Wisp

In folklore, a wisp, will-o'-the-wisp, or will-o'-wisp is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travelers at night, especially over bogs, swamps, or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, English folklore, and much of European folklore by a variety of names, including jack-o'-lantern, friar's lantern, hinkypunk, and hobby lantern, and is said to mislead travelers by resembling a flickering lamp or lantern. In literature, will-o'-the-wisp metaphorically refers to a hope or goal that leads one on but is impossible to reach, or something one finds sinister and confounding. In reality, wisps are spirits of living nature.

Unlike elementals which can effect and rule over the inorganic elements of reality, wisps have inherent ties to organic material. They can help plants grow and heal the wounds of animals. Wisps have little power as a weapon and on their own, if need be, they will lure a mortal trespasser away from whatever they are guarding. Being made of electromagnetic energy, they can also discharge some voltage if need be which can inflict enough pain in a human to cause them to flee. However, it is in large swarms that they can be better used as weapons.

This was how the dryad, Draeope, used wisps in Portland, Oregon’s Forest National Park. Once she and the Night Stalkers, Sani Lightfoot and Katerina Mordova, pushed the forces of the plague witch, Baba Yaga, across the Columbian River, she ordered a mass of wisps to guard the way towards the bridge to cut off the escape of any of Yaga’s stragglers. Absinthe Van Gothen arrived to find her path blocked by the wisps, but after following the directions of the goddess, Hecate, she managed to pass through.