Thus Spake Zaraborgstrom/FourMagicalMaterialsForm
rebeccaborgstrom - 11/09/2003 18:22:31
I didn't actually specify a reason why the 4MM Form doesn't include soulsteel, I think. :)
Many possibilities occurred to me, so I decided it was more interesting than mechanical completeness; but I don't think that one can conclude with any certainty that soulsteel itself postdates the form. Personally, I think it's more interesting if the Sidereals designing the style left it out --- either because they had to, because they screwed up, or because they chose not to include it.
Can you think of reasons for any of the above? :)
Rebecca
I think the Elder Sutra provides an answer to this question: "The last maiden's name was TAO. These were their names, but they knew them not." There is some essential revelation that the imperfect Prismatic Arrangement Style has not yet reached - and it is exactly this revelation that teaches the maidens their names. The creators of the Style were obviously missing a piece of arcane knowledge that would have permitted them to produce a more perfect harmony of powers. - willows
The answer to this one seems kinda simple. Soulsteel is the only 5MM that is "living" in some manner. It's basically a soul tortured, and then trapped. And it's not just tortured, but tortured and trapped in such a way that it's suffering the entire time. Suffering in a way that it would seek out a fate worse than simple death, if it could. So instead it consigns others to what it desires. If you tried to imitate it, who's soul do you think would get trapped? Who'd be in that kind of pain? - haren
Except that now we find out that Starmetal is made from gods... - Myrlan
Not necessarily tortured and trapped though. And maybe there's a fundamental difference between human souls and Spirits that makes it dangerous for a Sidereal to imitate Soulsteel, and safe for Starmetal. Just a thought, Have Fun... nikink
It sure didn't seem to me that those gods were very happy, or had much of a choice, but I do agree that they're probably not as tortured. - Myrlan
True... I'd imagine I'd be pretty pissed, even if the process was reasonably pleasant! B-) Have fun... nikink
I'm thinking that getting turned into starmetal is pretty much equivalent to getting demoted to least god of a sword or something, and that being a suit of a starmetal superheavy plate is no worse than being the least god of a jade suit of superheavy plate. - GordonMichael
- Ah, but the god of a jade suit of superheavy plate can move around and need not be with the armor at all. A god made into starmetal is stuck as a physical object. -BogMod
- I must've just skimmed through the description of lesat gods in games of divinity. Least gods are not literally bound inside their objects, although they're usually sleeping inside them, and the text implies that they can't (or at least don't want to) stray too far from them. Regardless, if star metal actually does remain alive, it's like solitary confinement (starmetal) vs some crazy shit out of the hellraiser books (soulsteel). - GordonMichael
