Concepts

Conceptual Beings

In the world of Ephimoria, the concept of belief holds a powerful sway over the fracture. From legends that speak of benevolent spirits, or divine beings more powerful then the stars in the sky, as long as there is belief, there can be concepts. And where concepts take root, something will always arrive to inhabit them.

The Deva

Often a concept predisposed to divinity like the gods of old, these beings carry great power and thrive within the confines of religion and cults, and are some of the more powerful concepts in the multiverse.

The Ifriti

Beings often of malevolent intent, they are found in the darker corners of the turning world, where they thrive on the concepts of secrecy and urban legends to drive their nefarious deeds and intentions.

The Cherubs

Cherubs are often the opposite of their Ifriti counterparts, good natured beings that thrive on more benevolent legends and rumors in the wider world. Often seen as protectors of local areas, or a guardian of a sacred place, the concept of protection, respect, and even sometimes innocent mischief is strong within them. But when goaded into battle, these fierce beings can be as dangerous as any others.

The Spirits

Neither inherently good nor inherently evil, spirits are beings of mixed concepts that are created often by unintentional means. Their influence thrives on subconscious action and the power of the atmosphere around it. Though most spirits are generally quite weak, some can reach the level of their more hardline counterparts, or even beyond.

The Fallen

Conceptual beings of any kind often disappear when they are forgotten or their places of worship and respect abandoned or defiled. But some instead fall to desperation for survival, or end up corroded by the sickening miasma before they even saw it coming. The fallen are spirits that have become feral in many senses of the word, acting uninhibited or outright hostile to anything and everything as a dark fog clouds their minds and makes them act nothing like their concepts once were.

The Forces

In the beginning, the two forces of Creation and Absence are what formed the basic fundamentals of thought. These two forces remained naturally opposed in an everlasting and unmoving struggle, until the endwar came. All that we know of the forces, the history which made law to all of creation was shattered in an instant. This new universe, dominated by the ever changing laws of the fracture, has taken everything we knew and made it foreign. Now, we pick up the pieces of what was left, and rediscover what, if anything, we may yet discover.

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The Aurum

The shell still surrounding the soul that allows a being to manipulate forces, new and old. Such forces are known as Aura, Mana, Shakti and Corrosion.

Aura: Creation Aura was the energy of the Gods and of creation itself. Aura was a pure resource once derived from the gods themselves, and though now it no longer has as solid a connection to them, many concepts, mostly the Deva, make use of its power for their own purposes. Rarely, Aura manifests itself into solid materials such as Meteoric Iron, something often thought from the celestials themselves, but more often than not it is the most intangible of the energies. This pure belief and willpower is said to be the very essence of hope in the clouds of darkness that wait overhead. ??? ???

Mana: Change Mana was once formed of the blood of Creation. Though Mana was not creation itself, mana was often attributed to the change of creation and its ideas. Mana is not from the realm of Ephimoria itself, but is theorized to now be coming from the fracture itself, a infinite well of energy, unstable and always churning. Mana as a power is thus foreign to mortals and to the realm at large. Most things consume or can channel mana through them in order to obtain a greater purpose. The most powerful creatures to once hold the ability of Mana would have been that of the Archfey, who were taught this ability by the Goddess of Magic herself and used it to control the change of the very seasons on the plane of the Fey Wilds, or anywhere they decided to visit. ??? ??? ???

Shakti: Balance Shakti is the essence of most objects within the realms. Each thing is made of Shakti. Because of this, shamans often manipulate this Shakti in order to change their interactions within the realms. Shakti as a force is constant and always is in balance. It is said that if a fire is extinguished in one place, another is lit elsewhere. The Vaya Lords are the embodiment of this energy. Their position is highly stable and unable to be further changed nor revoked. Elder Dragons too manipulate and embody the balance in the form of destruction, able to wipe the world anew when it has become so disparate of its origins. Shakti remains as the great stabilizer of the realms. Another common misconception is that Shakti comes from the elemental planes. This is not the case as, unlike mana, Shakti is the only native energy on the plane, and its presence on Aversia and other like-worlds is what gives these foreign planes such as Tletuego their energies. ??? ???

Corrosion Theorized to be a twisted and more naturalized form of Exia, the corrosion is a force which is formed when the laws of the fracture are broken, spilling a matte black stain and violet veins on a person, creature or object which attempts to use things it should not. It is said that those who suffer from its affliction, corrosion sickness, often lose pieces of themselves while the corrosion is present, be it emotions, reason, memories, or even their senses. But there is a flip side. Those who suffer from corrosion sickness may also wield its highly dangerous and destructive power to enhance their already potent abilities, though at the cost of potentially losing more of themselves, with a risk of becoming permanent. ???