Reincarnation
"Kneel," The Ida orders, then clarifies, "And you, Storyteller." Ezeki joins the others on the floor, awkwardly from lack of practice. "Now, remain still while I collect a shard of your spirits." "Spirit Shards, Ida?" Ezeki asks. "For what purpose?" "A mere sliver, I promise," the Ida sighs. "I shall cast the shards of your spirits out into the universe, and wherever they land, they will grow with you as their progenitor. They shall become people, and share in your power. Upon their mortal deaths, they will be returned to you, to Aravu, as your deathless Reincarnations. Understood?" Absolutely not. Yet, Ezeki bows its head along with the others, "Yes, Ida."People who are reincarnated, also known as Reincarnations, are the the direct spiritual descendants of those who "donated" a spirit shard to the Ida. A typical Reincarnation is born on Kivria to Kivrian parents of a native sophont species. The details of their mortal experiences varies from person to person, but it can be said that none of them die without leaving a significant mark on their Kivrian homelands. When their mortal life ends, their spirit undergoes a metamorphosis which blesses them an eternal "second life." Their spiritual selves overtake their mortal form, corporeal yet malleable in nature similar to a Yashelin while still retaining their original species. A Reincarnation emerges at the Shrine of Creation upon the completion of their metamorphosis. Though they are not supposed to be transformed into Tikiran Yashelin, exceptions are sometimes made. Regardless of their species, the individual is usually warmly welcomed into the community on Aravu by their fellow Reincarnations and the Yashelin. They are able to freely roam the Afterlife, however, and many choose to establish homes in both realms.
Creating the Reincarnations
The Ida, also known as the Creator, has several modes of creation in its toolbox for sentient creatures, especially the Yashelin. Some Yashelin were created whole-cloth by the Ida, atom by atom. These first creations are called the Idin, or the Created. Others were created via a transformation of an already sentient creature into a Yashelin. They are known as the Tikiran, or the Transformed. The Ida, as well as its creations, believed that the Idin and the Tikiran were the extent of its abilities. The sudden advent of the Katuqin, or the Born, rocked the Ida to its core. Yashelin mating with Kivrian creatures and creating other Yashelin via birth, the one creation method out of the Ida's direct grasp, horrified it. It named these born creatures the Astris. At first, it attempted to eradicate them. Later, it grew resigned to their existence. Amongst the turmoil caused the Katuqin, however, the Ida accidentally stumbled upon another mode of creation: Reincarnation. When the Ida punished Areta for ver actions in opposition to the Astris Genocide, the Ida separated Areta's spirit in two. One, the Ida kept in suspended existence. The other, it transplanted into an unborn Kivrian. It had expected the recombination of these two separated spirits to occur relatively seemlessly. Instead, this experiment resulted in the accidental creation of Maikir. Though they shared a body, the two were undeniably different spirits. Maikir was the first of the Reincarnated, though no one knew what Maikir was at the time. The Ida, meanwhile, learned from its mistaken experiment. It formulated a new method for creating living beings. It performed its second experiment shortly after the Aravun Civil War following the below methodology.How to Create a Reincarnation
- Collect a shard of a Yashelin person's spirit.
- Disperse the shard into the universe.
- Wait for the shard to find a suitable host to transplant.
- Ideally, the spirit shard is reborn as a child via natural birth on the planet of Kivria.
- The reborn child experiences its mortal life, spirit and mind growing in complexity along the way.
- Upon the child's death, they undergo a spiritual transformation from a "body-first, spirit-second" creature (example: Awassi) to that of a "spirit-first, body-second" creature (example: Yashelin)
- They appear at the Shrine of Creation, fully formed and ready to be welcomed into the community.
Physical Traits
Physical Corporeal Traits
There are no standard physical features associated with a Reincarnation because they come from all walks of life. After their death, they even appear to be able to choose their physical age, at least subconsciously. A reincarnated person carries the appearance of their original species prior to their death. Odina, for example, was born on the planet of Kivria as an Awassi ewe. Though her physical form appears no different than before, she is undeniably spiritually distinct if one were to look just beneath the surface. The main physical distinction between a Reincarnation is the Reincarnation's Mark, explored in more detail below. Most often, this presents itself by changing the eye color of the individual to match their spirit, even if it shouldn't be possible in nature. Khenty's pink irises, for example, shocked his brown-eyed Henin parents at his birth.Demographics by Species
Reincarnations are predominantly Awassi or Henin, both species making up 50% of all Reincarnations. There are also two Yashelin, both of which were unidentified as Reincarnations until after their creation. One was transformed accidentally by the altarkeepers at the Shrine of Creation, but the other appeared suddenly as if Idin. The Felis Sapiens has also been transformed into a Yashelin, but of such a strikingly unique variety that I have chosen to continue to separate him at this time. There is one Fas amongst the Reincarnations. He is one of three individuals who are "natively" Aravun, but only one of two who grew up there rather than on Kivria. Only one individual identifies openly as an Astris at the present moment. Astris, however, is more of an ethnicity than a species for some. There are possibly more of them in the ranks than this chart represents, and given the danger of being Astris on Aravu, it is unsurprising that most would decline to disclose this information.
Physical Spiritual Traits
The Reincarnation's Mark
Upon their deaths, Reincarnations appear at the altar of the Shrine of Creation. Other spirits commonly appear at the altar as well. For example, random spirits may appear at the altar if the Ida intends to transform them into a Yashelin. They may also appear completely by mistake and need assistance moving the rest of the way into the Afterlife. As such, it became of critical importance to distinguish Reincarnations from all else. Thankfully, each Reincarnation possesses a Reincarnation's Mark that matches the spiritual color of their Yashelin counterpart. Each Reincarnation's spirit was grown from the shard of their Yashelin ancestor. Therefore, they and their Yashelin ancestor share the same spiritual color. Although it is possible to peer into one's spirit directly to check their status, it is easiest and safest for an Altarkeeper to perform a visual check for the mark first. The mark is usually a physical feature on the person's body that matches their spiritual color. The most common mark is their eye color. For example, Esther Zylpeiros has light green eyes. Her spirit is also light green. This matches her perfectly with Petal, her Yashelin spiritual ancestor. Mason Verbena, meanwhile, has dark green eyes that do not match him with his Yashelin counterpart, but rather his Yashelin biological father. Instead, his Reincarnation's Mark is his brown wool.Spiritual Experiences
"The spirit remembers what the mind forgets."
Spirits Alike
The "mind forgets but the spirit remembers" their past life. Also, the past that their "past life" is still living and right there to talk to. Each reincarnation is defined in some way by the balance between fate and choice as they follow, roughly, in their progenitor's footsteps. Besides the altarkeeper, the first person that a Reincarnation met was their spiritual ancestor. Upon reuniting with their Reincarnation, most Yashelin reported a strong feeling of a kinmanship. The Reincarnations described a sense of deja-vu, as if they had once known their ancestor intimately in a previous life.Residual Consequences
Reincarnations are frequently haunted by their mortal deaths. For example, Mason went to sleep and never woke up. The only discernible cause was old age. Now, he is prone to fits of narcolepsy. Yasmine, meanwhile, died of a heart attack and is now haunted by chest pain.Familiar Strangers
Feeling drawn to one another even while still alive on Kivria because their spirits recognize each other even though they are supposedly perfect strangers at the time.Forming Community
"What does being a Reincarnation mean to me?" Yasmine repeats, incredulously. "That is what I asked, yes," Ezeki replies. "Please, humor me?" "It means I have a lot of strange friends."
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