Anima Crux

The 'Anima Crux' is an important part of the world of Tehrannis, acting as a conduit or a focus for the vast array of magical energies or skills within the world, allowing trained individuals to aid their fellow men, or even to utilise it as a tool against those who would go against mankind.

This is not to say that an Anima Crux could not be created for darker purposes. The Anima Crux is a manifestation of the innate spiritual power of a person, placed into an item of importance or a unique personal affect. There are even those who have fashioned their Anima Crux into a 'familiar' of sorts, with it's own consciousness and persona.

Rituals
In order to 'enable' the Anima Crux, it is customary for a person to undergo a special ritual in order to manifest or fuse their spiritual power into an object. The type of Anima Crux one usually ends up with is dependant primarily on the type of ritual they go through, with many organisations utilising different rituals. Below is a list of known rituals practiced by the organisations, but this is by no means the only rituals there are within the world. An Anima Crux ritual can be dangerous, and is generally only performed by those trained within their various organisations on how to do so, but it is known that there are many within the world who have developed their own techniques, and survived the rituals to form their own unique type of Anima Crux. An Anima Crux usually allows for a firmer grasp of The Arts, even conveying talent in a wielder where they may previously have not been able to utilise the Arts. For many of the organisations, they serve as a focal point for their powers with the Arts, providing a greater control of the magic that weaves amongst the realm.

Anima Crux Stages
The Anima Crux is a unique tool that can 'grow' in power as the wielder and owner becomes stronger and more practised with the Anima Crux itself. There are known to be four stages currently, and generally when a higher stage is reached, it is shown upon the Anima Crux in the form of another of the runic symbols that brand the tool, whatever it may be. In order to utilise the further stages of an Anima Crux, it is necessary to 'awaken' them during use, channelling the users energy into the tool to awaken the further stages and make use of the enhanced abilities.

Stage 1
The Primary Stage of the Anima Crux, the permanent state of them all, and the form an Anima Crux takes in it's dormant state. Generally very little can be done beyond the basic wielding of an Anima Crux at this stage.

Stage 2
The first awakened stage of an Anima Crux, it is at this stage the unique abilities of the wielder begin to manifest themselves within the tool. It takes a great deal of focus and progress with an Anima Crux before the second stage awakens.

Stage 3
The second awakened stage of the Anima Crux, and generally the stage the majority reach before they hit their peak. At stage three, an Anima Crux is capable of amazing techniques that border on the realms of the immortals, and the higher level arts.

Stage 4
The final known stage of the Anima Crux, and the most difficult to reach, there are not many who have reached this final stage, as it requires a great deal of energy to even contemplate awakening. Stage four can delve into the realm of the Gods, allowing collossal energies to be harnessed by the wielder and brought forth in battle. However, once stage four has been awakened, it can cause the bearer to become weakened and exhausted with too much use.