literally who tf are the spirit ashes

[Hoshimachi Suilek]

how do they become one and why

[Noop]

Do Latenna's questline to find out.

[Old Captain Yon]

They are quite literally ashes of dead beings (hence ashes) with spirits bound to them (hence spirit).

"A bell capable of summoning various spirits from ashen remains."

Now when you start thinking about "HOW TF MARIONETTES OR GOLEMS HAVE SPIRITS", well, then it gets weird, yeah. But since every being in souls series has some kind of spiritual essence in them (runes or souls), it does make sense too.

[Old Captain Yon]

If your question was, how does one become a spirit ash (instead of simply dying), well, my guess would be that those who wish/are destined to become spirit ashes, must die without their essence being consumed by someone else (like our tarnished does when killing enemies), and said essence must go to the bodily remains, which are turned to ash like in today burials.

Oh and there are puppets who work like spirit ashes gameplay-wise but are entirely different thing in lore.

[LT2483]

Originally posted by Old Captain Yon:

They are quite literally ashes of dead beings (hence ashes) with spirits bound to them (hence spirit).

"A bell capable of summoning various spirits from ashen remains."

Now when you start thinking about "HOW TF MARIONETTES OR GOLEMS HAVE SPIRITS", well, then it gets weird, yeah. But since every being in souls series has some kind of spiritual essence in them (runes or souls), it does make sense too.

I mean, a spirit can just be an animating force. The non-living creatures still move when intact, so if you get their ashes with that same force still tied to them, then it makes just as much sense they can be ashes as any living being - you summon up a body, and then the force animates it. Whether that force is a soul, magic, or something else, doesn't seem to matter.

[Fineous🔥]

Originally posted by Noop:

Do Latenna's questline to find out.

And the jellyfish sister quest!

[Mewsha]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtllbBMlF7o

[Space Cowboy]

Since almost everything and everyone in the lands between is some kind of weapon of war, I'd presume that spirit ashes are also one - basically a way to continue fighting, even after death. Just a hunch, though - I got nothing to base it in lore.

[Azael Ijima δ]

A friendly reminder there is Land Squirt, Miranda Sprout, and Rats ashes out there, do what you want with that information.

[SpottedHare]

It's no secret martin kind of kribbed his own work when he hack together the background info for this game. In SOIAF it heavy implied that both body and spirit are two different things that can sort of exist with out the other and its clear that this idea was kind of just copied over to this.

[Sabaithal]

They're the physical manifestation of either "dead" beings (as "death" doesn't mean the same thing in this universe as it does IRL, hence beings like Melina and Ranni) or minor beings that cannot be classified as living or dead (the golems mostly).

The act of "summoning" a spirit ash can be interpreted multiple ways. The fact that you pay FP or in some few cases HP to summon them implies a price was paid, just not in runes. FP being something akin to "willpower" in some respects, so in other words they require a being with enough strength of will to command them I suppose (you won't fight for someone you do not respect, that sort of thing maybe?). In the case of golems its probably more like "you uses this amount of FP magic to teleport them here" or something.

HP on the other hand has some more... morbid interpretations.

[mpcgannon]

Cremation; not everyone feels comfortable taking up real estate with their corpse.

[Space Cowboy]

Miss Chalice answers this at least partially within another answer within the first 5 minutes of this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWhrlpVV-cQ&t=178s

[Nxce]

Remains of spirits that couldn't be returned to the Erdtree.