Edeia are beings that come into being through the self-discovery of a prior existence. There are many sorts of beings that can become Edeia—here is a guide to various potential origins and how they might become Edeia! 

Due to the fact that there is an NPC called Ideation in addition to the world being called Ideation, the NPC will be denoted as "NPC Ideation" and the world will be denoted as "the world of Ideation." 

Main Ideation Continuity 

This refers to the official canon universe and timeline of the world of Ideation, with history occurring as recorded in the Setting and History. It is only the "main" continuity from a meta perspective; in lore, other timelines are streams of existence just as valid. 

As a note, the NPC Ideation may bestow an Idea directly under certain circumstances regardless of origin, so long as it is a conscious being—see their interaction guidelines for details.  

Humans/Natural Animals

This can be considered the most common and "normal" way. Humans and natural animals of the world of Ideation are naturally able to develop Ideas. Their souls may be newly formed or reincarnated from a native or naturalized soul. 

If a reincarnated soul had an Idea in their previous life, they will be born with the same Idea—though, of course, it may change. 

Non-Conscious Entities

This includes inanimate objects as well as natural plants. They must first gain consciousness, which may be granted by Consciousness, and then develop an Idea. As part of being granted sentience by Consciousness, they naturally develop a soul from ambient ethereal essence. Like humans and natural animals, these entities can develop Ideas on their own, but it is not more likely than humans or natural animals.

These entities may be native to the world of Ideation or not; so long as they develop their soul in the world of Ideation, they will gain a native soul. 

Entities Without Will

This includes beings that may have capacity for thinking, computing, or something similar, such as computers/AI and constructs made by others' magic or other means. These beings do not have souls, at least not at first. Exposure to the magic of certain Edeia such as Consciousness and Ego may allow them to develop an ego, and they may form a soul out of ambient ethereal essence over time, at which point they have a native soul that could potentially develop an Idea. 

These entities may be native to the world of Ideation or not; so long as they develop their soul in the world of Ideation, they will gain a native soul. 

External Dimensions

This refers to any dimension outside of the world of Ideation. These dimensions may have different metaphysical laws, different species, different flows of time, etc. This section refers to beings that already have a consciousness and a soul or something equivalent; for non-conscious or ego-less entities, see the sections prior. Note that only normal humans, animals, and plants found on Earth are native to Ideation; other species generally must originate from other dimensions. 

They can gain an Idea through direct bestowal, exposure to NPC Ideation, or soul naturalization. 

Direct Bestowal

In the case of direct bestowal, NPC Ideation may bestow an Idea directly under certain circumstances—see their interaction guidelines for details. This may occur in the world of Ideation or in a different dimension; Concept's fragments are scattered widely across universes. 

Exposure to NPC Ideation

In the case of exposure to NPC Ideation, an individual may be in proximity to NPC Ideation due to spending time in the world of Ideation, or there may be a fragment of Concept (which sometimes becomes NPC Ideation) in their dimension. This can occur over a widely-ranging period of time depending on the nature of the exposure—whether they are in direct contact with a fragment, near one, or just in the vague vicinity, as well as the length of time Ideation is fused over that period of time. The shortest is generally a few years, though it can take decades or longer. Additionally, exposure does not guarantee the development of an Idea; it may just never happen at all. 

Soul Naturalization

Soul naturalization is a process that could potentially take a long period of time. If NPC Ideation did not exist, or does not form for an extended period of time, this would be the only way for an extradimensional soul to gain an Idea. Native and naturalized souls are also more likely to develop Ideas—they are exposed to NPC Ideation as well, after all. 

A naturalized soul functions as a native Ideation soul, and can develop an Idea on their own. Note that Actualization usually but does not necessarily fully naturalize a soul; if the individual retains a strong sense of connection to their origin in some way, they may retain elements of that in their soul. 

Depending on their original dimension and/or species, it may be impossible for them to naturalize in a single lifetime or even multiple. It can be accelerated by forming strong soulbonds with those that have native Ideation souls; a native Ideation soul leaves some of their essence with the other soul when forming soulbonds, and takes some of the essence of the other soul into themself. 

Generally, a single-lifetime soul naturalization will only occur with the extremely powerful soulbonds that often, but not necessarily, lead to Tuplet and Soultwined Edeia. Entities that have exceptionally long lifespans who also form fairly strong soulbonds may be able to naturalize in one lifetime, but this can take centuries or even millennia, depending on factors such as how strong their soulbonds are and how strong their connection is to their original world. 

In most other cases, the naturalization is only complete when the extradimensional individual perishes; the soul becomes very vulnerable and malleable at this time. If their soul has taken in enough of the essence of the world of Ideation, Life and Death may be able to take them into the ethereal plane, where the soul will completely naturalize and either dissolve into essence or be reincarnated as a human or animal in the world of Ideation. The soul will be freed from any metaphysical "rules" of their dimension or species of origin as well. 

If the soul has not taken in enough essence of the world of Ideation, then it remains beholden to the metaphysics of their original species and/or dimension. Depending on the circumstances, they may reincarnate in their original dimension or as a member of their original species, or they may be stuck as a lost soul—which Death will usually pick up and redirect to a suitable place. It is possible for them to direct the soul to a body in Ideation, but this does not occur often. 

There is a sort of way to accelerate the process; an extradimensional individual can permanently fuse their soul with a native soul. This fusion must include a fusion of identity; the new being is one that is not either alone, but both at once. Simply consuming souls from the world of Ideation without being fundamentally affected on a level of identity will have no effect on naturalization. If the native soul already has an Idea, then the Idea has about a halfway chance to be retained, but if it is, it will be weakened. The new fused individual would have to go through the process of understanding themself and their identity for the Idea to solidify once more. If the soul does not have an Idea, then the new individual has about half the chance to develop an Idea as the average native soul in Ideation. 

Note on Extradimensional Species

There may be species external to the world of Ideation that have made their home there. If they reproduce, the souls generally originate from their original metaphysical source; they are functionally extradimensional individuals at birth. If there is something preventing new souls from being made or finding their way to the newborn individuals, then it is possible that the species is unable to have offspring without external interference; this may manifest as complete infertility or that offspring are stillborn. 

The abilities of certain Edeia such as Life and Death may be able to place a soul in a stillborn body, or a developing body. If the soul is a native Ideation soul, they may not be able to access any magic that is drawn from the original metaphysics of the species, though they can use any abilities that stem from pure biology. Life and Death are also theoretically capable of taking pieces of the souls of others; it would be possible for them to fuse the essence of extradimensional souls with that of a native soul to create a hybrid soul, though it is very unlikely for them to do this. 

It is slightly more likely for them to use a lost soul of the same species/origin if the circumstances align with having the lost soul and an available body present. If the same soul is present in the world of Ideation for a few lifetimes, it is likely for it to naturalize. 

Alternate Ideation Timelines

This refers to alternate timelines of the Ideation universe; alternate timelines of other dimensions are mechanically the same as other dimensions in general. 

These timelines may differ in major or minor ways. An individual who has traveled back in time essentially comes from an alternate timeline due to the branching that their traversal causes, even though most details of the timelines may be the same. 

On the other hand, there could be a timeline in the world of Ideation where history took a drastically different turn, with different Edeia taking different roles in society, with magic having a different interplay with daily lives. Generally, in the timelines that are drastically different, only the fundamental NPCs are present. Firmament may or may not be present; if they are not, the rules of the universe may even be slightly different (such as the presence of alien species or such), so long as the essential metaphysical lore (regarding Edeiology, souls, etc.) is the same. 

The same rules for origins as those in the sections above apply to alternate Ideation timelines. The main point is how they come to the main Ideation continuity, if you wish for them to do so. 

Possibility is able to offer timeline travel; certain other Edeia may be able to as well. This is almost always a one-way trip, but can sometimes be a limited trip (to one timeline and back again) as well. 

Other Circumstances

Fiction

While it is possible for fictional (from the perspective of the world of Ideation) characters to become Edeia, there are many hurdles to doing so. Please note that this is different from, say, a book being granted consciousness and thinking of themself as a character from the book—this refers to the circumstance of a character fundamentally coming to life and entering the world of Ideation. 

One can imagine the situation as a metaphysical barrier being present—we in this world are above the world of Ideation, and the fictional worlds within Ideation are below. Note that the exact relationship between these worlds is indeterminate; it could seem as though a world above creates a world below, but it is also possible that there is a different force linking the worlds together, transmitting the chronicles of one world to be recorded in another. 

Currently, Syr and Passage are able to catalyze the process of a fictional character coming to the world of Ideation with the following steps: 

1. Syr has access to the original author/creator of a story. Generally, they just use one of Myris's stories. Otherwise, the author/creator is temporarily subsumed by them, entering a coma-like state as Syr accesses their memories and their soul. (From a meta perspective, this means no copyrighted content and no stories/worlds created by others, unless express permission is given.) 

2. Syr sends the soul of an individual from the world of Ideation into what seems to be a dimension of that story. 

3. The individual from the world of Ideation develops strong bonds with those of the story dimension, leaving traces of their essence wherever they go. 

4. Through the bonds they forge and the power of the narrative they create, the dimension is slightly elevated in metaphysicality, becoming a "divergent" dimension distinct from the original story. 

5. Syr and Passage may be able to transport to the world of Ideation individuals with the most powerful soulbonds to the native individual. 

If you wish to have Syr and Passage be involved in bringing a fictional character to the world of Ideation, please consult Auspice. If you have another idea for a fictional character becoming an Edeia, please consult Auspice as well. 

Note on Copyrighted Content

For the most part, copyrighted content can be considered "fiction" in the realm of Ideation. A copyrighted character cannot be made into an Edeia. 

Generally, Auspice is not comfortable with Edeia originating from copyrighted content, such as fan characters, characters made from species of copyrighted content, etc. You can make an alternate universe version of a character who might be a fan character, however. You can also make a "heavily inspired" or "implied" world, where the essential concepts you may desire are the same, but no legal toes are stepped on so to speak.