Aura

Among those interested in natural philosophy, aura is said to be the essential substance of the world, the base material from which all physical things are constructed. Its seven elemental types exist intermingled with one another, their mixtures determining the characteristics of different physical materials and even life itself. Concentrated pure aura in its natural state can alter the physical world and birth monsters; its crystallized forms are beautiful but potentially dangerous gemstones and magical components.

Elements

Seven types of aura are recognized, comprising four material elements and three fundamental elements. It is generally accepted that the material elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) are combined in varying proportions to make the different substances of the world. In contrast, the fundamental elements of Space and Time are thought to be present at a consistently low level in all things, while the element of Mind is believed to be uniquely concentrated in living things.

Earth: The most concrete of physical elements, earth aura provides substance to worldly things. Stone, metal, soil, even wood and flesh are predominantly composed of earth. Consequently, the element is symbolically associated with substance, solidity, endurance, stability, and stagnation. The color of earth aura is bronze.

Air: Depicted as opposite to earth, air aura provides loft or lightness to physical materials. It is the element of wind and lightning, as well as a contributor to storms. Air is considered to symbolize breath, lightness, impermanence, fragility, and fickleness or variability. The color of air aura is azure.

Fire: Fire aura is almost always admixed into materials; flame and light are the only substances considered to contain major proportions of fire aura. In other things, fire aura contributes warmth and propensities for combustion or transformation. The element is symbolically associated with life, vitality or exuberance, growth, consumption, and sudden transformation. The color of fire aura is scarlet.

Water: Considered the opposite of fire, water aura is the major component of physical water in all its forms, a lesser component in wood and flesh, and a contributor to storms. It is symbolically associated with blood, cold, fluidity, accumulation, force or pressure, and adaptability. The color of water aura is viridian.

Space: The most easily defined of the fundamental elements, space aura is considered to be the reason there even is a physical world, and not just a mass of aura all intermingled. This element is associated with volume, distance, motion, speed, and transposition. The color of space aura is black.

Time: The exact nature of time aura and its role in the world are things natural philosophers argue heatedly about. It is generally accepted to be associated with change, aging, decay, regression or repair, and preservation. Some also consider the element to contribute to speed, perhaps in more subtle fashion. The color of time aura is violet.

Mind: The element of mind is known to be strongly associated with living things, in proportions that correlate directly with self-awareness and intelligence. The major debate among philosophers is how much of one's thoughts and emotions can be purely attributed to mind aura, and how much arise from interactions between mind and other elements. Regardless, mind aura is associated with thoughts, emotions and passions, intelligence, sensory perceptions, and attention. The color of mind aura is gold.

Radiant Aura

All things continuously emanate a very small amount of aura, a field whose composition is proportional to their own overall makeup. So far as any natural philosopher can tell, this is a natural and unstoppable process; some suggest this aural leakage contributes to natural changes such as erosion, rust, rot, and aging. Others hold that such changes are solely influenced by time aura. In any case, these aural fields can be used to identify materials and even glean certain information about living things, provided one is sufficiently sensitive to detect them. Such perception is only feasible through a divinely granted Ability, or indirectly through certain forms of shamanism (Unity) or witchcraft (Webweaving).

Environmental Aura

see also Monsters

Pure elemental aura is a rare thing, as the vast majority is admixed and bound into everything from stones to waves to animals. Despite this, localized concentrations of pure aura are known to occur at certain places in the world. Often these coincide with significant terrain features such as stone prominences, caverns, springs, glades, isolated copses, and so on, as if those features gather free aura to themselves; while most people cannot sense the aura itself, these places often have an eerie and discomfiting atmosphere, and strange things may be said to happen there. Transient waves of pure aura, particularly of material elements, may also accompany certain kinds of natural events such as strong storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, large wildfires, and so on.

However it arises, when there is a quantity of pure aura around, things change. What and how depends on the element involved, but overall, the pure aura seems to interact with whatever around it contains the same element. For material elements, this may involve changes to the land itself, raising or lowering the geography, new springs bubbling up or old waterways changing their paths, and many other such potential effects. Both material and fundamental elements can affect living things, whether plant or animal, resulting in the formation of monsters.

Crystallized Aura

see also Monsters

Solid, crystalline aura can very rarely be found in places touched by pure aura; more commonly, it is obtained from the bodies of slain monsters. The spherical or drop-shaped crystals typically range from pea-sized to as much as an inch across, with smaller stones being the more common by far. Crystal hues depend on the associated element and never vary, but color intensity depends on the concentration of aura involved, ranging from pale to vividly saturated. Regardless of intensity, all aura crystals give off a faint luminescence, immediately distinguishing them from any mundane stone.

Aura crystals are extremely hard and difficult to cut, and in jewelry are often used as raw stones or with a modicum of polishing. They are also valued by witches, particularly for use in spells and webs. The rare artifacts that have inherent abilities of their own also seem to be based upon aura crystals. Using an aura crystal to perform magic, whether by witchcraft or in an artifact, seems to deplete the aura it contains; the color of the crystal will fade as its charge is diminished, and a very pale crystal cannot be used for any magic at all.

Crystals typically regenerate their energy over a timespan of days to seasons depending on how much aura they contain and how much is to be recharged. Benchmark values for complete recharge (fully bleached returning to max intensity) per size and color level are:

Max Color 1/4" 1/2" 3/4" 1"
Pale 1 day 3 days 5 days 7 days
Light 2 6 10 14
Soft 4 12 19 27
Medium 8 23 36 51
Bright 15 43 67 95
Vivid 28 80 125 177

Notably, there are tales of aura crystals spontaneously evanescing, creating a short-lived and localized pool of pure aura that can have disastrous consequences for whoever is wearing the crystals as jewelry or using them as a magic component. Material elements are generally considered to be more stable than the fundamental elements, and paler crystals over more vivid, but those may simply be superstitions; what causes the sudden transformation is a complete mystery. Another belief holds that more powerful (more vivid) crystals leak aura and are potentially hazardous for it, particularly to infants and young children.

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