The Spirit. The soul and spiritual anatomy of a sacred artist. Foundation of all sacred arts in Iteration 110.
Overview
Every living being in Cradle possesses a spirit: the seat of their
The spirit is not merely a container for power. It is a living system that grows, adapts, and can be permanently damaged. The records confirm that a spirit’s development from
The Core
The core is the center of a sacred artist’s spirit, the reservoir where all madra is stored. It “sits beneath the navel” at the point where all madra lines connect. [US Ch.1]
A practitioner’s core can be attacked directly to destroy their capacity for sacred arts. The core can also, in rare cases, be deliberately split. The Heart of Twin Stars technique describes this process as one of “unspeakable agony, beyond physical,” after which the two cores move “one a half-inch to the left and one a half-inch to the right.” [US Ch.5, Ch.20]
Core capacity can be expanded through deliberate training. One method involves Forging madra into a scale, setting it aside, cycling to restore the spent madra, then swallowing the scale: “pushed beyond its capacity, his core stretched a little.” Cycling techniques such as the Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel accomplish similar expansion through sustained internal pressure. [SS Ch.15]
Madra Channels
Madra flows through the spirit along channels that physically shift and widen as a sacred artist advances. At Copper, madra capacity doubles and channels expand noticeably. These channels are not metaphorical: they can be damaged, blocked, or corrupted, with consequences as real as any physical injury. [SS Ch.1]
A damaged spirit manifests as channels “twisted and broken,” some half dim and blocked, others too bright from madra buildup. In severe cases, the core itself can be “wrapped in a web of cracks, leaking light like a broken lantern.” Healers can sometimes restore such damage, but the process requires rare materials and considerable effort. [BF Ch.2]
Certain types of madra corrode the channels of practitioners whose bodies are not adapted for them. Blackflame madra, for instance, leaves “black substance like rubble in a tunnel” at scorched points in the channels. If not cleansed, this causes “injuries and blockages in soul, harming future development.” [BF Ch.14]
Spiritual Perception
The spirit grants perception beyond ordinary senses. At the Copper stage, a sacred artist gains what is commonly called Copper sight: the ability to perceive vital aura in the world. “Copper eyes see the world.” [US Ch.2]
Copper sight reveals the world as “fractured rainbows.” Earth aura appears as “softly yellow-glowing cubes,” wind as “hazy green,” sunlight as “richer gold,” and water as “vivid blue-green ripples.” People manifest as a mass of color with green and red predominating. Sustained focus provides information about the aspect being observed but causes headaches within seconds. [BF Ch.3]
At Jade, spiritual perception becomes a true extra sense. A Jade practitioner “could feel everything now”: a partner’s presence blazes nearby, “pinpoints of energy” dot the surroundings for dozens of yards. The sense can distinguish relative strength, hostile intent from calm, and alien madra from familiar. It can be extended outward like “a finger reached into the distance,” though it cannot see or hear, only perceive powers of madra and aura. [BF Ch.10]
Jade perception ignores physical barriers. Something behind a brick wall feels just as adjacent as something in the open. This sense develops gradually after advancement and can be wobbly and inconsistent in its early stages. [SK Ch.1]
Remnants
When a powerful sacred artist or sacred beast dies, their spirit persists as a Remnant: an entity of manifested madra that retains the techniques of its former host as encoded bindings. Remnants are “drawn to the living” and possess intelligence that varies with the power level of the original practitioner. [US Ch.2, Ch.19]
The records contain extensive documentation of Remnants across all stages of advancement. A Foundation artist leaves no Remnant at all. A Jade practitioner’s Remnant is a simple spirit. A Sage’s Remnant “can do things you can’t imagine.” [BF Ch.7]
The relationship between Remnants and bindings is fundamental to the craft of Soulsmithing. As the Arelius Soulsmith tradition puts it: “bindings are pearls, and Remnants are the clams around them.” Every technique a sacred artist practices becomes engraved in the spirit, and these patterns persist in the Remnant as bindings that can be harvested. [SS Ch.10]
Absorbing a compatible Remnant is the traditional method of advancing to Gold. The Remnant’s madra blends with the practitioner’s own over time, producing a
Bindings
A binding is a crystallized technique pattern within a spirit or Remnant: the “heart and soul of every construct.” Where scripts are drawings, a binding is a statue. Bindings carry the full complexity of a practiced technique, and this complexity grows with use. [SS Ch.10, SK Ch.12]
With sustained practice, bindings grow “far stronger than any new technique.” Advanced artists develop a thousand ways to use the same seven or eight techniques rather than inventing new ones. As the records note, “a Monarch could invent new techniques every five seconds” but does not, because a new technique would be a thousand times weaker than a honed one. [GW Ch.12]
Soulspace
At the threshold of the Lord realm, a practitioner opens their soulspace: a space within the soul where objects and soulfire can be stored. Initially, it can hold only one object at a time. The object “floats above core, behind channels, orbiting soulfire.” Opening soulspace represents the first of the three steps required for
Contracts
Sacred artists can form contracts with sacred beasts, a process that “functions similar to a soul oath: two spirits binding themselves.” The contract must be mutual and is typically formed while both parties are young, when a child’s pure madra and a beast’s undeveloped madra are most compatible. [BF Ch.10]
The contract words are spoken aloud: “I swear to open my core to you and share my power.” Once formed, the bond is permanent. Contracted partners can sense each other’s location, share madra for advancement, and benefit from each other’s growth. [BF Ch.10]
Soul Oaths
A soul oath is a binding promise sealed with an exchange of madra between the parties. The words follow a standard formula: “If I violate this oath, let my soul be destroyed and my spirit shattered.” At Foundation level, this will not actually destroy the core, but at higher stages the consequences are absolute. [US Ch.17, Ch.20]
At the Monarch level, soul oaths enforce the spirit of the promise, not merely the letter. A Monarch-enforced oath prevents the bound party from willingly raising the subject by any means: speech, writing, dream tablets, or even intentional “accidental” disclosures. [RP Ch.24]
Lifeline
The lifeline is the boundary between a practitioner’s living spirit and death. It can be damaged by certain attacks, and lifeline damage is among the most difficult injuries to heal. Alas, the available records indicate that conventional healer arts cannot repair a damaged lifeline. Advancement to the Lord realm, however, fully remakes the body and spirit, restoring even severe lifeline damage. [UL Ch.1]
Spiritual Exhaustion
Complete spiritual exhaustion occurs when a practitioner empties all madra from their cores. The sensation is described as a “gaping hole,” leaving the practitioner “limp and twitching on the floor.” Copper sight reveals a world that is “gray and lifeless,” and the limbs tremble with creeping cold. The condition is dangerous but not inherently fatal: the core will slowly refill through natural cycling. [BF Ch.13, Ch.18]
Related Topics
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Sacred Arts -
Madra -
Advancement -
Soulfire -
Goldsigns - Soulsmithing