Essence

The Essence

The essence is often likened to a soul. A coalesced pearl of magic that has bound itself to living things, and that when removed or destroyed, the creature dies. Essences are formed through magic gathering as a living being forms, gathering latent magic around itself until the process is complete. These strange magic formations are the foundation of magic use in Terra today, as nearly all spells draw on the Aura, an evaporated form of the essence that occurs naturally as it outgasses its energies back into the world over time.
It is thought that the essence may not be entirely part of the physical plane by many, or that it has very unique properties, as not all can directly interact with or see them. For those able to see essences, they are described as a large pearl, often the size of a that creature's heart, in a living being's chest, but the size can vary depending on the being. Essences of plants, insects, and particularly small beings, even if technically visible, are often so small they cannot be seen with the naked eye. Beings such as dragons and the gods, however, can have essences signifgantly larger, some being so large they cannot possibly be a physical structure.

Origins

The origins of essences are unknown, as the essence appears to have existed far further than any historical record from any race or species. The earliest primitive drawings and carvings from dragons show the essence as a crude circular object at their heart, and no depiction exists from humans. Some theories exist however: The main one being that humans, like many races descended from them, were unable to see or interact with essences at all much like their extremely high magic resistance allowing them to be immune and unaware of most magic, so they went unnoticed. Another theory dictates that the essences come from dragons themselves, the magic unleashed by them creating essences in other creatures, as it is primarily the races most affected by draconic magic that can see them, and only the omnia, directly created by the dragons, able to interact with the essence as dragons do.

Ties to Magic, Lifespan, and Death

The essence has many ties to magic and is often a rough indicator to one's ability. Those with larger essences create larger Auras, and have the potential to use much more powerful magic more frequently.
Essences are also deeply tied to life and death. The essence slowly evaporates over time, and when completely depleted, will cause the death of the being no matter what measures are taken. The essence can outlive a person, however, lasting far beyond their life if death is caused by circumstance such as disease, injury, or murder. This 'left over' essence left behind from an early death seems to be what prompted the God of Death to create Limbo as ways of working cooperatively with Mora, The God of Life to recycle essences in allowing a person to be reborn. Although how specifically this happens is unknown and hidden by the gods, even the minor gods seem to know something of the process and many have stated that Ghosts exist purely as way of better collecting them for rebirth. The Fallen God Hilathu is also used by Shia to collect the essences of the dead and ferry them to Limbo's Crossing.