The Encyclopedia of Lynncair

After the Godswar, many of the Gods that perished left behind them vestiges or varying amount--these semi-physical, semi-spiritual remains have been termed "Essences" by today's scholars.

Theoretically, each and every God that was killed during the Godswar conflict should have left the sum of their power--that is, ALL of their power--in the form of these manifestations. Essences vary in size; theoretically, again, one *could* find a Complete Essence of a God that was killed, and by becoming whole with said-Essence, technically become a "reincarnated" version of the corresponding God. However, no Essence ever discovered has ever even come close to resembling a Complete Essence; any kind of Essence at all is quite rare, and most are rather insignificant in magnitude relative to the former once-whole power of their respective God. The one exception to this statement is that Acarius, the longtime advisor to the Kings of Lynncair, is thought to have found a near-complete Essence of Illarian, the God of Life, which has granted him, in so many words, immortality.

Some Essences have proven to be more common (and, as such, less powerful) than others; manifestations of the God of Fire, Magarus, are relatively plentiful, as are Essences of Tsikara and Berangar, the Goddess of the Forest and God of War, respectively.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the God of Dreams--also known as the Prince of Dreams, or "Lord Nightmare"--who was one of the three Gods whose fates following the cataclysmic Godswar remains unknown. It is thought that the Prince of Dreams was killed by Tyakan and Merustris when he fled North from Lynncair, yet very few Essences of the Prince of Dreams have been located, and the few that have been found have been quite weak in nature. This means that the Prince of Dreams either retains much of his power and still lives in the Worlds Beyond, or that there exists somewhere a near-Complete Essence of the Prince of Dreams.