Souls

*Spirit and anima redirect here.  The spirit, anima and soul are all similar in function.*

**The Soul** is the very essence of a a human's existence.  It is an amalgamation of their consciousness, emotions, memories and experiences.  It is a source of immense power, akin to a battery.  This makes it desirable for both deities and demons.  While not readily visible, the soul is detectable and measurable.  Deities instead possess a **spirit**, and demons have an **anima,** both of which function similarly to the soul.

## The Nature of Souls

### **Use in Magic**

Souls serve as the battery that fuels magic.  When words of power are spoken for a spell, a tiny fragment of the soul is consumed to generate the spell.  As a result, mages have to rest if they expend their magical reserves, as casting magic diminishes the soul.  If a mage were to continue casting magic without caring about their soul, they would be afflicted with various handicaps.  There are five levels of Soul Sickness:

* Physical illness in the form of headaches and weakness
* Grey, ashen skin that dissolves
* Degradation of mental health
* Insanity
* Death/soullessness

### **The Soul as a Muscle**

The human soul is an oddity in how it can increase its size and power.  Falladin first intimated that cautiously practicing magic would cause mages to grow more experienced and effective.  Under his watch, it was discovered that mages could challenge themselves with exhausting spells and the soul would eventually grow back--stronger and larger than before.  This discovery would cause both deities and demons alike to covet the human soul, as its potential is practically limitless.

### **Use in Prayer**

Prayer and worship of gods is actually a small ritual--anyone starting a prayer begins it with a small word of power.  This, in turn, takes a minuscule fragment of their soul and gives it to their deity.  This is the basis of the symbiotic relationship between humans and deities; more prayer gives deities more power, and in turn deities govern and shape the world.

### **Use in Dark Sorceries**

Dark sorceries are powerful, augmented versions of existing magic.  By calling upon humanity's innate darkness, a user can add dark prefixes to their spells to punch them up considerably.  However, these spells are harder to control and take a heavier toll on the soul.  In addition to a steeper physical cost, these sorceries "darken" the soul.  If a mage were to use many dark spells quickly, their soul would be blackened to a point of no return.  This would transform them into a demon. However, a mage can grow their soul significantly faster if they cautiously use dark sorceries.  This creates many ethical quandaries.

## Different types of Souls

### **Spirit**

The spirit is a light, radiant variant of the soul.  It burns ceaselessly, and nearly indefinitely.  Deities and lesser celestial beings possess a spirit.  The spirit can temporarily combine itself with a human soul, augmenting the being of both individuals with little drawback.  A deity's spirit recovers slower than a human's soul.  Spirits actually exist in Praeteria, and use Ichorstone to anchor themselves in the Overworld.

### **Anima**

Demons posses a dark, inky anima as opposed to a spirit or soul.  A demon's anima is infamous for its ability to devour both spirits and souls, and visibly comprises a demon's form.  It is unknown whether one anima can devour another.  An anima can also combine itself with a human soul, but it darkens the host soul to a degree.  A demon's anima also fuels their magic, but over-using magic takes away from the demon's form itself.  The only documented way to kill a demon is them exhausting their anima on their own, or overwhelming them with incalculable power.  Animas are much slower to recover their power, unlike the human soul.

The first demon killed by firepower alone was Azamir, as his anima was incinerated in close quarters by Vandrick Wintermoore.

## Darkening the Soul

The soul can be changed and transformed by darkness.  Using dark sorceries, being possessed by a demon, and committing atrocities are the primary ways of darkening the soul.  Darkness slowly dissipates from the soul over time, but if a soul grows too dark too quickly the change will be irreversible.  A soul that darkens beyond repair is known as an anima, and is the basis for a demon's being and form.

### **Dark Points or DP**

As an in-game mechanic, using dark sorceries adds Dark Points or DP to a counter. Depending on the player, their maximum DP points may vary. These spells are very strong, but are wild and also have unintended consequences. No player has completely exhausted their DP to zero, but it is implied something bad will happen if they do so.