The magic system underlying Ereboros: essence itself, anti-essence, essence crystals, souls, and the planes they exist across (e00 01:43, e00 01:48).
Details
Essence
Essence is the world’s equivalent of mana or the Force — everything that exists has some essence (e00 01:48). It is measured in the negative: the number represents how much it costs reality to keep a thing in existence (e00 01:48). The Pale is the only thing with zero essence, a difficult “true zero” that normally occurs only naturally (e00 01:49).
Anti-essence
Anti-essence — achieved by multiplying negative essence against negative essence — does not occur naturally, and is the basis for summoning, conjuration, and creation magic (e00 01:49). Things made of it are not from this world: they are summoned or conjured, or otherwise carry the opposite essence of things naturally from it (e01 01:53).
The Magisterium‘s letter to Orrin says the fissure it sent him to was producing creatures composed of anti-essence at a rate its surveyors called concerning, that a specimen composed entirely of anti-essence was to be field-tested there (e01 00:07), and that anti-essence creatures can be difficult to detect, unpredictable, or unenthusiastic about being detected (e01 00:08). The anti-essence detection wand it issued him glows pink, brighter the closer an anti-essence thing is (e01 00:14); what it has glowed toward is on its page.
Essence crystals
Essence crystals are physical crystal formations found in Under Wriem and The Forgotten Depths, varying in size and colour, which determine their value; there is an overworld market for them, comparable to soul gems in Elder Scrolls (e00 01:43). Souls are drawn to them “like moths to a flame,” gathering energy that can be harnessed by those who know how; souls are not permanently trapped and can be extracted (e00 01:44). Spell reagents map to crystal colour — a spell calling for ruby dust actually uses red essence crystal, one calling for diamond uses clear or pearlescent essence crystal (e00 01:45).
Essence dust is what remains after a crystal is harnessed; the majority of formations are too small for anything but being turned into dust (e00 01:45). The dust is mostly stored at a site called the Eternal Vault; enough Pale escapes from it that a pipeline runs from the Vault out into the ocean (e00 01:46). The richest people in Wriem have access to enough crystals, mined from the deepest parts of Wriem and the Forgotten Depths, to be resurrected repeatedly and given new bodies (“true resurrection”) (e00 01:46).
A building packed with essence crystals can explode: an arcanery in Wriem went up, destroying several buildings and disintegrating the magical items that ran it into dust (e03 00:29, e03 01:03, e03 01:42). That dust is used as currency; Orrin gathered 18 gold pieces’ worth from the ruins (e03 01:42, e03 01:43).
Souls
A soul is the unique configuration of a being’s essence — described as a fingerprint. It could hypothetically be reassembled from different essence, but this would be as delicate as reconstructing a fingerprint, and is very powerful magic (e00 01:50). Teleportation and resurrection work by moving or reconstructing this fingerprint; reforming someone without care for their exact configuration would not necessarily preserve their memories, which reside in the physical brain, and recovering those requires additional, more powerful magic (e00 01:51). Souls exist dually in the Dream and the material plane, the same way essence exists dually in the weave and the material plane (e00 01:57).
Souls and the gods
Souls can grow in size and power, and take power from other souls, through both magical and non-magical means, including willingly lending part of one’s soul through worship or offering (e00 01:53). A soul detached from its body is especially valuable to gods, since it can’t die randomly, disappear, or be won over by another god (e00 01:53). So the Transcendents compete for worship and, especially, for people willing to die for them — a particularly powerful form of devotion (e00 01:54). Gods are not permitted to hoard souls forever; political regulation requires souls to eventually pass through the afterlife and be reincarnated, though the system is open to abuse by the powerful (e00 01:55).
Planes
- The Fundamental Plane — the central physical plane, equivalent to a prime material plane (e00 01:56).
- The Wild Spaces — mirror dimensions of the Fundamental Plane, closely tied to the weave, a web of essence threads that sprawl through society (e00 01:56).
- The Shadowlands — a mirror dimension associated with the upper level of Elysium (e00 01:57).
- The Plane of Order — a primordial domain of law and order within Elysium, home to angel- and seraphim-like beings (e00 01:57).
- The Dream — an amalgamous plane layered over everything, where space and time behave non-traditionally (a door on one side can open hundreds of miles away); this is where souls have their non-physical existence (e00 01:57).
Relationships
- The Pale — the only thing with zero essence.
- The Transcendents — the gods who compete for souls and worship.
- Elysium — associated with the Shadowlands and Plane of Order.
- Anti-Essence Detection Wand — detects anti-essence.
Episode history
- e00 (01:43) — introduced as part of the GM’s setting overview.
- e01 (00:07) — anti-essence creatures and the Magisterium’s detection wand shown.
- e03 (01:42) — essence crystals explode; essence dust used as currency.