Soulfire

Soulfire is an energy inherent to a conscious plane, passively loosed through thought. Thought causes changes in the plane, which in turn produces soulfire within it. Born from consciousness, soulfire is an energy shaped by consciousness; it follows the geometry of its inhabited plane, allowing it to be manipulated by intention fields. Combined with its various interactions, this allows for the manipulation of physical reality. It can only be summoned in large quantities by sapient creatures, but all life generates soulfire to some degree.

Generation

Soulfire production can be an intentional process with the right training, but can just as easily run afoul of uncontrollable emotions. Any kind of cyclic, focused thought causes continuous, constant change in the plane’s curvature, generating much more curvature than quick thoughts or intentions. Additionally, the more the recurrent thought pertains to an accurate understanding of the self, the more the motion acts in harmony with the soul’s natural “angular momentum” or “shape” to produce stronger curvature, and thus more soulfire.

However, it’s also possible for spiraling, intensely emotional thoughts to generate power by this same principle. If, for example, an individual undergoes a traumatic experience and incessantly reprimands themselves, this constitutes focused, cyclic thought. Furthermore, if the situation is dire enough, they may even begin to truly believe themselves, bending their own soul to fit the spin they generate, and subsequently lose themselves to becoming a Shade, the image of what they believe themselves to be.

Aspects

More abstractions than observed phenomena, aspects are epistemic shorthand used to describe soulfire with specific structures that grant it additional macroscopic properties. Listed below are common categorizations and their attributes.

Tangled

Tangled soulfire is effectively "sticky," such that it becomes difficult to separate from other soulfire it comes into contact with. This often leads to difficulty maneuvering it, but can be a boon in defense as the ties help to disperse combustion shock, resulting in less soulfire loss.

Notably, coagulated soulfire is a necessary prerequisite for creating ichor. On a high level with incorrect dimensionality, infusing unaspected soulfire effectively presses loose fibers onto mass, while coagulation turns it into thread which infusion spins into fabric.

Crystallized

Burning

Polarized

Decay

Soulfire is observed to decay by various methods, which explains why the universe isn't currently inundated with it, given its ease of production. Chiefly, soulfire appears to gradually "unravel" as it moves from a natural impedance in the conscious plane. However, tidal forces induced by conscious waves also have a pronounced effect, as well as minuscule internal combustion.

Variations

Soulfire Field

A soulfire field is any conglomeration of uninfused soulfire, which floats around and through matter like a ghostly cloud, not interacting with any of the standard four fundamental forces. This follows naturally from the assumption that uninfused soulfire inhabits the conscious plane. These fields are also generated passively by all living things as a consequence (or prerequisite) of cognition, dubbed a “halo,” and can cause harm if too intensive. Some non-sapient species are capable of harnessing their halo with special chemicals to produce metabolic energy.

Gimynfire

Soulfire produced by gimyndine; often “sharp,” discomforting, and somewhat repulsive.