Souls

All living mortals possess a magical essence known as a soul. A soul is bestowed upon a creature upon their birth and remains with them until their death. During an individual's life, their soul grows more potent as they grow both physically and mentally. An elderly person may not be as physically strong as they once were but posses a far more powerful soul. The average person is only vaguely aware of their soul's existence throughout their life, it not having much impact on their day to day experiences save for religious ceremony. Those who practice certain branches of magic must remain acutely aware of their soul and its status in order to cast, as overexertion can leave one's soul in tatters. A damaged soul can have disastrous effects upon an individual, rendering them permanently catatonic, or killing them outright in most instances.
When a mortal dies, their soul will remain attached to their body for around a week before passing on. Where souls go after death is still a mystery to most, due to the fact that they are difficult to observe without highly specialized equipment. During the traditional funeral rites of the Kingdoms, souls have been observed merging with a Beacon, persisting there for a period ranging from three weeks to several decades. During this period, particularly skilled hearthsages can attempt to contact the spirit to briefly speak with the deceased, their consciousness remaining mostly intact but deteriorating as the period carries on. Most spirits manifest this by slowly aging backward, their knowledge and memories being slowly torn away during the time they persist within the Beacon.
Eventually, a soul within a Beacon will pass on. Little is known about this process, but most scholars believe that the fire does not wholly consume the soul in its entirety. Many denizens of the Kingdoms believe in a sort of reincarnation, similar to the process The Rona undergoes save for the fact that memories are mostly lost between iterations. Other leading theories include the soul's essence becoming too faint to be detectable by current instruments, and that the soul is indeed consumed by the fire entirely. Regardless, most seem to be in agreement that death is not wholly the end of existence within the Kingdoms and that while the body may be gone, the essence of a person is not often lost.