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Desperate Measures on Anima

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AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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I am very pleased with the treatment of anima and magic in Desperate Measures!

Like much of the past descriptions on magic and anima found in the lore, they’re fuzzy and metaphorical. But the images exhibit a consistency and depth - i.e. a more precise and compelling theory can be built around them.

29-Jul-2020 17:24:19

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Let’s review some of the new concepts:

First: shadow anima. As Half Centaur observed yesterday, it seems reminiscent of antimatter. We don’t know much about it, except that it poisons anima, the “animasphere” (which I take to be about synonymous with the Anima Mundi), warps and destroys, and could have destroyed all life on Gielinor and the elder gods with it.

Second: “cosmic energy” as an alternative description of anima. I’m ambivalent about the metaphors of “energy” and the “use” and “refinement” of anima, but I’ll comment more on these below.

Third: Charos uses the phrase “anima matrix” - fuzzy, but a nice term for a point or node in the spiritual medium that is anima.

Fourth: We get a description of anima that includes more variables, texture, shape, etc.: “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.”

Fifth: We get an account of a “spectrum” of anima-formations. On one end are souls. These are both anima and “containers of anima.” On the other end are what Charos calls “subtle little locks of ‘cosmic energy.’”

29-Jul-2020 17:25:02

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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I’m not going to build a whole theory around these new points, but I want to comment on a couple in light of a few thoughts from my past theorizing.

First, to understand “shadow anima” we likely need to bring in Planar Theory, which treats the shadow realm.

Very briefly, I’ve approached planes, shadow realms, the abyss, and the void as the main topics of Planar Theory in the following way. Planes are domains of facts. Shadow realms are domains of counterfacts - e.g. what could have been. (I treat spirit realms as parts of shadow realms.) The abyss is the realm of parafacts - i.e. non-facts unrelated to spatiotemporally individuated facts. (The latter are typically found in planes.) The void is the realm of forms/structures abstracted from all sensory content.

So the “shadow” of shadow anima concerns counterfacticity.

What is anima?

I’ve proposed multiple paradigms for understanding anima. In the earlier ages of Gielinor, anima was understood as the responsiveness of visible things to invisible things (spirits, values, etc.) In the later ages, anima has been understood as a quantifiable force, energy, or power. What’s important to remember, and important to preserve the unity of the concept, is that this power is spiritual power - it moves the heart. It is “environmental,” “emotional.” It is never merely “energy,” to be “used” or “refined.” I am glad that Charos has confirmed this point.

Antimatter as a model for shadow anima is undoubtedly useful. But a deeper explanation of shadow anima could explore the spiritual/psychological effects of giving counterfacticity greater significance than it typically receives.

29-Jul-2020 17:25:44 - Last edited on 29-Jul-2020 17:28:06 by AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Second, “resonance” and “spectrum” are also useful metaphors, though they sound one-dimensional. I expect the one-dimensionality to come under strain, if Jagex continues to explore this facet of the lore with depth and fidelity to the insights already on display. (Maybe, if there’s any interest, I’ll think through an account of the variables at play in emotional/intentional experience, which could be useful for a multi-dimensional model.)

Third, it’ll be interesting to explore possible connections between the cosmic runic element, the astral runic element, the nebulous essence they share, and the dragonkin’s description of anima as cosmic energy.

Fourth, I want to propose a model for thinking about the “subtle little locks of cosmic energy.” These could be analogous to certain words - words with very specific or peculiar meaning and likely some degree of poetic power - like words that are difficult to translate or that lack synonyms in another language. Words shape our experience of the world - they are undoubtedly vehicles of anima, media of resonance. Certain words, used as passwords, are probably accurately described as “subtle little locks of cosmic energy.” (I’ve proposed a similar model for understanding runestones in the past, but this new phenomenon is even more fitting.)

29-Jul-2020 17:26:14 - Last edited on 29-Jul-2020 17:30:42 by AttilaSquare

A Mighty

A Mighty

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Great read as always, Attila! I was wondering what your thoughts would be on Shadow Anima :P

AttilaSquare said :

Fourth, I want to propose a model for thinking about the “subtle little locks of cosmic energy.” These could be analogous to certain words - words with very specific or peculiar meaning and likely some degree of poetic power - like words that are difficult to translate or that lack synonyms in another language. Words shape our experience of the world - they are undoubtedly vehicles of anima, media of resonance. Certain words, used as passwords, are probably accurately described as “subtle little locks of cosmic energy.” (I’ve proposed a similar model for understanding runestones in the past, but this new phenomenon is even more fitting.)

So this would be like e.g. the phrase used to teleport one to the Rune Essence mine
To those cursed by war and pest, Come into the light of Armadyl and rest. This is the law of Armadyl.

01-Aug-2020 21:03:44

AttilaSquare

AttilaSquare

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Thank you, Mighty!

I don’t think “Senventior Disthine Molenko” quite fits because all its poetic power (which is roughly coincident with anima) lies in its strangeness. We don’t know what the phrase means. It’s hardly distinguishable from “Senventior Disthine Molesko.” Of course, both of these teleportation phrases may very well have a meaning appreciable for its precision in the language from which they are derived. Phrases like this only work well as passwords insofar as the magical nexus in question can distinguish between them.

A closer example came to mind last night. My wife and I watched the movie Molly’s Game . Near the start of the movie, the narrator uses the phrase “my digitally remastered spine.” In context, that phrase bears immense passion - i.e. anima. It is full of rage and sarcasm in a way maybe impossible to translate or express in any other way. The example is disanalogous with Charos’ “subtle little locks” insofar as the phrase bears immense power but analogous with respect to its subtlety and precision.

02-Aug-2020 17:53:22

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