Mystara Spirit Lore
by HåvardThe main Mystara sources on Spirits in Mystara are Gaz 12 The Golden Khan of Ethengar and Gaz 14 the Atruaghin Clans. Depending on how we interpret the nature of Spirits other sources can be considered as well, such as various articles by Bruce Heard in Dragon Magazine on topics like Limbo, Dragon Spirits and Souls. PC1 and sources on the planes of existence might also become relevant.
Types of Spirits
The following Spirits are mentioned in the books:
Totem Spirit, Individual
Totem Spirit, Tribal
Totem Spirit, Clan
Animal Spirit, Lesser
Animal Spirit, Greater
Animal Spirit, Lord
Evil Spirit
Nature Spirit (Rock, Plant, Fire, Air, Water)
Undead Spirit (Odic, Druj, Revenant)
I would personally suggest adding to this list the following creatures:
Elemental
Fey
Non-Corporeal Undead
Hero Spirits
There is no Mystara source indicating that these two creatures are spirits, but non Mystara D&D sources have suggested that Shamans can interract with these types of creatures. It boils down to your definition of Spirits, but I do think that Shamans ought to treat these creatures as Spirits even if they are somewhat different from the above.
Consolidating Spirits
I think the Spirits from Gaz12 and Gaz 14 could be mapped quite easily:
Totem Spirit, Individual = Animal Spirit, Lesser (These are also the type of Spirit Guides that aid Ethengar Shamans).
Totem Spirit, Tribal = Animal Spirit, Greater
Totem Spirit, Clan = Animal Spirit, Lord
For the above categories, the types of animals and their personalities will differ depending on whether the are found in Ethengar, the Atruaghin Lands or elsewhere, but in terms of power level and abilities I think they should compare well.
I also wonder if some Nature Spirits could actually be elementals:
Fire Spirit = Fire Elemental
Air Spirit = Air Elemental
Water Spirit = Water Elemental, Undine or Nixie
Rock Spirit = Earth Elemental?
Plant Spirit = ?