Traits
Traits are core to Dark Emblem and are what power the different art and stats a card has. How traits are interpretted varies from season to season and even each card Hero and Equipment type; they influence the card's hero, colors, variants, and stats.
General Trait Principals
Traits encode the "genes" of card. When a card is first minted, these genes are randomly created. As Heros are ascended and Equipment is Transmogrified, those genese are mixed to create child Heros and Equipment cards.