Remnant
The word Remnant is always capitalized in the books. In the series, Remnants play a big role in the practice of Sacred Arts on Cradle.
From a spiritual perspective, a Remnant is what’s left behind when a sacred artist dies. However, the artist might need to be at least at the Iron level to form a Remnant.
Remnants are spirit. They’re made of madra. Humans, sacred beasts, and sacred trees / plants leave a Remnant behind when they die. However, Dreadbeasts do not leave a Remnant, because in life, their spirit gets mangled up into their flesh. The old Patriarch Jai Daishou could not leave a viable Remnant, because the Archstone had torn his spirit apart.
A Remnant can be powerful, but it has only a fraction of the power it had in life. The Remnant from the Sage of the Endless Sword was quite powerful, but not nearly as strong as it was when corporeal.
A Remnant is not the person it once was. That person is gone. It’s only a faint echo of the Sacred Artist. A reflection, perhaps. However, in rare cases, enough of the original persona’s memories can be recovered, as in the case of Emriss Silentborn, the Remnant Monarch, who was originally a sacred tree before it died.
- Many sacred artists use a Remnant to advance from Jade to Lowgold. See details of how this is done at Advancement Level
- To advance to Herald, an Lord level artist —- typically an Archlord — must manifest his Remnant and merge with it, so a Herald becomes half-spirit.
- Remnants are also used in Soulsmithing
- Monarch Reigan Shen keeps the Remnant of Monarch Tiberian Arelius to use as a slave, a weapon.
