the Ring-Spirit (
improvking) wrote2020-06-07 10:53 pm
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IC Inbox (ryslig)
WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, GODKING. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 013.00.020.01 *** GODKING has joined 013.00.020.01 <GODKING> for questions about Choose the Fog, contact < Fritvælge > <GODKING> for complaints about Choose the Fog, contact < TRUTH1223 > <GODKING> otherwise have at it. | ||||
- GODKING : main handle
- Necrophades : "serious" handle
- understanding : anon/alias (polite persona)
- Fritvælge : for sub-cult business
<GODKING> 2/2
the base system of the game was born back in Kemet, or "ancient Egypt" for you. mortals have two types of life energy within them: the ka and the ba. with enough strong emotion or will, the ka can evolve to become its own spirit; with deeply strong emotions, particularly hatred, this spirit can ascend to godhood itself, all while staying beholden to its mortal originator. if twisted by darkness, this new god risks becoming a demon instead; but a strong will can keep the god true to a more noble form. (truthfully the line between god and demon is how polite you feel like being, but I digress.)
even without ascending to full godhood however, ka can become very powerful. a mortal can expend their ba to summon their ka to the physical plane. some priests discovered they could also summon other people's ka, if they first separated that ka from its host and bound it to a tablet of stone. summoning your own ka opens you up to death should that ka take too much damage - every blow to it translates in some way to your own self, after all. summoning stolen, bound ka however, negated this risk to themselves.
the card game was eventually inspired by this method of pitting stolen ka against each other, using cards to represent the stone slabs; also using cards to represent casting spells and springing traps. I suppose the old magic carried over by way of sympathetic contagion? eventually. the card game was originally quite mundane, but any game could be empowered by playing it with the Shadows as arbiters. the cards simply got very popular with the people who ended up wielding the Items which best invoked the Shadows.
<countvoncount> way to make me want an au where ynb is stopped by becoming a thief king modern au
It's two recent encounters. But across her whole lifespan? It's three. ]
Microcosm and macrocosm. A tenet of alchemy. Which, in my world, also had its roots in ancient Egypt. Humanity's memory is short.
[ A ritual of self-knowledge and empowerment, turned to a card game....Saint-Germain is also familiar with the concepts of "ba" and "ka", though in her world's history they took slightly different forms. In spite of this, the form and function of the powers at work are easily grasped. ]
In any case, your explanation clarifies and unites the information I've gathered about your world. Thank you. I have reason to presume the capacity for similarly sympathetic magic in Ryslig is worth pursuing.
[ Not necessarily with trading cards, but...
Though. This really does explain so much. Why Ra's-Manifestations-Are-What-Is-Right-And-True Atem had been the proper pharaoh to deal with this danger. Why he thinks of the world in terms of games.
And he's not the only one. She has a memory that isn't her memory, from the Pale Fog. Of a Richard that was not Richard. And a task it was bent on having her complete. ]
Your preferred game requires a custom board, does it not.
<GODKING>
[ ...He's assuming she's talking about Monster World. Not like she could know anything about that other one after all; he only used it for the one game. ]
<countvoncount>
....It doesn't matter. She's gotten an idea, and wishes to pursue it. Regardless of his former ideals, his goal had been nothing less than an altering of the fabric of reality. Saint-Germain shares that level of ambition. Thus... ]
Does that game style aid in sympathetic magic?
<GODKING>
I suppose it depends on what you're trying to do... I will say there's more room to play around with the effects you want than there is with card games.
Why?
[ Did she find out he used to seal the souls of Ryou's friends into their game figurines. Is he in trouble. ]
<countvoncount>
It merits experimenting.
<GODKING>
I have a lot of experience with improvised sympathetic rituals. I'd like to help.
[ Even if it means he has to explain the second shadow rpg... welp, he might as well look at it from the angle of "when else would he get to explain the system he'd come up with to anyone?" ]
<countvoncount>
[ He's not a comrade. Can't be a comrade, as their ideals differ too strongly. But Saint-Germain believes that Richard's goals and hers align sufficiently for an alliance, and his perspective always provokes thought. They are not comrades. But she respects him. Values his input.
Feels her weight lift slightly to have him by her side. ]