Changes: Soul (WOD)

Revision as of 21:40, 10 September 2014

Souls are the immaterial essence of all creatures.

Supernatural Perspectives

Vampire

Vampires are living souls in dead bodies; kept present and animate by the curse of Caine's blood. When vampires Embrace a mortal, some of the Sire's soul is transferred to the Childe, and vice versa.

This forms a profound, intimate, and eternal bond between the two stronger and deeper than any mortal union and can take on forms ranging from parental to sibling to lover or all three depending on the vampires involved. This bond is even capable of surviving the Final Death, as vampires can feel the presence of their Sire and/or Childe even after either of them have met the Final Death.

Despite this, the Embrace also changes the Childe's soul for the worst. They are merged with Caine's essence in both blood and spirit, forever condemning them in the eyes of God.

Werewolf

The half-spirit nature of the Changing Breeds makes their souls fundamentally different from that of regular humans. After their death, the soul of a Garou does not vanish, but instead becomes an Ancestor Spirit that is located in the Tribal Homeland of the Tribe they belong to. Only extremly shameful acts ban the spirit of a deceased Garou from their Homeland and most of these fall to the Wyrm after a short period of time.

Among the Fera, the Mokolé cannot contact their Ancestor Spirits, relying instead on Mnesis to achieve the same results. The Ananasi, Rokea and Ratkin, as well as many Bastet tribes, with the exception of the Swara and those Khan allied with the Beast Courts, have no way to contact the spirits of their ancestors.

Mage

Wraith

Wraiths could be argued to be souls in their purest state, without concealing flesh that binds them, instead existing as plasmic entities within the Dark Umbra. The essence of a Wraith is divided into three parts, roughly corresponding to the psychic apparatus defined by Sigmund Freud. The Eidolon acts as a higher self, which is mostly quiet and subtle compared to other parts, that strives for Transcendence. Arranged against the Eidolon is the Shadow, the wraiths inner destructive drives that seek Oblivion. In between stands the Psyche, which has to fend off the Shadow, follow his Eidolon and resolve its Fetters to achieve liberation from its existence in the Shadowlands.

Changeling

In a twist of the standard tales of faeries, Changelings are fae souls that have taken up residence in mortal flesh in order to survive the growing banality of the world by adopting the Changeling Way. As such, their internal essence is made up from the stuff of the Dreaming, his mien, and has to be weighted against the world of mortals, his Seeming. The part of the Dreaming usually reveals itself during the Chrysalis, although glimpses can be catched before. In order to preserve their own chimerical spark, both parts of their existence have to be balanced against each other, while the alternative is either the Undoing of the fae soul or possibly the creation of a Dauntain, or the inescapable madness of Bedlam.

Kindred of the East

The Wan Kuei are similar to Wraiths in the regard that their souls have been cleaved in two. The Hun - the rational part, also referred to as the High Mind- and the P'o - the primal, instinctual part of their souls, also referred to as the Demon Mind - that battle each other over control. Similar to a Shadow, the P'o is sentinent and malicious, seeking to drive the Kuei-jin back to Yomi. However, both soul parts depend on each other, a Kuei-jin without a P'o will soon find himself in a diminished and vegetating state. In order to bind their souls to their bodies, Kuei-jin need to feed on chi, as they no longer produce it themselves.

The Hungry Dead (at least the majority) seek to redeem themselves before Heaven and to this purpose, they proscribe themselves to Dharmas that will eventually allow them to reach Hundred Clouds, where they will cast off their physical shells and transcend to Heaven. The road of salvation, however, is long and ardenous and many fail or are dragged back to Hell.

Hunter

The moment of their Imbueing safeguards the Hunters soul against supernatural depredations and destinies. An Imbued will not rise as a Wraith (or Kuei-jin), cannot be targeted by a tem-akh, spirits or Fallen for possession and never Awaken or receive the Embrace. Otherwise, Hunters remain ordinary humans for all purposes.

Mummy

In ancient Egypt, the essence of a human was divided into nine parts that defined a human being. The Spell of Life drew on this ideal by joining the parts together in such a fashion that they do not separate after death. The original, flawed Spell of Life put the mortal body under enormous stress, resulting in grotesque half-living creatures that resembled zombies more than champions of virtue. The new, reformed Spell uses a mortal who had a particular weak soul part and replaces it with a spirit shard, a tem-akh.

Parts of Being

Khat, the Physical Body, was often preserved to allow a smooth resurrection
Ba, the part of the soul that ventures into the Underworld, akin to a Wraith; aspected to the Khri-Habi
Ka, the part of the soul that remains close to the body and guards it from desecration; aspected to the Kher-minu
Ab, the Physical Heart, the seat of consciousness
Khu, the physical and mystical representation of a being, akin to an Aura, that ties the spiritual and material parts together; aspected to the Sakhmu
Ren, the True Name, a vital part of existence and the soul, a "brief" summary of what the person is
Khaibit, the Shadow, which represent the darker urges and emotions of the soul, akin to the Shadow; aspected to the Sefekhi
Sahu, the indestructible part of the soul that will dwell in the fields of A'aru, akin to the Eidolon; aspected to the Mesektet

Between this parts flows Sekhem, the force of life itself that binds the other soul-parts together. Each modern Amenti Dynasties is aspected to one of the soul parts, except for the Ab (as they all share a heart), the Khat (as they all possess a body) and the Ren (for a True Name is something highly individual).

Demon

Demons are purely souls; lacking physical bodies of their own unless they take a human vessel through a flaw in their soul known as Hamartia. In the process, the original soul is overtaken by the essence of the Demon, giving him access to the memories and abilities of his host.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ===Mage===
 ===Wraith===
-[[Wraith (cWOD)|Wraith]]s could be argued to be souls in their purest state, without concealing flesh that binds them, instead existing as [[Plasm (WTO)|plasmic]] entities within the [[Dark Umbra]]. The essence of a Wraith is divided into three parts, roughly corresponding to the psychic apparatus defined by Sigmund Freud. The [[Eidolon]] acts as a higher self, which is mostly quiet and subtle compared to other aprts, that strives for [[Transcendence]]. Arranged against the Eidolon is the [[Shadow (WTO)|Shadow]], the wraiths inner destructive drives that seek [[Oblivion (WTO)|Oblivion]]. In between stands the [[Psyche (WTO)|Psyche]], which has to fend off the Shadow, follow his Eidolon and resolve its [[Fetter (WTO)|Fetter]]s to achieve liberation from its existence in the Shadowlands.
+[[Wraith (cWOD)|Wraiths]] could be argued to be souls in their purest state, without concealing flesh that binds them, instead existing as [[Plasm (WTO)|plasmic]] entities within the [[Dark Umbra]]. The essence of a Wraith is divided into three parts, roughly corresponding to the psychic apparatus defined by Sigmund Freud. The [[Eidolon]] acts as a higher self, which is mostly quiet and subtle compared to other parts, that strives for [[Transcendence]]. Arranged against the Eidolon is the [[Shadow (WTO)|Shadow]], the wraiths inner destructive drives that seek [[Oblivion (WTO)|Oblivion]]. In between stands the [[Psyche (WTO)|Psyche]], which has to fend off the Shadow, follow his Eidolon and resolve its [[Fetter (WTO)|Fetters]] to achieve liberation from its existence in the Shadowlands.
 ===Changeling===
 In a twist of the standard tales of [[Faeries|faeries]], [[Changeling (CTD)|Changelings]] are fae souls that have taken up residence in mortal flesh in order to survive the growing [[Banality|banality]] of the world by adopting the [[Changeling Way]]. As such, their internal essence is made up from the stuff of the [[Dreaming]], his [[mien]], and has to be weighted against the world of mortals, his [[Seeming]]. The part of the Dreaming usually reveals itself during the [[Chrysalis]], although glimpses can be catched before. In order to preserve their own chimerical spark, both parts of their existence have to be balanced against each other, while the alternative is either the [[Undoing]] of the fae soul or possibly the creation of a [[Dauntain]], or the inescapable madness of [[Bedlam]].