Souls

SPOILER WARNING! This article (all of it) contains manga-only information. Please be careful if you haven't read the manga. Proceed with extreme caution!

“	When a life is lost in The Abyss, the soul is said to return to the bottom of the planet... changes form and departs on a journey to someone who has wished for life.	”
—Nanachi, about the Abyssal Faith

Functions of Souls of The Abyss

Souls are a unique property of The Abyss that differ from the popular concept of souls and do not exist outside of The Abyss. They are said to be "signals of unknown origin" and are responsible for the identification of life, propagation of consciousness and the embodiment of curses and prayers.

Description

Souls permeate into everything touched by The Abyss by way of The Force Field. When the Soul overlaps with living things it creates a Life-insignia (命 (いのち) の紋 (もん) , Inochi no Mon) distinguished from individual to individual, which makes a Life-reverberating Stone only work for its intended user. Once the Soul harmonizes with the life form, it holds a vast amount of information about its host, such as relationships, memories and even the unconscious. Despite this, There's also cases of an individual having multiple souls, as if they're "piled up".

Souls are seemingly what make The Force Field respond to an individual's consciousness, making it possible for predators of the Abyss to read its prey's movements. They are also what deforms the bodies of an individual who suffers The Curse of the Abyss and its Blessing. However, Srajo believes the main purpose of Souls is a "pre-processing" or "pre-preparation", akin to blood-draining, for the 2,000 year mass extinction event known as "The Breath" or Birthday-Death Disease.

Srajo also suggests that, unlike the process of becoming a Life-reverberating Stone, the discontinuation of the Soul after death makes reincarnation impossible as the Soul returns to signals, though it is uncertain whether this is completely true.

According to the Abyssal Faith, when a life is lost in The Abyss, the soul is said to return to the bottom of the planet, change form, and depart on a journey to someone who has "wished for life". As a practice, the residents of Orth spread the ashes of the dead, petals of Eternal Fortunes, and Funeral Slips together into The Abyss, to help souls on their return.

Faputa, who was born from three Cradles of Desire, is capable of perceiving Souls but even characters like Srajo are capable of doing so by some unknown means. Srajo mentions that it's near impossible to focus on the Soul without first being aware of a creature's presence.

Signals of the Soul

As Souls are essentially signals, the information held by them can be read in some instances. The Village of Iruburu is capable of knowing what an individual truly finds valuable through "signals of the Soul". As Majikaja points out, lies which one believes as if they were truth can become signals of the Soul. Faputa is also capable of reading these signals as her siblings' names were communicated to her through these. She is also capable of communicating with the souls stored in White Whistles, such as Prushka and Doni.