Astaria

Astaria is the Worldsoul of Zanamo. Her origins are unclear, but she is a powerful Worldsoul who holds a great reverence for finding one's true purpose in life.   As a Worldsoul, Astaria's energy fuels the magic of Zanamo. It manifests in the form of Spiritual Contracts. When mortals die on her planet, their souls are transformed into spirits. These spirits take the form of the greatest passion that mortal life held. But if the mortal had no purpose, the spirit is a formless energy which will eventually reincarnate.   On Zanamo, humans can form contracts with the spirits to wield their power. In the modern times, this is done by venturing into the Spiritlands and attempting to forcefully bind them to their will. The act of willfully contracting spirits has been forgotten, and it is now done by force.   Spiritual Contracts grant any number of abilities to their Contractors, such as the ability to summon a powerful spirit sword which grants its wielder the skills to use it properly. Other examples include books which enable limited spellcasting, and animals that can perform favors for their Contractor as summons.   But the most powerful spirits are the ones whose passions enabled them to know themselves so well that they did not devolve into a limited spiritual form such as a weapon, a book, or any other item of passion of theirs. The most powerful spirits know themselves so well that they can maintain their appearance, higher degree of thought, and individuality. Contracting these spirits is nearly impossible, as they never appear to aspiring Contractors, and their existence is merely legend.     Astaria began as a benevolent Worldsoul, but grew indifferent to the struggles of her living children, and vanished from history as she retreated to the deepest depths of the Spiritlands to live amongst her most worthy. It is said that the afterlife that awaits the most highly evolved is one of an eternal paradise in sync with the universe.