Incarnate Mod Account (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
modincarnate) wrote2037-01-01 07:00 am
modincarnate) wrote2037-01-01 07:00 am
what is an 'incarnate'?
The Incarnate are the personifications of a particular object, place, attribute, emotion or other concept. Incarnate are normally born as such, but recently Incarnate have been drawn in from other worlds, as people who perfectly fit the position of a particular Incarnate; upon entry to this world, they then automatically become Incarnate.
There are currently two good things for the average person regarding Incarnates; firstly, the thing they personify is grounded into reality, making it more powerful, better controlled and just generally... better. If there's an Incarnate for a certain type of food, that foodstuff will grow easier and taste better, for example. Second, for everything that is grounded into reality, that means less for the Incarnate of Existence to focus on keeping real, meaning more effort can be devoted to helping humanity.
For the Incarnates themselves, there are several benefits to their status; the first and most obvious is immortality (of a sort). Incarnate grow to a reasonable age, at which point they stop aging. This is necessary because there aren't many people born in a whole world who perfectly personify something, let alone in a population of under fifty million - the only Incarnate who stop aging earlier are Incarnate of child-related concepts. They also have improved healing and regenerative abilities, but this doesn't mean that Incarnate can't be killed - they can fall prey to a stab wound or a broken neck from tripping down the stairs, just like anyone. If they're killed too quickly to heal, they're simply dead.
Incarnate also gain a certain amount of power over their aegis; an Incarnate of a certain emotion will be able to sense when someone is feeling it, or even create or intensify that feeling in a person. An Incarnate of a certain location will have a constant awareness of who enters it and what they're doing there.
As Incarnate are so important to reality and the continued existence of humanity, the people of Vita are also generally happy to keep Incarnate in as much health and comfort as possible - as long as the Incarnate don't start going power-hungry. Incarnate are housed in a high-class, high-security building unless they wish to live elsewhere, and are given a fairly generous stipend. While most people aren't inclined to socialize with Incarnate, and some are wary, the average citizen tries not to upset the Incarnate; you might be making an enemy of the guy who can control your local electricity or water supply.
Incarnate can get away with very minor crimes without much trouble, as law enforcement turns a blind eye, but more serious crimes will be dealt with. Just because the Incarnate are relied upon for now doesn't mean they won't be turned on if people consider them a threat.
The general public perception of Incarnate is positive, thanks to a carefully-controlled media image, and some Incarnate even have groupies. There are others, however, who regard Incarnate with suspicion or fear. Because of this, the Incarnate are sometimes asked by Vita or the city Council to assist with the city, in order to present themselves better in the public eye. Which this is technically a 'request', Vita remembers who accepted and who refused.
The Incarnate are divided by Vita and the city's Council into four classes. The higher-ranking classes generally get more respect (or fear), but all are officially on equal footing on paper, such as in housing assignments and stipends. Unofficially, the rules of the city are somewhat more lax for those whose powers are more useful to the city's running (or just more impressive). The classes are:
» class Omega ⋆ [Ω]
☛ Incarnate of a broad, expansive and important concept, such as existence, life or souls.
» class Alpha ⋆ [α]
☛ Incarnate of an important and powerful concept such as water, food, writing, trees.
» class Beta ⋆ [β]
☛ Incarnate of a reasonably important or useful concept or a sub-section of an Alpha concept, such as gold, lakes, meat, flowers.
» class Gamma ⋆ [γ]
☛ Incarnate of a not particularly important or useful concept or a sub-section of a Beta concept, such as jewellery, a particular lake or building, a certain type of flower or color.
The ranks are very general and broad, due to being assigned by the Council, and there is some variation within the spectrum.
Incarnates are born (or come into the world) at full power. They may require some training to use the power under their aegis perfectly, but the contrl comes quickly and instinctively. Incarnates know instinctively what they have power over and exactly what can be done with it (even if they can't believe it). An Incarnate's ability only gets stronger in the sense that with better training and improved self-confidence in their ability, they can better use the power (alternatively, if their aegis 'increases'; eg, if more factories are built, then an Incarnate of Pollution will have more things in the city to control, or if more land is designated to a certain park, the Incarnate of that park will represent more land).
They do not need to exert any effort to keep their aegis in existence - merely staying alive is enough to ground the thing they personify into reality, all throughout the game's universe. That said, that does NOT mean they can actively control their aegis from overly-long distances; for example, the Water Incarnate could call all the water within the city to him or her (likely with some strain and concentration), but couldn't call water from far across the ocean. They could, however, dip a hand into the sea and, by concentrating hard, cast their 'awareness' across many miles to search out a particular boat, for example. An Incarnate of a smaller concept, such as Smiles may only be able to have a direct affect on a range of 'everyone in this large room' or 'anyone who passes under this archway for the next week'. Use common sense for range vs. strength of affect.
In a heightened state of emotion, such as combat or anger, the Incarnate's powers may be easier to access instinctively, requiring less concentration or effort. This isn't due to becoming more powerful, but more in the way a shot of adrenaline in stressful situations can boost ability for a short duration.
If an Incarnation has other Incarnates 'under' them - for example, there might be the Water Incarnate as well as Incarnates of Streams and a particular pond - the greater Incarnate has no technical 'authority' over them. Despite this, they still have general control over the lesser Incarnates' domains. As the lesser Incarnate is the one 'directly' in charge of the aegis in question, they have more technical control over it, but less power.
For example, the Incarnate of Water and the Incarnate of Streams each want to control the water in a particular stream. In a straight-out battle of power and will, the Water Incarnate will come out the winner after some strain. If the Water Incarnate is distracted, or less inclined to control the stream-water, the Stream Incarnate will be able to assert control until the Water Incarnate is less distracted or puts more effort into it.
The Stream Incarnate may also be able to take control if they become angry or scared enough that they throw off the Water Incarnate's power instinctively. A weaker Incarnate, such as the Incarnate of a certain pond, would have similar trouble - although they're technically weaker (being only the Incarnate of a small area), their power is more focused on that area and thus better-suited to controlling it.
Alternatively, the Water Incarnate may just send the groundwater up from the earth to smack a bitch.
Personality-wise, the Incarnate are representations of their aegis. A calm, pleasant person may be the Incarnate of a calm and pleasant area - or of Calmness or Pleasantness themselves. For game purposes, all applications MUST fully explain why the character is suited to a particular power, and also why attributes that are in conflict with this power are unimportant or situation-specific. Characters are also expected to continue acting in line with their aegis while in-game; if a player feels their or another character's personality is changing or has changed to become unsuited to their Incarnation, this can be discussed with the mod so a solution may be found. The character may, for example, lose their Incarnate powers, or become a different Incarnate.
There can only be one Incarnate of a specific aegis at a time. If a player wants to re-app their character, and another character has become that Incarnate, please discuss it with the mod.
Characters cannot change their aegis unless their personality develops in such a way that their aegis no longer fits them, or unless they go through a canon-update that also changes their personality in such a way. At that point, they may either lose all Incarnate powers or change their aegis to something more suitable (this will require the aegis justification of the app to be re-written and accepted).
(If you have any questions regarding Incarnate perception/what class an Incarnate should come under, feel free to ask here.)
There are currently two good things for the average person regarding Incarnates; firstly, the thing they personify is grounded into reality, making it more powerful, better controlled and just generally... better. If there's an Incarnate for a certain type of food, that foodstuff will grow easier and taste better, for example. Second, for everything that is grounded into reality, that means less for the Incarnate of Existence to focus on keeping real, meaning more effort can be devoted to helping humanity.
For the Incarnates themselves, there are several benefits to their status; the first and most obvious is immortality (of a sort). Incarnate grow to a reasonable age, at which point they stop aging. This is necessary because there aren't many people born in a whole world who perfectly personify something, let alone in a population of under fifty million - the only Incarnate who stop aging earlier are Incarnate of child-related concepts. They also have improved healing and regenerative abilities, but this doesn't mean that Incarnate can't be killed - they can fall prey to a stab wound or a broken neck from tripping down the stairs, just like anyone. If they're killed too quickly to heal, they're simply dead.
Incarnate also gain a certain amount of power over their aegis; an Incarnate of a certain emotion will be able to sense when someone is feeling it, or even create or intensify that feeling in a person. An Incarnate of a certain location will have a constant awareness of who enters it and what they're doing there.
As Incarnate are so important to reality and the continued existence of humanity, the people of Vita are also generally happy to keep Incarnate in as much health and comfort as possible - as long as the Incarnate don't start going power-hungry. Incarnate are housed in a high-class, high-security building unless they wish to live elsewhere, and are given a fairly generous stipend. While most people aren't inclined to socialize with Incarnate, and some are wary, the average citizen tries not to upset the Incarnate; you might be making an enemy of the guy who can control your local electricity or water supply.
Incarnate can get away with very minor crimes without much trouble, as law enforcement turns a blind eye, but more serious crimes will be dealt with. Just because the Incarnate are relied upon for now doesn't mean they won't be turned on if people consider them a threat.
The general public perception of Incarnate is positive, thanks to a carefully-controlled media image, and some Incarnate even have groupies. There are others, however, who regard Incarnate with suspicion or fear. Because of this, the Incarnate are sometimes asked by Vita or the city Council to assist with the city, in order to present themselves better in the public eye. Which this is technically a 'request', Vita remembers who accepted and who refused.
The Incarnate are divided by Vita and the city's Council into four classes. The higher-ranking classes generally get more respect (or fear), but all are officially on equal footing on paper, such as in housing assignments and stipends. Unofficially, the rules of the city are somewhat more lax for those whose powers are more useful to the city's running (or just more impressive). The classes are:
» class Omega ⋆ [Ω]
☛ Incarnate of a broad, expansive and important concept, such as existence, life or souls.
» class Alpha ⋆ [α]
☛ Incarnate of an important and powerful concept such as water, food, writing, trees.
» class Beta ⋆ [β]
☛ Incarnate of a reasonably important or useful concept or a sub-section of an Alpha concept, such as gold, lakes, meat, flowers.
» class Gamma ⋆ [γ]
☛ Incarnate of a not particularly important or useful concept or a sub-section of a Beta concept, such as jewellery, a particular lake or building, a certain type of flower or color.
The ranks are very general and broad, due to being assigned by the Council, and there is some variation within the spectrum.
Incarnates are born (or come into the world) at full power. They may require some training to use the power under their aegis perfectly, but the contrl comes quickly and instinctively. Incarnates know instinctively what they have power over and exactly what can be done with it (even if they can't believe it). An Incarnate's ability only gets stronger in the sense that with better training and improved self-confidence in their ability, they can better use the power (alternatively, if their aegis 'increases'; eg, if more factories are built, then an Incarnate of Pollution will have more things in the city to control, or if more land is designated to a certain park, the Incarnate of that park will represent more land).
They do not need to exert any effort to keep their aegis in existence - merely staying alive is enough to ground the thing they personify into reality, all throughout the game's universe. That said, that does NOT mean they can actively control their aegis from overly-long distances; for example, the Water Incarnate could call all the water within the city to him or her (likely with some strain and concentration), but couldn't call water from far across the ocean. They could, however, dip a hand into the sea and, by concentrating hard, cast their 'awareness' across many miles to search out a particular boat, for example. An Incarnate of a smaller concept, such as Smiles may only be able to have a direct affect on a range of 'everyone in this large room' or 'anyone who passes under this archway for the next week'. Use common sense for range vs. strength of affect.
In a heightened state of emotion, such as combat or anger, the Incarnate's powers may be easier to access instinctively, requiring less concentration or effort. This isn't due to becoming more powerful, but more in the way a shot of adrenaline in stressful situations can boost ability for a short duration.
If an Incarnation has other Incarnates 'under' them - for example, there might be the Water Incarnate as well as Incarnates of Streams and a particular pond - the greater Incarnate has no technical 'authority' over them. Despite this, they still have general control over the lesser Incarnates' domains. As the lesser Incarnate is the one 'directly' in charge of the aegis in question, they have more technical control over it, but less power.
For example, the Incarnate of Water and the Incarnate of Streams each want to control the water in a particular stream. In a straight-out battle of power and will, the Water Incarnate will come out the winner after some strain. If the Water Incarnate is distracted, or less inclined to control the stream-water, the Stream Incarnate will be able to assert control until the Water Incarnate is less distracted or puts more effort into it.
The Stream Incarnate may also be able to take control if they become angry or scared enough that they throw off the Water Incarnate's power instinctively. A weaker Incarnate, such as the Incarnate of a certain pond, would have similar trouble - although they're technically weaker (being only the Incarnate of a small area), their power is more focused on that area and thus better-suited to controlling it.
Alternatively, the Water Incarnate may just send the groundwater up from the earth to smack a bitch.
Personality-wise, the Incarnate are representations of their aegis. A calm, pleasant person may be the Incarnate of a calm and pleasant area - or of Calmness or Pleasantness themselves. For game purposes, all applications MUST fully explain why the character is suited to a particular power, and also why attributes that are in conflict with this power are unimportant or situation-specific. Characters are also expected to continue acting in line with their aegis while in-game; if a player feels their or another character's personality is changing or has changed to become unsuited to their Incarnation, this can be discussed with the mod so a solution may be found. The character may, for example, lose their Incarnate powers, or become a different Incarnate.
There can only be one Incarnate of a specific aegis at a time. If a player wants to re-app their character, and another character has become that Incarnate, please discuss it with the mod.
Characters cannot change their aegis unless their personality develops in such a way that their aegis no longer fits them, or unless they go through a canon-update that also changes their personality in such a way. At that point, they may either lose all Incarnate powers or change their aegis to something more suitable (this will require the aegis justification of the app to be re-written and accepted).