Soul

That mer down on the coast showed me a soul. Said a spell that made our eyes glow, and gestured upwards. All these strange floating figures hovered above us, looking just like people, but with glowing orbs at their centers.
I think I saw Mum.

— Dyiiladuunawa man

Souls are the lifeforce of all living things. The souls of all creatures come from The Mother, and are fragments of Her own essence. Without them, bodies would just be empty vessels.

Properties

Souls are metaphysical objects, incapable of being touched without extensive use of Magic. Each soul is bound to a single host, with this bond only severed by death or the use of Necromancy. The soul somehow enables a person to use magic, but is not always capable of doing so.
Though souls are not physical objects, they can be seen through the use of certain spells. Souls currently bound to a body resemble small glowing orbs of varying colours, possibly favouring specific colours per individuals. Souls not bound or otherwise unattached will appear as ghosts - flickering and floating figures.

History

Souls have existed since time immemorial, but mortal ability to perceive and manipulate them is far younger. Exact dates are impossible to come by, and it varies between continents as to when and how humans came to know about them. Their discovery served as the catalyst for magical use throughout Tiyu Amara, building and breaking countries.
Advanced use of souls came about after The Collision, as the merger of two planes of reality brought elves and their expertise to Tiyu Amara. The multitude of research done on souls and the barrier between worlds in its aftermath led to the development of Necromancy, and later the creation of Portals.

Type

Metaphysical

Related Locations

• Planar Sea

Related Technologies

• Magic Catalysts

Uses

Souls are the source of all magic, and act as its fuel source. As such, souls are what are placed into magic catalysts, allowing them to be withdrawn at a moment's notice to fuel spells. Souls can also be directly manipulated for other purposes. Powerful necromancers may place souls into dead bodies to reanimate them, using these zombies as workers or warriors.

Planar Magic by Isaac Thompson