13.4 Affinity

Affinity works in essentially the same way as gravity, but it is more selective. Gravity attracts all matter to all other matter, and its strength is proportional to total mass. Affinity attracts similar souls to other similar souls, and its strength is proportional to the strength of the souls. It has no effect on things without souls, and it is generally weaker than gravity, but operates at a longer distance.

While alive, creatures are affected by the pull of affinity, but it is so weak compared to gravity that it is essentially impossible to observe or measure. When a creature dies and a soul is severed from its body, the pull of affinity usually becomes the strongest force acting on the untethered soul. This pulls the soul towards the Spiritual Planes that it is most connected to. It passes through the Astral Expanse on the way, but since it has no physical substance, it is unharmed by the journey.

The similarities that determine how affinity affects a soul are complex and multifaceted. Alignment is a factor, but personal choice is also significant, such as worshipping a particular deity in life. The most powerful form of affinity comes from formal, magically enforced ownership, such as a votive who has pledged their soul to a soulkeeper.

The Spiritual Planes are forged from the souls of eons of living creatures. They are incredibly powerful sources of affinity, and they act most powerfully on their most powerful inhabitants - deities. In a sense, deities are actually prisoners of their home planes. They have virtually unlimited power within that plane, but affinity prevents them from using that power directly elsewhere. This is why deities must channel their power through other agents, like angels and clerics. The bond of affinity that clerics forge with their deity allows deities to send a small part of their power across the vast distance between the Spiritual Planes and the Material Plane.

13.4.1 Sympathetic Magic

Sympathetic magic, which relies on similarities between distant targets, uses principles similar to affinity. However, it can affect objects which do not themselves have souls. Because affinity is a pulling force, it is generally easier to draw distant effects to you with affinity than it is to act directly on distant targets, and the same applies to sympathetic magic. For example, the conjoined conjuration – Ventus spell conjures wind from Ventus to the caster’s location. That is much easier than sending air from your location to Ventus.