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[✓] Animology Vol. II: A Further Discourse on Souls


GodEmperorFlam
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Animology Vol. II: A Summary and Further Discourse on Souls

 

[Pretend there's a dark souls or witcher picture here for the sake of fitting in]

 

To preface this, here are the relevant lore pieces that cover soul related things in more depth:

 

Summary/Interactions section are things that should already be accepted (if something is wrong hmu since I've barely had any sleep as I post this), this is just to compile it all into one area for ease of access (if accepted it'll be merged with Vol. I and sectioned appropriately). Do note that the energies (mana, life-force) listed here are not going to talk about how they are used, merely how they are stored. Check the links above (Canon energies, states of mana) for specifics on how the energies work. Note: This is about Superior Souls, not lesser/et cetera.

 

Summary

Spoiler

A Superior Soul has a myriad of features. It is where the life-force of a person and their mana pool is located, in addition to housing a person’s blueprint and a cache of their long-term memories.

 

Soul blueprint: As the name suggests, the soul blueprint contains the plans for a person’s body. When a person is injured or has their body altered in some manner, the changes will eventually carry over to the soul’s blueprint (unless what is occurring is forcibly changing the blueprint as well, in which case the process may be sped up). It generally takes one week (1 week = 1 RP year) for a change to register with the blueprint. If a change occurs and then the person perishes within this time frame, they will generally be revived without said changes (more on that below).

 

Life-force: Every natural living being has life-force within their body that keeps them alive. Within mortals, this is kept bottled up by what is known as a yoresigil. The yoresigil is responsible for ensuring that the life-force flows correctly through a person’s body and doesn’t leak out or become unbalanced. The yoresigil is capable of being warped and distorted into a Darkhollow, a mark carried by many soul shadows and undead. The Darkhollow allows for the life-force to flow freely and be manipulated, along with uncapping the amount one might have.

 

Mana pool: Mana flows through everything and exists within all natural living creatures in what is called a mana pool, being passively produced by the souls within them. This varies on the type of soul, the mana within a dog would be far less than one of the descendant, for example. This mana pool is also capable of expanding over time should the user be an active practitioner of magic, the amount of growth is dependent on the magic being learned. The person’s mana, akin to muscles, become familiar with how a magic works over time and thusly it becomes more efficient at higher tiers (e.g. a master fire evocationist will have an easier time casting a fireball than a novice). This explains why a mage who has learned 4 magics and understands a fifth one on par with that of an active user, is unable to pick that magic up and master it in a short time. Mana is inherently in a soul-bound state, meaning that it is incapable of traveling from one soul to another. It can, however, be relocated elsewhere, such as into a mana gem or corrupted and turned into things such as amber.

 

Ectoplasm: Ectoplasm is a substance generated from a soul hammered by death or one already sensitive to it through processing lifeforce and mana. It acts as a gelatinous cushion around the soul and acts as a basis for phantoms and wights, along with a pool for superior souls (mortals).

 

Memories: The reason that ghosts and other spectral beings retain their memories is due to the fact that within their soul has a cache of their long term memories. It takes a certain amount of time for short term memories to become long term, which is why short term memories are wiped upon death. This is why people are unable to recall themselves perishing or the circumstances behind it. The physical brain takes priority when cataloging memories, but should the person pass on, the soul shadow of the lingerer is capable of recalling their previous life to some extent (unless what they turn into specifically wipes memories).

 

Common Interactions with the Soul

Spoiler

Death: Upon death, the soul is released and heads away from the mortal realm towards the soulstream. Assuming they are not resurrected by monks/the revival system their soul falls under (e.g. liches reforming at their phylactery), they will pass into the soulstream. There, Aeriel will pass judgement on the soul. Should the person have bore a connection to an Aengudaemon, they will be taken to their respective plane.

 

Resurrection/Healing: As stated in the "Blueprint" section, it takes generally a year for an injury or change to the body to register with the soul blueprint. Certain magics revolve around using the blueprint for healing, such as Monks. For example, if the injury has not registered with the blueprint, they will be able to revert their body to the way that their blueprint portrays them as. The same holds true for when a person is resurrected, any wounds or changes made to the person in the last year will be rendered null (for the most part, certain things such as deific disconnection are exempt).

 

Soul Shadows: A person, upon death, may find that they are kept in the mortal realm for one reason or another. Whether they have been forcibly risen as a ghoul or have returned as a graven, they linger for a time. Those that return under these circumstances are found to bear "Soul Shadows". These are fragmented and broken imitations of souls, unlike whole souls that descendants normally bear. Those that fall under the category of soul shadows are: Ghosts, Gravens, Ghouls/Morghuul, and apparitions (these are a conglomerate of soul shadows and souls).

 

Deific Connections/Creatures: Many deific mages, such as the clerics or druids, have a deific connection in their soul. This acts as a tool for the deific user, as with this connection they are able to bring forth the power of their deity. The connection also acts as a claim of sorts, guarding the person’s soul from other types of deific connections or curses that attempt to permanently warp the soul (frost witch, striga, Izkuthii, shade, though this does not exempt them from soul puppetry).

 

Soul Puppetry: Soul puppeteers utilize magic that revolves around establishing a connection with the target’s soul, specifically tuning into their blueprint (due to the way this works, it bypasses any present deific connection). They are capable of temporarily manipulating the blueprint in a variety of ways, which translate into physical alterations/ailments or mental distortions. Due to the fact that they are solely connecting to the blueprint, they are unable to manipulate memories or affect things such as mana or life-force within the target’s body.

 

Soul Additions

As spoken about in the first Animology piece (linked in the spoiler at the top), there are currently three types of altered souls. This addition is an attempt to bring about two new states. Hybrids souls are for creatures that don't really fit into the existing three while Patchwork souls are something brand new.

 

Hybrid Souls

Spoiler

To continue off the three already established altered soul states, the fourth is what is known as a Hybrid Soul. These are souls that have either undergone Metanoia or Transmogrification, but differ from the aforementioned states. The key difference here is that the soul has had pieces of it replaced with a different material other than soul essence. In addition, Hybrids are capable of having a “base” descendant form, in which their body is identical or near identical to that of their original state before their Soul was altered. Along with this “base” form, they also have one or more altered forms where their blueprint alters to match that of their form. With this in mind, the Soul carries the necessary plans for an unaltered soul, making them capable of producing offspring. However, any offspring produced will only receive the unaltered plans, making any kind of hybrid child impossible.

Example: Daeva, Archon, Izkuthii

 

Patchwork Souls

Spoiler

The fifth state of altered souls is known as a Patchwork Soul. Unlike the other states, this is unable to be attained by those with ordinary Superior Souls, as it revolves around semi-repairing those who bear soul shadows. One who knows how to handle soul essence and possesses such must insert it into the soul shadow directly. When this occurs, the soul essence will begin to meld with the broken soul, mildly giving it semblance of being repaired. This, however, is a falsity as the soul still lacks a number of things that separate soul shadows from Superior Souls. In fact, their physical state remains the same, so if a ghoul had a Patchwork Soul, they would still be stuck in their rotting undead form. The effects that can be gained from having a Patchwork Soul are: they gain a minute amount of magical potential based on what kind of creature they are, they receive the ability to have a clearer memory and function emotionally, and their body scars with more ease.

Example: N/A

(Note: A lore addition will have to be written for each type of creature with a Patchwork Soul prior to them receiving one to flesh it out/fully explain the effects of how a patchwork soul would change them).

 

Credits: Everyone who wrote the linked posts and original soul stuff.

Perrin for the Soul Addition concepts

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Thank you for submitting your piece! It is now under review and a verdict will be given on the 26th.

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Just now, SuperDuckyGamer said:

why did you comment on your own post before anyone else did

because I pressed a button which posted on all the submissions ready for reviewal

 

Spoiler

s6If8n1.gif

 

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This Lore has been accepted. Moved to Implemented Lore, it will be sorted to it's appropriate category soon.

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