The Haan Study, What is Befaint?

These pages feature chapter one of ‘’The Haan Study’’, a collection of chapters talking about the series’ magic system in greater detail then the information given in the main chapters found in the back of the volumes of The Eferian Day series. One chapter is given out per volume and a complete work of The Haan Study is planned to be created in the future featuring all chapters alongside more text and artwork of spell characters and more. Chapter one has been given out for free for promotion of the series.

This chapter is subjected to change until The Eferian Dawn volume one: Together We Once Held Up Heaven and Sky is fully published.

Latest edit done: 2024-10-19

The Twelfth Scroll: What is Befaint?

Though the term Befaint have several meanings behind it: the overlining meaning of the word is very specific in the way it is described by the Sagen people.

Befaint is the primary word for soul in Eferian. But within the Sagen world: Befainted life is more than just the soul itself. For its meaning stems in closer relation to the Haan practices and the world of Delmi then the soul of the person or being themselves. A Befainted life is forever tethered to the world in which it came. And too within the worlds connected to the one they came from. This means that there will always be parts of the being existing in the Sagen universe. And the worlds connected to it.

As one could view it: the being’s soul and the soul of the being are then two separate things. The being’s soul is the person themselves. And the soul of the being is the remnants of who said person was and what connections they had with the world they came from. The main differences between the two is the soul of the being—the Befainted part of the person’s soul—is that the remnants of the person’s soul do not equal said person. For a Befainted life is like shards of who the person used to be. Or the appearance of who the person used to be to be more precise. This has many implications for the Sagen world where Befainted life is always around the life which is still alive. Since there are so many different Haan practices and existences of Befainted life with the Sagen universe, talking about all of them is something which needs to be done later so not to clutter larger portions of this chapter with it.

But one of the main aspects of Befainted life needed to be understood about the implications of their existence for the Sagen people is the Haan practices taught and Befainted welding by Haan Casters. Because the primary viewpoint of Befainted life have to do with shards-like states of former beings: the life which used to exist within parts of Haan practice still exists even when the being is fully gone from the Sagen world. Most noteworthy is in summon spells of Trimél’s Uphold. The ability to form life-like constructions using the nature of Cambriny elements and Dhemsen elements: the Caster have some unexpected connections with Befainted life caused by the natural state of the Befainted life. A side effect of how the Cambriny element affects the state of the Dhemsen elements to pull objects around, the Cambriny element are also able to pull shards of Befainted life around them into the construction. The effects the Cambriny elements have to their surroundings causes the elemental family to gain the ability to alter the natural state of Haan elements around them.

And since Befainted life is tethered to the Haan elements: the Befainted life is then subjugated to be affected by the powers the Cambriny elements. This is like how C’alorus was affected by the elements which existed within that current time. Though the Cambriny elements are not as powerful with these types of effects compared to the full table of all Haan elements everywhere. Since Befainted life is tethered to the worlds where the Haan elements reside, it is not possible for said shard of Befainted life to leave to an existence where Haan elements do not exist. Because this is the case: the Befainted life will always exist among the worlds connected to Sagen in one form or another. It should be noted at this point that Befainted life is not always the being it used to be. Like spoken of previously: there should always be separations between the meanings of Befainted ‘’life’’ within this regard.

The Befainted life existing within the Sagen world is thought of as part of the living life within the world. And due to this belief: the Eferian people view Befainted life as a natural part of the living life around them. Because these types of life exist in the Sagen world, the viewpoint of death to be a negative aspect of life is very rarely seen throughout the continent. From the knowledge of what Befainted life is and how Delmi and death works in the Sagen world: the people of the Eferian continent don’t consider death to be a loss of life. Instead, the understanding of how life exist in the Sagen world gives the Eferian people the ability to know what death is to a much closer degree. Befainted life has been around the Sagen world since the creation of Delmi.

Before the creation of the Delmi linkage of the worlds: death and Befainted life did not exist whatsoever since the life which later became the first Befainted life was eternal by that time. This means that there are also several different meanings behind what the term ‘’Befaint’’ even is.

However—for the sake of keeping the explanation of the term as specific to the main series’ timeline as possible—the version of what Befainted life is will primarily be spoken of in terms of the story’s timeline for text which will be included within these chapters.

The version of the first Befainted life is only important to consider in regards of understanding the overarching lore of the Sagen world’s origins. This version is not as important for the casual reader to consider seeing how the Befainted life spoken and showcased in published text will mainly be within the story’s timeline. As mentioned previously, more information surrounding Befainted life will be brought up in later chapters.