Soulbound Mages

Powerful and Mysterious

Known more commonly as Soulmages, Soulbound Mages are practitioners of Soulbound magic. They are much rarer than elemental mages as well as being generaly more powerful and versatile. They are both feared and sought after for their unique abilities.

Basic Information

Types

Soulmages are divided into 4 different but intertwined types, each possessing a unique and primary ability, as well as a varying number of secondary abilities. Their primary abilities is the one which is used to describe what type of soulmage they are.
Shapeshifters:
They are by far the largest group of Soulmages, composing more than two thirds of the soulmages population. They are also the most well versed in combat, which have lead to many Choranians dubbing them as soldiers of the fate.
Soulweavers:
Known as the eyes of the fate, Soulweavers are arguably the most powerful mages around, even if their abilities aren't combat prone at all. They are the second most populous type at about 15%.
Soulstriders:
The second smallest group of soulbound mages, Soulstriders have become essential in the communication network of Hysal. They group about 5-10% of soulmages.
Necromancer:
Even amonsts soulbound mages, Necromancers are very mysterious. Even by mage standard, they are very reclusive, and the fact that they have the lowest population out of any types at only about 2%.

Abilities

Most soulmages possess 2-3 seperate abilities, which are all affected by the state of their spiritual tether as well as by Veos. While they can also become well versed in using their secondary abilities, their primary abilities will always be easiest to use for them. Some of those abilities are more straight foward, while others are more complicated and nuanced, which may makes them difficult to train or even understand proprely. However, with proper training, soulmages can learn to use their primary ablities fairly easily, while their secondary abilities are usualy harder for them to get a grip on.
Primary Abilities
-Shapeshifting: The ability to shapeshift into an animal or hybrid form.
-Soulweaving: The ability to interact with the soul and see the memories of living beings.
-Teleportation: The Ability to fast travel between two geographic point via The Ether.
-Summoning: The Ability to see and call upon spirits in the Ether and Hysal.

Secondary abilities
-Healing: The ability to heal injuries using etherial mana energy.
-Telepathy: The ability to communicate between soulmages using only thoughts.
-Hypnosis: The ability to mind control living beings.
-Wayfinding: The ability to find the direction of specific destinations and objects.
-Soulsight: The Ability to see the soul and tether of soulmages.

Anatomy

Say for the exception of Shapeshifters, which may have a non-human appearance at times, the three other types look like normal humans when they aren't using their abilities. In fact, they look more like a typical human than even some Elemental Mages. This changes when they start to use their abilities. Again, in the case of shapeshifters, their whole body may change, making their true nature very obvious, but for the other soulmage types, the changes are a bit more suttle.
When using their abilities, Soulmages call upon energy from The Ether, which they can access by their spiritual tether. This tether becomes visible to other soulmages when one of them uses their abilities, but remains invisible to humans or elemental mages. For soulmages, it appears as a bluish ribbon, rising up from a spot between the shoulder blades and just bellow the neck. It rises up towards the sky, ondulating as it does, either on its own, or by the movement of the person its attached to.
However, another change occurs, and this one is much more visible to everyone. Their eyes, usualy resembling that of normal humans, begin to glow, loosing their original colour and emiting a faint bluish light. For both the appearance of the tether and the light their eyes emit, they grow in intensity as they in more etherial energy.

Mana Reserve

Just like Elemental Mages, Soulmages also have a manareserve within their body and soul. This reserve is connected to The Ether by way of their spiritual tether, which allows them to tap into the vast nexurium reserve of the Ether and power their abilities.

Civilization and Culture

Common Taboos

In much of Arros and Enask, it is taboo for Necromancer to use their ability to take control of a spirit. That's because it is seen as a violation of the deceased person's will. In Arros, it is also said by Choranians that it may anger their god, Halin, as i could disturb the universe he created.

History

In many parts of the world, soulmages have long being percecuted by mundane humans who feared them, but also by some elemental mages who saw them and the magic they practiced as dangerous and corruting. As a result, the vast majority of Soulmages throughout history were marginalised from society, either by choice or by force.
A symptom of this marginalisation is that compared to Elemental magic, which is seen as a natural part of the world, with mechanisms and limits that are well understood, soulbound magic is not well understood. Very little is known about it and this contributes to soulmages being seen as something exotic, unnatural, or even dangerous.
This lack of knowledge is caused by both the aformentioned marginalisation of Soulmages, but also because of the source of their powers: The Ether. Not much is known about this place, as it is a dimension or plane of existance that is nearly entirely separated from the physical world of Hysal. This lack of knowledge results in the true extent of soulbound magic not being known.
Because of this lack of knowledge, an aura of mystery and danger still clings onto them. However, not all Soulmages are treated equaly. Some are more favorably seen than others by the general public, depending on their role in one society or another and the history of this type of magic in that society.
A very stricking example is the fact that in the Kingdom of Nan-Tao and in the Confederation of Ru'mensh, Soulmages are sometimes treated as kings or even demi-gods, while in much of the rest of the world, they are regulary persecuted and even expelled from their homes for simply being a mild inconvenience.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Soulmages are very rarely seen coupling with either humans or Elemental Mages. The reason for this is that they are isolated from much of society and also because very strong prejudice exist against them. Some soulmage community also feel the same towards Human and Elemental mages and actively avoid interacting with them.

Types of Soulbound Mages

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Humans

Genetic Descendants

• Cheraf Mage

Lifespan

Around 120 years

Related Technologies

• Talismans

Genetics and reproduction
Soulmages can be born in two ways. The first and most common one is simply when one or both of the parents are soulmages. If that is the case, there is a high chance for the child to be a soulmage. The second way is by what is called a Celestial gift. This is when a child from mundane parents is born with a magic ability, whether it be soulbound magic or elemental magic. This process is completly random. During the first years of the second age, soulmages where exclusivesly born through celestial gifts and only after 1-2 decades later, they also began to be born from soulmage parents.