A Glossary for Vermin

::: glossary Alchemy {#tag-alchemy} mutamyr (adj. mutamyric) : the basis of supernatural phenomena, giving rise to alchemy. : a metaphysical field pervading all space, capable of carrying mass and applying force, varying in properties to produce diverse behavior. liminal body(ies) : a system capable of performing alchemy or other advanced mutamyric processes. soul(s) : the mutamyric mass that naturally builds up within an organism. (Except for entiotes.) : (in alchemists) the liminal body cultivated and refined by alchemical practice. alchemy (adj. alchemical) : the study of cathexis and transmutation. : any process of controlling and transforming matter into an idealler form through use mutamyr, especially by activation of transmutation circles. : a philosophy of universal balance and grand teleology. alchemization (adj. alchemized; v. alchemize/alchemizes/alchemizing) : the circulation of essence through limina, especially to create a teleological effects. : mutamyric flux, especially so as to generate aura. aura : (of an alchemist) possessing alchemization powerful enough to act at a distance, characteristic of one reaches second compleation. : any transmission of information and force through the mutamyric field, especially those created by alchemization. : excitations of the mutamyric field which can penetrate other bodies, resonating, reflecting, and reacting across distances. cathexis (adj. cathetic) : a phenomena whereby animal brains generate energetic essence. : the prerequisite for alchemical practice. : (poetically) dreaming, thought to be the wellspring of magic. transmutation(s) (v. transmute, transmuted, transmuting) : a mutamyric reaction acting on matter, especially the transformation of matter into limina and limina into matter, but often broaden to also include teleological forces. : the primary aim of alchemical practice. transmutation circle(s) : a geometric figure designed by an alchemist for performing transmutation. : a liminal body which defines a sphere of effect, capable of alchemization. (See also: silver circle.) limina (adj. liminal) : a ghostly intermediate form of transmuted matter, often capable of physically overlapping with mundane objects. (See also: translimina.) translimina (adj. transliminal) : an object which possesses both physical and metaphysical (liminal) properties, especially when new properties emerge as a result. : the result of limina reacting with or "imbuing" matter; an amalgam of both. essence : an energetic charge which cannot exist outside of liminal matter. : the result of cathexis, and the necessary component for transmutation, almost always in the form of emyra. teleology (adj. teleological) : the force that exists between alchemized limina and compatible matter, both as simple attraction and ontological path-finding. : the idiom, "as above, so below." reification : the teleological manipulation of matter into a predefined, desired state, in contrast with geomancy. geomancy : the teleological interaction of limina with matter for purposes of divination, generally without overtly perturbing the target, in contrast with reification. dispelling (v. dispel/dispels/dispelled) : the undoing of transmutation, either by the passage of time or by intrusion of alchemized limina. (See also: third law) laws of alchemy, three laws : the most fundamental principles of alchemy: - the first law defines the origin of essence and limina; - the second law defines the tension between alchemization and transmutation; and - the third law defines the nature of dispelling. first law, law of cycles : Dreaming descends to essence, essence descends to limina, limina descends to transmutation. (See: laws of alchemy.) : (informally) the transmutation of dreams is a fool's errand. second law, law of disjunction, : The alchemical cannot be transmuted, and the transmuted cannot be alchemized. (See: laws of alchemy). : See also: mutamyric exclusion principle. : (informally) nature abhors self-transmutation. third law, law of cancelation : Each working of transmutation requires an equivalent unworking, which dispels it. (See: laws of alchemy.) : (informally) alchemy is ephemeral, things fall apart. mutamyric exclusion principle : a generalization or corollary of the second law, stating that separate liminal bodies give rise to distinct auras, and limial bodies expel the aura of incompatible fields. (See also: cross conjunction.) : (informally) alchemy is solitary; two workings cannot mix alchemist(s) : one who practices alchemy, especially seeking the compleation of the great work. compleation : (in philosophy) sublime wholeness, metaphysical primacy, perfection. : (in alchemy) a milestone in the cultivation of the soul. : see also: first compleation, second compleation, third compleation. first compleation : (of an alchemist) having attained a soul capable of circulating essence and thereby performing transmutation. second compleation, : (of an alchemist) having attained a soul capable of expanding and manipulating a stable aura for purposes of teleology, especially so as to perform the silver circle. silver circle, sorcerer's circle : a technique for "drawing on air" and performing alchemy without physically inscribing a transmutation circle. : a glowing, liminal ring which alchemizes its enclosed sphere, distinguished by this requiring no material component. third compleation : (of an alchemist) having attained a soul capable of concentrating aura to a singularity point, especially so as to perform the golden sphere. golden sphere, god sphere : a technique for creation of a "domain", a volume where all objects are subject to alchemization or transmutation at the caster's will. : a dense lattice of transliminal matter, which projects a liminal boundary when exposed to an aura singularity. cross conjunction : a rare phenomena occuring at the collision of two liminal bodies, exploiting the microsecond delay between intrusion and expulsion, to perform a simulataneous alchemization. : a singularity created by a liminal body enveloping and alchemizing another, allowing one to transmute the other, instantly nullifying it and exponentially accelerating the essence circulation in the rebound. : (informally) an especially powerful strike, a "critical hit." : (See also: mutamyric exclusion principle) emyra (adj. emyral) : the form of essence unique to a particular soul, created by a mortal imbibing ambrosia. : the catalyst for advanced alchemy, especially the activation of an individuals inmut. inmut : innate transmutation, the technique which comes naturally to a given soul, often offering access to a unique material or teleology. ambrosia : a drug derived from wine and tea made from divine fruits and leaves which provokes a dream-like state of intense cathexis Culture strangler vine(s) : a species of carnivorous epiphyte whose vines can rapidly contract to grasp tools and prey, growing flowers and fruiting when mature, and usually living in association with a mortal species. (See also: divine.) divine(s) : an exalted strangler vine realizing profound capacity for teleology and cathexis, especially one of the quincunx. quincunx : of or related to the five great divines and their doctrines. mortal(s), mortal species : a sapient organism granted imperial recogniction, capable of communication and cooperation, displaying advance forms of tool-use and problem-solving. : one of: human, djramul, strangler vine, freemouse, clanrat, keenfolk, iatrogos, mistral, glassmoth amortal : not self-aware or capable of recognizing one's own death (in contrast to mortal), either due to immortality (divines), selflessness (entiotes) or ignorance (other animals) djramul (pl. djramulin) : a four-legged mammal with horns and a trunk, standing anywhere from human height to twice that, distantly related to elephants, bearing a symbiotic with a little of djittin. djitt (pl. djittin) : a small, scurrying primate that spends most of its life on a djramul, performing tasks for which the host is too large and lumbering, especially if held by the 'scruff', a means of fine control freemouse : a hunched, furred mammal, capable of both walking on two legs and all fours, usually standing from half human height to four-fifths of that, and often living in close association with clanrats. antiblight : a fungus derived from a plague sent by the quincunx to devastate mortal farmland, capable of rotting any organism (except entiotes) but especially potent against liminal bodies, quickly infesting and subverting souls into resevoirs for its spores. Entiote entiote(s) (adj. entiotic) : a parasitic organism that undergoes a complex, adaptive lifecycle, naturally progressing from vermincholie to chrylurk, with larval and pupal stages between, in a process called parascixion. : the larval form of a chrylurk, dwelling like maggots in flesh, or tapeworms in entrails, or engaged in fusomorphic mimicry. : a class of animals that includes blightflies, distinguished by their lack of soul and consequent ability to digest antiblight. blightfly(ies) : a small mosquito-like arthropod that feeds on and purges antiblight and must consume mortal blood, especially to reproduce, often laying eggs in flesh, wherein they develop and emerge. : a type of derived chimera that may undergo a series of mutations to recapitulate their ancestral form, the chrylurk. vermincholie : a thick, warm fluid, the primordial form of entiotes, secreted by reproductive queens : a vector for ovirexia in isolation, or the nutrious yolk when enclosed in a entiote's eggcase : liquid chrylurk egg. ovirexia : a affliction spread by chrylurk body fluids, causing the host to contract a range of symptoms (such as dreams of segmented, vanishing geometries), and leads to a pronounced souring of bodily fluids, as the brain secretes nectar