SOUL

The SOUL appears as a fluctuating, glowing point of light, distinct from the symbolic representation as a heart.

The SOUL is the culmination of one's being, including both humans and yarov. It appears as a physical object upon the death of a human or boss yaref, and is never seen on its own for a standard yaref. It is often symbolically represented with a heart symbol (❤️ - pointing up for yarov and down for humans). SOULs have various measurable properties, including functioning as a quantifiable measure of power that was taken advantage of by P. S. Gelin.

System

SOULs are relevant to yahir. A standard yaref is equivalent to its SOUL (which disappears upon death), while a human SOUL exists somewhat independently, and persists for a time after death due to determination. Boss yaref SOULs are white, while human SOULs appear in various colors.

The creation of certain kinds of structures is tied to SOUL power, such as barriers. The barrier around the Ebott Underground was created with the power of seven human SOULs, and would require an attack by a being of similar power to destroy. A monster SOUL is between 10 and 95,000 times weaker than a human SOUL, depending on what metric is used.

A deceased human's SOUL can be absorbed by a yaref or soulless being, and a yaref can be absorbed by a human or a soulless being, although for most beings this requires a boss yaref's SOUL as absorbing a living yaref takes an absurd amount of power. A being with both kinds of SOULs is called an unsef, and is extremely powerful. Unsov include Ondeli-Khara and Etevni-Aratikent.

Generation

Sufficiently complex emergent consciousnesses develop SOULs. As of 913, this includes humans and some intelligent automata. A yaref also functions as a SOUL. Determination can, however, re-establish consciousness without a SOUL. Yaref souls are significantly weaker than human SOULs