Essence Mark
Essence Mark | |
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by Cory Billett
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Creators | Forgers |
World of Origin | Sel |
Universe | Cosmere |
An Essence Mark is a particular type of soulstamp that is designed to Forge a person's memories, history, and soul for a brief period of time.[1] Essence Marks are among the most powerful and most complex soulstamps a Forger can create.[1] In realmatic terms, an Essence Mark reforges the spiritual aspect of an individual to match the new history.[2]
Essence Marks are considered blasphemy by a number of cultures, including the Grands of the Rose Empire, the Mulla'dil Strikers, and the Dzhamarians.[3][4]
Construction & Use
Essence Marks are the most difficult type of soulstamps to create, typically requiring years worth of development and construction, and are required to be attuned to a specific individual in order to function.[1] When a human is soulstamped, the transformation lasts a relatively short period of time, and the best crafted stamps last approximately a day. This is due to the fact that the identity of a person, as opposed to an object, is constantly growing, changing and shifting.[3] It may also be due to the fact that all humans are naturally invested with a small amount of investiture,[5] and investiture resists change by other investiture.[6]
To create an Essence Mark, one must make hundreds of stamps, each one representing a small portion of the history or personality which you would wish to change.[1] These stamps must be tested individually to make sure that each will take, and then networked together into a lattice on some external object. The lattice will be connected to the final stamp, which will act as a keystone for the other stamps, and will be the only one necessary to stamp. The lattice must maintain in contact with the skin of an individual to maintain its effects.[7] A deep knowledge of the individual and the new history you wish to write is necessary to create the stamps for an Essence Mark.[1] An Augur would find their Allomantic powers "useful" for making Essence Marks for themselves.[8]
Known Essence Marks
Notes
- ↑ a b c d e The Emperor's Soul - Day 2#
- ↑ The Emperor's Soul - Day 12#
- ↑ a b The Emperor's Soul - Day 30#
- ↑ The Emperor's Soul - Day 76#
- ↑ Words of Radiance San Francisco signing
— Arcanum - 2014-03-06# - ↑ OdysseyCon 2016
— Arcanum - 2016-04-08# - ↑ The Emperor's Soul - Day 58#
- ↑ Skype Q&A
— Arcanum - 2018-10-08#