Everything

From Diana “Unpronounceable” Gallacci’s ‘Spirit Sensitivity’ lecture for new cubs:

While the elementals in the Lawson Adit tun­ nels were more familiar with technology than some from the mine’s usage for educational purposes, the pack of young Glass Walkers misunderstood how much. When they realized the deeper spirits were out of touch with the modern world, they should have contacted someone more experienced at the sept for guidance.

Instead, they lost their tempers trying to explain the concept of ‘smartphones’ to it when they just needed to find out how many intruders got there first. And when an earth elemental is so offended that a more experienced Theurge has to smooth things over just to get anything out of them, it’s a waste of time and energy that they could have spent on far better things.

Which brings me to a related lesson. While it is normally a good idea to be polite and respectful with spirits of the earth, it’s even more important when you’re in a neglected mine that crosses an active fault line.”

instrument sounds better when it’s been cleaned and worn parts replaced, he might never know that he’s experiencing a blessing from the air elemental that calls it home.

A Theurge’s training and experiences quickly teach her how to tell the difference between coincidence, blessing, or unusual communication. What might pass for a friendly chat with a pain-spirit is substantially different from the Naturae in a medicinal-herb garden. Speaking with a spirit requires a great deal of understanding, given that many spirits aren’t complex enough for casual speech.

Complex spirits can be powerful enough that making them communicate in an uncomfortable fashion is seen as disrespectful. Patience and simplified explanation are fine for dealing with the Gaffling of a child’s toy. However, a certain computer Jaggling insists on noth­ ing but logical, unambiguous sentences incorporating programming language jargon. The Jaggling is likely to outright refuse to deal with a Garou that doesn’t cater to its whims.

Communication is not simply a matter of having the right Gifts to make himself understood. He has to under­ stand what the spirit wants and respects for reasons beyond figuring out proper chiminage. Just like how certain gestures or slang terms mean vastly different things in different human cultures, what is considered a show of dominance to a wolf-spirit will startle and frighten away a bird-spirit. Every spirit comes with its own context as important for communication as any language.

Many spirits, especially urban ones, comprehend human languages and idiom just fine. But such linguistic skills only come from contact and experience. A spirit with no knowledge of humanity — or something from the Deep Umbra that’s older than any living language — simply might be unable to communicate in a way that a modern homid Garou would understand.

Everything that a spirit sees and does is filtered through its nature. As a result, some spirits understand certain concepts better than others. Even seemingly basic ideas such as states of matter or the passage of time can confuse a spirit whose purview doesn’t allow for those concepts. Some spirits, no matter how intelligent or aware they seem, suffer severe cognitive dissonance if confronted with information or concepts they can’t grasp.

Spirits also have bans and taboos — things they can’t abide or won’t do. Most Garou know of these through the restrictions of totems but every spirit has its limits. Most of them are obvious, like earth elementals having to remain in contact with the ground or a rattlesnake-spirit not being able to attack without warning. Awareness of a spirit’s ban can provide leverage or prevent catastrophic faux pas.

When dealing with the Garou, elementals and Naturae focus on the tangible. Not merely issues of the physical world, but as a whole their priorities revolve around basic needs and realities. They’re not ‘simple’ but they’re consis­ tent and interactions with them are unlikely to suddenly involve abstract concepts or philosophy. Each one has a role and a purpose and addressing it outside of that context is unlikely to get results.

The modern world is very good at producing excep­ tions to traditional practices and views, however. Newer breeds of elementals coalesce from Essence more and more frequently and while they are still distinctly ‘elemental’ in their outlook they are much more in tune with the modern world. A typical electricity elemental won’t be an expert on the modern cutting-edge technology, but even a Gaffling instinctively understands circuits and wires and related concepts.

Epiphlings are even more likely to filter their experi­ ences through the concept they represent but their more abstract nature allows for greater ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Most worry less about tangible distractions

and present a more cerebral demeanor. Garou capable of keeping the Epiphling’s nature in mind will have an easier time speaking with and understanding the concept-spirits.

At the other end of the spectrum, spirits of riddles and enigmas are not only more abstract but in theory are more inclined to wrap their minds around new and strange ideas. Theirs is a language and mindset of difficult questions, however. It is easier to get through to one but maintaining a coherent conversation is a challenge. Gaffling puzzle-spirits, being more oriented around their peculiar idiom, are sometimes incapable of answering straightfor­ ward questions — or at least, incapable of answering them in a straightforward manner.