Re: soul/mind/...

["Wright Frazier" <khelek@cioe.com>]

Magic is one big honkin energy field.  All magic is that, every last scrap
of it.  The differing types of magic are simply different frequences of the
same juice, and you need a specific aspect of a being to access said juice.

A soul is required for accessing the frequence of this field that allows for
the transmission of divine energy from the god to the priest.

A spirit is required to allow a nomad to take the magical energies and bind
them into an incant.  No spirit, means you can't touch those energies.

Elemental magic is the most "free" of the energies and the most easily
accessable (the only one without having to go through an intermediary to
access).  With elemental magic you just need to pluck it out of the air and
shape it with your Mind.

As for Mind/Soul/Spirit being one big ball of wax, that is as much a
convience, as it is a rationel for why a couple of spells even work (soul
hold, soul home, soul catcher, deliver).  All of those spells have dramatic
effects that are all based upon the soul, yet effect the other parts of your
being through the soul.  If they weren't linked, then Deliver would just
yank out the soul, send it to infero without killing you.  Soulcatcher would
just be an anti-priest spell.  Oh look Mr. Divinity boy, you just lost your
ability to access magic.  Soul Hold would just lock the soul in the body,
but the mind & spirit would still flee when the body got ganked.

Further Infero would not work if the Mind/Soul/Spirit were not linked.
Infero...where all the SOULS go.  Can't think of the billions and billions
and billions of adventures that have been run to infero where players have
interacted with the deceased.  If the Mind/Soul/Spirit were not linked, then
that interaction could not happen.  You'd just have a buncha mindless souls.

Also if the 3 were not linked, then the Kurago could not exist, and there
would be no nomads.  Nomad dies, the spirt (with soul & mind, or just mind)
attached heads off to the kurago to hang out and smoke sago weed for
eternity.  If the mind & soul don't tag along (cause they are attached) then
there would be no guardian spirits (who have all the mental stats &
personality as per the book).

If you wanna now say that these 3 things are seperate, then get ready for
the reprocussions.  Infero just got real boring, and all the nomads just
lost their guardian spirit's ability to function.  Further that deliver
spell doesn't have NEARLY the effect you'd hoped for, and all those undead
earth mages who are soul held just turned into vegitables.

Or the Mind/Soul/Spirit are linked, and elves are a special case helped
along by a considerable bit of magic way back in the day, and things
continue on.

Wright




> I would like to request that everyone with a book read the section
> that explains the roles of the SOUL, MIND, SPIRIT, and LIFE (FORCE?).
>
> I have heard a couple of people say that the SOUL is a link to the
> divine.  Does this mean that nomads can function fine without souls?
> What about other characters that have no intention with gaining
> divine spells or attract the power of the gods?
>
> I don't see why the MIND/SOUL/SPIRIT should be linked to one another.
> I thought the book stated that there are four separate aspects that make
> up creatures.  This would allow creatures (including elves) to survive
> and prosper without having a SOUL.  Since an elf can become a nomad and
> make nomadic incants, it proves that the SOUL is not linked to the SPIRIT.
> Unfortunately, the book mentions the "spiritual soul".  This makes things
> confusing because the book also has a separate description for the SPIRIT.
>
> Just my thoughts.
>
> Kevin
>