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Summoning and the Anima Mundi

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Colossus823
Apr Member 2022

Colossus823

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Summoning is 14 years old, but remains lore-wise a mystery. Where do these familiars come from? Where is the Spirit Realm? And how does this all relate to the new information we now know from the Elder Gods and anima?

I have a theory, or more like a hypothesis, how Summoning fits within the grand scheme. I've been away for some time, so I hope I don't repeat something that has already been said (my apologies),

Without further ado. Summoning allows you to summon familiars. In Pikkupstix' words:
Original message details are unavailable.
Summoned familiars are at the very core of Summoning. Each familiar is different, and the more powerful the summoner, the more powerful the familiar they can summon. The animals themselves are not real, in the sense that you or I are real; they are spirits drawn from the spirit plane. As a result, they have powers that the animals they resemble do not. They cannot remain in this world indefinitely; they require a constant supply of energy to maintain their link to the spirit plane. This energy is drained from your Summoning skill points. Your level of the Summoning skill is not drained, and you can refresh your points back up to your maximum level at an obelisk whenever you wish.
But something else he says is very interesting:
Original message details are unavailable.
Well, these [pets] are not really an element of the skill, as such, but more like a side-effect of training. Essentially, the higher the Summoning level an adventurer has, the more they become in tune with nature. As a result, they can approach animals that would otherwise run away from them. This means that you will be able to befriend and raise various animals from around the world.
Nature, in the case of Gielinor, is the Anima Mundi. Nothing to see here.

18-Dec-2022 19:49:52 - Last edited on 18-Dec-2022 20:04:33 by Colossus823

Colossus823
Apr Member 2022

Colossus823

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The Anima Mundi is more than the collection of anima of a world. As Charos puts it in Desparate Measures:
Original message details are unavailable.
The funny thing about anima is how strangely easy it is to manipulate. Oh, sure, it's incredibly difficult to forge spells and the like.
But anima itself is manipulated by everything it flows through. It takes on a resonance, if you will, of the area around it. Environmental and emotional.
The anima of a volcano is angry and hot, whereas the anima of a stream is mellow and cold.
In effect that's what a spell is. It's carefully manipulated anima, a clever application of those resonances to achieve a desired result.

Anima really is quite a remarkable substance, you can see why the Elder Gods feed on it. But what's remarkable is also how we define anima.
Take, for example, the soul. As much as we glorify our souls, give it special significance, a soul is little more than a container of anima.
Which sounds mundane, I confess, but it really isn't. Each soul is unique and each soul creates a unique resonance in the anima.
Necromancers, terrible people as they are, recognise this. Why do you think the strongest undead monsters come from the bones of heroes?
Why did Sliske use the Barrows Brothers to create his wights, rather than random people off the street?
Because their souls are stronger.
Of course souls are one end of the spectrum, on the other end are these subtle little locks of 'cosmic energy'. Small amounts of anima, but very specifically shaped.

Magic, as you're aware, is the manipulation of anima in order to achieve fantastic results.
In essence, the manipulation of anima lets us borrow from the power set out by the elder gods in order to re-order the universe.
Anima is all around us. It is absorbed and...tuned by matter. With animals, plants and even rocks attuning things differently.
The end result is a beautiful harmony of anima that improves everything around us. The sort of song that the elder gods create... Nothing to see here.

18-Dec-2022 19:50:07 - Last edited on 30-Dec-2022 17:16:18 by Colossus823

Colossus823
Apr Member 2022

Colossus823

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Anima, and the Anima Mundi, lies at the very core of the RuneScape universe. Anima are souls, anima is magic, anima is what gods are made of. So why wouldn't anima be the source of spirit familiars? This is corroborated by Lord Amlodd (see further).

The words realms and planes are used interchangeably, but always in a context of a physical place. Not so much with the Spirit Realm. As Pikkenmix from the Familiarisation D&D puts it:
Original message details are unavailable.
No, no, no! We use our mental fortitude and focus to penetrate the spirit realm. Our physical bodies stay here in this world. We call it 'familiarisation'.
However, you can enter the Spirit Realm physically, as demonstrated by Lord Amlodd:
Original message details are unavailable.
Food is an interesting thing in that place. You see, familiars don't need to eat. They're sustained by a strange connection between our worlds - possibly between all worlds. Truly, they feed off of the memories of others. The Amlodd believe that familiars are nothing more than manifest concepts - ideas brought to life through the power of anima. A spirit wolf comes into being due to those of us who THINK about wolves and the idea of wolfiness. Wait, 'wolfiness'? That's not a word. Hmm, pretend that it is; you get the idea. Though, I have also heard claims that the Spirit Plane is nothing more than an underworld for beings of limited consciousness. Whatever is the case, they don't NEED to eat, and yet there I saw them, ever day, doing through the motions of eating. Predator and prey still going through the motions, and tiny spirit eating spirit forms of plant life. It was fascinating. And yet, for all my time there, I don't recall ever eating myself. Nothing to see here.

18-Dec-2022 19:50:14 - Last edited on 30-Dec-2022 17:18:04 by Colossus823

Colossus823
Apr Member 2022

Colossus823

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Lord Amlodd isn't sure exactly about the nature of familiars. Are they the manifestation of the 'resonance' of certain animals, or are they literally the dead spirits of familiars actualised through anima?

I have a slightly different theory/hypothesis.

Anima is within every single thing. The Anima Mundi is basically the internet, and every single thing has remote access to it. Conscious beings can use that connection to manifest an abstract representation of other living unconscious beings. The better you're at Summoning, the better your connection ('in tune with nature').

The Spirit Realm is not a realm per se, but inside the Anima Mundi. You cannot go physically, unless you fully 'upload' yourself to it, like Lord Amlodd did. [Although Lady Hefin believes the Spirit Realm to be 'a dream-place that acts out the subconscious desires of whoever enters it'.]

Spirit familiars are not souls, souls contain the concrete representation of consciousness. Spirit familiars are an abstraction of all souls, and as such, spirit familiars cannot truly die. I think Amlodd's remark they are 'ideas' is not far from it.

You can only summon those familiars who are already present in some shape or form in the Anima Mundi. It's not like you can create a familiar out of nothing: there needs to be a (living) representative connected to the Anima Mundi.

As you enter more worlds, you make remote access to that Anima Mundi, and summon spirits from that Anima Mundi. This happens after Fate of the Gods: the World Guardian's visit to Freneskae allows him to summon nihil and muspah.

Of the traditional familiars, all but one family have living representatives. That exception are the titans. Nothing to see here.

18-Dec-2022 19:50:29 - Last edited on 30-Dec-2022 17:09:23 by Colossus823

Colossus823
Apr Member 2022

Colossus823

Posts: 182 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Is it a coincidence that Jagex named a group of elemental familiars after the Greek "Elder Gods", who originate from Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth)?

I believe titans are the raw manifestation of elementally or materially attuned anima. If you would try to summon an abstract representation of fire, you get the fire titan. If you would try to summon an abstract representation of steel, you get the steel titan. Even entire biomes could be represented, like the swamp titan. The very cosmological infrastructure, the Abyss, can be represented as the abyssal titan.

Some of those titans have tertiary ingredients that refer to the already attuned anima by Guthix: Runescrafting altars.

Hypothetically, there could be numerous other titans: mountain titans, desert titans, any other rune titan, any other metal titan, crystal titan, shadow titan,...

Titans, as the most abstract of all familiars, are difficult to summon, and thus require a high Summoning level.

I would speculate, that in certain worlds, you would not be able to summon other titans. We know that certain imperfect or imbalanced worlds lean towards one element. Yu'biusk has the element mud and is covered in swamps and marshes, you could say the swamp titan would be the only biome that can be summoned from there. Nothing to see here.

18-Dec-2022 19:50:37 - Last edited on 18-Dec-2022 23:12:58 by Colossus823

Colossus823
Apr Member 2022

Colossus823

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There is an interesting piece of information I wish to share. It is a small piece of dialogue between Tiffy and Jessika in A Void Dance:
Original message details are unavailable.
Sir Tiffy:
Welcome to Falador.
Jessika:
Isn't it lovely? I never got a chance to visit when I was at the Wizards' Tower, I was always too busy.
Sir Tiffy:
A great shame! I do swear Falador is brighter yet for your presence, miss. What was it you studied at the Wizards' Tower, if I may enquire?
Jessika:
Arcane summoning, largely, and its distinction from druidic summoning. Portals and evocation too, of course - those are on the core curriculum.
Sir Tiffy:
Ah, all far beyond me, but it sounds useful. Does that mean you learned druidic summoning too?
Jessika:
Professor Melville encouraged me to study it to further my main studies, yes, though I never got very far. Anyway, to business.
What makes it interesting is the distinction between druidic summoning (summoning as in the skill) and a different, more magic-oriented type of summoning: arcane summoning. So far, this is the only reference I've found of it.
Later in the quest, this exchange happened:
Original message details are unavailable.
Jessika:
Well, it was Professor Melville that suggested it, the fellow who trained me. He's a bit of a grump, but a brilliant man. I wasn't sure at first, but he was so insistent. He said that since portals were a travel device that shared many similarities with summoning, and since the void pests are always active, I'd have plenty of samples to examine.
Korasi:
He sent you to pest-infested territory?
Jessika:
Oh, Professor Melville wouldn't have asked me to put myself in danger! I was only observing, not fighting. He was so interested in my work, and so happy for me when I managed to extract one from the hive.
Korasi:
Pests wouldn't care.
Jessika:
Regardless, I learned a lot! And he helped me study summoning to improve my study of their portals - it's a speciality of his. Nothing to see here.

18-Dec-2022 19:50:47 - Last edited on 30-Dec-2022 17:20:36 by Colossus823

Colossus823
Apr Member 2022

Colossus823

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What continues in The Void Stares Back is quite interesting:
Original message details are unavailable.
Wizard Grayzag:
The goo is draining the Valluta as we speak and then I shall perform the greatest summoning anyone has ever seen. I shall summon...

The Pest Queen! You'll be no match for me then. I'm glad you're here to witness the most awesome summoning act ever. Too bad you won't live to tell the tale.

However, I need a little time yet to claim the Valluta's power for myself so...say hello to my little friends!
Later, a death (either Korasi or Jessika) was needed to complete the summoning.

The fascinating thing is: if we suppose the summoning of the Pest Queen is an act of arcane summoning, the energy required was drained from the Valluta, a Guardian of Guthix and one of the colossi, beings who attained some kind of godhood by an overflow of anima. Although anima powers everything, from magic to summoning, was this draining of anima an act similar how one uses their own anima to summon a spirit familiar, or more similar how anima stored in runestones are used in spells? How does death, as we know souls also contain anima, catalyse the arcane summoning?

Nevertheless, the implication could be that there is room for a third type of summoning, arcane summoning, next to druidic summoning and ancient summoning. This arcane summoning could use anima to create portals and physically (instead of spiritually) bring a creature from another world or dimension. If it would die, it does die definitely.

Ancient summoning seems to be quite different. It is puzzling, as from Demon Slayer and Shadow of the Storm we know the summoning of demons is magic-oriented and ritualistic.

But then again, it is not exactly the same: ancient summoning seems to be to kill an already present demon, to intercept and capture its soul in a binding contract before it can return to Infernus, so you can use that demon yourself.

It might explain why this is considered a separate form of summoning. Nothing to see here.

18-Dec-2022 19:51:07 - Last edited on 30-Dec-2022 17:21:41 by Colossus823

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