RuneScape Forum Archive | Grimoire of Gielinor

Jakir

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-Structure of the Universe-

Brief summary so far:
Event 0: Anima forms in the universe.
Event 1: Anima becomes sentient in the form of 5 Elder Gods who create planets to feed and reproduce.
Event 2: The Gods begin to create planets and as the cycle(s?) go on they realize that building by hand is not cutting it and begin to use tools to help themselves.
Event 3: The previous cycle ends badly motivating Jas to create The catalyst out of one of her eggs to ensure that the tools created in the current cycle get the job done. 12 tools exist total, 4 of which were the final versions left on Gielinor but since then many have found their way here.

In the lore recorded in the 6th Bookcase at the Fight Cauldron by TokHaar-Hok and talking with Zaros in Fate of The Gods as well as during Heart of Stone the structure of the universe is explained. The Elder Gods awoke from the previous cycle and fed in the following order:

Jas > Ful > Wen > Bik > Mah

Except not enough Anima was left for Mah and as a result she was believed to be stillborn and the others set off without her missing a vital piece of the Elder Remote if you will and as a result fumbled about not knowing what they were doing.

The first worlds were "Primal and Chaotic"Protoworlds and were cast into the Abyssal void. Those would be the environments that bleed into Daemonheim as Floor 61 contains a rift into the void.

At this point the Elders began to remember to use tools and started creating the imperfect 8 discarded Elder Artifacts. The first worlds they created here had lifeforms like Demons and Vampyres who were close to Gods themselves (See Ascension). Consider these the Infernal or Arcane Realms. Notable examples being Infernus and Vamp**ium.

Then the Elder Gods split up each making their own path creating the "Elemental Planes". Notable examples being Teragard a world of mostly ice where The Locator was discarded and the oldest of the lesser Gods, Saradomin, originates.

21-May-2015 09:58:26

Jakir

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Along the way tools the Elder Gods found to be imperfect were discarded as they figured out alternate ways to do things or simply how to make better tools. Eventually the Elder Gods realized they required more than just better tools, they required each other, and they joined up again.

And then at last the final segment of the universe comes into play: The Balanced Realms. This is where to prevent another failed cycle Jas would have created The Catalyst and with the work of all 4 now experienced Elder Gods with improving tools the worlds became closer and closer to perfection. Aka better and better generators of Anima until eventually Gielinor was produced.

I'm interested to know what effect on Gielinor's perfection Zamorak had when he blew up Forinthry as that permanently damaged the Anima Mundi of the area so nothing living could ever grow there again and also likely went as far as effecting the after life.

Side note: I'm unsure about this currently (more will be revealed in World Event 3) but evidently different planets can have different properties to the Anima they generate. It seems as though Naragun Anima repels other Anima and functions as a shield even against higher concentrations of Anima. It would explain our World Guardian shield but not how we can consent to have some Godly energies effect us like teleports or Zaros' power up.

21-May-2015 09:58:48 - Last edited on 22-May-2015 03:00:30 by Jakir

Jakir

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-The After Life-

The cycle of Anima is as follows: Elder Gods take Sacred Clay from their bodies which must be some type of Anima Mud they create and shape it with their hands/artifacts to create a planet and the life forms of that planet. The first sentient life form of that planet to die becomes the Grim Reaper/Death of that world aka the being in charge of severing deceased souls from mortal bodies and escorting them to the underworld.

This became more complicated with interplanetary travel (Gods shipping followers back and forth, traveling through the void/abyss/fairy rings/world gate/portals and ect) because now it was possible for beings from another planet or descendants of beings from another planet to die elsewhere. In the event that happens the Death of whatever world the being seems to be on may have different policies but on Gielinor our Death is accommodating and will take the dead to the afterlife of their choosing. Such as the Fremennik people who go to the Teragardian afterlife.

But basically living things create more life and that Anima eventually dies and joins the underworld in a constant flow or river of Anima. The better the flow the more om noms for the Elders when they wake.

Different after lives also seem to have different rules/policies based on who is Death or perhaps based on how the world was made/how functional it is. For example the Teragardian afterlife collects heroes to wait to fight in "The end of Things" which suggests an epic struggle against the Elder Gods. Perhaps with every afterlife and every dead warrior from the start of the afterlives joining together as the dead fight side by side with the living to prevent the destruction of the universe. (If the living die would they be absorbed by the Elders or join the dead? And can the dead die or do they just keep fighting regardless of wounds until the Elders Absorb them?)

But on Gielinor things may work differently.

21-May-2015 09:59:22

Jakir

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For example Bob the Cat is a reincarnation of Robert the Strong. So evidently some afterlives may recycle heroes or possibly everyone (we don't know what happens with the non-warriors in the Teragardian afterlife) that Death doesn't have a specific purpose for. Interestingly the Balance Elemental from While Guthix Sleeps seems to know us and remember our death. He could be a construct that the rules of time work differently on, he could have traveled through time being exposed to the Stone of Jas, or he could even possibly be seeing the future as a result of exposure to the Stone but another possibility is that we ourselves were reincarnated.

Personally I would love a quest where in a past life we fight the Elder Gods on Freneskae and fail and the universe ends so fingers crossed that possibility pans out.

Another thing to note is that when Zamorak blew up Forinthry and damaged the Anima of the area so nothing living could ever grow there again that damage also evidently disconnected the area from the afterlife and as a result those that die in the wilderness do not enter the afterlife and return as revenants or end up stuck in some other way like as slaves to the Corporeal Beast. (Credit to AttilaSquare for coming up with this theory in his Planar Theory thread).

Anyways not much is known about the after life or the rules that govern it or how much is up to the Death that runs them. For example the Gielinorian Death allowed Guthix to preserve Cres and the automatons. So much of this is all just concepts at the moment.

Random thoughts: Does Infernus have an afterlife? Freneskae shouldn't as the Elders drained the planet but if demons die in explosions of energy or by being absorbed they wouldn't go to an afterlife so would one even exist on worlds with creatures that don't use one?

And what is the relation between the Spirit Plane and afterlives? If they are both incorporeal Anima based planes I suspect they are very closely linked somehow.

21-May-2015 09:59:38 - Last edited on 22-May-2015 03:11:44 by Jakir

Jakir

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-Lesser Gods-

And here is where things take a different path than that expected/predicted by the Elder Gods (unless they simply did not care).

The Elders did not count on the artifacts they discarded having energy that could affect the beings that came in contact with it. The Anima would explosively power up the being's soul and make it no longer linked to the cycle of Anima of their home planet but rather linked to the life of the Elder Gods themselves as they created those tools with the energy of their own lifeforce/Jas' lifeforce using the Catalyst.

These beings became known as the lesser Gods and as a result we have the Tier system:

Tier 1 - Elder Gods
Can create life and planets, imbue artifacts with their powers, hibernate, and can not be killed.

Tier 2 - Transcendent Gods
Can manipulate the Anima of existing life and planets, become incorporeal, and those exposed to them become ensnared by their charisma whether the God wills it or not.

Tier 3 - High Gods
Can create/destroy on a massive scale, and magically manipulate immortals.

Tier 4 - Experienced Gods
Can with risk manipulate large works of magic and open large portals to other worlds.

Tier 5 - Inexperienced Gods
Have greater strength and magical fortitude, can shrink or grow.

Tier 6 - Demigods
Sons/Daughters of Gods that have greater than mortal strength and magical ability and can manipulate mortals.

Tier 7 - Avatars and Aspects
Beings created by Gods; immortal.

A drawback of becoming a God (Other than being immortal and even at tier 2 unable to make those around you immortal without making them Gods and being forced to watch everyone they love grow old and die over and over) is that their soul is forever freed from the flow of their world's Anima so when they die they have no afterlife. Even without dying should they decrease in power a tier then the energy that flows out of them goes into things their being left a large imprint on.

21-May-2015 10:00:00

Jakir

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For example Guthix's death supercharged the Tears of Guthix and Bandos' death stabilized Zanik's condition somewhat to let her survive after his death when he was the only thing keeping her alive. Scabaras' defeat after rising up a tier causing him to fall back down to T7 may have even been the cause of the formation of the Kalphite Queen and King (according to legend).

21-May-2015 10:00:29 - Last edited on 22-May-2015 03:13:27 by Jakir

Jakir

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-Ascension-

Other beings also defy the cyclical nature of life and death and exist outside the flow of Anima.

The Mahjarrat upon death have their energy (Anima) dispersed and the other Mahjarrat present absorb it. When Guthix died being a T2 God his memories were so imprinted on his soul the some of his Anima even managed to form a life form composed of his memories of his daughter. This makes me wonder if perhaps Mahjarrat don't inherit some traits from those that are sacrificed like say food cravings, abilities like an affinity for the shadow realm, or perhaps memories and feelings. Gods that kill each other probably do as well and this would explain how Guthix explained when he killed the God Skagaroth he attained memories about the Elder Artifacts. But clearly the soul is made of Anima as is all life and magic.

Also the TokHaar and TzHaar have their own system of death and rebirth involving the lava of the Elder Kiln. Which interestingly enough allows them to inherit memories as well except they reincarnate themselves and have complete memories of their past lives. And communal knowledge of others that have used the lava (willingly or accidentally).

Demons too seem to die in an explosion of energy but that energy doesn't seem to go anywhere (unless the demon's manifestation was all that was killed in which case the demon's Anima returns to its body on Infernus). (Vampyres fall into this category as well, see Demons)

So what is interesting about these life forms that spend their life force differently than us?
They tend to be immortal or have incredibly long lifespans, and they don't use runes! (With the possible exception of the TzHaar who had some memory issues)

21-May-2015 10:00:43

Jakir

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It makes sense doesn't it? Jhallan talked about how much energy he wasted taking the form of a Muspah and said how he would need to replenish himself at the next ritual so clearly beings that don't use runes instead use Anima to cast spells which is what runes contain anyways. So they basically spend their own soul to use spells and replenish their energy by consuming Anima. Demons consume each other(and absorb the traits of those they have consumed which I theorized earlier should happen when absorbing a soul), Vampyres drink blood, TzHaar/TokHaar are reborn with Sacred Lava from the Elder Kiln a powerful Elder Artifact and Mahjarrat have ritual sacrifices.

Based on this I have developed my own Mortal to Divine Tier System:

Tier 1 - Divine Beings
These beings are likely immortal, and draw upon Anima other than their own soul to cast spells that they have contained within themselves like the energy they absorbed from an Elder Artifact or deposit of Godly energy like the Tears of Guthix.

Tier 2 - Transcendent Beings
Live for thousands of years (Possibly immortal), may reincarnate but exist outside the normal cycle of death, and do not use runes.

Tier 3 - High Beings
Have extended livespans, do not need to follow exact rune costs or Spellbooks.

Tier 4 - Experienced Beings
Able to use magic with the aid of runes, must use established Spells.

Tier 5 - Inexperienced Beings
No affinity for magic.

Note that a being anywhere on this scale can become a God and it is not required for them to go through all the stages and in fact I would say nothing ever has. This scale is simply to judge how evolved a race/individual is at using magic and how likely they may be to become a God. Obviously a poor Naragi farmer can become one of the strongest Gods but it seems more likely a Mahjarrat for example would have better odds.

Also just because most of a race is at one level doesn't mean a few won't rise up like The Wise Old Man who uses different runes and does more damage (T3)

21-May-2015 10:01:00

Jakir

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-Spells, Prayers, & Summoning-

I like to think Anima directed outwards from the host towards a target like a fireball at an enemy or superheat spell at an ore is considered Magic.

But if a being taps into the Anima in the world around them and pulls it in instead of pushing it out that is how prayers/curses work. Curses do have an outward affect but only after the user has come in contact with their target though like poison on a blade.

Summoning on the other hand is bit more complex. Charms are dropped by monsters and contain a fragment of their soul according to the Charming Imp which creates a foundation to build a spirit beast off of and I imagine spirit shards are just more Anima type energy thrown into the mix. Then comes the ingredient which is interesting as Ibid and Pikkupstix both claim that familiars do not really exist and are simply the result of focusing our thoughts. Lord Amlodd says they actually feed off our thoughts so I believe the ingredient is a "thought focuser" or perhaps as the shards are the fuel for a familiar's temporary "life" and the charms are the base of the creature's form and then the ingredient gives it a more specific form.

This brings us to the interesting bit about summoning. If what we summon is just a manifestation of our thoughts combined with Anima and charms + an ingredient to give it form why can't we make anything from anything as long as it has a charm and spirit shards?

Because like Prayers and Spells we follow a summoning book. And like Prayers and Spells alternate books exist for summoning. We currently only have the Drudic summoning in game but Arcane summoning also exists and npcs have used it for summoning demons and necromancy. (Also a third type which opens portals and summons actual creatures and binds them to the will of the summoner)

21-May-2015 10:01:18 - Last edited on 03-Jun-2015 23:38:14 by Jakir

Jakir

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-Spell&Prayer Books-

So where do these books come from and how do they work?

In Above the Lore Podcast #0 in a Runeradio interview with Mod Osborne at 46 minutes in (Everyone thank Half Centaur for kicking me from a fc because I was doing pvm and couldn't source this fast enough and motivating me to make this thread) he says that spellbooks are affiliated with Gods and with more Gods the potential for more Spell/Prayer Books exist.

So these books are "affiliated with" Gods but how do they work?

A few important things to note:
1) You "know" all prayers/spells in the book of your choosing regardless of if you have the level to use them.
2) You don't "know" any of the prayers/spells in a book you are not using regardless of your level (Unless you use something like a runic staff or spellbook swap spell which fits the mechanic).
3) When changing books we "gain" the knowledge we want and "forget" the knowledge of the book we previously had.
4) It has been confirmed numerous times by jmods that prayers do not come directly from Gods. Aka it is not their power used.

So how do they work? Well remember earlier when it was established that the Anima of living creatures is their soul and contains their memories? It is my theory that when you swear alliance to a God/Gods to use their book you are given an imprinted piece of their Anima through the altar which contains their memories of how the spells/prayers are performed.

Which then begs the question of who the heck runs the standard spell/prayer book. And to answer this I would point you to the Rune Mysteries & Memories quest which directly show how teleport spells were added to the spellbook. The ritual was performed by 8 people (more on the significance of this later, see Demons) from 4 orders. The Red, Blue, Gray, and Green. And if you look at the kinds of spells that have been in the standard spellbook over the years: Claws of Guthix, Saradomin Strike, Flames of Zamorak, and Storm of Armadyl.

21-May-2015 10:01:37

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