Essence

## Summary

Essence is the mysterious, extradimensional force that allows the influence of reality through a practice called magic. Essence, and therefore magic, defies explanation because it is not native to reality, and thus, not bound by its rules. Different cultures have different names for this esoteric energy, ranging from Mana in Melanesian and Polynesian cultures, Chakra in Dharmic cultures, to Aether in many western cultures (largely due to Hellenistic influences).

In spite of what many self-proclaimed occultists believe, essence is not a universal constant, much less a multiversal force. It can only be found natively in extradimensional realms linked to the Nexus such as the Overvoid, the Underworld, or the Intrinsic Fields. When found in reality, it is due to the presence of ley lines which, when intersecting, create vortexes that act as wellsprings from which essence from the aforementioned realms can pour out.

Essence is normally naked to the mortal eyes, only visible to those with Mage's Sight or to a selective few supernatural species who are sensitive to magic. Despite having mass, it doesn't usually interact with most types of physical matter and energy, though it is capable of doing so. It is comparable to radiation as it can be found inside of materials as well as in the atmosphere of extradimensional realms. However, like radiation, there's a "safe limit" that ordinary beings can handle before experiencing adverse side effects and potentially death.

Mundanes have a low resistance to essence exposure, while Metahumans and the Awakened almost all bear much higher tolerances, enough for the latter to practice magic and even travel between different worlds, albeit with some difficulties. Downworlders, on the other hand, are beings with innate systems that help them process essence, though even they have upper limits on how much they can handle. Only a handful of races (Gods, Angels, Fallen Angels, Hellions, etc.) are immune to the danger of "essence radiation" and can manipulate essence freely without fearing drawbacks.

Skilled artificers can insert essence into objects and artifacts through the use of enchantments, sigils, and a plethora of complex rituals. This results in the creation of new "magical items" that possess certain magical properties of their own. Often, magical items are used by mages to lessen the amount of essence expended like the simple flight of brooms or to utilize forms of magic outside of their specialized crafts like Protection Magic or Healing Magic. Magical items require a certain amount of essence in order to be activated and are rendered useless in the hands of a mundane, not that it's stopped self-proclaimed occultists from collecting them.

### Types of Essence

Essence is highly susceptible to the thoughts and emotions of living beings. At the most basic level, essence can be utilized as either Telekinesis (infusing essence with one's intents to move objects from afar with mental directions) or Telepathy (infusing essence with one's thoughts/emotions before projecting it toward a target, thus establishing a telepathic connection between them). Almost all magicians are trained in either or both techniques before delving into more complicated and esoterical subjects.

There are three primary types of essence, categorized based on its moral charge: Essence with a positive charge is Supernal Essence; essence with a negative charge is Infernal Essence; and finally, pure essence with a neutral charge is called Phantasmal Essence. There are also three additional types of essence, dubbed "Eldritch" because of their abnormal and incomprehensible nature: Empyrean Essence, which is the purest form of supernal essence and wielded by the Angels; Abyssal Essence, which is the most corrupted version of infernal essence and wielded by the Hellions; and Sidhean Essence, which is phantasmal essence in its most chaotic state and wielded by the Fallen Angels and their descendants, the Archfey. Any of the six are difficult to control due to their purity, but the latter three are impossible to wield without some sorts of eldritch endowments.

Magic practitioners and supernatural creatures alike can absorb essence to renew their energy stores, but often have trouble using these types of essence without a proper element. Adding an element to essence is basically giving essence a tiny portion of reality in order to make it easier for mortal minds to comprehend and utilize properly. When an element is added to essence, it loses its moral charge, and thus, becomes Elemental Essence, which comes in multiple "flavors" such as fire essence, water essence, wind essence, earth essence, life essence, death essence, sex essence, music essence, sound essence, dream essence... and many, many other forms.

### Ley Lines

Ley Lines are invisible semi-physical channels through which essence from interdimensional realms permeates the material world. They can be up to six meters wide and crisscross the entire planet, able to be found at any altitude, be it a mountain peak or a cavern deep under the sea. Each ley radiates a magical signature that can be sensed by anyone and anything that's capable to perceive magical aura; an person attuned to magic gets a cramp on their ring finger extending downward when within 10 meters of the ley. According to some mystics, they are metaphysical cracks in reality that connect planet Earth with other worlds.

When two or more leys intersect, they create eldritch vortexes from which essence from interdimensional realms can pour out. These places are known as Ley Convergences(Magical Energy Intersections). They are "in-betweens" according to some magicians, places outside of regular space-time where any magic performed is greatly amplified, but also becomes alarmingly unstable. The most potent Ley Convergences are often "enhanced" by erecting Ascension Anchors(Places of Power), obelisks carved from otherworldly materials and marked with complex sigils that would allow a safer way to draw energy than from "naked" Ley Convergences.

Even mundanes who are ignorant of the supernatural subconsciously recognize the importance of the leys, even if the majority of them don't understand exactly why. As such, many buildings and monuments of great importance (whether it is religious, spiritual, historical, or simply political) are often built upon ley convergences. Throughout history, many mundanes have tried to rationalize this particular phenomenon through numerous pseudo-scientific and/or pseudo-religious theories of varying degrees of success. Even in modern days, many mundane occultists claim to be professional researchers in regard to the leys, though unfortunately, their information is either outdated or blatantly incorrect, resulting in the majority of the mundane to believe the leys are nothing but ancient superstitions (The Mist certainly feels no reason to correct this).

Due to their nature as rifts in the fabric of reality, it's possible to achieve interdimensional travel by manipulating the chaotic energies of the leys. This is known as a Fairy Ring(Ley Line Terminal), named after the faeries who supposedly discovered and definitely popularized this method of transportation. Fairy Rings are unstable wormholes that are incredibly dangerous to enter unless you want to be banged up or killed. Certain magical items are needed to stabilize the cosmic energies inside the tunnel before it can be safely entered. It's considered to be a primitive version of the Gods' Axis Mundi.

### Essence-Based Lifeforms

Also referred to by some cultures as Manifestations, Thoughtforms, Totems, or Tulpas, Ephemerals are beings born whenever essence of the right type is found in high concentration. Typically, they are born when certain types of psychic energy carrying thoughts and emotions get absorbed by an Ley Line Blossoms(Phantasmal Outcrops) (brilliant flowers buds that sprout from energy excess seeping out from the leys), which becomes a crystal embryo that incubates the Ephemeral inside until it hatches. The majority of Ephemerals are neutrally charged, their cores are made of essence type(s) that is neither positive or negative. Their essence mixture can be wide and varied, or it can be fairly uniform.

Thanks to their metaphysical biology, Ephemerals are a highly-mutable species that can adapt to whatever type of essence they are exposed to. Ephemerals exposed to infernal energy will eventually become more demonic in nature, both in appearance and personality. Ephemerals who become entangled with sidhean essence will eventually metamorph into some sorts of fae, often a changeling but a True Fae is also possible. Meanwhile, Ephemerals that receive supernal endowments may receive Exaltation and transform into fully-fledged Gods. Ephemerals cannot reproduce with one another unless either of them has their internal essence changed, though they can still reproduce with other species – The resulting offspring will always be from their non-Ephemeral parent with a strong affinity for magic.

Monsters are creatures born of the chaotic energies of Creation. They are foul and malicious creatures who live to torment mortal beings. They delight in making others suffer and engage in torture, murder, and any deprave or wicked deed that will bring about suffering or chaos, for it is this entropic energy that they feed on. Monsters born of the concentrated infernal energy of the Underworld are known as Demons (not to be mistaken for Devils). Downworlders are the descendants of Monsters and Demons who have become orderly, civilized, and respectable denizens of the supernatural world, largely thanks to the addition of a soul.

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* A particle of essence is called a mote.
* Internal essence is prone to merge with bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, or semen, and the latter two have proven to be good at holding in essence for some time even after leaving the body. Because of this, by drinking essence-infused blood, one can replenish their own energy store. Magicians with monetary problems have also been known to sell their essence-infused bodily fluids to magic cabals or to the black market.
* Constant essence manipulation can take a physical toll on the user's body, especially when it's overused. The side effects include: Exhaustion; straining of the body; bleeding from eyes, nostrils, or mouth; falling into a comatose state; shortening of one's own lifespan; and even potential death.
* Through forbidden rites, essence can also be created by converting the life-force of a living organism (often animals or humans) into it, usually resulting in the slow and agonizing death of said organism. This is how some mages were able to practice their dark magic in low-fantasy worlds with limited, or even inactive, ley lines.
	+ One of the reasons why Celestials are considered nigh-invincible by many is because of their ability to generate an endless supply of internal essence by constantly converting their own limitless life-force. This allows them to produce an infinite amount of magical effects with no drawbacks or fear of exhausting their energy stores, making their magical capacity far greater than the average Gods.
* To those with magic sensitivity, certain types of essence have a distinctive scent:
	+ Empyrean essence smells like frankincense and myrrh.
	+ Supernal essence smells like burnt offerings.
	+ Phantasmal essence smells like petrichor, a.k.a. the scent of the earth after rain.
	+ Sidhean essence smells like freshly-baked goods.
	+ Infernal essence smells like embalming oils and has a musty scent.
	+ Abyssal essence smells like warm blood, charred corpses, with a heavy sulfuric scent and an overall "otherworldly wrongness" to it.
	+ Different types of elemental essence generally have scents reminiscent of its respective element: Fire essence smells like burning woods; wind essence smells like the ozone; dream essence smells like ground coffee; and plant essence smells like fresh flowers.
* Ley Line Flowers can be harvested and the essence inside can be broken down easily, which produces a magic-rich substance called gossamer. Gossamer is a powerful wild card that can be used in alchemy or rituals to replace just about any magical ingredient of sidhean origins. Faeries, in particular, are infamous for raiding Ephemeral settlements to harvest Ley Line Flowers just so they can collect this powerful physical magic substance for their Mistweaving.

### Notes

* The idea of ley lines was developed in early 20th century Europe that have been disregarded as pseudoscience and pseudoarchaeology in modern times.