I haven’t thought about Arnav and Alev in quite some time. They would be identical twins if not for the magic of their souls differentiating them- Arnav taking a blue-dominated palette for his water magic, and Alev taking a red-orange appearance for his fire magic. They shared a peaceful childhood, but in their adolescence their region became more unstable, their town taken over by a lich- allowed to live largely peaceful lives, except said lich would periodically take people away to never be seen again. This would catch up to them eventually, and it came for Alev. Arnav followed undetected to try to save him but underestimated just how proficient the lich was with its rituals, and so Alev was killed, and his soul poured into a particular malachite. Arnav does manage to swipe the stone, though, and a good chunk of plot later winds up infusing Alev’s soul into himself, now sharing a body with his brother to allow him to continue living. This disrupts everything- daily life, function, magic, even down to their now-shared fur color, which begins as a marbled red-orange and blue and over time meshes together into a purple as they learn to cohabitate and wield their magic in unison.

This forms a taboo in a number of ways, but the one that stands out the most in universe is that one body is casting two elements of magic. Each soul can utilize one element. No more, but sometimes less. This is something that many over the ages have attempted to accomplish but none have managed. This noteable exception, however, was made possible by the divinity of Genesia after her reawakening. Hers is the domain of life, of moving souls into said new life, which in this case was used to move a soul into existing life. Had a standard hexen (group of six casters, one for each element) attempted this, it would have surely ended in failure and possibly disaster no matter how synchronized its members were.

When the god Morvi was shattered, naught could be felt amiss in the worlds of Harmonia, yet was there a new facet to the galaxy created. This new truth would become evident in the following days, weeks, months to living, and what would have been formerly living, beings. Upon death, the body would fall, but the soul would linger, wander, and fail to move on. Institutions of the gods initially deemed this the result of a great sin or unrest within the person, and some believed that guidance and closure could be brought to them, but it would become rapidly evident that this was not due to any sin committed by the afflicted beings.

Haunting as this was, the lingering spirits did not appear to pose any threat to the living, at least in physical capacity. Distress and obsession became the initial harm as the living were now unable to part with the supposed departed, and this was largely mitigated by collective action- groups of people coming together to help each other remain in the present. Because of this, community became more important than ever. This separation between living and passed, however, began to take its toll on the spirits. They began to steep and fester in the deep meaninglessness of post-death. They could not contribute, and their presence sapped the sanity of the living, most notably the ones closest to them in life. This malcontent manifested in a multitude of ways, becoming more dangerous over time. After a sufficient period, spirits congregated and re-manifested into physical forms- that of beasts, losing what sapience they had remaining. A great deal of distress was wrought from fending off this new threat, once the terms of their creation became evident.

Something had to be done- anything, and so people turned to ritualistic experiments to try to appease the spirits before they could warp so irreversibly. In time, people would learn that methods of sending them off to the heavens worked well enough, though they knew not why.

It was among these experiments that something far more nefarious was discovered- a way to manipulate and utilize the souls of the lingering deceased- necromancy. Its unthinkable nature made it such that it was quickly forbidden, but there were those who would practice it in secret, developing it and using it to their own ends, whether it be for power, vanity, or yet other unknown purposes. These necromancers grew adept at blending in with others as to not be caught. In time, they would orchestrate elaborate schemes to frame others for their own misdeeds, and so another method was developed to aid in divining the cause of these magics. A war of investigations followed, and the efforts of these villains claimed far too many lives, which they were more than happy to incorporate into their magic.

To this end, a band of fighters was formed, taking the shape of hexens paired with the magicless, who were more often than not excellent candidates for channeling magic through the contributions of the hexens. These fighters were chosen amongst those who had witnessed firsthand the horror of the undying and their twistings, ensuring groups with a united and unquestioning purpose- to eradicate necromancy and raise the dead to the heavens to allow them to move on. In time, this proved to be an effective strategy given the composition of these groups- six mages capable of detecting necromantic energy and sending off the undead, and the magic-barren fighters, who could be made to handle fights against the magically inclined by way of infusion of the elements from their respective hexen. They would come to be known as the crypt keepers- those who would keep the dead in their place and fend off those who would seek to corrupt them.

Centuries have passed since this all transpired, and it is said that the crypt keepers continue their work to this day, though none seem to know how to join their ranks, and what rumors of their sightings there are seem to report that they consist of one person each, not seven. The reliability of these rumors is largely unconfirmed, though the lack of other accounts is disturbing. Many have searched for the meaning of this, yet none have uncovered the truth, or have at least lived to tell the tale.

A curious yet invariable fact of life within Harmonia is that the mortal soul can bear but only one element. Through the ages, all kinds have attempted to alter this core nature, for if one were to bear multiple elements within the same soul, they could combine them with perfect unison of purpose and synergy given time, thus allowing them the full strength of the wielded elements. However, only the gods themselves have proven capable of attaining, much less wielding, such power, and with it, they weave the fabric of reality in mass coordination with each other. Time, space, tides, continents, even life and death itself are among the universal components the gods uphold to maintain the balance of the world.

But what were to happen if one were struck down? A curious idea few had considered, yet eons ago, one mortal brought with him a highly trained hexen to challenge the gods and claim their power. It is said that he struck down the god of life and death itself, Morvi, though the events that occurred then and thereafter are but weaves of myth and legend, tales people tell to make sense of their now-altered world. The identities of the challenger and the hexen- comprised of six mages, one for each element- have been lost to time, and the fate of mortals now rests within the hands of hexens who are burdened with the task of renewing the life of the dead, in which they must send souls off to the unknown to be created anew, lest they be made to linger, fester, and haunt the living.

Even so, there are some that would use these souls to their own ends- necromancy, a new form of nefarious magic made possible by the demise of Morvi. The deeds of these necromancers were so vile that a band of fighters vowed to hunt down and eliminate any sign of the magic. Armed with technological prowess, they were possessed of unnatural strength, and with it their righteous cause was carried out. However, necromancy cannot be eliminated so long as Morvi remains dead, and so their task became one they fully devoted themselves to for the rest of their lives, but time was not on their side, for as mortals, even they were doomed to die. Loath as they were to pass the task to another, they invoked their own necromantic ritual in secret, binding their souls to their bodies forevermore, and as they knew, and as they would come to see, it did not come without its price. In time, their minds and souls would succumb to madness, and within that senseless madness remained a singular purpose- eliminate all those that would practice necromancy and the products thereof.

The issue of these crypt-keepers lay within their faculties, which dimmed over time, making it such that these heroes would sink into a position of villainy and terror, razing entire cities to the ground upon being summoned by a trace of the evil magic, and not stopping until the source was eliminated. Because of this, people began to take matters into their own hands, eliminating and preventing these rituals in the first place. Some would even become like bounty hunters, chasing these threats down in the hopes that they can eliminate the source before a crypt-keeper could arrive.

One such hunter was borne from the misfortune that befell him in a night of meditation and focus as he tried to envision his purpose in the galaxy…