This spell is a part of the Spiritual Link spell chain and can be found in the Spiritual Link rune stone.
When the animancer casts this spell, the do not do so for power or for battle control. Nay, the animancer cares not for those things. While the animancer ultimately cares for all life, it is the life of their friends that matters a bit more. No, the reason for casting this spell is that the animancer believes that they and their friends are severely out numbered. This realization, this belief, it is what drives the animancer to reach out to the darker symbol of life spirit, the Soul of Life. The Soul of Life is not known for taking sides. It doesn't choose a victor. It simply answers the base need, the base want of all things that live and have lived, and that is to have a fair shot, a fair chance. Fairness, it is the one vice desire of life that should not be wanted but is wanted all the same. So through the connection to the Soul of Life, the spell to bring true numerical fairness is cast.
The spell begins with a counting of all living souls on the battlefield. Any undead, any spirits that are involved, any artificial or magically created beings are counted as well. It is a true count of all participants, a count that will remain and change with every felling of one target and every summoning of another. The spell then acts to ensure that both sides are numerically equal. The fairness here isn't in the power level of targets, it isn't about the quality here, just the quantity. Should one side have more targets than the other, the extra targets are sealed away within an orb of spirutal life magic and removed from the battlefield. Those snatched away cannot avoid it or escape it. There is no forced return, no avoidance. It happens within a single breath and a twinkle of the eye, a power that cannot be resisted. Whenever the numbers change by the death of a target, a sealed target is randomly chosen by the Soul of Life and restored to the battlefield. That target is restored in the exact state it was taken, with no counters depleting on any status effects, debuffs, or buffs. Should the numbers change, perhaps because some mage thought to be crafty and summon something to aide them, the magic will notice the change and will wisk away a random target from the team that has more. It could even be the summon stolen away into one of the life orbs, or the very animancer who cast this spell. The Soul of Life doesn't take sides. It doesn't pick favorites. It acts to keep the battle numerically fair.
The animancer however is not without influence over what the Soul counts as life. Twice during the battle the animancer may spend 8 Soul to manifest a magical orb, either as a false ally to inflate the party's count and force more enemies to remain active, or as a false enemy to reduce the number of active opponents. The Soul counts what it sees. It doesn't distinguish between living, non-living, spiritual, summon, or even a false magical orb. The spell persists until the battle reaches its end. It cannot be dispelled by any means. It has become the condition of the battlefield, the very rule governing the combat. It isn't until only one person remains for one side and none for the other does the spell finally end, releasing all that it kept sealed away.
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