Metaphysics in the Garden of Good and Evil (OCC until we see Pandemonium)

[SilentMobius]

I've been thinking a lot about the sides in the SL enabled conflict. and while its often seen as Redeemed/Unredeemed/GoS or Clan/Omni/Neutral I've been pondering the nature of the Brink monsters. Breaking these sides down to their core (OOC) tenets yields a number of differences.
Omni = Reopen Shadowlands and do the will of the Unredeemed
Clan = Oppose Omni
Neutral = Neither oppose nor support Omni
Redeemed = Prevent Unredeemed from breaking the Source
Unredeemed = Bring the Shadowlands back into the real world and regulate the Source.
GoS = Destroy the Brink monsters and prevent the destruction of the Shadowlands.

I would like to formalise a new faction, that I now believe I have enough circumstantial evidence to support

"Brink" = Work to destroy The source of life.
(I'll be modifying that label later)

I believe the brink monsters are the foot soldiers of this force, beings like Aztur and Hetzak are its lieutenants and its commander(s) wear this stuff
We got out first taste of this with the patch that added the Temple of the Three winds. The descriptions of the items were very strange in comparison to the technical/historical blurb we used to get. We started to get things that looked like scripture, freaky doomsday death/pain cult scripture, but scripture non the less.
Lets look at the text here:

Armplates of Elimination
He does not wait to get rid of the disobedient, and he does so with as little loss as possible of his own resources.
Boots of Concourse
Call his name and he will be with you instantly.
Burden of Competence
He will tell you that power is a disadvantage for you unless you follow his ways.
Cuirass of Obstinacy
He cannot be killed.
Gauntlets of Deformation
Unable to create life of his own; instead he twists the shapes of other creatures and constructs to make them serve his evil purposes.
Greaves of Malfeasance
Often he is there first, visiting the newborn beings, to corrupt them already from the start.
Helmet of Hypocrisy
Most that know who they work for will not tell they are his servants. Instead they will tempt you with samples of his power - and fool you into joining their ranks.
Shoulderplates of Sabotage
His agents gather information he were(was?) never meant to have. By blackmail and trickery he gains access everywhere he wants. Some of his opponents he forces to work against their own kind.
Sigil of Bahomet
He will expect you bear his mark.

I believe this creature will be the big Pandemonium boss (Bahomet?), and that these pieces of armour will be "Teh Big Win" if you will, but more than that I think they represent FC trying to tell us (as they hinted at with TotTW and IS) what's going on in the Shadowlands. I believe this is the corrupting force that caused the Xan to split into the Redeemed and the Unredeemed. Tempting the power hungry Xan into trying to regulate the Source (Knowing all the time that Source, by its very nature could not be regulated, and that any attempt to do so you ultimately destroy it)

But what sort of creature would want to destroy all life? surely it would therefor destroy itself in the process? Maybe but lets look at things we already know:

The Redeemed wish to become one with the Source, and the Source itself is composed of a form of Liquid Notum. The SL towers are supposed to be tapping into the source which is why the Unpolluted Crystal and the Notum canisters can be filled on the same object (A SL CT). Perhaps Liquid Notum might be best described as the body of the Source, separated from its whole but still vital, like a side of beef. Whereas The crystalline Notum is much more like the tough dried meat.

So, if the body of the Source of Life is Notum, what about Novictum. Well, lets start with colour, the bonds of Novictum glow red Whereas we all know that Notum glows blue. For more information we are going to have to ask Deacy:

'... and it is therefore not correct to regard Novictum as an energy source in the scientific meaning of the word, but rather as a 'metaphysical source of anti-growth' - an active matter of 'destruction' that balances 'growth' (represented by Notum) - and 'kills' energy. Traditionally death is regarded as passive, it is simply the 'random' absence of life. Life itself equals 'growth' in most beliefs. There is now good reason to start believing in the existence a destructive force that actively works against the force of 'growth' - and that both must be present as a premise of life. When both are absent we end up with death. In all other parts of the universe those two forces are always intermingled, only on Rubi-Ka and in the Shadowlands can you find those two 'building bricks of life' in their pure form.

So, from this we have:
Notum=Creation of Life (and other things) AKA the "Source of Life"
Novictum=Destruction of Life (and other things) perhaps the "Source of Death"

Which would explain why we find Novictum by beating the spirits of the dead into nothingness.
Note that Notum isn't life itself, as we all know, death is what gives life meaning. Notum is the force of Creation, Novictum the force of Destruction. In life these two are intermingled, and in death The Novictum wins out and finally completes its destruction.

Its possible that Novictum is supposed to return the metaphysical mass it consumes to the Source, however I think it would be unwise to assume that conservation of energy applies. Unless that cycle is now broken I don't think the evidence supports such a cycle. It would make more sense (To me, in the context given) that the Source creates something out of nothing and Novictum makes nothing out of something.

So what can the Novictal force do? Well we know its can't create life, but it can corrupt it or destroy it, it makes sense that it could also make a being more able to destroy or more resistant to being destroyed. It may well even promise that those who follow it will not be destroyed (A common tenet in death cults). which may be true, but I would surmise they could not exist as actual living beings just Novictum shades (Not the profession) nothing more than a semi intelligent automaton (Although probably a _really_ tough one)

So, what to do about this situation. To quote Judge Death "You cannot kill what does not live" so put your EQB down, that's what got us in this mess in the first place I'm thinking that the Novictal Force wasn't always wandering around bopping people on the head. It was once more passive, not found in its pure form simply a part of "The way things are(TM)".

Hmmm, isn't that what Notum was like before the Xan started messing with it?

Yep, my suggestion is that the mining and refining of the Source had an equal effect on Novictum, a byproduct that massed, gained sentience, schemed, plotted and eventually.........
Kicked ass.

That's what the big dark flame in the centre of Adonis is, its a Novictum Vein: pure destruction (Oh Gods I can hear Omni weapon R&D drooling, down, down, bad puppy, no biscuit)

So to sum up, what can the your average enlightened Joe/Josephine do about all of this (From an RP perspective).

• Don't use Novictum Weapons/Armour, they are teh Evul (Stygian/Frosty/etc)!
• Try and Combine as much Notum and Novictum as you can, favour things that involve that process. But don't get your Notum from the Source, try and find it lying around.
• Don't mine Notum in the Shadowlands, But _DO_ mine on Rubi-Ka (Notum in Rubi-Ka is already separated from the Source and should be used and combined with Novictum to Neutralise it)
• Only fight the minions of the Novictal Force when they are actively "doing bad things" And stop when they have stopped what they were trying to do.
• Assuming this works and the power of the Novictal force drops with the available volume of Notum, eventually shut down Ergo and "Stop fussing with the Source(TM)".
• Hope that Nanomages can survive on the Notum Surplus (Erk!) or wean them off it (hopeful Xan tech might help here).

(Phew, I'm gonna be editing this forever, _please_ discuss, I figure this is kinda important )

[LLJKTonitrum]

Very interesting write-up. I look forward to when Pandemonium is breached myself.

Here's a better link for that armor set, BTW.

Hmm...Pandemonium...from "pan", or 'all", plus "demon" -- literally, "all demons".

Bahomet...corruption of Baphomet?

Baphomet - \Baph"o*met\, n.[A corruption of Mahomet or Mohammed, the Arabian prophet: cf. Pr. Bafomet, OSp. Mafomat, OPg. Mafameda.] An idol or symbolical figure which the Templars were accused of using in their mysterious rites. (from dictionary.com)

"Call his name and he will be with you instantly." -- echo of proverb "Speak of the devil and he shall come"?

Then the true evil is not the Unredeemed, nor is it the Redeemed. Ergo was right.

ABANDON HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE

[Autumnleaves]

That is the most interesting report I've heard so far from the Shadowlands. Please keep us posted with your thoughts.

[Statik]

Sigil of Bahomet
He will expect you bear his mark.

oooooooooooo......Satany

Don't mind me, btw

[Keldros]

(This is more appropriate for the knowledge database forum, but I've posted my own theory there, as well as an in-character explanation in Rimor Buzz. WTB ARK event where I can test my theory with results depending on whether the GD thinks it should pass or fail.)

[Faeryan]

Oooh! This requires immediate Bookmarking.

Great post! I'm waiting for a sequel.