most things found within The Edge, but for the sake of understanding we will look at things from a reversed perspective. The echo found within The Edge is where the bundles of forces begin to weave themselves together but do not yet solidify. Those able to get glimpses of The Edge will see this as a glowing aura surrounding an object or entity. The glowing aura is in fact strands of forces which are in the process of binding themselves together to feed into the entity which the aura surrounds.

The Edge is also home to a class of entities known as 'Shades' and 'Demons'. These entities are, in short, entities with Auras but not Bodies. Their 'final form' is thus more rarefied than that of physical entities. What makes Shades and Demons fearsome foes is that though they do not live in the Material World they can still perceive and affect it by manipulating the auras and energy fields which exist within their home plane. This gives them the power to affect and manipulate as much as they desire without the threat of repercussions.

The Edge is the world of magic and psionics. Those with supernatural powers have them because in one way or another they have managed to breach the barrier between worlds and access the unique properties of The Edge. The type of Spiritual Power one is said to have is not rated by the effect it generates, but by the method used to achieve these effects. The two broadest categories are Wizards/Ritualists, who affect the spiritual through rites and rituals which access spiritual forces externally, and Psions/Internalists, who affect the spiritual through openning internal gateways into it. All who attain spiritual power are one of these two.

There is a third category which is that of 'The Gifted'. These are entities which are born with an extra strand or with differently aligned strands which allow them natural access into the Spiritual World. Some say that through special rites or meditations extra strands can be formed or added on and non-gifted can become gifted - but no evidence of this ever happening has been seen.

The Edge is not as thin as the name implies. It is in fact a fuzzy barrier between the worlds extending just widely enough to have two distinct planes to it. The one closest to the material world is known as the ‘close edge’, and the other is known as the ‘far edge’. These are also known as the Lower Astral and the Higher Astral planes.

The properties of both ends are identical except that beings in the close edge can look into the material world and can be seen by those in the physical world with spiritual sight, while beings at the far edge cannot peer into the material world and can only be seen by those with the most advanced spiritual sight. Thus spiritual entities have the ability to ‘duck out’ of physical range and escape into the farther reaches of The Edge where even most mortals with supernatural abilities can’t reach them.

[edit] The Spiritual

The remaining spiritual world is vast and unintelligible to the human mind. Those who have seen the deepest have agreed that it can be divided into several parts.

Beyond The Edge is a region known as 'The Heavens'. This section is also termed 'The Lower Spiritual'. Within The Heavens are several layers, each divided and enumerated. The precise number of heavens varies depending on which text you read but it ranges somewhere between 7 and 108. Between each of these layers is a 'waypoint', which is a transitional point between one layer and the next and is guarded by a host of angels or archangels.

At the highest reaches of The Lower Spiritual is a final waypoint known as 'The Gateway'. Beyond is The Higher Spiritual known also as The World of Forces. None have ever entered this world and only few have ever honestly claimed to have seen within.

After The Highest Spiritual everything is clouded in absolute mystery. It is always referred to in vague terms such as 'The Beyond' or 'The Great Beyond'.

[edit] Good and Evil

What is good and what is evil? This question has plagued philosophers and theologists for eons. We will therefore only be looking at this question from a Hunter's perspective.

Good is that which has humanity's best interests in mind. Evil is that which does not. Good is openness and sharing, selflessness and community. Good strengthens people and brings them together, promotes the development of free-will and all other human attributes. Evil, on the other hand, is selfish and deceptive. It weakens and entraps, draws away power from others and destroys all things good. Goodness leads to fulfillment and eternity; Evil leads only to destruction and void.

[edit] Forces of Good

The legions of good are vastly outnumbered by the legions of evil. Some people argue that this is because goodness is weak and useless and further state that being a good person is pointless in a world filled with evil. This is most certainly not the case. The reason the forces of good are so restricted is because of the incredible truth and power that goodness holds. If the forces of evil were any less plentiful and powerful then goodness would easily overcome evil and the whole game of life would end before it even begins.

[edit] Angels

These servants of light come in two general categories: regular Angels and Arch-Angels.

Arch-Angels are commanders and live in the Highest Heavens, just before The Gateway which leads into the higher spiritual realms. They occasionally come down to the Lower Heavens and rarely manifest themselves in the physical world. Each Arch-Angel is connected to one of The Force found within the Higher Spiritual and is in the commander of said force’s specific alignment/element, translating its influence downwards into the Lower Spiritual and, eventually, into Material Reality. The ancient religions referred to the Arch-Angels as ‘gods’. These ancient religions made the mistake of thinking that these beings were the highest that existed. Although they are the highest entities which exist in the Lower Spiritual World, making them the highest entities that can potentially interact directly with humans, they are not the highest entities by far.

Angels serve the Arch-Angels and transmit their commands in more specific ways. They can be found either in spiritual form or in physical form, the vast majority of them remaining spiritual for their entire existences. When in spiritual form they are bundles of energy which may or may not resemble physical creatures or objects. When in physical form they are indistinguishable from an ordinary person or animal except to those with spiritual vision who will immediately recognize the uniquely brilliant quality of their aura.

Angels act in the capacity of couriers, sent either to deliver a message, a thought, a feeling or a packet of pre-programmed energy designed to perform a single action of spiritual power known commonly as a ‘miracle’. Angels each have a single mission, be it the delivery of a message to a certain person or place or the enactment of their miracle, then their life-essence fades and they get recycled into the general glow of the universe. It is a general rule that no angel is given two jobs and no two angels are given the same job. This is due to the precise nature of the Spiritual world which we discussed above.

[edit] The One Highest Power

The One Highest Power is known by many names, the most prominent one in the English language being God. He is the ultimate necessary existence from which all else springs and upon which all else depends. He is absolute unity and infinite existence, perfect in every way. Not much else can be said about The Highest Power as He is not understandable by mortal minds. Due to the elusiveness of His Nature, He remains outside the beliefs of many. Nonetheless, the world is all His and He is the One who set up the rules involving it. Some people would argue that, since God made both good and evil He should not be categorized under the ‘Forces of Good’. This argument is only made by the foolish. Those with a degree of understanding know that without the battle between dark and light then the good that The Highest Power is striving to grant will be of an inferior quality. Thus, this game is essential to the granting of good. The Highest Power desires the game to be won by the Forces of Good and grants them all the resources they require in order to win. He only does so, however, in such a way that the Forces of Good will be able to win through their own initiative.

[edit] Foes

The forces of evil are plentiful. Enumerating them all would be an take entire series of encyclopedias. Thus, here will only be listed the five types of beings most commonly encountered by The Hunters. These are: Shades, Demons, Vampires, Dark Angels and Black Souls.

[edit] Shades

Not quite physical and not quite spiritual, shades dwell in 'The Edge'. They are invisible to the physical senses and unaffected by matter, yet they are able to influence material reality through manipulating the spiritual counterparts of everything that exists. They are capable of damaging people through attacking their spiritual bodies (auras) and many also have the ability to influence the thoughts and emotions of mortal creatures by targeting specific regions within the aura.

Shades cannot be fought off through conventional means but can only be affected through the use of magic, psychic techniques, enchanted weapons, chi projection or rare psychokinetic technology.

Shades exist at many different power levels and have vastly different properties between them. There are entire species of shades and also several unique, individual shades. As a general rule, the more powerful a shade the more unique he is, and the more unique he is the more powerful. The most powerful of these entities have the ability to manifest physically for limited periods of time, though they usually do not do so since it would break the illusion of mundanity that permeates the physical realm and thus compromise their power.

The battle between man and Shades has been waged for thousands of years. It has been a far from fruitless battle. Two thousand years ago, after trapping Lilith, queen of the demons, one spiritual warrior caused an oath to be taken that no Shades would ever venture into public places. This oath is still in place today, meaning Shades will only ever be found in private dwellings, uninhabited wildernesses, abandoned buildings or rarely frequented alleyways.

[edit] Demons

Demons comprise the class of shades at the high end of the power spectrum. Every demon is absolutely unique and they are almost exclusively malevolent. They rarely approach the physical world, though they all have the ability to enter it whenever they choose, instead spending their existences in the Far Edge, keeping themselves hidden from even those mortal eyes that can see through into the spiritual world. They prefer influencing the world through their minions - lesser shades or mortal cultists they have managed to enslave.

Not every demon has a cult though most do, seeing it as the best way for them to achieve their dark ends. They usually interact with their followers through physical idols though not always. Demons are cunning and original and their methods of gaining servants vary widely. Some even have servants who do not realize who they are serving, or even that they are serving a higher power at all.

[edit] Leeches

A species of shades that are viewed as more of a nuisance than a threat, Leeches comprise the weakest of the group and can just barely be called conscious. They feed off of people’s energy bodies, attaching themselves to individuals who are generally unaware they are being fed off of, and stay attached to the person until he gets sick and the quality of energy coming through dwindles. Then the leech detaches and moves on to another person.

Leeches are exempt from the rule that no shade may enter a public place since they are not aware enough to know what an oath is.

[edit] Vampires

Many centuries ago a cult existed known as ‘The Severed Ones’. This cult would initiate its members by severing the tether that bound the individual to The Highest Power and all the other forces in existence. This action was motivated by a desire to become truly free and not subjected to the wills of the higher forces that control reality, instead being able to control their own destinies fully.

The severance that all members of this cult went through had the effect of increasing their individual powers, removing them from subjection to regular karmic law and freeing them from the ordinary channels of afterlife and reincarnation. It had the negative side effect that the cult members could no longer draw their spiritual sustenance directly from the spiritual world but would thereafter be required to draw it from the souls of others.

Vampires can be killed and reincarnate after they die, but unlike regular mortals they do not go up to the soul-world first for processing. Instead they force their way into a newborn child very soon after their previous incarnation dies, forcing out the soul that was originally intended to be incarnated and essentially stealing the vessel. Because psychic vampires don’t return to the soul-world a great deal more of their memories remain intact from lifetime to lifetime, giving them a great amount of recall of their past lives. In a majority of incarnations the psychic vampire will ‘reawaken’ during or just after puberty, reclaiming their memories and previous powers, resuming their previously incarnated identity and continuing whatever work they began in the past.

Vampires are formidable foes. They have spent several lifetimes perfecting their combat and mystical techniques. Some is lost from lifetime to lifetime, but much is kept, making each one undoubtedly more powerful than a regular mortal could possibly attain.

Vampires are not dependent on drinking blood. They generally draw their energy more directly from their victims' auras or simply feed off of ambient energy which is found in most public places. Some, however, do have the practice of draining blood from their victims, claiming that it makes the energy intake easier and helps the 'charge' last longer.

All the other weaknesses generally attributed to traditional Vampires, such as an aversion to sunlight, garlic, crosses, etc. do not apply to Vampires in general, though some have developed these or other strange ‘allergies’ since their severing. In fact on the contrary, some are known to sit in the back row of churches absorbing the energy that those praying send off and preventing the energy from reaching its destination.

There were known to be 50 members of the original cult of The Severed Ones, and therefore there are 50 original vampires in existence. There are rumors, none confirmed, as to later rituals that increased this number. Today, The Hunters have located and are keeping track of 23 of these Vampires in 9 different countries worldwide, most of which are part of two different groups – The Auspice and The Horror. Both groups have international contacts, a large amount of resources and a great many human and monstrous servants. The two groups aren’t at war but there is a tension between them, in that each looks down at the other group's methods and motives. The Hunters have been looking for a way to infiltrate and disband these groups, or possibly set them at each others’ throats. So far, they’ve been unsuccessful.

[edit] Dark Angels

These are by far the most powerful foes a Hunter will ever be asked to face. Fortunately they are encountered seldomly. Dark angels are identical to good angels in every way except that the forces they serve are evil or have been taken over by darkness. Additionally, there are no obvious cues which allow one to determine whether an angel is light or dark except by observing their behaviour.

Angels and Arch-Angels become dark when the forces they serve become corrupted. These forces become corrupted when man sins. Man sins when corrupt forces influence them to do so. Thus we have a vicious cycle that brings about the spread of corruption and darkness. Goodness is not capable of spreading in the same way that darkness can, meaning that if the universe is left to its own devices the spread of corruption through the power of entropy would eventually fill the entirety of creation. Thus, the only way to break the cycle is for humanity to wake up and use their free will to choose Good.

The only way to truly stop these Dark Angels is by fixing The Forces, which can only be done by people choosing good, breaking the cycle of evil and strengthening the forces of good so that the tides of corruption can be pushed backwards. The process of making a person spiritually aware while also making him aware that he should choose good is very difficult and cannot be successfully done on a mass scale. It is for this reason that the spiritually enlightened do not awaken others en mass.

Like good angels, dark angels rarely manifest themselves physically, though they all have the power to do so. Rarely are Dark Angels interested in combat, which is fortunate. Like their good counterparts they have specific missions which they are sent to complete, and upon completion they vanish and return to the spiritual world wherein they reside.

[edit] Black Souls

Some people in this world are born evil. It has nothing to do with their genetics or their environment; these people simply have a black soul. Why these people are allowed to be born is a mystery as they have no option to do good and no chance for redemption. The only thing these people know is sin and bloodshed and cannot ever contribute to the greater good. The most common theory is that Black Souls are spiritual waste matter, compressed in a single packet, which must be incarnated before it can be eternally annihilated.

In addition to the fact that they are pure evil, Black Souls have an unusual property that doesn’t exist in any other kind of soul: they have such a love of their sinful existences that it gives them a tenacious grip on their bodies, making it possible for them to remain incarnated and animate even after their physical bodies are killed. A person in this state is commonly referred to as a Zombie.

Anybody with even the weakest spirit sight will be able to tell a person with a black soul. The standing order is that no matter what the situation is, a person with a black soul must be terminated upon discovery.

[edit] Other Beings

Other than the forces of good and evil there are also numerous entities which do not naturally align themselves with either. There are a great many of these types but the two most common are Ghosts and Sprites. These are both considered pests and usually not given much concern or attention.

[edit] Ghosts

Every so often a soul doesn’t quite make it back to the soul world after their body dies. Why this happens is a mystery but it’s known that ghosts are usually formed by those who die in extremely traumatic ways or while in emotionally heavy situations. Ghosts are more of a nuisance than anything else. They usually relive their last moments over and over again, wail incessantly or pester the living for attention. Ghosts can’t actually do much and have a very low level of awareness. Some, however, are lucid enough to carry on a conversation with someone trained as a medium and can potentially offer up valuable information.

[edit] Sprites

These pests are nothing but trouble. Occasionally they pretend to be helpful but always cause more of a nuisance than they provide in return. They are responsible for tangling wires, stealing single socks, placing dead insects and single hairs in soups and baked goods, hiding keys and remote controls as well as other aggravating things. Sprites come in various forms and no two look alike. There are thousands of different species scattered around the world, appearing vastly different depending on the terrain and the population in the area. Every sprite or group of sprites has to be dealt with in a different way, though commonly known ways to get rid of them are playing loud, abrasive music, scattering garlic, getting a pet cat or simply ignoring them.

[edit] Combat Techniques

It is important to know how to fight the Legions of Evil as well as what is expected of those that engage these foes. It is difficult to engage most of them in combat due to the fact that they are either spiritual in nature, or incredibly powerful.

For physical opponents (ie. Vampires, Black Souls or Cultists) regular combat methods can be used. People marked as Black Souls are to be destroyed without hesitation. When facing cultists a bit more discretion is recommended. If necessary, termination is permitted, but if possible incapacitation is preferred. Cultists only perform the amount of evil that they do because of the Demons that control them. Thus, if one is able to destroy or at least weaken the ruling Demon, or somehow sever the link the particular demon has with his cultists, then doing so will free the cultists and they will generally return them to their mundane lives with regret for the foolishness of their actions, coupled with a turning away from beliefs in any form of spirituality.

Vampires require far more caution than any other physical opponent. Firstly because they are far more powerful than any other and secondly, because killing their physical bodies just delays them until their soul can enter another child’s body where the vampire will remain concealed until puberty is reached and his awakening begins again. Therefore care must be taken before the deathblow is inflicted. Thus far there is no know way of destroying Vampire souls and so all that can be hoped for is disabling its psychic abilities before killing it in order to make it more difficult for the vampire to reincarnate. This can be accomplished through having the vampire expend his energy as much as possible, actively draining the vampire’s energy or attacking the vampire’s energy body. By first weakening the Vampire’s soul it will make it harder for him to fight his way into a newborn’s body, making the vampire either make his next incarnation in a sickly or weak body, or wait a long period of time for his soul to recharge.

A much preferred method of dealing with vampires is to capture and imprison them. I modern times this has only ever happened once and, despite the fact that he was kept sedated in a high security facility, the others still managed to find and rescue him.

For spiritual opponents manifested in physical reality (ie. Powerful Shades, Demons or Dark Angels) one is to exercise extreme caution. The most important thing to do is prevent it from returning to The Edge; All spiritual entities are more vulnerable when manifest and cannot hide and recuperate as easily. There are certain technologies or psionic abilities that can prevent them from returning to the spiritual realm, or at least make it more difficult.

For spiritual opponents in the spiritual realm there is very little chance of successfully combatting them. Even highly trained psionic warriors are at a disadvantage when facing entities native The Edge. Certain technologies, abilities, rituals or actions may lure an entity into the physical or actually drag an entity through, though these are not always reliable. Even minor shades without the ability to consciously manifest in the physical world can potentially be dragged through and dealt with in thi manner.

If the entities are in the close edge they can be damaged by certain metaphysical technologies or abilities but nothing is necessarily keeping them from ducking back to the far edge. Certain technologies, abilities, rituals or actions can keep them at the close edge but these are not always reliable either.

For spiritual opponents at the far edge very little can be done. The only ones who can hope to fight beings hiding out there are psions with the ability to venture into The Edge and face them there. Such an engagement is dangerous since one cannot take any physical equipment along and can only rely on one’s ability to project energy to protect them and help them in combat, leaving them at a severe disadvantage to native Edge dwellers. There are ways of luring spiritual entities from the Far Edge to the Near Edge or even all the way into the physical world, but again, these methods are not always reliable.