Primordial Truenames

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A truename is the identity of a soul in a long, often incoherent list of syllables. The **Primordial truenames** are common knowledge in the world of Aurora in present day, and they are used in the creation of spells and cantrips to invoke an element on a much higher and more complex level than was possible previously.

## Discovery

In the past, magic was simple: you bent the physical matter of the element to your will. It was elemental manipulation on its most basic level, and that was all elemental magic could do.

Several centuries ago, a group of mages resolved to discover the truenames of each primordial. They would then be able to use those truenames like you would use a mortal truename, unlocking a hidden part of each element. Each mage, rather than simply manipulating the element, *listened* to the elements. Remnants of the name had to remain somewhere in their souls. One by one, over several years, they uncovered the truenames of each Primordial, but the first invocation of each truename had odd consequences and gave the mages that discovered them incredible power and a unique connection to the Primordials they invoked. After the truenames were invoked for the first time, these effects seemed to have vanished from the process, although the way that magic worked had been fundamentally altered.

## Water

Water subdivided herself into three aspects - liquid water, ice, and water vapor - and her truename reflects that, having three distinct parts. Thus, three water mages worked together, each uncovering a different part of her truename. During this uncovering, two of the mages began to quarrel, which escalated into a devastating conflict. The third mage desperately worked to complete the invocation, and used it to save their now-crumbling city. Water's higher property is to phase change, since Water is so versatile while still being the same (think of an iceberg versus a hot geyser). The water mage used this property to transform the residents of their city in one way: they could now breathe water as well as air. She transformed the people into the Sekrai, allowing them to survive as their city fell into the sea.

## Lightning

The same mage discovered the truenames of both Wind and Lightning. Lightning, similar to Water, has a binary truename that reflects his division into two parts that attract each other. The mage used the extreme power granted to her to raise the mountain range she lived on into the sky, where it remains to this day as the Archipelago Nimbus. The islands are kept aloft by a weather system that is constantly churning, a feat of magic that has so far not been replicated on such a permanent scale. The truename invocation also revealed Lightning's higher property of connection and repulsion.

##### Possible Effects

* Metal-caste Stormbreakers most likely use a higher property of lightning.

## Wind

*See above.* The higher property of wind that was revealed was communication, reflecting Wind's ability to travel long distances.

## Fire

The story of the Ignan mage who discovered Fire's truename has largely been a mystery, but travelers through the desert noticed that their population was almost half of what it used to be, and that a number of volcanic fissured had opened. This unlocked fire's higher property of transmutation, which reflects the ability of fire to change, purify, and strengthen (like boiling water to purify it, or burning wood into ash, which is just another form of the wood).

##### Possible Effects

* The first recorded incidents of Demons only happened after the truename invocation.

## Stone

The mage who discovered Stone's truename descended into the Singing Caves to listen where Stone was purest. He never came out again, but weeks later, small earthquakes were felt around the globe and a resonant hum emanated from every cave entrance on the surface, giving the caves their name. Scholars theorize that when Stone's truename was invoked, his heart beat once. There are rumors that the mage became fully turned to stone, becoming part of the caves.

## Life

No one knew what happened to the life mage for centuries, as she secluded herself to her studies and was never seen again. It has recently been discovered by Kendal that the life mage is the Collector, who has gained a form of immortality from invoking Life's truename and has been alive for centuries experimenting on souls.

##### Possible Effects

* Scholars have noted that the first case of the chimeric plague happened only a few decades after the Collector vanished.

## Uses

The primary use of Primordial truenames is in the crafting of spells and cantrips. Each truename is extremely long, although the Great Runes of each Primordial are a written representation of their truename. Each truename is akin to its own coding language, and snippets of each are used in directing the Primordial's body in a specific way. Anything an element can or could do is stored in the truename, so carefully crafted invocations can direct the Primordial to do much more specific things than basic elemental manipulation.

## References

1. ↑ *"A mortal‘s truename is basically a long string of near-nonsense syllables that's effectively their soul DNA"*: message in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 "*Primordials DO have truenames..."* to "*Or you can always do simpler magic, where you move the element around physically.*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
3. ↑ You said that the Primordial truenames were common knowledge, but also that the mages who discovered... (tumblr.com)
4. ↑ "*lightning has two components of their truename*": message in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
5. ↑ "*The archipelago nimbus was raised into the air by a mage..."* to "*nobody has been able to replicate this to raise any other permanently floating islands.*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Did Crucibles and Stormbreakers appear before or after the true names for fire and lightning where discovered. (tumblr.com)
7. ↑ Hey so a bunch of asks back you mentioned something about higher principles of stone and... (tumblr.com)
8. ↑ Page 1.11.11 (comicaurora.com)