User blog:TheVoidWalker69/SoM - Potency



"Potency. It is the sister of magic and the mother of the universe. It lives within every entity imaginable and conceivable—from the smallest insects to the largest of beasts."

- Central Intelligence of Earth

Introduction
Greetings. I hope you're all having a good day or night as you read this blog of mine. A few years back, I was invited into a private group known as The Square Table. They were a team of writers and role-players who had constructed various worlds and settings in order for their stories and characters to come to life. One such world was the intriguing Sins of Man setting—often times abbreviated as SoM for simplicity's sake. Today—with the permission and overall help from the moderators of said group—I have taken it upon myself to document and release the first of many blogs which shall go into great detail on the rich and deep lore of the setting—with hopes that I may use them as reference when I get the verse page and character profiles rolling out. Of course, for the time being, we'll be starting with the simplistic concepts of the setting. Let's save all that metaphysical stuff for the later cosmology blogs. This will not only make things easier on my end for the time being—but it will give you all the chance to gain a basic understanding of this verse. With all of that out of the way, let us begin.

Nature of Potency
So, what exactly is Potency? Well, essentially, Potency is a fundamental force and extraterrestrial energy which exists within each and every physical lifeform throughout the known multiverse—empowering and energizing said lifeforms as it works in union with the soul in order to give these lifeforms their personalities. A sentient and symbiotic force which acts as the spinning wheel for physical life itself—alongside the spirit and the mind—it is essentially what makes up the physical matter of any entity with such a nature. For actual evidence of this being a thing within the verse—let's allow an in-source statement to clarify everything I just said.

"You ask what Potency is as though it has a single purpose or definition. What if I told you—that on the larger scale of all things—it is impossible to strike the needle into it's heart? I'm speaking figuratively, of course. What I'm saying is this. It is not only a fundamental force which allows certain things to happen in this universe. It is an extraterrestrial force which allows other things to happen in the surrounding universes as well. Due to the nature of possibility and probability—we can't say for certain how it works on that scale. 'However, I can provide you a solid statement as to how it works here. Here being our universe, of course. You see, it is essentially what allows physical life to exist. It quite literally makes us what we are. It drives evolution and it holds the concept of life together. But it gets more complex than that. By working in unison with our souls in equilibrium—it allows us to express emotion. It makes us who we are. What would you be without Potency? The answer is simple. You'd be nothing'."

In the statement above, the Central Intelligence of Earth—one of the most knowledgeable characters in the entirety of the verse—explains that Potency works very differently in certain universes due to just how different said universes can be. He then goes on to explain how it applies here, just as I did—and with some common sense, we can imply that's how it would work for any universes comparable enough to our own. Guiding evolution, composing our bodies, and ensuring that we can express ourselves in our own ways. Simple enough, but the next part gets rather intriguing. We'll be delving into the evidence for it being a sentient and symbiotic force now.

"Can you actually expect me to think that something which grants us the ability to express ourselves is not it's own identity? Fools. The bunch of you. Calling it a simple form of energy renders you a laughing stock in my eyes. It is like a mirror... ah, how should I put this? Think of it like this. How you express yourself and how others contrast upon that is a reflection of it's own conflictive identity. It is a sentient force. It works symbiotically with us to ensure it remains existent. Just as we have no meaning without it—it has no meaning without us."

Before all of this is brushed off as minor statements, it is important to note that the Central Intelligence of Earth possesses cosmic knowledge due to being connected with a much higher force. This does however breach the metaphysical subjects which I will go into detail later on. For your own benefit—and for the benefit of not derailing this blog—I will not be going over that quite yet. Just be rest assured that these statements are very much factual in nature. Now then, Potency does have a second nature to it. It is not only a conceptual force which guides and composes material life—but it is also the very energy which is emitted when intense power is released by pretty much any lifeform that is bound to the lower level multiverse and does not function through magical, astral, technological, or cosmic natures.

"I actually am capable of gaining information on your... let's call them power levels, just for kicks. Your power levels are a direct result of your Potency becoming so intense that it leaks from your body. While harmless by it's nature, incapable of causing massive damage, it still yields energy... so I can accurately read these energy levels to determine your power level. Neat, is it not? Of course... Ghost and Dracula are two entirely different matters. The energy they are releasing is technological and cosmic respectively. My ability to read Potency is rendered irrelevant."

The statement above also explains why such intense levels of power usually result in massive shockwaves or auras—as opposed to humongous craters being formed from the massive energy levels being released. Being harmless by it's nature, one is capable of releasing the full extents of their power without causing harm to the environment around them. It should also be noted that, while Central Intelligence only mentions technological and cosmic energies, common sense alone implies that other energy types which are likewise independent would also follow this logic.

As already noted however; Potency is—by it's very nature—a harmless substance on it's own, and it is the actual reason why energy leaks don't cause environmental collapse right away. As such, it's important to understand how Potency is then utilized for damage in the form of energy attacks and energy manipulation—despite being harmless by nature. Harmful energies—the common form of Potency which can cause massive damage upon the slightest manners of contact—are not Potency in it's raw state. Rather, this is known as Stress. Stress is the result of taking one's own Potency and composing it into a more tangible state. By doing this, one renders the harmless and self-governing natures of Potency discarded entirely. Stress can also be released when an energy leakage is resulted from a violent scenario—although this doesn't happen all too often. Last but not least, the shock waves yielded by powerful attacks are a less tangible form of Stress—one still capable of causing damage on a massive level.

"No, don't mistake their attacks as Potency on it's own. You see, my good friends, whenever you release your Potency in the form of massive attacks—you are, in all reality, simply releasing Stress. All those flashy lights and shockwaves aren't Potency acting on it's own accord. Those effects are your direct involvement with the force."

Besides Potency however, there does exist a far less common form of Stress known as Impurity. Impurity is by it's nature an unstoppable attack for most life forms—damaging entities on the spiritual levels. This allows the destruction of one's soul, and even the destruction of spiritual life forms, such as ghosts and angels. Impurity can also be used to bypass various levels of immortality and regeneration. Essentially, it's a mixture of multiple abilities boiled into one. This next quote comes directly from Dracula, a master in the arts of Impurity.

"Fools. All of you are fools within my personal game. If I wanted to, I could easily rupture your spirits. I have long learned the secrets to tapping into the darker aspects of Potency. It's nature as a chaotic and conflictive force allows me to utilize Impurity. Prepare yourselves now. You won't receive the blessing of Heaven today."

Now that we've covered the nature and fundamentals of Potency, along with it's two additional forms, we may move on to the colors of Potency—represented by the color of one's auras and energy attacks—which reflect the nine alignments. Do note that this is unrelated to mana color, which we will get to at a later point.

Colors of Potency
There exists nine colors of Potency; which—as already stated prior—each roughly correspond to one of the nine alignments. Do note that those who function off of separate energy types entirely would not display these colors at all whatsoever—even if they possess an alignment that would warrant so otherwise.

Purple (Lawful Good): Purple is defined as the color of royalty and righteousness. Those who bear this color hold unrivaled respect for whatever laws and guidelines they bear witness towards—viewing these systems as the only thing which upholds order and virtue at the most fundamental of levels. Additionally, anyone who falls under this category will always do the good or morally correct thing. They are paragons of virtue with very little flaws to disrupt them from this path—considered compassionate, selfless, and the representation of what we usually consider a hero.

Aqua (Neutral Good): Aqua is the color of individual spirit and righteousness. Those who bear this color view law as a system which upholds good in the same manner as those with purple Potency. However, unlike those with purple Potency, individuals who house aqua Potency recognize this system as something which is flawed by nature. They consider laws to be useful in regulating society—but they will still walk away from established guidelines if they view these guidelines as counterproductive towards making the world a better place. In conclusion; they do share similar internal traits with those of purple Potency—they simply view the system in a different light.

Cyan (Chaotic Good): Cyan is the color of chaos and righteousness. Those who bear this color deny the following of all laws so that they may make the world lawful and good based upon their own perspectives. They typically share most of the same qualities as those with aqua and purple Potency; save the fact that they usually fail to give much care towards the opinions of others—especially if those opinions involve systematic guidelines.

Gold (Lawful Neutral): Gold is the color of royalty and individual spirit. Those who bear this color follow their own moral guidelines and personal sets of values—the involvement of law becoming an irrelevant factor entirely. Despite this personal sense of thinking—their individual values are those of a righteous nature. They are as such generally considered to be people with a good sense of honor and virtue when it comes to their actions.

Yellow (True Neutral): Honey is the color of individual spirit and nothing more. Those who bear this color are free spirits by their very nature, caring little for law versus chaos and good versus evil. They do not hold any strict set of morals to their name—doing as they please with little regard to what consequences their actions may have. They are by far the most difficult individuals to describe—due to being the most versatile in personality.

Blonde (Chaotic Neutral): Blonde is the color of chaos and individual spirit. Those who bear this color value freedom above all else—but they only care for the freedom of themselves; as opposed to the freedom of all people. As such, they deny the laws and traditions of anything and everything simply because they have the ability to do so. They do as they please, while remaining distinct from those with yellow Potency. It should also be noted that most are unpredictable by their nature; with this being a very commonly shared trait among these people.

Orange (Lawful Evil): Orange is the color of royalty and corruption. Those who bear this color still follow the laws and guidelines of a system—much like those in the righteous set may. However, what draws the line between them is that they follow such laws without care for upholding good values. They only follow the laws that bind them because it serves to suit their purposes and desires.

Pink (Neutral Evil): Pink is the color of individual spirit and corruption. Those who bear this color act and strive through their nature of selfishness. Many variations of people may fall into this category; but they all house one distinct characteristic. They are driven to perform wrongful actions through their ambition and nothing more. Whether they follow laws or not is rendered an irrelevant factor; so long as it suits their purposes.

Black (Chaotic Evil): Black is the color of chaos and corruption. Those who bear this color are agents of monstrous action. They value evil as a means of life—dedicating their purposes towards the creation of chaos and evil. While those of orange Potency are honorable, and while one could theoretically bargain with an individual of pink Potency—those who house black Potency in their hearts are the true definition of evil.