Awakening

There are many mundane beasts and plants in Sanctum Hollow, they have no spirits and when they die they simply leave behind their earthly form.
However, there are some that have lived long enough in an aura-rich environment, absorbing enough of a particular ambient aura from their surroundings to develop a spirit. This is referred to as Awakening. With a spirit, these Awakened beings can instinctively learn to spin essence through a Soulthread like a Weaver. They do not progress in the same way as people do when reinforcing their Soulthreads. Although, like powerful Weavers, when they die they leave behind a Soultrace with a potency reflective the quality of their Soulthread in life.
These creatures are generally referred to as Spirit Beasts or Spirit Plants. In some regions, people substitute the word "spirit" with "mystic", "magical", or "moon" when referring to Awakened beings.
Quondam trees are an example of an Awakened tree.
The oldest of such beings can even speak, and legends say some can take human forms. Further, stories speculate that Awakened creatures can give birth to Awakened offspring, perhaps only after a few generations.
As such creatures are relatively rare, eating their meat or fruit, or making items from their remains can provide a Weaver with great power, provided they have the knowledge and ability to make use of it. Many of the four schools guard the secrets to most efficiently preparing such spiritual leftovers to assist their students in their training.