The Tissues of the Ethereal

The spirit is that which rests in the ethereal, a secondary body that animates the physical. That is the simplest of ways in which to view it, yet it is not entirely right. The spirit, or the ethereal body, extends unto various planes other than the ethereal. It binds to the prime-material by way of netheric anchors, mana made physical. Flesh, blood, and bone are made partially of mana, though rarely is a cell entirely made of nethers. Parts of a cell, parts of a molecule, and parts of an atom may be a nether. As such, there is not one single anchoring point of the spirit, but instead many.

Since the spread of physical mana throughout the body is uniform to the subatomic level, one would surmise that the effects of spirit magic would also be uniform in practice. Yet, this is not the case, at least not entirely. Certain parts of the corpus have more concentration of etheric mana than others. Uniformity in the prime-material does not extend unto the ethereal. Instead, mana is like to aggregate in reservoirs and pools, forming etheric organs.

These spiritual organs mimic those of the flesh, and are divided unto two categories: subtle and pure etheric.

Pure etheric spirit-organs are divided further into major and minor. Major spirit-organs are the three basins of the spirit, reservoirs of mana of gigantic proportions. These are Center of the Spirit, Eye of the Mind, and Heart of the Bodies. The Center assimilates foreign mana and acts as a gravitational gathering array in regards to ether. It creates a spiritual vacuum through the use of hunger mana, pulling ether into the spirit. In conjunction with the Eye, it creates a vortex of mind and body, rotating mana and giving it the required force to circulate through the spirit. The Heart is this vortex, created from both Center and eye. The Eye is responsible for connecting the mind to the spirit. Though, one must remember that the mind is not entirely corporeal and neither is entirely spiritual. It is an amalgam of both, though it leans more heavily to the flesh than it does to the spirit.

Etheric organs each produce their own amalgams and essence permutations, storing mana within their structures. Though, structures is a bit of a misnomer as etheric organs are amorphous and non-rigid when compared to organs of the flesh. They are not made of tissues, and thus look to be circular and spherical in nature. They are more akin to vortexes of energy, yet also not such. This paradoxical presence of being is due to their close proximity to the Aether.

Subtle spirit-organs are formed of sympathetic strings or bindings between the etheric and the netheric. These strings form organs not seen in the etheric, dwelling instead in the in-between of flesh and ether. The organs are made from knots of sympathetic spirit-lashes, and closely resemble their corporeal counterparts as if they were made of hollow tubes.

Subtle organs cannot be easily seen as the senses of the spirit are acutely attuned to ether. Thus, when a spiritualist spreads their awareness over their spirits to perceive these organs, they are not actually seeing them. Instead, they are perceiving their netheric anchors and their pure etheric organs. If one where to infuse fire mana unto their muscles, they would do so without perceiving the subtle musculature of the spirit or the ethereal muscles.

Subtle spirit-organs require sympathetic magicks to be perceived. Possessing some connection to the Weave or sorcerous sight helps in this regard.

Spirit-organs may be directly or indirectly modified. Even entirely new ones may be created with enough skill and patience. For example, a mage that imbues aether into their muscles inadvertently strengthens both the corporeal and the ethereal. Imbuement of aetheric energy into the muscles causes greater tearing and wearing of the their fibers. Muscle sores and weakness ensues afterwards as the body needs to heal. Both the physical strengthens as a natural process, but also does the subtle counterpart as it learns to better handle and contain life-force.

Ethereal muscles are not actual musculature and neither are they present in the Ether. They are instead subtle spirit-organs found in between the Nether and Ether

To understand how ethereal muscles adapt and become stronger, one must first understand aetheric energy and mana condensation. Life-force, like any substance, becomes harmful and caustic when in great quantity and density. As the ethereal has its own sort of gravity, mana tends to agglomerate just like matter, only instead of simply being agglomerations of bodies, it transforms. Mana transcends when enough of it is present in any single locus. As such, when a mage dies they may become a specter of sorts. Their augmented spirits have dense amounts of mana that condense into a Remnant. The Heart of the Bodies of any mage serves to regulate the flow and presence of mana, not letting it condense and rip itself out of their spirits. At least, when alive. After death, this quickly changes, creating a remnant spirit. Mortals may still produce remnant spirits, yet it is quite rare. Intense emotions which usually occur close to one’s demise, are not enough. There has to be more, a specific pattern of emotions. As such, mortal-borne spirits are rare.

Ethereal muscles function as regulators that prevent mana condensation, and thus to better handle and contain aetheric energy. One may condition them specifically to increase in explosiveness to handle large infusions of aether or to increase their stability for long term use in handling moderate amounts of aether for long periods of time.

Yet, this only scratches the surface of the spiritual iceberg. Ethereal muscles may be infused with not only aether but also other elementally-attuned ethers, slowly changing their properties and essence. The spirit-organ is not only responsible for aetheric regulation between netheric and etheric tissues, but also enhances mortal strength as well.

All corporeal organs possess a subtle counterpart, but they do not all possess each their own singular spiritual basin. Instead, each subtle and corporeal organ falls under one of the Three Basins, or a conjunction of them. As such, each has their own affinity for each of them. The lungs have affinity for the Center and Heart, the cardiovascular system has affinity for the Heart, and the mind has affinity for the Eye. Affinity simply means how tightly wound is an organ or system of organs to an etheric basin.

The Scars of the Soul

The spirit, like the flesh, may hold all manner of scar tissue. Though, instead of simple plaster that mends a wound, spirit-scars are something else entirely. They are remembrance incarnate.

As one goes through life, their spirit adapts to their surroundings. Those that live underneath the earth possess all manner of earthly blotches upon their aura. Those that consume large amounts of animal meat possess greater spiritual vitality in the blood than those who don’t. So on and so forth. Magic is not an entirely spiritual practice, but also a physical one. An unhealthy body and mind translate into a weak spirit.

Of particular note is spirit resonance. When a spirit is attacked by foreign magicks, the Center bleeds into the Aura, eating away and assimilating the hostile mana. This taints the spirit, endowing it with both resistance and partial power of the attacker. That is, if it is not properly purged. Spirit resonance is named so because of its nature. To survive, a spirit resonates with its foe, turning into them in turn. Blade begets blade, and blood begets blood. Most magicians, be they spiritualists or sorcerers, are formed through this such process.

They take upon that which hurt them, to fell it in vengeful wake. Monsters that prowl the night must be vigilant for their sired progeny, as they are want to tear them limb from limb and bone from bone.

The Bindings of the Spirit

The ethereal body may be split into three. Nether, ether, and aether. Nether, or low-spirit, is the physical anchors of mana that bind the spirit to the body. Ether, or middle-spirit, is the spirit as we know it, an amorphous gathering of mana. Aether, or high-spirit, is the mortal soul. It is the essence of a being residing in the highest spiritual plane there is. It is a pure energy not acting as matter in the slightest. One may bring it down the realms into the physical, but in doing so, defines it into a mana type. As such, aether gains an aspect or element.

Every person possess two Truths. One mortal and another immortal. The Mortal Truth awakens their aether, creating a special etheric net in between their middle and high-spirits. This net acts as a filter of sorts, aspecting aether into an essence type unique to each individual. The Immortal or Eternal Truth awakens one’s sorcery, endowing them with power untold. One may partially or entirely Awaken. Those partially Awakened are the most common amongst sorcerers, possessing very little power. They are the hardest to Awaken once again, being almost impossible. Trueborne sorcerers are the rarest of all, possessing authority of themselves, the Weave, and the Wellfont.