Questions with regards to Magic and the Soul

[Solomon Hadgeson]

Hello, I've been browsing the lore quite a bit this afternoon trying to get a grasp of the background of this place before finalizing my character concept. I've got an idea, though, one which I'm trying to build a character around, but I could use a little clarification on certain schools of magic and how they might interact with one another.

1. If it's not clearly defined in the lore pages as possible or impossible, is it considered possible within reason? For example, Animation. It states that it can create undead but only mentions inanimate objects such as golems and scarves, objects that were never animate to begin with. Is it then safe to assume that a dead body, being solid but inanimate, can be used for the purposes of animation. Is this kind of assumption acceptable?

2. It's stated that Leeching is opposed to Reimancy, as Leeching is putting in while Reimancy is putting out. Further Leeching indicates that any exposure to corrupted Djed will poison the user. However, would it be possible for a powerful Leecher and Reimancer to minimize negative exposure by transmuting a target's Djed directly into Rei, simultaneously drawing the Djed out of their target, through their body, and back out again as Rei, essentially using the body as a conduit and not a container a la lightning redirection in Avatar: The Last Airbender? I assume any contact with corrupted Djed would have poisonous influences but I would like to make sure and see if perhaps such minimized exposure might minimize the consequences.

3. Animation says that a master can use real souls. What about his own soul? Is it possible to transmute one's soul completely out of one's body and into a construct without killing you or making you a Nuit?

4. Can a powerful projector attach their soul to a new body or other object, synchronizing with the new form in exchange for permanently losing synchronization with their old one? I wouldn't imagine it would be a fast process or a comfortable one but even with drawbacks, could it be done?

5. If neither 3 or 4 are possible, could they be possible together? Could a projector animator project their souls during the animation process and use animation to fuse the detached soul to the new body?

6. The soul is made entirely of highly concentrated Djed. Tapping into magic beyond your reserves of Djed taps directly into and damages your soul. Similarly, tapping into a target's Djed with Leeching can damage the soul when the target's reserves are depleted. Is it possible to take the entire soul? Djed can not be destroyed but could a soul be essentially "destroyed" by being transmuted entirely into raw Djed by a Leecher? Is it possible that a skilled Leecher could remove a soul intact, taking it whole as one lump sum of Djed, possibly with support from spiritism, or is this impossible/would kill them immediately from poison overdose? Could a whole soul taken in this manner possibly be sealed into an object with Glyphing for later use?

7. It's described that aging is a process by which the body becomes less capable of absorbing Djed over time, eventually being incapable and dying. How does this affect a Leecher? Can they continue to siphon Djed the same as they always could or is it restricted? If a way could be found to survive the debilitating side effects, possibly through combinations of other disciplines, could a Leecher avoid death by age by constantly absorbing Djed from the environment around them?

8. What happens if you eat Rei? Food gives Djed and Rei is basically physically manifest Djed. Would it kill you or make you stronger?

EDIT: 9. If you use corrupted Djed from leeching for glyphing, are the resulting imbued effects corrupted as well? Does their use cause poisoning or suffer the standard weaker effects due to being corrupted Djed, or does it's transformation into glyphic magic disperse those negative effects?

I haven't delved completely into every school of magic yet and I'm deliberately trying to avoid Gnosises for the moment but may turn to them later, so I may have more questions along these lines. Thank you for your time and patience ^^;

[Mirage]

Hey Solomon!

1) If it does not expliciately say in the lore then either use your own logic and reason to figure it out, or refer to a mod on the matter. Most likely your local ST will either know the answer, or be able to find it out. As for your particular question, I think you should take a look at the Nuit race page, specifically the "Daek-nuit ritual" which uses the magic if Animation to reanimate a corpse, which in essence is what a Nuit is

2) You are correct, though it does not EXACTLY work like the lightning reversal technique in The Last Airbender. No matter the length of time if you are exposed to corrupted djed it is going to effect you and not in a good way, however, you are correct in the assumption that the less time you are in contact with this djed the better off you are. You cannot escape the effects, and they will always be harsh, but they wont be SO harsh if you do not harbor the djed in your body for too long.

3) There is nothing on record, but in theory it is completely possible. Whether or not you will survive is unknown however, and if you transfer into the body of a corpse you inevitably become a nuit. Again take a look at the Daek-nuit ritual for more details on that . But yes, theoretically it could be done, but as of yet I have seen no successful attempts.

4) No I am afraid not. Remember that Projectionist use their connection to their bodies to keep themselves from becoming lost spirits, ghosts if you will. If you leave your body before too long you inevitably become a ghost, or simply pass on and disburse. To lose syncronization with your body is to lose yourself completely, so avoid at all cost!

5) Animation and Projection would not mix well. WIth animation you have to work directly with the soul, and if you are manipulating your astral body at the time you could cause some serious consequences and side effects. You might lose half of your astral body, becoming parylized on one side of your body. Or you might accidently split your soul in two, which you probably wouldnt survive. So if you are playing with a soul with animation magic, its best not to play with projection at the same time. It would be like rolling around in gassoline and lighting a match. You MIGHT not burn, but you probably will lol.

6) This one gets a simple no. The soul and the djed are intimately linked, but still they are not completely one and the same. That gets into a very long and deep discussion on the higher forms of djed theory which would take way too much time to get into here. Feel free to catch me in chat oneday and I would be happy to discuss though

7) Again im going to have to go with no. Leeching absorbs corrupted djed into the body, so constantly poisoning herslelf over and over again. This in fact increases the aging process, and leachers see a high rate of mortality, especially those that make it to master level. There is no way around this, and there is no way to purify the corrupted djed (that I have seen or have been made aware of by a founder). So no leaching cannot extend your life, but it does extend how long you and hold magical combat . All things have a price after all.

8 ) I am going to go ahead and inform you its Res, not Rei lol. And no you can't eat it. Res is just the name of 'usable djed' that has been exuded to the outside world and is under the Reimaner control. You CAN drink transmuted water, but in the end all you are doing is taking your djed, pushing it out of your body and putting right back, so its kind of pointless lol. Now if you look at the Initiation section of reimancy you will see that you "force feed" res to people in order to initiate them, and its very painful process so its highly not recomended to eat pure res haha.

9) Djed is "corrupted" when it is not the users djed, so any foreign djed is considered corrupt, however, it does not corrupt any particular spell.

IF you have any other questions feel free to PM me

Question your Reality,
Mirage

[Solomon Hadgeson]

Thank you for your help and timely answer, it has provided a great deal of illumination I look forward to getting into the game ^^