Spirits

Spirits In Grail & Grove
Also called ephemera, spirits are kept separate from the terrestrial world by the Parapet. They tend to congregate in locations where the Parpet is thin due to extensive sources of mana or magical energy. Spirits are incorpreal- they have no physical form except what they create through expending mana. Most have no real consciousness and minimal intelligence. As a rule of thumb, the more complex a spirit is in nature, the more powerful and intelligent it is. In the other-realms, spirits will seem to have physical forms and be tangible; the other-realms are ephemeral in nature and only appear physical in a terrestrial sense.

see types of ephemera

Spirit Characteristics
Spirits with enough mana can manifest in the terrestrial realm once they've escaped from the Parapet. They can control the size, shape, color of their forms to at least a limited extent. Most are vivid or muted colors. Spirits often appear as sparks, light flashes, streaks, clouds, pulsating balls, or shadows. Complex spirits can appear to be animals or humanoid. They have a wide range of powers that fit within an affinity of the spirit's basic nature. Spirits with the same affinities and origin typically have the same type of powers. A fire elemental, for example, has different affinities that a shadowy nightmare spirit.