Soulcraft
Soulcraft, a simple term for a complex subject that is debated within the great halls of the University Obscura. This treatise is a general overview of the topic and popular items for debate.
I. What is the soul?
Soulcraft, in its simplest form, refers to Magical Manipulation of the Soul. Consequently, it becomes necessary to de-mystify the “soul” and do away with religious overtones that are quite unfounded. The real question at hand is, “what is a person?”. A person is a combination of a physical body and a magical essence. The body, on its own, is not capable of intelligence or action without aid and cannot exist on its own in any capacity other than. This subject has been studied at large by Animists especially within the Calix. Animism is the field of using magical processes to instill magical essence into a body, thus giving it the ability to act.
The magical essence that makes up a person is built in the Well, which was created by the Lords of Thunder. The Well is the font of magic power and is both the source of magic and return destination of expended energy.Within the Well, magical essence coalesces into an entity that is the sum of its parts. Each part is a shard or portion of magic that carries certain properties, and it is these shards that most magic-users interact with on a daily basis. A fire spell, for example, harnesses magic that exists in the world that is predisposed towards destruction and combustion.
When enough parts come together, they give birth to something new, which is perhaps how the Soul became “special” when really all there is to it is a combination of magical energy into a single entity. Once an entity is formed in the Well it is able to leave that domain and seek out a means to act within the material world. This interaction between the Well and the material world is of great interest to many researchers, but unfortunately remains one of the most unfathomable of pursuits.
It is also known that when a body dies, the soul moves back to the Well, perhaps as a defense mechanism since it cannot maintain its composition within the material plane on its own. It is speculated that the body and mind work together to fuel and nourish each other, and one part cannot truly form a person without both pieces. Therefore, death may occur if the body can no longer support the essence (soul) or if the soul can no longer fuel the body. Once the essence travels back to the Well, it slowly breaks down over time back into its component parts.
This conclusion is arrived from studying the phenomena of “rebirth” and “partial rebirth”. History has produced many individuals that possess characteristics, traits, and memories that do not belong to them, such as the case of an elf from the Dawnwood with full memories of those that correlate to a Valadirian Legionnaire. Likewise, it is suggested that particularly strong essences can remain mostly intact and are able to return to the material plane without being disassembled and reconstituted. This is supported chains of individuals that, over time, act on memories, beliefs, and predispositions that they attribute to another person. Mostly famously is Tamalir’s Green Knight. At first the Green Knight was thought to be immortal or a myth, but careful study has revealed that the Green Knight is actually the same person continually reborn. There is a full treatise on this realization in another work by the Sage Sidolfus Branwin.
II. What is Soulcraft?
Soulcraft refers to the practice of conducting magical experimentation on the entire entity of the soul compared to normal magic that only interacts with individual pieces. This makes Soulcraft incredibly more complex as it deals with magical constructs that are both deity-created and not readily accessible. There are several sub-fields that focus on specific interactions with these complex entities.
A. Soulcraft - Imbuement
Imbuement deals with transferring parts of a soul into mundane objects. It is important to note that this NOT the same as attempting similar techniques with a body, as that falls into a different practice altogether.
Instead, imbuement manifests in a few different practices. The first is to capture a portion of a soul as it departs the material plane and harness it within an object. This is one of the few ways an item can be given magical and wondrous abilities that are representative of the essence they hold. For example, the Blade of Valadir is said to possess the skill of the original wielder, while the Deverenian Crown of the High King supposedly passes on the shrewd cunning of its original owner.
B. Soulcraft - Nourishment
This type of soulcraft is made most famous by the practices of the Calix Elves. Bodies eventually wear out and wither away which in turn causes the “Soul” to vacate and move back to the Well. The Calix have created a process in which they tap into their own Magical Essence to feed their mortal bodies. In essence the body is put into a stasis-like state and is entirely dependent on the power of its magical essence to sustain it. This requires a powerful magical essence to sustain itself, and the procedure fails to work on those that are too weak do not survive.
Over time, it has proven that strong senses of self-identity and Calix with distinct attachments to the material world are able to sustain themselves longer than those that lack purpose. The best example is General Winter of the Calix, whom was the leader of an Elven kingdom during the battle with the Lords of Dusk before the Accordlands were even founded.
C. Soulcraft - Recall
Those that perform miracles tend to call this “resurrection” but this is not truly the case. Recall refers to the ability to place magical essence back into its corresponding body. There are two ways to do this. One is enabled if the matching essence has not departed the material plane. In this case the body can be repaired to a degree that it can sustain the being’s essence, and a simple recall spell can place the soul back within the body.
If the magical essence has gone back to the well, recall becomes more difficult because it requires both tracing the soul within the well and recalling it as well as either reconstituting the soul to make up for parts lost or by locating those pieces and using them in the rebuild. This level of procedure is only even attempted by those with the best understanding of the Well’s inner workings. Those that do this via “divine magic” are simply relying on a being more powerful than themselves to do the “heavy lifting” so to speak.
D. Soulcraft - Manipulation and Destruction
The most debated aspect of Soulcraft that also is the cause of its poor reputation. Those well-versed in dealing with “souls” have the knowledge and power to manipulate it. There are many such applications such as rearranging a being’s essence to hide certain characteristics and bring out others. Additionally, parts of one’s essence could be extracted and placed into another person, allowing the mobility of power or certain traits from one being to another.
The most dangerous applications, though, deal with using Soulcraft to place a magical entity in a body not meant to host it. For example, those with the proper skill have argued that it would be possible to take someone’s soul and place it into another’s body or a constructed vessel. This would enable a person to potentially live forever, moving from body to body. Additionally, instead of manipulating this essence, it can also be destroyed. The easy version of this is to split the essence down into its parts, which of course means it cannot be part of a body and quickly dissipates. This powerful craft can be used to instantly remove a “soul” from the material plane, banishing it back to the Well.
The Calix, however, have also demonstrated that, through Soulcraft, that these magical essences that make up a “soul” can be destroyed in its entirety. These so-called dark arts’ secrets are not known to me, but it seems to be a troubling amount of power that in essence denies a “soul’s” ability to travel back to the Well, ensuring its permanent destruction as it can no longer return to the Well and be reborn.
I. What is the soul?
Soulcraft, in its simplest form, refers to Magical Manipulation of the Soul. Consequently, it becomes necessary to de-mystify the “soul” and do away with religious overtones that are quite unfounded. The real question at hand is, “what is a person?”. A person is a combination of a physical body and a magical essence. The body, on its own, is not capable of intelligence or action without aid and cannot exist on its own in any capacity other than. This subject has been studied at large by Animists especially within the Calix. Animism is the field of using magical processes to instill magical essence into a body, thus giving it the ability to act.
The magical essence that makes up a person is built in the Well, which was created by the Lords of Thunder. The Well is the font of magic power and is both the source of magic and return destination of expended energy.Within the Well, magical essence coalesces into an entity that is the sum of its parts. Each part is a shard or portion of magic that carries certain properties, and it is these shards that most magic-users interact with on a daily basis. A fire spell, for example, harnesses magic that exists in the world that is predisposed towards destruction and combustion.
When enough parts come together, they give birth to something new, which is perhaps how the Soul became “special” when really all there is to it is a combination of magical energy into a single entity. Once an entity is formed in the Well it is able to leave that domain and seek out a means to act within the material world. This interaction between the Well and the material world is of great interest to many researchers, but unfortunately remains one of the most unfathomable of pursuits.
It is also known that when a body dies, the soul moves back to the Well, perhaps as a defense mechanism since it cannot maintain its composition within the material plane on its own. It is speculated that the body and mind work together to fuel and nourish each other, and one part cannot truly form a person without both pieces. Therefore, death may occur if the body can no longer support the essence (soul) or if the soul can no longer fuel the body. Once the essence travels back to the Well, it slowly breaks down over time back into its component parts.
This conclusion is arrived from studying the phenomena of “rebirth” and “partial rebirth”. History has produced many individuals that possess characteristics, traits, and memories that do not belong to them, such as the case of an elf from the Dawnwood with full memories of those that correlate to a Valadirian Legionnaire. Likewise, it is suggested that particularly strong essences can remain mostly intact and are able to return to the material plane without being disassembled and reconstituted. This is supported chains of individuals that, over time, act on memories, beliefs, and predispositions that they attribute to another person. Mostly famously is Tamalir’s Green Knight. At first the Green Knight was thought to be immortal or a myth, but careful study has revealed that the Green Knight is actually the same person continually reborn. There is a full treatise on this realization in another work by the Sage Sidolfus Branwin.
II. What is Soulcraft?
Soulcraft refers to the practice of conducting magical experimentation on the entire entity of the soul compared to normal magic that only interacts with individual pieces. This makes Soulcraft incredibly more complex as it deals with magical constructs that are both deity-created and not readily accessible. There are several sub-fields that focus on specific interactions with these complex entities.
A. Soulcraft - Imbuement
Imbuement deals with transferring parts of a soul into mundane objects. It is important to note that this NOT the same as attempting similar techniques with a body, as that falls into a different practice altogether.
Instead, imbuement manifests in a few different practices. The first is to capture a portion of a soul as it departs the material plane and harness it within an object. This is one of the few ways an item can be given magical and wondrous abilities that are representative of the essence they hold. For example, the Blade of Valadir is said to possess the skill of the original wielder, while the Deverenian Crown of the High King supposedly passes on the shrewd cunning of its original owner.
B. Soulcraft - Nourishment
This type of soulcraft is made most famous by the practices of the Calix Elves. Bodies eventually wear out and wither away which in turn causes the “Soul” to vacate and move back to the Well. The Calix have created a process in which they tap into their own Magical Essence to feed their mortal bodies. In essence the body is put into a stasis-like state and is entirely dependent on the power of its magical essence to sustain it. This requires a powerful magical essence to sustain itself, and the procedure fails to work on those that are too weak do not survive.
Over time, it has proven that strong senses of self-identity and Calix with distinct attachments to the material world are able to sustain themselves longer than those that lack purpose. The best example is General Winter of the Calix, whom was the leader of an Elven kingdom during the battle with the Lords of Dusk before the Accordlands were even founded.
C. Soulcraft - Recall
Those that perform miracles tend to call this “resurrection” but this is not truly the case. Recall refers to the ability to place magical essence back into its corresponding body. There are two ways to do this. One is enabled if the matching essence has not departed the material plane. In this case the body can be repaired to a degree that it can sustain the being’s essence, and a simple recall spell can place the soul back within the body.
If the magical essence has gone back to the well, recall becomes more difficult because it requires both tracing the soul within the well and recalling it as well as either reconstituting the soul to make up for parts lost or by locating those pieces and using them in the rebuild. This level of procedure is only even attempted by those with the best understanding of the Well’s inner workings. Those that do this via “divine magic” are simply relying on a being more powerful than themselves to do the “heavy lifting” so to speak.
D. Soulcraft - Manipulation and Destruction
The most debated aspect of Soulcraft that also is the cause of its poor reputation. Those well-versed in dealing with “souls” have the knowledge and power to manipulate it. There are many such applications such as rearranging a being’s essence to hide certain characteristics and bring out others. Additionally, parts of one’s essence could be extracted and placed into another person, allowing the mobility of power or certain traits from one being to another.
The most dangerous applications, though, deal with using Soulcraft to place a magical entity in a body not meant to host it. For example, those with the proper skill have argued that it would be possible to take someone’s soul and place it into another’s body or a constructed vessel. This would enable a person to potentially live forever, moving from body to body. Additionally, instead of manipulating this essence, it can also be destroyed. The easy version of this is to split the essence down into its parts, which of course means it cannot be part of a body and quickly dissipates. This powerful craft can be used to instantly remove a “soul” from the material plane, banishing it back to the Well.
The Calix, however, have also demonstrated that, through Soulcraft, that these magical essences that make up a “soul” can be destroyed in its entirety. These so-called dark arts’ secrets are not known to me, but it seems to be a troubling amount of power that in essence denies a “soul’s” ability to travel back to the Well, ensuring its permanent destruction as it can no longer return to the Well and be reborn.
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