"During the later stages of their decline, many of them were left with one or more of their aspects crippled. Some were lacking Courage, unable to face the world.
Some were divorced from Cunning, leaving them to sleepwalk through their lives, fully at the mercy of convenience. The worst cases, though, were those separated from their Soul.
The Soul was the flavor, Tito. It gave direction to the Courage and the Cunning. The older sibling, in a way. Without the Soul, they were left to fend for themselves,
utterly directionless, like trying to swim up from the bottom of a pitck-black lake. These beings understood what they were capable of and how to do it, but simply didn't possess a reason to do so.
It pained them, Tito. Ability without conviction is a blight. As such, later iterations cut it at the stem. The Soul hasn't been a pillar since."

Tito nodded, then took a sip of the neighbor's tea. He very much liked the mug it was in.

end