On the Nature of Memories

Memories are an essential feature not only of living things but of the physickal world. Their purpose is to rear the Cosmos into motion, and thus are aggregated by the Essence Tides in life, and deposited, it is said, in the Othershore. Metaphysickally, memories can only exist within the Veil of Erbos, and circulated via the Crystal Pillars.

Gunital is the ethereal substance extracted from possessed memories. It appears as bright, whitish silver threads of neither liquid nor gas, most similar to the gossamer concoctions made by the Finfolk.

Because of the peculiar nature of Gunital, containers ought to be fashioned from special materials. One of these is the stone called Pensive. A dull-looking piece of basalt, save for small wavelike patterns in the grains of the stone, Pensive is considered by Alchemists and Compromisers to be the finest material that can be used for Gunital containers. Although porous for water and other liquids, Pensive has the unusual quality of being able to preserve and contain Gunital for an indefinite amount of time. However, Pensive deposits occur only within Jagd, making them a rarity in the market.

On the other hand, a more common material used is the crystalline Emlekite. Cheap and easy to procure, emlekite is a more favored component. Caution is however prescribed since Gunital within emlekite containers can disperse within a week or two.

Gunital can be tampered with by experts in dabbling with mana and anima as they are kin tides. These experts, generally called Empaths, devote entire lives to studying the nature of memories. They are able to extract, shape, and implant conjured memories into the minds of individuals. They are likewise able to recover blood memories, imprints of a person’s ancestral line. Their power, however, lies with Evocation.