Ability Spheres

Empirica Sin has four primary ability spheres, three of which draw on three major forces, or energy types - Void, Od and Aether. Manipulation of the three spheres constitutes three of the ability spheres - Void manipulation is generally referred to as Void-Dancing . The term for use of Odic Energy is Odaturgy and Aether manipulation is the manipulation termed Aetherweave (also called Elementalism).

The final sphere is unique as it does not rely on manipulation of an energy; rather it refers to the actual physical abilities of a person's body, which are often supranormal in themselves. See below for more information about that, as well as commentary on the truly unusual wildcard abilities possessed by some for various reasons.

Access to these spheres is not equally distributed from one person to the next - Void and Od in particular favor specific metaspecies. Beyond that, each individual has their own unique access (or lack of access) to each sphere. There are people who have no ability to tap into any energy source.

To become proficient in the use of these energies requires a combination of natural potential (also called Lumen) and acquired skill.

Aetherweavers

An aetherweaver demonstrating her mastery of water by creating Watersilk.

Unlike Od (which favors Celestials or Void (which favors Demons), the elements do not play favorites from one metaspecies to the next - a mortal from Gaean is just as likely to be a powerful aetherweaver as any Dei.

That said, most who practice Aetherweave have minor talents more suitable for minor conveniences in day-to-day life than epic feats, and fully half of Empiricans have no affinity whatsoever. As the strength of the affinity grows, the number of aetherweavers, of course, goes down.

By and large all elements are equal in representation among affinities... with one exception.

Rarely, a person is born with the ability to manipulate Aether itself. Strong talents in the use of aether directly are the rarest, and most powerful, Aether users of all; called Aetherwrights, they have full access to all elemental spheres. They also have the potential to master any and all demispheres if their personality and will permits.

For more information on the use and prevalence of Aether, see Aetherweave.

Od is energy generated within the body (or form) of any living thing. It is often referred to as the energy, or the breath, of life; it isn't the same thing as Anima - rather, Od is the energy that fuels life and Anima is the force that defines the self. With the proper application of talent and skill Od can be used to shape (or affect) nearly anything: Inorganic matter, the bodies of others or oneself, the minds of others or oneself, and more.

Odists

Odaturgy is the channeling and manipulation of the internal energy called Od.

Od is known to require substantial concentration and internal discipline to make use of - particularly as one is using their own life energy to form effects. This is particularly concerning for mortals, because immortals are not built to run out of life force!

That being said, even immortals must generate and replace the Od they burn through and so, as with all things, overuse can be dangerous to the odist.

As indicated, Od does regenerate, though each individual person regenerates life force at a different pace. This is a significant contributor to how strong a specific user might be: a vast quantity of Od in combination with a quick regeneration rate is the ideal. This is typically seen among the Dei. It is also possible to train oneself to use less Od to perform tasks than the average, and to train the body to generate more Od or regenerate it more quickly - a practice often undertaken by mortals.

While all species can access Od (or, rather, all species have people within them that can access Od) it comes most naturally to Celestials.

For more information on Odic energy and its uses, see Odaturgy.

Void is an energy that circulates within the external world, powering the functions of Empirica Sin itself. With talent or skill, it is possible for a person to use this energy, channeling it into either Voidartistry (direct manipulation of Void energy) or "magic" (Void energy as "processed" through a magic system).

Void-Dancer

Those who use Void energy directly are referred to as void-dancers, while those who make use of it in its "magic" form can be referred to as magic-users, mages, sorcerers, etc.."

While Od and Void have many similarities on a practical level (their effects can overlap, for example), their actual functioning is quite different! In short, Od is the energy that generates life, where Void is the energy that enables movement and function. Void is present in all things, living or otherwise, but Od is present only in living things. This means Void energy is, on a practical level, bottomless... and thus that there is virtually no limit to what a void-dancer can do given the will and ability to shape it.

Anyone capable of wielding Void can actually achieve feats of immense power. Even a low-ranked void-dancer is capable of this...

However, as the saying goes, just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Channeling Void can have a disastrous effect on a person's body and mind if it is overused. The most common outcome is destabilization of the mind. This is an effect that forms over time and, if the warnings go unheeded, will eventually lead to Void Madness. Excess use can also result in permanent damage or death under the "correct" circumstances.

The amount of Void that a given body can handle without breaking down varies from person to person or group to group - this is the equivalent of talent among void-dancers, and like with anything, the ability to channel more energy can be earned through practice. Furthermore, much like Od, people capable of accessing making use of Void exists in any metaspecies. However, Demons are more attuned to its use than others.

For more on Void and Magic, see Voidart & Magic. For more on its dangerous effects, see Void Madness.

Physiurgic abilities are the only one of the primary ability spheres that do not draw on an energy form or force. That is because these are not technically "abilities" in the way the others are; rather they are a basic description of what each metaspecies, subspecies or individual's bodies are naturally capable of: how much a person can lift, how quickly they can move, etc.

Physiurgy

Physiological abilities can sometimes make for strange effects - such as people with a slight build and immense strength.

This includes natural abilities such as shapeshifting for species (or individuals) that are simply capable of shapeshifting rather than using some special ability to do so. While this may be mundane and normal for the people who have those capabilities, there are cases where they are considered supranormal because they are not near-universal. The vast majority of people can lift a bottle of wine, so that is not considered supranormal. However, most people cannot lift a large boulder, and so that is considered a supranormal ability.

Just by the nature of their builds, Demons are considered to be the physically strongest of the three primary Empirican metaspecies, but this varies widely. Drereccas, for example, are known to be very weak, whereas Nefilor likely have the highest average strength in all of Empirica Sin.

Generally speaking, these physiological abilities are not truly available to mortals, because their physical limits are within the human range. However, this is just a rule of thumb (that will be correct in the vast majority of cases) as there are exceptions.

The most common reason for mortals to cross into Physiurgy is lineage - specifically having Celestial or Demon blood. While not a guarantee, Brightbloods, Cambions or Sisthenos may have enough Celestial or Demon in them to affect their limits.

Beyond that there is one other kind of exception...

All known Aedvectis physically resemble native Empiricans in most, or even all, obvious ways - specifically they are generally indistinguishable from the humans of Gaean. Most of the time.

Confounding Variable

Most Aedvectis do not have any particular abilities... but some do..

Rarely - very rarely - a person will manifest an ability that has no apparent connection to any of the normal systems of abilities present in Empirica Sin.

While this may seem odd, it is nonetheless a known phenomena, and it is caused by the presence of Aedvectis - people from beyond the World-Veil, who appear in Empirica Sin for unknown reasons.

When an Aedvect comes into Empirica Sin with the whole of themselves (including their body rather than as an Anima-only transference), they might bring abilities that did not previously exist in the world - abilities that may recur in their descendants, should they have any.

Note that this does not necessarily mean they can do things that don't exist on Empirica Sin. More often it refers to either people who normally would not have an ability (e.g. extraordinary strength on a human) or who can replicate an ability through nonstandard means (e.g. generating light without the use of any ability sphere).

This is by no means guaranteed - indeed most of the time even the direct children of an Aedvect will only display those abilities native to Empirica Sin.

But... sometimes... Just sometimes...

A Power Assessment system was invented inside Incaendium due to the importance Demons place on relative power levels. However, it has since migrated throughout all of Empirica Sin - it's convenient, despite no one really caring as much as Demons do anyway. The ranks are broken down below.

One can get more specific by using modifiers (+ and - these specify when someone is very close to the high or low threshold for their rank.

This is used in multiple ways - it can be quite granular ("Her Voidartistry in Extirpation is at the Vallus level, but her Incursion Voidart is only at Modu level!") or it can be used in a broader fashion ("He is a Vaham level Void-Dancer"). Finally, ranks can be used as a general assessment ("Astaroth Dracothis is a Vallus + Level threat.")

When used as a general assessment, ranks incorporate more than the person's pure power level - it also includes their skills and resources.

Expanding Potential

The natural supranormal talent one has - including talents yet undiscovered that are lying in wait for a person to connect with them - is called Lumen. Every person, animal, monster, etc has an amount of lumen, though powerless beings have too little to actually utilize. Because it is highly heritable, it is safer than not to assume that most people of a certain family will share roughly the same Lumen - but there are exceptions, so one must keep an eye out!

By contrast, Lumenti refers to the level of ability that one has already achieved.

The gap between these two represents unfulfilled potential.

Though there is a basic amount at birth, there are ways to acquire more or make the most of what one has.

Self-Driven Advancement

A human man studying magic texts in the hopes of expanding his ability to use Void energy.

In order to expand their potential, a Celestial has two options: Promotion by the Seven or Ascension via overcoming internal limiters.

Demons primarily expand their upper limits through Exedis - which is to say they directly drain the Lumen from a victim, leaving that person's abilities reduced or destroyed. This can be done to a living person provided they are incapacitated, but they can also consume the energy of the recently dead. Exedis does not kill the victim.

Mortals have the unique ability to expand their limits without external assistance or physical changes. This must be done through diligent training, learning, studying, etc. This means that a mortal's lumen and lumenti are very likely to be the same once they've mastered their craft, as they will advance together. Methods to advance are specific to each Ability Sphere.

It's important to remember, however, that studying and training alone cannot create a talent where none exist - working out will not grant superhuman strength. If a person has no talent for Voidart, they cannot create one through diligance, only expand what they do have.

Significantly, all three of the energy-based spheres are accessible to every metaspecies. Not every member of that species will have a talent for them, of course, but there are demons talented in Odaturgy and Celestials talented in Void-Dancing, and Mortals talented in either or both.

However, when it comes to Odaturgy and Void-Dancing, there are metaspecies tendencies - Demons lean toward Void, Celestials toward Od. This essentially means that there are far more demons with a talent for Void than demons with a talent for Od, and the reverse for Celestials. Mortals have no particular leaning and are just as likely to be talented in either one. Of course, each individual person will have a different relationship to those abilities - a different level of talent, skill, etc.

Moreover, the abilities can and do interact with one another, creating a complicated tapestry of abilities that serves to make each person's ability set truly unique. In short, nothing is definite and everything is possible!

More specific information about the different systems and their prevalence among different groups can be found on the pages dedicated to the individual Ability Spheres.

If a person's abilities across the various different ability types substantially overlap, those abilities can be used to reinforce and strengthen one another. Furthermore, one can weave effects together to create unique effects, as well.

Overlapping Effects

A woman skilled in both Elementalism and Void-Dancing uses her different types of flame to complement each other.

For example, if a fire-weaver also has pyrokinetic odic abilities and then uses Voidart to create a fire effect, all three abilities will strengthen one another. This can make it difficult to tell where a person's level of ability derives from: if someone is exceptionally powerful in one area, it could be that they are moderately able in that area across multiple spheres, or that they are strong in one and weak in two that reinforce the strong area, etc.

The most common use of multiple spheres (aside from basic reinforcement) is the creation of empowered items.

This also makes it extremely difficult to uncreate an effect, as one would need to understand which part of the effects came from what in order to make that happen (unless the person is using abilities specifically geared toward deconstruction - more information on those can be found on the individual ability sphere pages).

A skilled practitioner of Sensing/Discovery (an odic sphere) or Divination (a voidic sphere) may be able to determine what specifically is going into an effect, which would ease the process of uncreating the effect.

Each ability sphere has its own range of things that they can accomplish with regards to objects. For example, elements can be used to enhance objects, e.g. light a sword on fire, but only while it is being actively maintained - once the aetherweaver ceases to pour energy into keeping the fire burning, it will flicker out.

Enchanted Items

A powerful void-enhanced item can be as legendary as any hero.

Ultimately, only voidart can make an effect permanent, specifically via the Enchant/Empower voidic sphere. This means that all empowered items are voidic - someone proficient in Voidartistry must have been involved in their creation.

That said, there are things other spheres can do that Void cannot. For example, a high level odist is capable of creating constructing a certain level of sentience from nothing - which neither Aether nor Void can do. The only way to create a sentient object via Void alone is to anchor a pre-existing Anima to the object.

So, for example, if someone wished to create a sentient sword without capturing and essentially enslaving an Anima to empower it, they would need both a powerful odaturge and a voidartist to be involved in its creation.

Creating a flaming sword could theoretically be accomplished with Voidic abilities alone, or with a void-dancer and an aetherweaver or odic pyrokinetic... though the fire involved might have slightly different effects depending on its source.

Never assume that two empowered items that seem to do the same thing are working the same way!