The Triad of Life

Scholars have often pondered on what makes a mortal. Why can a crab scuttle along the beach while a sea rock just sits in the sand? What makes a shambling zombie different from a living person? The best answer they have come up with is called the triad of life. In this theoretical framework, there are three parts of a living being: the body, the spirit, and the soul. Someone needs all three to be considered alive. Having only one usually means one is undead.

The Triad

The Body

The body is the physical vessel that a person exists in. Flesh and bone, the body is not particularly divine. While theologians believe that the original bodies were created by the gods, every body since has been created through profane means: namely, reproduction. The body is the easiest part of the triad to harm and kill, as most forms of physical and magical assault will damage the body, to the point where the body can no longer function.

The Spirit

While the body is the profane part of a person, the spirit is the divine. Spirits are supposedly crafted by the gods in the Lifeforge for each person and sent down to Belkora when a body is born. These spirits are what makes a person them, as opposed to someone else, carrying a person's personality and other unqiue aspects of their being. When a body dies, their spirit goes on to the afterlife, whatever someone believes that to be. Those who deny the presence of the gods and an afterlife believe the the spirit dissolves to oblivion upon death. While difficult, it is possible to harm the spirit with specific forms of thaumaturgy, which can cause a disolution of self.

The Soul

Souls are a unique form of arcane energy that adheres a spirit to a body. No one is sure why souls are unique compared to other arcane energy or where they come from. The soul is almost impossible to harm directly due to the nature of arcane energy, although it is theorized that if someone managed to manipulate the essence Amea, they would be able to disolve people's souls. Additionally, while bodies and spirits generally persist when someone dies, a soul automatically dissolves into normal arcane energy when someone dies, preventing magic from making people back to life.

The Triad and Undead

While a living person requires all three of the triad, undead exist when one of the three triads "lives" without the others. A body without a spirit will usually result in a zombie or a skeleton is the flesh is decayed enough. However, things like vampires and liches can exist when a spiritless body has enough Kiri to be sentient. A spirit without a body will usually be a ghost, becoming something more malevolent like a wraith when the spirit hold a lot of anger in undeath. A soul on its own is just arcane energy so it cannot be an undead.

Type

Metaphysical