Soul Threads + Soul Stones

## Overview

DCMissionaries has expanded past the original *Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt* lore to add more depth in character creation.

You've probably seen a couple of us (mostly mods in a character application or two) mentioning things like Soul Threads and possibly Soul Stones. But what exactly are those two things? Essentially, they're the essence of an Angel, Demon, and possibly a human but we'll get down to the finer details.

## Soul Stones:

Starting of with Soul Stones, for modern day Angels and Demons they are known as ghost stones. In Episode six of the anime we're given the description that they suck up the negative energy and mass produce ghosts. In DCM, ghost stones are mostly a comodity and hard to track down. That's only half of it, however. The supposed ghost stones are specifically Demon Soul Stones!
This is one way a type of Soul Stone can be utilized, but for now let's explain what exactly Soul Stones are.

Soul Stones are basically a vessel that stores and protects a soul from outside harm. It keeps an Angel and Demon functioning. It doesn't take to much to break these stones as destroying them often results in their death. A broken Soul Stone is considered corrupt and has a high possibility of turning into a ghost. They are found on various locations on the body. The chest, forehead, stomach, palm, etc. A stone's position is never predetermined nor does it pass on genetically.

Stone Angels and Demons can technically still survive, even after losing their corporeal body. All they need is for their stone to stay preserved. From this stage, a few things can occur. Demon Soul Stones can be used as ghost stones but if they're left too long absorbing negative energy, it will manifest into a ghost. Unlike most ghosts who can easily be taken care of by cutting their Banshee Thread, these ghosts can quickly be dealt with by destroying the stone.

Another thing that can happen is reincarnation. Not in the way you'd think. When reincarnation occurs, the stones will grow Soul Threads to create a new body. A slow process and will result with a younger version of the previous possessor without much memory.

Wait, so stones turn into threads? Yes and no. The stone acts like a seed's protective case while the roots and stems grow. The soul inside the stone will be the one developing the threads. It doesn't happen with just the reincarnated as those still alive with a stone can evolve threads. Evolution is a voluntary action and many may or may not choose to grow threads. In the distant past, stones used to be abundant among Angels and Demons, but the drawback to having stones was that they had week wills. Their energy could be easily manipulated and that is exactly what Princes did when they fell from Grace. After the incident, many Angels and Demons began evolving their stones into a substance that was difficult to manipulate. Something that wasn't compatible with Soul Stone abilities. The result were Soul Threads and the Gordian Knot which will be touched upon in the Soul Threads section.

Nowadays, it's rare to see an Angel or Demon possessing a Soul Stone. If they have one, it shows their age or are a descendant of someone who had a Soul Stone. Even if parents are purely Soul Thread beings, their child is capable of having a Soul Stone as long as someone in their ancestry had one. Humans are even rarer to have possession of Soul Stones, but it isn't unfathomable. They simply have slimmer chances of gaining one as a mortal hybrid. Thrones and Inquisitors are unable to have Soul Stones and the same can be said for their children. Originals are farther in evolution that their earth counterparts to the point where stones were dropped from their genes.

### Special Abilities

Angels and Demons with stones have a few special abilities. However, due to these abilities, they are unable to go through an *Overdrive*. That's okay because they can fuse....just not with the threadborne. Fusion acts like an Overdrive where participants of the fusion gain an immense power boost.

### Fusion

Fusions also have access to the participants' weapons and they can be combined. Fusions by opposite species are possible, but highly discouraged. They are volatile fusions that may or may not explode if they are fused for too long. Participants of this fusion will experience severe deterioration of their minds and will become feral. In cases they do not explode they will permanently fuse and create a type of ghost. Now in a roleplay scenario, we have a few suggestions on how to roleplay fusions. Both muns will agree on who takes full control of the fusion until the characters defuse. Muns could also alternate possession of the fusion ever other post.

### Primal Henshin

Aside from fusions, Angels and Demons with Soul Stones can enter a state called Primal Henshin. The name explains this state. Angels and Demons entering Primal Henshin are "restored" to their former glory. They will appear similarly to Thrones and Inquisitors. With the exception of...clothes. This is a last resort Henshin and can exhaust an Angel or Demon if used too frequently.

## Soul Threads:

So continuing from Soul Stones, the next step is Soul Threads. As mentioned before, Soul Stones can evolve into Soul Threads under certain conditions. When they fully form a thread creature, they will contain something called a Gordian Knot.

### Gordian Knot

The Gordian Knot is literally the heart for modern Angels and Demons. It's right there. In your ribcage. Beating. It shares similar properties to a ghost's Banshee Thread, except more resilient. Taking out the Gordian Knot will not kill an Angel or Demon until it is severed from the body or crushed. Soul Threads are rogue creatures as they can have mutations. The most common mutation is having a higher density of Soul Threads than normal.

The majority of Angels and Demons are purely Soul Threads (aka 100%) but it can surpass that. Because of the density, Soul Threads will become visible on the body. It's more likely for threads to appear on someone's hair rather than anywhere else on the body. The higher the density, the more control over the threads someone will have. Hair can even become a viable weapon and their namesake can be turned into threads for a quick attack or shield.

Those with high density Soul Threads can use their threads for healing. While healing is usually practiced by Angels, both Demons and Angels can simply cut their hair off and can be used to heal someone. It's rare for Demons due to their impeccable health care. But if threads are used to heal a human, it will kill them.

Humans cannot withstand the power of Soul Threads unless they are a hybrid or have a natural resistance to them. Hybrid mortals will be born with a small amount of threads in their biology but it's far greater than what a ranked human has. When this type of human is at S-Rank, their Soul Thread count will be similar to an Angel or Demon.

### Humans

Humans who are resistant to threads can alter their own biology to have Soul Threads. This can be done through two processes. Sewing and Seed implantation. These are just nicer sounding terms for very dark procedures. *Sewing* is the painstaking process of sewing Soul Threads to a human's spine. *Seed implantation* consists of a Soul Stone referred to as a Seed being implanted into the spine of a human and having it grow from there. These practices have been known to occur on the Hellbent side than the Heavenbent side.

What happens between these procedures is confidential information. Majority of the humans that have gone through this will turn to Demons upon death. The threads sewed into them are unique. For one thing, these Soul Threads are not natural, they're synthetic. The threads are basically the amalgamation of Angel and Demon powers being combined to an empty threads, making it neutral. This makes threads much safer to sew into humans, but the possibility of humans dying is still up there. Humans who do not have a resistance against these threads will be consumed as Soul Threads are parasitic in nature for humans. What happens after a human is consumed is unknown, but it is theorized they turn into a ghost.

Angels and Demons can have their threads altered or harvested. However these are cruel experiments by humans that can lead to their death or make them fragile. There are informative lists for Angels and Demons on which humans to avoid as they will employ different tactics to harvest threads.

### Henshin Overdrive

Angels and Demons that possess soul threads cannot fuse like their stone counterparts, but they have something to compensate for it. They go through an *Overdrive Henshin*.

Overdrives are similar in effect to Mega Evolution in Pokemon, it is the ultimate form for an angel and demon. But it is a short lived effect. Overdrives have immense power that if an angel or demon isn't properly trained to harness it, it could injure them. Frequent use of Overdrives will exhaust soul thread power. It not only makes an angel or demon sick, it may thin out soul threads in the process. They can thin out to the point where they cannot go through a normal henshin or they are rendered with a weak weapon.

There is something strange about Overdrives that doesn't follow the rules. Angels and demons with dense concentrations of soul threads can only enter Overdrives. For them, it is safe to exhaust their power but they also can't use it as frequent as they would like. If they happen to be at a lower rank or fallen, they are not allowed to enter Overdrives until they reach a certain rank.

## Trivia

* Soul Stones aren't always the default design. Sure it's the most common and easiest to identify but can take the shape seen on most gem cuts (aka either faceted or cabochon).
* For Soul Threads, they don't need to stick to the vanilla colors seen on the guide. Soul Threads can be considered a cosmetic thing as well, taking on any color the mun sees fit.