Keepers

Keepers are the highest form of being in the Bewilthred universe. Being the first beings ever created, they are tasked with maintaining the balance of the 3 forces in the universe (Life, Death, and Unity). They are unique given their souls are surrounded by essence, creating soulstones. If shattered, the keeper will die. While a Keeper dying wouldn't entirely mean the universe is completely screwed, given they are the first and most powerful beings in the universe without them keeping the balance would defienetly be a Lot Trickier. It is theorized that after the death of Chaos for example, not only did Divinity's role changing make up for his absence, but also the formation of Omne brought back the natural opposition needed towards Peace's rule.

Eternals:

Eternals are the middle ground between Keepers and Mortals. There are two types of Eternals, Born Eternals and Resurrected Eternals. Born Eternals are beings that (like Keepers) have existed since the beginning of time. Resurrected Eternals however were mortals who (through the Keeper Chaos’s power) were revived as Eternals.

Both types of Eternals are similar on a surface level, with their primary obvious difference being how they gained their status as an Eternal. Both are immortal age-wise, but they can still die and be harmed physically. Despite this however, Eternals tend to be much stronger than their mortal counterparts and typically have enhanced abilities.

Eon is the only exception to the beings system. All other living things fall under these categories.

Plants and Wildlife can either be mortal or eternal. Vito is an example of an eternal animal. However most can only reach eternality if revived by Chaos

All conscious living things have souls. Whilst the exact science of souls isn't 100% understood, the short version of it is that souls are essentially a culmination of who you are/were in the universe. A soul is needed to reach The Aether.

Essence is short for Universal Essence, and it is the essence of the fabric of the universe. To make that make a little more sense, I need to explain some bigger surrounding world lore.

Bewilthred's universe works on the theory that the big bang was triggered by the death of a previous universe. These previous chain reactions of the universe re-inventing itself is why individuals like Divinity can "predict the future", as they are able to see previous iterations of the universe and see their outcomes and make judgements based on that.

Essence, as a result, is basically a re-purposed source of energy FROM those previous universes. It can be used not only as fuel and a power source, but it can also aid in bringing things to life. Essence you could say is basically like holding the wispy version of the building blocks of the universe. As a result, it's pretty powerful! And a lot of people want it.

Essence is also significant for being what protects the soul of a Keeper thus making up their soulstones. Essence can also be converted into a solid or liquidified form. Essence, as alluded to previously, commonly aided in the creation of planets and as a result is used very often in weaponry, old architecture and the like. Demand in Essence spiked after the death of Chaos, as the essence protecting his soulstone was released throughout the universe. A majority of his essence ended up in the possession of Omne, but planets like Dollvania (an essence based planet) also have plenty of it as well. Essence extraction is a highly controversial topic in-universe.

Essence can be confused with Souls, which makes sense considering on a surface level they serve similar purposes. However, while essence could be considered the building blocks of what makes the surrounding world the way it is, a soul is essentially the manifestation of a person's memory. Soul's also are why in previous universes/iterations, the same people can re-appear. Essentially, the universe is pulling out the same dolls to play with but obviously they're bound to change depending on the choices made in that universe.

Soul's unlike Essence are often impossible to be seen by the naked eye. However there are some exceptions, such as with the prestigious Soul's Ball in which Divinity allows Souls taken to The Aether to meet again with the mortal world.

Another commmonly confused substance with Essence would be Magic. Magic in the Bewilthredverse is similar to essence in that it can be used to create things, but magic is much MUCH more limited because it is directly connected to a person's soul. While rare (and extremely difficult), it can be kept and stored for someone else to use if the magic user willingly gives it up, as it can't be extracted like essence. Magic is also not to be confused with species abilities (like Phoenix’s fire powers for example) because those don’t come from a soul and stem from other factors in species biology.

Magic is also incredibly risky to use in general. A key example of the drawbacks of Magic usage would be in the case of Keeper's abilities, specifically Chaos's. Part of a Keeper's ability commonly requires them to give up some of their magic. In Chaos's case, those he brought back to life essentially carried an extrinsic connection to him and his soul. This made it so that when Chaos died, thousands of resurrected eternals who's entire existence relied on that of Chaos's were put into a comatose state. This event is known as the Eternal Slumber.

Incidents like these along with magic being generally impractical to use and gather makes it significantly less sought after in contrast to Essence, which can do all of what Magic can do but without it's various drawbacks.

The Aether is the place all souls go to when they die. While the inside of The Aether can't be entered by most beings of all types (with the exclusions of individuals like Chaos or Divinity who have a little more access), it is the final destination of all life in the universe. Remember how I said the universe has been recycling itself all this time? The Aether is a key part in that recycling process. The Aether is essentially the bridge between the universe's "real"/mortal manifestation and it's abstract conceptual side that carries the pieces needed to make more life and what not.

Once you reach The Aether, you do not come back. In the canon of Bewilthred's main story nobody actually knows what happens in The Aether for sure. This is mostly because The Aether isn't really much of a place at all. The Aether is commonly depicted and imagined as a white void which strings about your soul and prepares it to go through another cycle. There are many beliefs held about what happens in The Aether, one of them being that it is similar to a justice system in that it will reflect how you've lived your life.

Since a soul is connected to your memory in the universe, as people start to forget you you begin to cease to exist and instead become part of the Universal Soup known as "The Barrier". Some individuals however hold the belief that you can voluntarily choose to cease to exist at any time.

The Voice

"The Voice" is not a conscious being, hence why they are not classified in the Beings system. They are the closest thing to the universe itself having a soul. Commonly reported/believed to be a literal disembodied voice, The Voice has no true form of it's own. It's said to mimic the appearance of the nearest individual with a soul in order to be interpretted by the naked eye.

In rare cases however, you can get an insight into how limitless of a form it can take. The Voice makes up the concept of things, but they aren't Actually a thing (if that makes sense). They aren't alive or dead either, as they have never been either of those things. "The Voice" is also inexstricably linked to "The Barrier", which is a mass of energy, essence, and previous recycled souls that keep the universe from caving in on itself and starting anew. You could argue that The Voice is well, The Barrier's voice.

While many claim to have heard phenomena similar to "The Voice" (such as your "I just talked to god guys oh my god" incidents), the only individuals who have ever had reliable interactions with The Voice were the Keeper's, but even that was limited to their early days.

The Barrier

The Barrier is the primary reason the foundations of the universe MUST remain in tact. As stated before, The Barrier is essentially the emmassed previous contents of the Universe before the current one. It's essentially sealed by various properties such as The Aether, and immense instability in the universe can shake these connections and cause things to collapse. Some light crossover does seep in at times from The Barrier, such as the generation of stray essence. Despite small instances like that though, The Barrier is almost impossible to access. It is also rumored/theorized that the closer you get to The Barrier, the more warped the laws of the Universe become. Things become more abstract and cease to make any sort of sense.

The Barrier is a balanced point between the dark energy/void that lays outside Bewilthred's universe and traditional matter. It holds the universe in, and if the barrier reaches a point of instability, it can either collapses in on itself into a singularity triggering another big bang. However, the common fear with the rise of Omne however is that there will be an instability that is so great that when the barrier collapses, it will disperse into matter so far apart it will never reform. Thus, this would trigger a complete end to the Universal cycle and cease existence entirely. Everything would phase out and die with absolutely no second chances.