Soul

A soul is the life essence of a being. It is not fully understood, but many describe it as a manifestation of all seven elements arranged in a way that gives intelligent form. Souls are believed to exist in all living beings, able to migrate and reincarnate as things die and are reborn. However, with intelligent mortals, they are usually associated with individuals and do not always reincarnate. As the soul is intrinsically tied to their awareness or sense of self, this means that even after someone's physical body dies or is destroyed, they remain conscious after death. Because of how dangerous lost souls can be towards the living, it is important they are put to rest or at the very least, in a state where their undead self no longer causes them physical harm.

Using special forms of magic, souls can also be transferred into non-living objects such as statues or golems allowing that person to live beyond their original mortal body. And through necromancy, can even call souls that have already passed into the afterlife. The religious beliefs and ethics surrounding these acts vary from culture to culture. For example, in Asmosianism, bringing someone back from the dead is considered sacrilegious but for areas such as the Xeng Empire, necromancy is more accepted as a means of communicating with one's ancestors for guidance.

Souls are considered the most powerful entity in the universe - said to exceed even that of the Aard'Vorn or the old gods. Souls are considered indestructible, providing infinite energy to those able to harness it. However, this does not mean that souls cannot be damaged or rendered into a near unusable state. Demons, for example, feed on the energy of souls, consuming them but never fully destroying and leaving them in a state of endless torment. As such, devoured souls eventually end up becoming demons themselves - particularly the more powerful, more intelligent variants.