The Beastborne, the Avatars of their Inner Beasts

Beastborne: mages awakened by a magical beast (be they fauna or flora) that are capable of using its magic and absorbing those of other beasts.

They are known as the beastborne or beast mages. Though the name "beast mage" is contended in many scholarly circles. It may refer to a beastborne or a conjuror specializing in beastial familiars, or even being the followers of the beast god Himself Beronath.

The planet of Terra is vast and enormous, boasting a surface area bigger than many other worlds. It can be either mundane and magical depending on location. Due to its large surface area, its Aether-field (field of nurturing mana) is spread thin in certain regions and dense in others. The closer one is to a ley line, the more magical flora and fauna become. Spirit beasts, magical animals, and even plants capable of magic become commonplace in magically dense regions.

Those awakened by being attacked by a magical beast may not even be true beastborne. Only awakening from the desired magical source is usually not enough. Beastborne are those capable of integrating magic from other beasts. Spirit resonance is what dictates whether one inherits the magic from a magical beast. Sometimes a magical beast will go so far as to pass on their magic, but mostly they just like the taste of human flesh and mana.

Beastborne that cannot integrate beast magic are considered lesser than their more adaptable counterparts.

The ethereal body is what allows one to practice magic. The soul (the inner source) and spirit work in tandem. The spirit is to the soul what the corporeal body is to the mind. An extension that allows it to interact with the world. Spirit resonance is the spirit's ability to adapt to foreign magic, allowing the spirit to build indexes of foreign mana. These allow the spirit to better resist magic (both the specific magic that assailed its bearer and magic in general). Sometimes the spirit does not merely learn how to resist the magic that assaulted it. It learns to wield it—beastborne awaken with inherent abilities to their own species and those from the magical beast that attacked them. Humans, for example, will most likely awaken with some type of magical augmentation that relies on the first weapons of their species. Claws and fangs. And either these will be further augmented by their progenitor-beast, or they will gain additional magic separate from their own primal type.

Beastborne can readily absorb the spirits of their felled prey, allowing them to grow in power. Most mages cannot absorb a spirit in its entirety. The ethereal stomach (the outer source, or the Center), or lower mana reservoir, is usually used to break down mana found in food. Some mages can handle a magical beast steak but cannot otherwise entirely absorb it without difficulty. Beastborne do not start out with greater ethereal stomachs. Their ability to absorb foreign spirits like those of beasts lies with their particular spirit resonance. As such, they can absorb the spirits from compatible beasts but could not as easily devour a spirit that is incompatible.

Beastborne are one of the first sapient mages to come into existence on Terra. Shamanism and some strains of lycanthropy can trace their roots back to the first beastborne. Although beastborne have mostly a positive reputation due to the sheer amount of them in existence, some are shunned because of their animalistic nature. Some have been known to even absorb the spirits of humans, becoming something other.

Beastborne have a high likelihood of developing dissociative personality disorder in either their souls, corporeal minds, or both. They create an Inner Beast that is the culmination of their basal instincts and anything that has been imprinted upon them by spirit resonance. Note that Beastborne may also come to fruition through certain curses or diseases such as vampirism. Inner Beasts are feral and may take over their hosts to protect them, but they are not truly separate personalities. They are the shards of the psyche. Beastborne may come to try and incorporate their shattered pieces with varying degrees of success.

Inner Beasts come in two major types. Destructive and constructive. Destructive Inner Beasts supplement a traumatized individual's submissive personality. They are a weapon and means of survival. They are generally quite feral and monstrous, taking control of their hosts in situations that require fighting or flighting. Constructive Inner Beasts do not take over the primary personality. They are the combination of a neurological adaptation and the essence of a beast. These manifest when a magical beast adopts a foreign species such as a human. They establish an empathic connection, allowing them to guide their heir. Sometimes, the corporeal mind reconstructs the personality of the adoptive beast, creating an alter or personality shard. Other times, small parts of the beast's spirit are left behind in their heir. Generally, it is a mixture of both.

Female magical beasts may adopt Heirs from another species when their offspring has perished. This leads to Constructive Inner Beasts being known as Maternal Inner Beasts. Due to this, Destructive Inner Beasts may be known as Paternal Inner Beasts.

Beastborne have a close connection with vitality, a mixture of life, blood, water, and earth mana. Their spirit resonance may develop into ethereal hematophagy. Greater magical beasts require exorbitant amounts of mana to function. Their auras consume mana from the environment, but they aren't always in mana-rich environs. Magical beasts that have survived for long develop the ability to process vitality from their prey. This allows them to survive in Aetheric deserts by syphoning the life-force from lesser animals. Certain beastborne may use life mana to perform magic without having to transform it into another mana type. They directly manipulate their lifesblood and that of their quarry.

Beastborne have a high likelihood of awakening with multiple uncommon aura senses. Specifically, smell and taste-based aura senses. Such as the Trace.

"...Smell and taste go hand in hand. These are interpretations the soul gives to certain mana types and spirit-constructs. These can vary from the smell of sulphur or smoke when sensing fire mana. The taste and smell sensorial perceptions are peculiar. One may feel a bitter feeling at the back of their throats that'll feel like bile when near a dangerous spirit. These are usually very minor and are seldom the major ways of aura senses presenting themselves. Smell and taste-based aura senses are reserved for traumatic awakenings in which the primal parts of one's psyche is brought upon for survival. These are rare, and usually, the best at perceiving subtle information. Tracking mages with the Trace are the best among them.

The Trace allows for precise identification of mana types and spirits but do not generally allow for identifying when the aura is in distress. The aura reacts to a person's emotions, flaring in preparation for a fight. Smell and taste can't really distinguish between aura states unless paired with touch—the most common development for a soulcerer awakened with this particular set of aura senses."

- Excerpt from Magical Awakenings, Magical Awakening Stages - Stage 1: Aura Senses (Outward - Magical Exteroception).