EVOLUTION
Yet again I find myself investigating on the diverse power systems of the Existence. And they say the Records are an easy thing to maintain.
Anyways, the subject of today’s lecture is the vital arts. These multiple power systems of Khaffat (or at least that’s how the ydazi call the land, no name is never more correct than any other talking about planets) are quite interesting. There are multiple ‘vital arts’, as they call them, but let me begin with perhaps the simplest one: Evolution.
Evolution itself is a very peculiar power system as not only does it not follow a set of rules characteristic of power systems but is also end-negative.
And you may ask, what does a power system being end negative entail?
Simple, the flow of power.
Most power systems tend to be either end-positive as they outsource their power (examples of these are superior entities, normally Incarnations, or the land providing for them) or end-neutral where power remains constant (it is not created nor destroyed, just transformed; these systems tend to utilize the power of the very conjurer).
Now, you have seen how Evolution works and you ask yourself: how is this power system end negative then? Or permutations like: How is power being consumed? What’s the definition of end negative? Or, can you stop with your prediction and move forward?
To that, I answer: yes.
End negative, in a very summarized manner, is when power is lost. Slight detour, power is a generalization of any form of energy as all power systems use one, though in this case, the vital arts use vitality. Back to my explanation, Evolution is end-negative because power is lost in the process of evolving, the main function of the power system.
When a practitioner infuses (i.e. lends their power to other entities) a non-developed living being with their vitality with the intention of evolving them, that vitality is forever lost. The vitality that evolves the living being isn’t now within the being; it has been consumed to transform it. And that exchange may not be equivalent. More likely than not, there will have been a loss of energy.
This, however, isn’t very problematic.
Vitality is a regenerating and therefore infinite source of power, so in the end, Evolution being an end negative power system doesn’t truly affect anything permanently. The only problem being that the power comes from the user, and vital arts themselves are on the low spectrum of power output, so even relatively minor power consumption may be atrociously draining.
One can’t deny, though, that there’s a loss on the practitioner’s vitality deposit. The loss in max quantity is rather small, mostly unperceivable, but there’s a decrease in their potential each time they evolve a being.
Explaining that logic is a whole rabbit hole I won’t go any deeper, at least, today. The concept of potential and energy involves more aspects than just Life.
However, Evolution is a taxing process that drives the individual forward, expanding their pool of power beyond their limits each time they try. In the end, unless you are performing very cheap evolutions that aren’t challenging you, there will be a net gain on your total vitality at your disposal.
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I digress, talking about vital arts and power systems - finality of power and especially end-negativity excite me - so let’s get back to Evolution.
Let’s start with the actual definition.
Evolution could simply be described as the act of modifying an undeveloped living being. This, for all intents and purposes, is not strict evolution but transformation. Plenty of outcomes do lead to the actual evolution of the living being, bypassing years or even ages of evolution in a single step, but just as many other outcomes simply lead to a metamorphosis.
Metamorphosis isn’t the exact term, however. Species can transform into new ones after subjecting them to Evolution, but they will transform into new or unrelated species. This means that there’s not a metamorphosis from an embryonic stage to an adult one, but from the embryonic stage of the species to the embryonic stage of a different species.
Evolution is, quite literally, the bane of any upstanding biologist.
As you may have guessed, Evolution isn’t the most correct term – though it does hold water – the process occurring here is similar to a mutation that can indeed lead to actual evolution. Though the chaotic results, ranging from straight evolution to random species substitution, are very much intended, mind you.
And talking about mutation. Yes, you may have noticed the similarities between Evolution and Mutation.
Evolution is, in a manner of speaking, Mutation’s power system.
The similarities of Mutation’s abilities and Evolution’s workings are uncanny, but there’s a bit more nuance.
Khaffat and its vital arts are a curious case, as there are multiple and rather unrelated power systems, the only connection being Life. This is not exactly the first time I have seen such a case, but it’s not common at all. It could be considered a remnant of an early Primordial-less Existence. Or you could say that the power systems of Khaffat are a mutation of themselves. If Mutation had something to do with it, I'm not willing to say.
I’ll get into greater detail when we talk about the other vital arts.
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COINAGE
Ydazi coinage may seem convoluted to most, but one must think about the Asayn language before asking oneself about the bartering coin used in the Sultanate.
Asayn language is mostly composed of the use of suffixes and compounds. Compound words alongside the use of modifiers at the end of words influence the tone and value of any given word.
This is mostly seen in their use of coins.
The Ydaz Sultanate has two base coins: the drupnar and the fajat. Both of them are made of copper and have the respective values of one (drupnar) and five drupnar. Subsequent denomination of coins are but permutations of those base coins with the usage of multiplicative suffixes that increase by orders of magnitude.
There are four levels of coinage:
Copper (or base level), consisting of the aforementioned drupnar and fajat.
Silver, consisting og the drupnari and fajati. The ‘i’ acts as the suffix indicating silver (even if the word for the metal in Asayn is longer) and, indicates a tenfold increase in value. This means that a drupnari is worth ten drupnar, and a fajati is worth ten fajat (or fifty drupnar). The next levels follow the same logic.
Electrum, comprised of the drupnarun and the fajatun. The ‘un’ acts as the suffix meaningelectrum (though in the case of the drupnarun it could be considered a compound word as the term for electrum in Asayn is ‘arun’) and, indicates a multiplicative value of a hundred. This means that a drupnarun is worth ten drupnari or a hundred drupnar. The same logic applies to the fajatun.
Gold, comprising the drupnarea and the fajatea is the last tier of coins. The ‘ea’ acts as the suffix meaning gold (which lands the drupnarea in the same category as the drupnarun as ‘area’ is the word for gold in Asayn) and, has a multiplicative value of a thousand. Gold coins are rarely used in typical exchanges due to their impractical value, as a drupnarea is equivalent to a thousand drupnars and a fajatea to a thousand fajats, or even more ridiculous, five thousand drupnars.
This is why, even though it may seem complex to foreigners, to us ydazi it’s quite simple to grasp. Eight different coins based on just two, with suffixes that clearly delineate the value of a word. Suffixes we use in our daily life.
As a curiosity, if I may add, the same multiplicators are being used by the scholars of the country to calculate massive units. It’s not uncommon for architects and engineers to use ‘kiloreas’ or ‘golden kilograms’ to measure the weights of buildings, even if there may be more adequate prefixes or suffixes.
Excerpt of On Language, Economy, and Mathematics by Nuha Chaibi.