[The Dread Polack]

One of my players is a magician of the Path of the Wheel tradition. He's yet to summon a spirit, but I'm trying to get an idea of what the various spirits are going to be like when he does.

My first thought is that they would all appear elf-like in some way. Guidance spirits, I think, would look like very idealistic and slightly exaggerated elves- somewhat ghostly as they might be the spirits of ancestors that have ceased to reincarnate (if that's a thing). After that, I think the elemental types would either appear as elements in the shape of elves, or elves with an elemental theme. I'm also running an Earthdawn campaign at the same time, and I'm looking to do as much crossover as possible (if for no other reason than to amuse myself), and so they could appear like Adepts from the Earthdawn era, maybe elementalists specializing in their element type.

Any thoughts?

[adzling]

when humans summon spirits do they look like humans?

no, not really (except for perhaps a spirit of man).

if you want some flavor to the spirit of fire that the mage summoned perhaps use some faerie or nature inspired descriptors?

after all both of the tir nations are dominated and pretty much run by elves. kind of.

[The Dread Polack]

when humans summon spirits do they look like humans?

no, not really (except for perhaps a spirit of man).

If their tradition is exclusive to the human metatype, and all about being human, as the Path of the Wheel is restricted to the elf metatype and all about
being elfy, then sure- I think that would be appropriate.

if you want some flavor to the spirit of fire that the mage summoned perhaps use some faerie or nature inspired descriptors?

This sounds like an appropriate idea. I do, however, prefer not to link Path of the Wheel to a more recent Earth mythology. Since the philosophy goes at least all the way back to the 4th age "Earthdawn" era, I like the idea of it being more tied to that. How much more mysterious would it be for someone who thinks they know all about magic to see a POTW caster/summon use some magic and not recognize its trappings?

Having said all that, Earthdawn (the game) itself is heavily based on medieval Earth mythology, so maybe that's not so far off after all.

after all both of the tir nations are dominated and pretty much run by elves. kind of.

As I understand it, they're quite explicitly run by elves, with a few notable exceptions.

[Michael Chandra]

Given their closeness to the Spirits, including dealing with them as just another teammate, plus the whole focus on protecting Tir and the formal approach to magic, I'd say 'Elf-like elementals which have the stern look of high-elfs (frowny!) from a lot of fantasy stuff'. We know the shape is related to the tradition after all, which is why with the Norse tradition they all look like figures from the Norse myths. So here, for an elf-focused type, definitely elf-like in looks.

(And to support: We know Humanis, despite not being Norse tradition, tends to have their Spirits of Men look like Valkyries (see Ashes CMP). So clearly the racial beliefs also impact the shape.)

[Ech0]

Our TirTairn exile/Conservative royalist with TirNog roots mage is also a Path Magician; she took inspiration for the "design" of her Path spirits from https://www.angelarium.net/ - somehow etheral, clearly otherworldly yet still humanoid creatures. They behave like knights under her command and communicate with transmitted emotions and sometimes pictures.

Her spells are a also shaped by her tradition, by the way, with Armor generating some kind of glowing high-elf plate mail, initiative boosts result in angelic wings by her ankles and attribute increases are accompanied by translucent glimmer effects.