Snakeskin on 12/10/2007 at 15:21
This is the result of two weeks of brain activity from my part, and i think it will serve a large purpose in my ongoing project with a Thief-RPG. I decided to post the material for comments, because if trying to describe thief this way i will be damnably sure i have the support of the community.
This philosophy is more advanced than the D&D (chaos-law good-evil) but works in a similar way, the text is also not completely finished but will be a great support when creatign and describing characters and NPC's when roleplaying.
The balance
The balance is best described as an ever changing state, either that of a personality or that of a collective whole, that is a sum of personalities and powers in the City and outside it's borders. The different values of the balance is sublimely hidden, and yet ever present in the world.
It's ultimate extremes have the most notable effects on the world, and even if some show themselves more than others they all equally affect the mutual balance of the world.
The Circle of Elements
The first chart can be described as a circle. The four elements which make up the circle co-exist and are in some ways dependant on the others. Both by strengthening and keeping the influence of other's strength down. Each element has an opposite, with strengths and weaknesses opposed to itself.
The Circle of Elements describes the abilities of one individual or collective whole, which is often a balanced collection of different individuals. Each of the elements correspond to strengths, but just as much to weaknesses.
Because of this the circle of elements should be regarded as a harmony of elements, where each has it's own place and specific role and it needs the other three to be able to perform it's role well.
A good example of this is a human being, who drinks the water, breathes the air, and eats the fruits of the earth. Fire is the driving element of the process, and the thing that creates life from the ther three.
It is true indeed that the elements are opposites, and that they can be used to destroy or conquer different forms of each other. A fire is easily extinguished by water, but on the other hand no matter how large a block of ice is it will always be best fought with heat.
And even while the best protection against cold icy winds is that of a cottage, built from rock and wood, a standing tree, no matter how tall will perish in a bolt of lightning.
However while these things occur, they naturally form an equilibrium together and will not threat the balance as a whole as long as one is not allowed more power in one place than the other.
They all have their places in the world, like the sea and the deep forests and mountains, even down to the molten core of the earth.
[CENTER]From wild fire and heat springs the molten rock,
and earth will form when on it's own and hold the water of life,
with its raging streams and deep dark grave.
From water comes the air to breathe and the winds and the clouds.
Thus concluding the eternal circle.[/CENTER]
[CENTER]- Unknown poet[/CENTER]
Fire is the element of force and conflict, fire is wild, dangerous and hard to hold in place. It is the element of idealists and impulsive people. The fiery individual acts quickly, and from his heart, he goes with his feelings and lives for the moment.
Strength -corresonding abilities for each element, two of the 8 i have used in the RPG rules
Perception
Earth is the element of security, confidence, and strong will. The earth individual is often perceived as steadfast and acts strongly according to his beliefs, whatever they may be. He does what he knows best and makes sure to learn something well, and likes predictable patterns and secure surroundings.
Constitution
Willpower
Water is the element of thought and peace. It represent calm, and precision. The water individual is rational, and plans ahead. Taking time to handle each situation with care and not rush into anything. He does not act with his heart, rather his mind and believe in experience and knowledge.
Coordination
Intelligence
Air is the element of freedom, movement and thrill. It is ever changing and elusive, manipulative. The air individual changes heading at his whim, and his opinion is likely to be influenced by what is happening around him. He also believes in taking risks and putting himself in new situations.
Agility
Charisma
Snakeskin on 12/10/2007 at 15:21
The Scale of Personality
The axes in the second scale are not in the kind of circular balance that the Circle of Elements exist in. It is rather the opposite, an ever ongoing struggle by the different forces to tip the scale in their favor. Each element has it's own reasons and if taken to the extreme they are totally convinced that one is superior to the others.
The scale of personality will tell how one will use his or her abilities as opposed to the elements which define what abilities one possesses.
The first of the two axes represent the struggle between chaos and order, or between freedom and control if you will.
The first, chaos, struggles toward a harmony of beings, the philosophy that if left alone all things will govern themselves. It means that power is for the strong and defeat is for the weak, and that anyone who temporarily prevent this with constucted or imaginary walls do this from weakness and lack of real strength, and will ultimately suffer the consequences of chaos in the end. The element of chaos is dynamic, ever evolving, and merciless. The element of chaos supports the strong lone individual, respecting the ability to use oneself to achieve greatness rather than, like order does, using others. The greatest should always be the best.
The element of order struggles against chaos with it's completely opposed philosophy. The way of the element of order is control. Nature by itself is a weak, unharvested and unefficient state. By using nature in controlled means it is possible to achieve greater things. By constructing laws one can optimize that which in it's natural state is only a unorganised collection of individuals. The concept of law follows directly from order and allows greater things to be achieved by being able to concentrate collective effort with an organized set of rules. Order supports individual strengths rather than the sum of them and use this in a system to achieve greater things that they can by governing themselves.
The second axis governs one's self interest, and is a measure of how an individual sees him- or herself in the collective whole. It is often connected to how emotional, or sacrificing one is.
The first end of the axis is Ego. Ego is the love for oneself, the narcissistic part of all beings, and the force of self-preservation. Ego motivates individuals and define exactly how far an individual will go for his or her own sake, and how much one can neglect others in one's own quest in life.
Seeing oneself as superior to others and not willing to be dependent on them is characteristics of Ego. Extreme egoists tend to have a severe lack of sympathy, and do not easily understand or read the emotions of others. The egoist has no problem corrupting a system for his own needs.
On the other end sits Samarite, the part of an individual that sees itself as a part of a collective whole and completely regards others as high as himself. As opposed to Ego, the total Samaritan sacrifice himself and his needs to help many others, and strongly believes that if everyone did this, then everyone would be happy.
It is also the philosophy that one needs other individuals to live one's life, the samarite sees that his life depends on others, and without them his chances for success would be less. Having lots of friends, and helping strangers are characteristics of Samaritans. The samarite acts according to his beliefs because that is the way to make people function together, he is often very emotional and easily see emotion in others.
In the center of the chart is Balance, the belief that everything should be used in moderation, and when needed. That ideologies are faulty and do not describe the reality. It is the mentality that things should always balance out each other to minimize risk and sorrow.
Snakeskin on 12/10/2007 at 15:22
The Character and the Balance
(I have yet to write this piece)
The Factions and the Balance
When looking at the circle of elements and the scale of personality, and at the same time looking at the City, one can see that the extremes on the charts are in many cases closely connected to certain factions in the City.
The Brotherhood of the Hand works in harmony with the philosophy of the elements, and each elemental mage tries his best to perfect his craft in one element. Together, the Brotherhood completes the circle.
The Hammerites personify Order as the greatest philosophy and make it their goal to fight paganism and tame the elements of nature.
Along with the City Watch they work for the benefit of civilisation, and firmly believe in set rules and conducts.
The Pagans and Beasts of Chaos personify Chaos instead and struggles against their opposites. Paganism is about harmony with the elements of nature, and the simple life that is possible in it. To tame the streams or destroy the woods is a great insult against their way of life.
In the City crime and the Wardens stand for the anarchy that would be without the struggle against law and order. Also an element of chaos.
Ego is personified, not by organisations, but by individuals. Examples of the most extreme are the Necromancers, who would sacrifice every other living being to enhance their own abilities, and others are strong individuals like specific Wardens, captain Truart, Karras, the Baron and others who have notably more Ego than Samaritan n them.
The Samaritans are the simple people, and the ones who work against corruption, because of their philosophy they work together and do not get as easily noticed as the Egoists.
The work of the Keepers should be clear by now..
Peanuckle on 12/10/2007 at 16:01
As clear as a mud puddle to me... That went completely over my head. Of course, it is bright and early, so that might be it...
Snakeskin on 12/10/2007 at 17:18
^^
try giving it another read then.
I forgot something, the main inspiration for forming this was [SPOILER]the strange number of 7 elements that the trickster use in his ritual, and only 4 were the natural elements.
if i remember correctly two of the others were dark (ego) and leafsie (chaos), but i do not remember a seventh.. will someone fill me in on this?[/SPOILER]
Snakeskin on 12/10/2007 at 19:12
That is amazing. Is that picture part of some never relaeased T2gold mission maybe?
I never saw that graph. What then are the three elements in the middle of the character, the dark and the two whites?
will check out your links.
EDIT: read the links. i understand the picture is from the necro tower in T2 yes? dont remember it's contents.
I will consider the discussion of transferred power and an aetheric link and revising my work so far, and it also seems clear that i need to change the philosophy of elements as well.
If we assume the unconventional three are Dark (death) - Borning (?) - and Green (life?)
we the nneed to fill in those "?" 's , and when each element has a meaning i can use them to create some sort of philosophical system based on the elements for the balance.
And what part does the chaos-order relation have in this element discussion?
Solabusca on 12/10/2007 at 19:20
Quote Posted by Snakeskin
That is amazing. Is that picture part of some never relaeased T2gold mission maybe?
I never saw that graph. What then are the three elements in the middle of the character, the dark and the two whites?
will check out your links.
The Book of Ash is the book you find in the Necromancer's Spire in LOTP. One page is the incantation, the other is the image I've posted.
Reading the book leads to an interesting situation.
The surrounding circles are (as labelled) the four elemental forces; one can make an educated assertion that the three central are 'White/Borning, Green/Leaf, and Black/Darkness.
,j,
Snakeskin on 12/10/2007 at 20:07
Okay so the four elements are clearly distinguished from the other three, yes?
Thus i will have to abandon my second chart with [chaos order] and [ego samaritan] and replace it somehow with the three new elements and still find a place to have the chaos-order axis, since it is clearly a very large part of the thief universe. Being the main theme of the whole series basically.
Then waht is your take on the meaning of the three elements:
Light (borning, life?)
Leaf (life again? plants??)
Darkness (death?)
RavynousHunter on 12/10/2007 at 20:53
From what I've read, there are the four "classical" elements, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, along with two others, which are derived from the four, Life and Death. As for a seventh... Perhaps the seventh is Infinity, the infinite circle of the elements, and the ever repeating circle of Life and Death.
For those confuzzled on how the two other elements form, I believe that Water and Earth form Life, while Fire and Air form Death. Because, Water feeds Earth to cause plant life to grow, which feeds herbivores, who in turn feed carni/omnivores. Then you have Air feeding Fire to cause destruction and to fan the flames that consume Life.
Odd logic, but it works for me. :thumb:
