Amber Numina
Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:57 pm
Amber Numina
A World of Souls and Spirits
This thread is set up, to help me, and my friend, Stern compile information for a world we have been endeavoring to create over the past 3 years now. We originally had high hopes of creating a webcomic, however real life, as well as realizing that we had no experience in the matter stifled the idea for years, though over those years, we continued to build up the actual world, as well as its characters, and the general mythos surrounding our planned comic.
While the actual comic is still a bit of a dream at the moment, we DO want to start putting out proper content concerning the universe, as well as going along and explaining what makes up our Canon. Hopefully I will be able to make a proper project out of this thread, and questions that people ask about the world will help me and Stern flesh out our world all the further.
I’ll reserve the following few posts, so I can insert more information as it comes to light. I’ll be often editing this post, and the posts following.
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Base Setting and Key Premises The world of Amber Numina, is based simply upon earth in most aspects. Same species of animals, same historical events, and such, with some poetic license of course. However, the focus of the world is less on the world of the material and living beings, and more upon the spirits, afterlife, and related things.
The Planes There are a few planes of existence in the world of Amber Numina:
The first, is Earth, and the rest of the Material Universe. This is where your humans, your animals, your buildings, your lattes and chocolate chip cookies are found. This is the Material Plane.
The second plane, is the Ethereal plane. This is where earthbound spirits reside. The Ethereal plane is connected directly to the Material plane, and the two can directly influence one another. The Material plane is fully visible to those of the material plane, but it is very difficult for those of the material plane to witness the goings on of the Ethereal plane, though certain equipment can allow glimpses, as well as there are those that are born with the ability to see the goings on of the ethereal, either just slightly, or with great detail.
It is possible for things to bleed through these planes into one another, though it is much easier for the material plane to affect the Etheral plane, than it is vice versa.
The third plane of existence is the Astral. Whereas the Material plane, and Ethereal plane are continuous with each other, with the Ethereal plane like a thin, invisible layer draped over the Material plane, the Astral plane is very separate, but still in its own way connected to the Material, an Ethereal planes. However, while its possible to go from the Material plane, to the Ethereal with some hard work and research, going into the Astral plane is nigh impossible to do for a Material plane creature.
The easiest way for a Material plane creature to reach the Astral, is to die. The Astral plane is where all the spiritual energy of the earth, (and surrounding planets) flows into. The Astral is nigh infinite in scope, encompassing the whole of the universe, but for our story, we only focus on our small little dot in this grand scope.
An in depth explanation of the Astral and some of its cartography will be explained in a later post.
Key Ideas There are a few key ideas that are also a part of the Amber Numina world
Numina: This is the essence that fuels all spiritual beings in the world of Amber Numina. It is very much an ephemeral energy, easily able to change its form and function.
All spirits are made of Numina, and all powers that spirits display pull on one’s internal reservoir of numina energy. A spirit can rejuvenate its Numina naturally, in a slow manner by taking it in from its surroundings. Its Numina can be recharged even faster if it is around Material versions of itself.
For example, the spirit of a wolf, that wanders along in the Ethereal plane, with a living pack of wolves, with gain numina back far more quickly than if there were no living wolves around, to passively gain energy from.
Another way to restore numina, is to absorb it forcefully. This can be done in a few ways as well. One, is to eat food, crafted out of raw numina. This takes a little skill, but it’s fairly easily learned if one is taught how to do it, and in the Astral, near everything is made of numina.
The second way to forcefully absorb numina is to take it from another spirit, or drain the life of a living being. However, this can be met with disastrous effects if done unchecked. If life force is drained from a living being, the living creature starts to weaken, and can eventually die if too much energy is siphoned off. If a spirit attacks another spirit for its numina, the prey spirit could become so drained, that its form is completely eradicated, and it is absorbed into the predator spirit. (The ramifications of this will be explained further in ‘Reincarnation’.)
Reincarnation: The world works, on a relatively simple, but slightly altered version of the reincarnation cycle that is dealt with in many works. When a Plant/Creature dies, its soul briefly wanders the Ethereal, before it is inevitably drawn through to the Astral plane. Once a creature is drawn into the Astral plane, it will be drawn over closer to its Spirit Court, (See ‘Spirit Court’), and other spirits akin to itself.
A spirit that wanders through the Astral, and does not reach one of its courts is subject to one of the following, predation, or dispersion. Dispersion, means that you will simply fall into the cycle of reincarnation, with your numina dispersing amongst the astral, to be hopefully born again in some form, perhaps with your Numina being divided amongst several forms, or simply becoming one with the Astral’s raw energy. Falling into the predation cycle could possibly have some dire consequences. If a Predator absorbs the numina of another spirit, the prey spirit’s numina becomes completely bound to that of the predator, ceasing to be its own individual, and becoming part of the Predator’s essence. In addition, the Predator’s own numina is thereby tainted by becoming mixed with the numina of another essence not its own. In small amounts over the course of a long time, this is less a problem, but when done in quick succession, or if one powerful spirit consumes another of equal, or greater power, it can cause a spirit to become severely unstable.
This thread is set up, to help me, and my friend, Stern compile information for a world we have been endeavoring to create over the past 3 years now. We originally had high hopes of creating a webcomic, however real life, as well as realizing that we had no experience in the matter stifled the idea for years, though over those years, we continued to build up the actual world, as well as its characters, and the general mythos surrounding our planned comic.
While the actual comic is still a bit of a dream at the moment, we DO want to start putting out proper content concerning the universe, as well as going along and explaining what makes up our Canon. Hopefully I will be able to make a proper project out of this thread, and questions that people ask about the world will help me and Stern flesh out our world all the further.
I’ll reserve the following few posts, so I can insert more information as it comes to light. I’ll be often editing this post, and the posts following.
-----------------------------------------------------
Base Setting and Key Premises The world of Amber Numina, is based simply upon earth in most aspects. Same species of animals, same historical events, and such, with some poetic license of course. However, the focus of the world is less on the world of the material and living beings, and more upon the spirits, afterlife, and related things.
The Planes There are a few planes of existence in the world of Amber Numina:
The first, is Earth, and the rest of the Material Universe. This is where your humans, your animals, your buildings, your lattes and chocolate chip cookies are found. This is the Material Plane.
The second plane, is the Ethereal plane. This is where earthbound spirits reside. The Ethereal plane is connected directly to the Material plane, and the two can directly influence one another. The Material plane is fully visible to those of the material plane, but it is very difficult for those of the material plane to witness the goings on of the Ethereal plane, though certain equipment can allow glimpses, as well as there are those that are born with the ability to see the goings on of the ethereal, either just slightly, or with great detail.
It is possible for things to bleed through these planes into one another, though it is much easier for the material plane to affect the Etheral plane, than it is vice versa.
The third plane of existence is the Astral. Whereas the Material plane, and Ethereal plane are continuous with each other, with the Ethereal plane like a thin, invisible layer draped over the Material plane, the Astral plane is very separate, but still in its own way connected to the Material, an Ethereal planes. However, while its possible to go from the Material plane, to the Ethereal with some hard work and research, going into the Astral plane is nigh impossible to do for a Material plane creature.
The easiest way for a Material plane creature to reach the Astral, is to die. The Astral plane is where all the spiritual energy of the earth, (and surrounding planets) flows into. The Astral is nigh infinite in scope, encompassing the whole of the universe, but for our story, we only focus on our small little dot in this grand scope.
An in depth explanation of the Astral and some of its cartography will be explained in a later post.
Key Ideas There are a few key ideas that are also a part of the Amber Numina world
Numina: This is the essence that fuels all spiritual beings in the world of Amber Numina. It is very much an ephemeral energy, easily able to change its form and function.
All spirits are made of Numina, and all powers that spirits display pull on one’s internal reservoir of numina energy. A spirit can rejuvenate its Numina naturally, in a slow manner by taking it in from its surroundings. Its Numina can be recharged even faster if it is around Material versions of itself.
For example, the spirit of a wolf, that wanders along in the Ethereal plane, with a living pack of wolves, with gain numina back far more quickly than if there were no living wolves around, to passively gain energy from.
Another way to restore numina, is to absorb it forcefully. This can be done in a few ways as well. One, is to eat food, crafted out of raw numina. This takes a little skill, but it’s fairly easily learned if one is taught how to do it, and in the Astral, near everything is made of numina.
The second way to forcefully absorb numina is to take it from another spirit, or drain the life of a living being. However, this can be met with disastrous effects if done unchecked. If life force is drained from a living being, the living creature starts to weaken, and can eventually die if too much energy is siphoned off. If a spirit attacks another spirit for its numina, the prey spirit could become so drained, that its form is completely eradicated, and it is absorbed into the predator spirit. (The ramifications of this will be explained further in ‘Reincarnation’.)
Reincarnation: The world works, on a relatively simple, but slightly altered version of the reincarnation cycle that is dealt with in many works. When a Plant/Creature dies, its soul briefly wanders the Ethereal, before it is inevitably drawn through to the Astral plane. Once a creature is drawn into the Astral plane, it will be drawn over closer to its Spirit Court, (See ‘Spirit Court’), and other spirits akin to itself.
A spirit that wanders through the Astral, and does not reach one of its courts is subject to one of the following, predation, or dispersion. Dispersion, means that you will simply fall into the cycle of reincarnation, with your numina dispersing amongst the astral, to be hopefully born again in some form, perhaps with your Numina being divided amongst several forms, or simply becoming one with the Astral’s raw energy. Falling into the predation cycle could possibly have some dire consequences. If a Predator absorbs the numina of another spirit, the prey spirit’s numina becomes completely bound to that of the predator, ceasing to be its own individual, and becoming part of the Predator’s essence. In addition, the Predator’s own numina is thereby tainted by becoming mixed with the numina of another essence not its own. In small amounts over the course of a long time, this is less a problem, but when done in quick succession, or if one powerful spirit consumes another of equal, or greater power, it can cause a spirit to become severely unstable.
