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[✓] [Lore Clarification] [World Lore] Animology: A Discourse on Souls


Avacyn
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The following is a clarification and rationalization/update of currently canon lore. It simply details the structure and nature of souls in a way that should help to clarify future questions and interactions relating to the soul.

 

Boss Soul 1.png

 

This dissertation makes use of a handful of terms related to the Soul and its structure, specified as below:

Soul Essence: The raw and ineffable material which makes up the Soul. It has one singular point of origin: the Creator himself, who gave up a portion of his heart in the Beginning of All Things. All Soul Essence is a remnant of the Creator.

 

Blueprint: The colloquial term referring to the the frame that Soul Essence is built around in order to construct a living, functional Superior Soul. Only Superior Souls bear Blueprints, and they determine everything about the one that possesses it.

 

Metasis: The innate ability of a Superior Soul to repopulate itself with more Soul Essence. All Superior Souls have this, explaining why the Soul can be damaged and have fragments taken only for it to heal over time.

 

Transmogrification: Any unnatural change within the Soul Blueprint, oftentimes called ‘Warping’. Examples of Transmogrification: the Fjarriauga curse, Wightdom, Wraithdom.

Metanoia: Any restructuring of the Soul Blueprint in an authentic and correct manner. Examples of Metanoia: Nephilim, Archons.

Relegation: Any displacement of a Soul to another location while keeping it tethered to the hosted body. Examples of Relegation: Liches, Keepers, Soul Tree Druids.

 

To understand the soul from our perspective, the analogy of a sculpture is used. Soul Essence is clay. A raw material that, when compounded together and treated (firing it in a kiln or, to the Soul, giving it lifeforce and the means to bear a vessel) takes on solidity and clarity in its form. The lesser creatures and life of the surrounding world are quite like simple sculptures of clay. They have been shaped and given bodies but lack the detail and size of the Superior Soul. This Soul is the apex of the sculpture gallery: beautiful and awe-striking, titanic and miraculous in their form and impossible to understand what exactly inspired the artist and how they went about making such a statue. Of course, one can assume they sculpted it from clay, but what techniques did they use? How did they achieve such stunning definition and detail? Mortal hands have never been able to create such.

 

The Superior Soul is this grand, incredible figure of art: a monument to the glory and miracle of our world’s creation and the Incomparable Light of the Creator. The Superior Soul is indeed made of Soul Essence, just as the cattle that roam their pastures or the birds that take nest in the trees, but what exactly has made the Superior Soul so different from them that its holders, the Descendants and other similar folk, so unique in the scope of the world? The answer lies in its origin: The Superior Soul is the statue, and there have only been three artists in the history of the universe as we know it who have been able to comprehend the celestial technique involved in its sculpture. They are the Creator, the Composer he made to aid him in the shaping of mortal Souls, and the Daemon Dragur: the Lord of Knowledge, it was only he among all his brethren who hungered for the secrets that lay hidden in the origin of mortalkind and eventually found where they lie. There he made the first of Dragonkind, and their Souls are as genuine and divine in make as any of the Descendants’.

 

Metasis is a miraculous trait of the Superior Soul to regenerate itself and lost Soul Essence. Some forces in the world are capable of tearing away portions of it for their own devices, and in this event the Soul is able to, over a period of time increasing with the severity of the lost fragment, replace the missing piece with new Soul Essence it generated itself. Metasis also explains the mystery of childbearing among the Descendants: two mortals able to mate with one another, when they successfully do so, plant the beginning seed of a new Soul within the female. It grows as the child does until they are ready, the newborn now bearing a brand-new Soul Blueprint formed of the parent’s Soul Essence deposited during coitus that reproduced itself during gestation.

 

If the Superior Soul is a sculpture, its Blueprint is the framework that the sculptor drew before compounding the Soul Essence. Within the Blueprint is every single painstaking detail: The height, weight, health, sex, hair color, eye color, skin color, memories, and injuries of the person it belongs to. Some of these details may change over time as the mortal grows naturally from childhood to adolescence and finally adulthood, or they may find themselves wounded and gain scars. The Blueprint will at times adhere to these injuries: sometimes adapting itself to these lost limbs, or even something as trivial as a haircut. These details will shift and change and accompany the Soul through death, remaining constant when and if they eventually return to life. The Blueprint will at times undergo larger changes to its structure, and there are three distinct types of this.

The first is Transmogrification, and it is the forced and improper ‘warping’ of a Soul. It is commonly observed among forces of dark nature. Let us return to the analogy of the sculpture and take for example the curse of the Fjarriauga: the sculpture has had new pieces of clay attached on top of what currently exists or had pieces ripped out and replaced. To any capable of viewing and inspecting the statue, the distortions and damage are noticeable. It changes the very nature of the Soul, as seen with the Frost Witch’s hunger for male flesh, icy complexion, and other alterations. Anything warping the Soul in such a manner displays a misunderstanding of the Soul and the techniques needed to properly create and change it without causing it damage. Most instances of Transmogrification are irreversible because of their nature of ripping the original soul apart. Were they to be removed the Soul would simply collapse and die without the integral pieces, so it makes itself resistant to reversal in such a manner: this is why the Fjarriauga curse has not had a legitimate cure found for it.

The second is Metanoia, and it is the opposite of the former. A Soul that undergoes Metanoia has been changed and rebuilt with proper technique. The Nephilim are an example of Metanoia: in the sculpture analogy, it is a proper and graceful modification to the original statue in order to make it something new. The same clay has been used, but it has been reshaped correctly and retains no damage or twisting. The Nephilim are the souls of Descendants who have been, through the indirect power and influence of Dragur and his children, reborn as Dragons themselves: their Souls are broken down and rebuilt through the ritual necessary to make one into a Nephilim. Metanoia, just like Transmogrification, is hardly ever reversible: none living or willing have the knowledge and ability to undo such a vigorous restructuring without simply warping the Soul.

The third and final is Relegation, and most often does not result in a true change for the Soul but instead a displacement of its location. A notable example is the Keeper’s Soul but the sculpture analogy, unfortunately, does not hold up as well here. The Soul has been moved elsewhere: for the Keepers, this place is Xan’s realm. A tether remains between the Soul and the body it holds, so the mind and consciousness of the Soul is still able to pilot the body as normal. Those versed in Souls like the Ascended are able of obviously detecting a Soul that has been Relegated.

To finish, Soul Essence is a material very rare but still possible to find. The Creator’s Heart was plentiful in it, and over the Ages of the world the Descendants have populated the corners of the earth they walk upon and filled it with even more Soul-bearing folk. Soul Essence can be acquired and shaped by beings of Deific power from dead (or not-so-dead) mortals, though the creation of Superior Souls with Blueprints is a power reserved to the three ‘artists’ listed earlier. The extent of its nature is still a mystery to mortalkind, though some like the Ascended bear a (relatively to what there truly is to know) rudimentary understanding of it and the Blueprint and are able to manipulate it on simple levels.

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archangel hey aren't lich and dstalker souls fucked up during the process. so wouldn't it be both transmog and relegation.

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1 minute ago, GrimReaper98 said:

archangel hey aren't lich and dstalker souls fucked up during the process. so wouldn't it be both transmog and relegation.


Never said any of these processes were exclusive. 0-;

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13 minutes ago, Avacyn said:

Metasis: The innate ability of a Superior Soul

 

16 minutes ago, Avacyn said:

Metasis also explains the mystery of childbearing among the Descendants

Problem

If only Superior souls can preform Metasis then animals and bugs would be unable to reproduce and eventually all die off thus causing the eco system to enter a continuous downward spiral until everything died.

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Just now, Данстан said:

 

Problem

If only Superior souls can preform Metasis then animals and bugs would be unable to reproduce and eventually all die off thus causing the eco system to enter a continuous downward spiral until everything died.


This was a discourse upon the Superior Soul most specifically-- I briefly mentioned animals when discussing Soul Essence.

Connor's lore is already apt description and explanation for those buggers, though it can be assumed they undergo a process quite similar but much less complex seeing as Metasis refers specifically to re-filling portions of the Soul Blueprint, which those creatures don't have.

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?????????? good **** go౦ԁ ****? thats ✔ some good??**** right??there??? right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my self ? i say so ? thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ? ?? ?НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??Good ****

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10 minutes ago, Avacyn said:

don't have

But if lesser and inferior souls lack blueprints wouldn't that make every thing about their existence completely undefined and just a press of the random button?

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Just now, Данстан said:

But if lesser and inferior souls lack blueprints wouldn't that make every thing about their existence completely undefined and just a press of the random button?


The lack of a blueprint means they have no persistent definition beyond death-- they do not return through any means. The Soul Essence they are made up of is shaped together at their inception and remains that way until they die. Think of the sculpture analogy: they're simple sculptures that didn't have diagrams drawn up prior that they continuously adhere to.

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I'll comment on how this ties with soul puppetry, though I am about to leave uni and can do such later though I have two questions.

-

With 'lesser souls lacking blueprints' how does this effect soul puppetry which uses the blueprint to access the magic? Puppeteers practice on animals, people, anyone with a soul.

 

edit:

You never really described what has a superior soul and lesser soul to determinate what has a blueprint.

-

Added on:

Jistuma's monk Resurrection lore here:

Could you add in something of the soul on death like which is described here?

 

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3 minutes ago, Evocress said:

I'll comment on how this ties with soul puppetry, though I am about to leave uni and can do such later though I have two questions.

-

With 'lesser souls lacking blueprints' how does this effect soul puppetry which uses the blueprint to access the magic? Puppeteers practice on animals, people, anyone with a soul.

 

edit:

You never really described what has a superior soul and lesser soul to determinate what has a blueprint.

-

Added on:

Jistuma's monk Resurrection lore here:

Could you add in something of the soul on death like which is described here?


Nothing grinds my gears more than monk lore, so we're going to leave it at 'monks make your body as the blueprint is'.

Superior/Lesser Souls have been outlined previously, but to put it here: Descendants and Dragons have Superior Souls. 

As for Soul Puppetry, while I'm admittedly not an expert, I'd imagine the Soul Puppeteer's abilities at the moment aren't within the realm of entirely twisting another person's Soul Blueprint or even Soul, so I simply believe you can effect anything with one, Blueprint or not. Lacking a Blueprint just means you lack the mortal complexities: ability to cast magic/connect to Deities, perseverance beyond death, etc.

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1 hour ago, Avacyn said:


Nothing grinds my gears more than monk lore, so we're going to leave it at 'monks make your body as the blueprint is'.

 

I understand not many people are 'happy' with monk lore though I believe if you are not comfortable with it you can change it. Though to sum up that lore piece I submitted in once sentence.

"When you die, your soul goes into the soul stream returning to the monks for Resurrection, the husk of your body remains with little fragments of your soul which gives it life into a zombie after X time."

 

Though to:

1 hour ago, Avacyn said:

As for Soul Puppetry, while I'm admittedly not an expert, I'd imagine the Soul Puppeteer's abilities at the moment aren't within the realm of entirely twisting another person's Soul Blueprint or even Soul, so I simply believe you can effect anything with one, Blueprint or not. Lacking a Blueprint just means you lack the mortal complexities: ability to cast magic/connect to Deities, perseverance beyond death, etc.

 

The first real paragraph in the Soul Puppetry clarifications which went through alterations yet the concept of a soul blueprint remained is:

76ff18ccc9900f2d0f1fce5cd22c5abf.png

Which is in:

A majority vote from all puppeteers when asked said the soul blueprint from the most viable option, as with some MT when discussing.

 

Soul puppetry directly access the soul blueprint of the /victim/ being a person, animal or beast. So saying that lesser souls do not have blueprints clashes with a certain teaching method of learning soul puppetry. If I could go for a small amends of changing this to more so suit the lore of soul puppetry i'll greatly appreciate it or find an amends which can be worked on. 

 

-

 

Upon reading the lore fully i'll also like if it can be clarified that a soul puppetry link cannot be transferred through childbirth done by Metasis which you worded in a way it could potentially be able. I understand this isn't the intent though a simple line;

 

"The new soul forming will start anew removing any effects from the parent's previously" 

 

-

 

If I see anything else or if you wish to reply on this I do think it is a worthy discussion, though the 'Metasis' issue I addressed isn't really a problem it's moreso the blueprints.

 

Thank you

~ttwesten.

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6 hours ago, Evocress said:

 

I understand not many people are 'happy' with monk lore though I believe if you are not comfortable with it you can change it. Though to sum up that lore piece I submitted in once sentence.

"When you die, your soul goes into the soul stream returning to the monks for Resurrection, the husk of your body remains with little fragments of your soul which gives it life into a zombie after X time."

 

Though to:

 

The first real paragraph in the Soul Puppetry clarifications which went through alterations yet the concept of a soul blueprint remained is:

76ff18ccc9900f2d0f1fce5cd22c5abf.png

Which is in:

A majority vote from all puppeteers when asked said the soul blueprint from the most viable option, as with some MT when discussing.

 

Soul puppetry directly access the soul blueprint of the /victim/ being a person, animal or beast. So saying that lesser souls do not have blueprints clashes with a certain teaching method of learning soul puppetry. If I could go for a small amends of changing this to more so suit the lore of soul puppetry i'll greatly appreciate it or find an amends which can be worked on. 

 

-

 

Upon reading the lore fully i'll also like if it can be clarified that a soul puppetry link cannot be transferred through childbirth done by Metasis which you worded in a way it could potentially be able. I understand this isn't the intent though a simple line;

 

"The new soul forming will start anew removing any effects from the parent's previously" 

 

-

 

If I see anything else or if you wish to reply on this I do think it is a worthy discussion, though the 'Metasis' issue I addressed isn't really a problem it's moreso the blueprints.

 

Thank you

~ttwesten.


This clarification is just changing what the Blueprint means, exactly-- it's not that much of a task for us to backtrack now and say with Soul Puppetry that the Blueprint isn't what you're necessarily connecting to. This Clarification would let you go and edit your lore accordingly to remove mention of needing to connect to the Blueprint.

I hardly call out any magics in particular with this clarification and when I do its just for example of certain things. Also, Metasis wouldn't carry on any actual connections or **** from the parents, it's basically just a Soul-friendly explanation of how depositing genes works when you make a child. 

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Perrin please. Is this like the eighth lore piece in the past couple weeks? You've been working hard.

 

Also what would you call "the colloquial term referring to the frame that Soul Essence is built around in order to construct a living, functional inferior or lesser soul"? Not a soul blueprint? What is it called then?

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