Essence User Lore
All creations of the Gods and those derived from their creations contain mana. For some, it only helps maintain their bodily functions, providing the innate magic of their species. Others learn the gestures, words, symbols and rituals needed to shape mana into complex arcane forms, becoming Mages.
For all, it is the crux of the natural world and all in it. Or rather, all that the Gods wish to be in it. However, despite what the divinities would wish their mortal followers to believe, mana was not always a natural part of the world.
In a time before the rule of the Gods, when the world was young and the mortal clans were yet to be, mana did not exist. In this time, their was a power older than mana, one primal and wild in a way the placid mana of the current day is not. This power was essence.
In most regions of the world, essence is very sparse, reduced to trace levels by the Gods’ attempts to purge it. However, for those who discover its existence, essence can provide an escape from the limited nature of mana.
As anyone who sufficiently studied mana will realize, mana only behaves as the Gods designed it. The innate mana within creatures performs the functions that the species’ creator intended, only growing in a predetermined form.
While an Ork may develop the Corpse Craftsman Feature of their clan, they cannot develop the Eldritch Justice Feature of an Elf. Unless their innate mana is altered, something challenging and complex, they will never gain Features not built into their mana.
There are work arounds, the skills of a Mage or other magic user being the most common pointed too in such debates. By learning the complex commands built into all mana by the Gods that created it, any creature containing mana can shape their mana into spell work and perform magic.
However, this method is limited to the Gods’ system built into the mana, making it necessary to learn the language of mana and perform its intricacies to practice the arcane. Even after years of careful and dedicated study and practice, many Mages have still railed at the limits of their skill in the language of mana.
From such a protest against the rules of the heavens, many have come to desire a freer form of power. One that does not simply follow their commands, but works with them. When those displeased with mana discover essence, they are often tempted to embrace this new freedom.
While mana is docile, in a sense dead. Essence is wild and almost alive, acting proactively upon it’s host unless carefully controlled. A mana using Mage must learn to command mana in perfect detail, because it will only do what it is commanded. However, essence acts on its own and fills in any gap in the Essence Users control, even if the gap is filled with the essence’s understanding of what is needed.
As a result, many would be Essence Users have lost control of the essence they circulate within their body, the essence breaking free and bonding into their being. In this all to frequent event, the attempted Essence User becomes an Essence Mutant, their body at the whims of the essence within them.
Such an outcome does not inherently stop them from being an Essence User. In fact, they can still manipulate essence to serve their will, and may even gain control of the essence bonded to their being and gain the Conscious Control Feature.
Ecology: Two things are needed for a creature to become an Essence User. First, access to a meaningful supply of essence. A creature who wishes to form a cultivation base must either do so in an environment with at least 1 EP or use a source of essence to supply them. An example of possible sources include items with essence stored within or an essence based creature capable of supplying sufficient essence. An Essence Mutant can always form a cultivation base.
The second component is the formation of a cultivation base from the available essence. The cultivation base is the foundation of an Essence User’s soul, the cornerstone that anchors their cultivation and powers their abilities.
There is likely a limitless number of essence patterns that can form a base, but there are certain traits that are needed for one to function. Firstly, it must always cycle. The manipulation of essence by a conscious creature’s will results in more total essence than originally existed.
This is negligible when a creature expends essence to generate an effect, the essence being dispersed into the environment. However, inside the endlessly moving path of essence maintained by an Essence User’s passive will, the cycling essence continuously grows. This surplus is what powers their abilities, but is also what bleeds out once it grows beyond their capacity.
No matter what pattern is used, cultivation bases can all be divided into three general categories. Each category reflects a specific approach to cultivation and correlates with their highest Ability Score, if they have one.
If based on Kick Ass, the cultivation base will be designed around constant and rapid use of essence, forcing it quickly through simplistic channels. If based on Bad Ass, the base will contain wide channels that allow massive amounts of essence to be formed through via will alone. If based on Smart Ass, the design will rely on intricacy and control, containing a massively elaborate pattern that draws the essence into thin strands for a longer cycle.
Each category utilizes a different approach to generating essence, the one best suited to the individual Essence User giving the best results. It is also possible for them to form a combination of categories, using aspects of multiple to exploit two or three equally high Ability Scores. They can even restructure their cultivation base in the event their highest Ability Score changes.
Many Essence Users will learn how to form a cultivation base from another Essence User, leading to many having the same pattern. However, it is entirely possible to form a cultivation base intuitively, something common to new Essence Users who never learned from another.
Once a creature has created a cultivation base, the essence cycling through it will connect to the mana pathways in their soul and assimilate it into their cultivation. Undoing the stabilization the Gods applied to make mana, the creature’s existing mana based abilities will become part of their cultivation.
From this point, they are an Essence User. As their skill at controlling essence increases, they can learn or design new essence patterns that can be built into their cultivation. Once added, an essence pattern allows them to benefit from or perform the effect it was designed to create. This lets an Essence User give themselves any Feature, limited only by their control and understanding of essence.
Although it is possible to design their own essence patterns, many use those tested and refined by others. Patterns can be learned from telepathic items that show the correct structure or from another Essence User with the pattern and the skill to teach it. An Essence User learning an existing pattern from a quality source increases the result of their Purity Check by 2.
Appearance: Essence Users most often appear as they otherwise would, only very specific methods able to discern their nature. However, either accidentally or by design, some essence patterns may alter their appearance when added to their cultivation.