The soul, in the world of MK2K, is the portion of a creature's being that gives it individuality and "selfness". It manifests itself through a particular, distinct pattern of life-aspected mana at the amálan (chakra points) that run down the centerline of the body. Each soul creates its own unique pattern within the amálan, and an individual who can see magic can identify other individuals by closely and carefully examining this pattern. The soul is not a magical phenomenon, however, and the soul is not the mana pattern; rather, the mana pattern is an effect of the soul's presence. The soul itself is something beyond magic, and while its effects can be observed, its origins are shrouded in mystery.
Origins of the soul
Many religions hold that the soul is, or was, part of the Creator. Universalists call it the "divine spark", and believe it was part of the Creator's mind; Followers sometimes call it the Breath of Eli. Magical research has confirmed that all souls are connected to one another, which is part of the reason why sympathetic magic works. The origin of this connection, however, is beyond mortal knowledge; souls may indeed all be part of the Creator, but it seems impossible to confirm or refute this.
Properties of souls
A creature that has a soul demonstrates the following characteristics.
Free Will: This can be summed up as the ability to choose between different options in identical circumstances. A creature without free will always takes the same action when presented with the same set of stimuli; a creature who has free will can choose to act in one way or another. This is sometimes called free agency by students of neuroscience, because the person often makes the choice before they are consciously aware that they have chosen, but the effect is the same: an individual with free will is not a prisoner of its nature, and can choose to change its ways if it is motivated to do so.
Creativity: Beings with free will have imagination and the capacity for self-expression. A creature without a soul cannot create anything new or original, though some (such as the Leanan Sidhe) can help soulish beings to more effectively utilize their own creative talents.
Conscience: All soulish beings have at least some understanding of concepts like "right", "wrong", "good", "evil", "ought", and "ought not". They can feel guilt, embarrassment or shame when their actions do not measure up to what their conscience tells them they should be doing, and they can feel a sense of well-being, happiness or satisfaction when they do act in accordance with their conscience (even if it costs them something to do so). Many Universalists believe the conscience is the result of the interconnectedness of all souls: actions that hurt others are felt as dissonance within this connection, while actions that help others create an affirming resonance that the soul finds pleasing.
Procreation: Anything that has a soul and can reproduce is capable of calling forth another soul into existence in its offspring. This new soul is distinct from either of its parents and may or may not bear much resemblance to them. Creatures without souls may be able to make copies of themselves, but these copies will all have a certain "sameness" to them. Both parents need not be soulish for the child to have a soul; the children of aedra and humans, for instance, are just as uniquely soulish as their human parents.
Creatures with souls
- All sentient mortal beings have souls, including humans, plane-touched, lutins, Elves and dragons.
- At least some androgynes have two souls inhabiting the same body.
- Vampires and lycanthropes have souls, but also have a connection to Talia that is derived from her Essence.
- Incubi and succubae have both a human soul and a piece of Suspira's Essence.
- Nymphs have both a human soul and a piece of the Essence of Artela, Lilith or Talia.
- The Aedra Lords and Daedra Lords all have souls. There are some substantial differences in the pattern, however, between those who were born human (such as Talia and Rickkter) and those who were members of the original Pantheon.
- All higher animals (birds, mammals, and archosaurs) have souls, though their capacity for creativity and individuality is limited by their intelligence. The mana signature of the soul is generally weaker and harder to differentiate with less intelligent species. Lower animals may also have souls, but more research is needed to be sure; if they do, the resulting mana signature is very faint.
- Ghosts and specters have souls — indeed, it might be closer to the truth to say they are souls.
Creatures without souls
- Most aedra and daedra. These are not unique beings, but extensions of the Essence of the Aedra Lords and Daedra Lords who created them.
- Fae. The sidhe and other faeries are creations of the Numen, given form by mortal imaginations. Their natures are determined by what the collective consciousness of mortal-kind believes them to be.
- Inanimate objects do not have souls. Most of the time, anyway.
- Mindless undead, such as zombies and skeletons, do not have souls.
