Ennervism and Ghosts

[Oriah]

Hello, just a quick question about possession. Could, hypothetically, Ennervism somehow prevent or eject a ghost from doing harm to oneself/others during a possession?

[Gillar]

Great question!

So when it comes to a ghost trying to possess someone who has a Ennervism or who is being protected/cleansed by one with Ennervism, there are a few factors to consider.

First, ghosts use the racial skill of Possession to take over another person. Any ghost with only a Novice skill rating in Possession can be expelled by the person rather easily even if the person is not a Spiritist. Really, only willing hosts can be possessed by a Novice ghost.

That said, Ennervism really wouldn't even come into play against a ghost with novice Possession.

Now, if a ghost with Competent Possession were to try to possess and control someone with one mark of Ennervism, it would be the equivalent of an L2 Skill against an L1 Gnosis. The L2 Skill is greater so it would likely prevail (how it all is written and how creative each individual is in the written handling of it all will also play a big role). I view, and this isn't official, gnosis marks as being equivalent to skills at maximum skill points for that level. So a single mark would be the equivalent of 25 xp, second mark would be 50, third would be 75 and fourth would be 100. From there you can get an idea of just how powerful each mark is when pitted against opposing skills, gnosis or magic. If both forces end up being equal, then its a 50/50 chance with writing and creativity tipping the scales. The higher amount doesn't always win though as writing and creativity can often do much to help level the playing field to some extent. Drastic differences in skill however are hard to compensate for.

So back to the original question, if someone with two marks of Ennervism were to have a ghost with say 37 xp in Possession (L2) try to possess them and force them to harm themselves or others, the marked individual would most likely expel them rather easily. Note that the marked wouldn't have any control over the ghost, the Ennervism would be almost automatic with its expulsion.

Now, the expulsion of the ghost would still only be possible with Ennervism if the ghost were trying to force the possessed to something that would harm themselves or others that they would otherwise not be prone to do. If the ghost was just possessing them without forcing them in this manner, Ennervism wouldn't come into play. When dealing with ghosts, Spiritism and Eiyon (Dira's Gnosis) are more so much more useful.

Hopefully that helps with your question. I get a little long-winded at times.

[Oriah]

This was an excellent explanation, thank you so much!