The Fundamentalists of Ilena is a cult that both worships and despises Ilena and are a secret organization. They believe that long ago, humans and their souls were torn apart from each other and locked away as a form of punishment by Ilena. Legends from long ago speak of a sorcerer whom sought immortality and had seduced Valena, the Goddess of Destiny and Ilena’s sister, only to betray her. Nearly killing Valena and becoming God of Destiny himself, Ilena managed to intervene and save Velana. Ilena, unable to kill anyone as a Goddess of Creation, tore the Sorcerer’s soul from his body and locked it away in a new plane, the Echo. In order to make sure no mortal man could ever again attempt such a feat, she removed each soul from every mortal and locked them away in the Echo as well. The Sorcerer had eventually succumbed to old age as a bitter old man, but on his death bed had sworn vengeance on Ilena. Not everybody in the world knows of this legend, nor even may particularly believe in it if they do hear of it. Ilena and Valena are both highly revered and worshipped by Humans worldwide.
The Fundamentalists seek to rejoin their Anima with themselves to once again become their true selves and seek Immortality. Many are high ranking members of the official Church of Anima, however work in secret as to not draw fear and ire of the world due to the sensitive nature of their work. They often summon forth tears in the Veil, small rifts that can allow Anima to seep through to the Material Plane from the Echo, in order to experiment with magical rejoining of Anima and Man. Each experiment results in a monstrous and abominable transformation, as the subjet’s Anima forcfully enters their body. The subject either dies shortly after or goes mad, needing to be euthanized. Fundamentalists believe that Ilena made it so that if Anima and Man were to try to rejoin, such would be an additional punishment and safeguard against a rejoining, however they believe that they can find a way around that safeguard and eventually successfully reunite the two, thus returning mankind to a former glory and allowing them to once again challenge the gods.
On the other hand, the more typical and well known method of “Rejoining” is widely known and used as a way for particularly adept and attuned humans to summon their Anima from the Echo permanently, as a Familiar. When a human has reached adulthood and has also developed their attunement with their Anima to a degree where they can freely speak to their Anima via telepathy, they may choose to undergo a special summoning ritual, headed by the Church of Anima. Under the grace of a Bishop of the Church, they are able to grasp the tether that binds them to their Anima and guide their Anima to them in Karnosea from the Echo. This will not merge the two of them, but allow them to co-exist together in Karnosea indefinitely. As the Anima is considered one’s soul it is frowned upon to touch another’s Anima without express consent by the Anima themselves. Their Anima has its own underlying personality, although it is still mostly derived from the human’s Id. Anima will still resemble the animal instinct of the human it is tethered to, and can still share its magical powers with it’s human; albeit now the magical power is strengthened due to the near proximity of the Human and Anima. The Anima is also considered much safer in Karnosea than the Echo, since the two can look after each other. The Anima can also be used as a conduit for spellcasting, and they can still telepathically communicate. The Anima is also capable of speaking any language the Human knows.
Laust, the demibeast people, on the other hand, are often considered souless abominations by many humans, and even most members of the Church of Anima. Laust do not have a metaphysical tether to the Echo, nor do they have an Anima or the ability to summon a Anima Familiar. Those that know of the legends of Ilena sundering the humans, believe that they were spared, long ago, when the human sorcerer betrayed the Goddesses; therefore their souls still reside within their own bodies. Those that either are unaware of the tale or do not believe in it, usually still believe that their soul resides within them. Laust are innately capable of magic, without any real need for any training. They also typically have stronger magical abilities than humans. However, as most were killed or enslaved by Humans many centuries ago due to this very reason, as Humans feared their power, many Laust no longer know how to access their magic unless trained by another Laust or accessing instinctually as a means of self-preservation. Laust who have developed powerful magical affinity often have odd colored fur or fur patterns, or both, that manifest on the beast-like parts of their bodies.