Potentia¶
In the Drehmal universe, potentia is a measure of something's innate magical capacity, applying both to souls and to inanimate materials. Many sources speak of those with extreme natural talents for magic as having "unlimited potentia", although this is a misnomer.
Explanation¶
As a fundamental part of their being, all things in Drehmal have a certain amount of potentia. Things with higher potentia are generally more effective as power sources for magical acts. Potentia can be changed by modifying an object, but generally, the highest-potentia materials will always outperform similar materials of lower potentia.
Materials¶
Potentia in materials seems to be more pliable than potentia in people. Most materials that have significant potentia are minerals, with rehntite having the highest by far. Mendarum crystals, found on the Island of Dusk and Island of Dawn, come in second, while lapis lazuli, used widely in Sahd, is also very powerful.
In practice, this means that runes carved onto rehntite and these other minerals will cause the strongest effects, as opposed to the same runes being carved onto a simple rock or piece of wood.
People/Souls¶
The issue of potentia with souls is more complicated. Different people, particularly those who practice magic in some way, are often said to have a certain potentia level, and true prodigies are often referred to as having "unlimited potentia". Those with particularly high potentia can make for generationally powerful arcanists and alchemists. Figures said to have unlimited potentia include Homli Tahsgan, who summoned a magical blizzard that permanently cooled entire regions, and the Tide Queen, whose healing factor made her functionally incapable of dying by natural causes, letting her live for about a millennium.
Based on the community restoration of the Codex Celestus, popular mortal conceptions of potentia are in fact, not entirely true. Khive writes that in fact, he is the one who personally assigns different potentia levels to souls based on their intrinsic power, effectively setting a cap on their maximum magical ability. Nobody has truly unlimited potentia, he states. Rather, those said to have this ability generally belong to a class that he refers to as "Savants".
Savants, as Khive writes, do always have high potentia, but it is not unlimited. Rather, they possess an innate ability, not granted by Khive, to wield magic without the use of runes, on small scales and in very particular ways.
Souls¶
Souls are one of the two fundamental substances as deduced by Khive in Codex Celestus, alongside Primal Energy.
"Primal Souls" are a concept within Drehmal which only appear twice in 2.2: once, in the Flamestoker Ghulak's Sermon book:
Brethren, this twin loyalty between the Burnt Father and the Brightwyrm responsible for his burning will be the crucible which forges our spirits into true Primal Souls. Do not take this duty lightly.
and then as the title of a secret advancement.
Primal Souls played more of a role in the lore of older versions of the map.