Possession

Possession is when someone or some being is overshadowed by an Other of some kind. This happens through either a craft of some kind, such as Shamanism or when someone bleeds out enough to leave a gap open enough for something to fill in the void. When this happens the body will try to reject it, but if the invading being can get a solid foothold they can take control or influence the host.

Uses

Victims of possession can gain benefits from it as well. To heal, to be stronger or faster, it depends on what has possessed them. Rose tried to convince Aimon to under go what she termed a light possession where the 'possessor' cannot control the 'host';<ref>“I want to possess you,” Rose Thorburn said.

It was a sentence with two interpretations, but the emphasis on possess made the meaning clear.

“What?“

“A light possession. It wouldn’t be anything too dangerous, not a demon. But I can use the material from my books… some of the best bindings you could hope to find.”

“Why?”

“Because it gives you the freedom you crave. It would be another spirit in your body, allowing you to shrug off the burdens your family would put on you. You could be stronger, faster to react. You could heal faster,” she said. She eyed his hand.

He grabbed the cast with his good hand. “You sound utterly insane.”

“I’m not. I’m very sane. Look, if you’re possessed, there’s nothing stopping you from working alongside me. A light possession, something that won’t make decisions for you, but if you get caught, then you blame the possession. You return to ordinary life.” - Excerpt from Interlude 6</ref> presumably a hard possession the one where the 'possessor' has control over the 'host', it is unlikely Rose was using official terminology though.

There are states that can mimic possession,<ref>“Putting aside the fact that you’re an enchanter, not just an illusionist, we should give thought to who the lynchpins are in this tangled web.”

“The Lord of Toronto.”

“Yes. Who else?”

“Thorburn. Though I say that with caveats.”

“Which caveats?”

“He’s severed his connections with the rest of the world. Very nearly bled himself dry. He’s now straddling the line between human and Other. I genuinely wondered if he was possessed, earlier.” - Excerpt from Interlude 5</ref> Tallowman was misclassified as a case of possession when it was actually a Revenant.<ref>“Tallowman. Originally thought to be possessed, modern thought points to him being a revenant. Died, or suffered some gruesome injury, but didn’t go down. Soul couldn’t rest, too hungry for revenge, basically a serial killer zombie. The spirit didn’t leave the body, and the body came back for unfinished business.” - Excerpt from Subordination 6.7</ref>

Practitioners of Host Magic specialize in using and manipulating this phenomenon, while Jockies specialize in exploiting the phenomena.

Notable Cases of Possession

Vic (Gathered Pages)
Rose Thorburn Junior (Light Possession by Conquest and Blake Thorburn)
Freeman Boyd<ref>I basically crawled on my belly through shallow ruins for months to get back to my body. Found it occupied. Had to evict the tenant. Thankfully, only an echo. Thankfully, I had more claim, I just needed one victory, while she had to fend me off every time- Exceprt from Let Slip 20.b</ref>

References