OOC - Key/Megatheorem Analysis

[we_bring_hell]

This is kind of like one of those logic grid puzzles; we know:

-the number of keys owned by each person
-ownership of 5 of 8 colors of key
-the nature of 3 of 8 trials
-the description of 8 of 8 steps for the megatheorem
-the interior of 3 of 8 Lyctoral studies

Extra-canonical information also gives us for each House:
-associated colors
-specialty magics

Tracking keys:
-The key Abigail Pent won was the key to a tastefully decorated room where Ianthe learned to FIX the soul.
--Inferentially, this was probably the GREEN key for the SEVENTH study.
-Silas has a black (Ninth) key and takes the grey (Sixth) and white (Eighth) keys off Dulcinea
-Harrow wins a red (Second) key and gives the white key to Dulcinea
-Therefore Palamedes has the gold (Third) key and two others, unspecified
--Inferentially, these were the navy Fourth and brown Fifth keys.

Ianthe articulates the steps of the Lyctoral process; we can try to tie Houses to Steps:
-PRESERVE the soul (Fifth; aligns with their specialty/nature)
-ANALYZE the soul (Second; based on their trial*)
-ABSORB the soul (Sixth; based on the evidence in their Lyctoral study**)
-FIX the soul (Seventh; by inference above + aligns with their specialty/nature)
-INCORPORATE the soul (Fourth; a euphemism for turning the soul into a power source?)
-CONSUME the flesh (Third; aligns with their specialty/nature)
-RECONSTRUCT the flesh (Ninth; aligns with their specialty/nature)
-EMPOWER the flesh (Eighth; Ianthe infers as much)

*the merging of cav/adept perceptions
**the merging of souls to create the constructs/Teacher

Now obviously, ANALYZE seems more closely aligned with the Sixth House in nature, but not with the findings in their Lyctoral study. And if the Sixth contribution doesn't fit with their expected personality, a lot of the other inferences are weak. But the Eight and Seventh are pretty on-the-nose. So.... maybe.

One thing I think is interesting is that each Lyctoral test provides more than one theorem... for instance, solving the Sixth puzzle involves psychometry, their specialty, but points the adept to study the constructs more closely, providing the ABSORB theorem. Similarly, the Second trial uses the ANALYZE theorem to link perceptions, but requires the perpetual bone that seems more aligned with the Ninth.

Comments

[lightamidchaos]

Obviously I have to reread again soon, but in the meantime - is there a physical AND a mental aspect to each Lyctoral test? And if so are the parallels to each of the houses' traditions maintained between them? Looking at the Sixth and Second/Ninth pattern in particular here.

[we_bring_hell]

Gooood question. We only see three tests, but all of them require the adept and necromancer both (except, nominally, the Sixth, but Palamedes credits Camilla for solving it).

-The Second test requires the adept to jack in to the cavalier's brain (mental), and the cav to defeat the bone creature, using information conveyed by the adept (mental/physical).
-The Eight test requires the adept to cross the avulsion field and solve a physical puzzle, while the cav supplies power and survives. Mental/physical trial for both of them and extremely dangerous
-The Sixth test requires the adept to analyze the tooth (mental) and SOMEONE to find the construct with a missing tooth (physical and mental). This seems like the least physically perilous test.

INTERESTING FACT from Htn: Cassiopeia the Sixth was apparently an expert in shifting between meatspace and the River, such that Augustine deprecates himself in comparison. Does that connect to being good at merging souls? ie, the trial is designed by the Lyctor and reflects their interests as well as their House's?

The Sixth are nerds, but Cassiopeia was a nerd about souls, specifically. So a test that reveals her expertise about souls, via psychometry.

(Mercymorn is hateful, and her trial is the most deadly for adept and cav both.)

[blue_ajah]

For lack of anywhere else to drop this, here's an IC discussion of thanergy vs resentful energy, from this thread:

---

"To the best of my understanding, then," says the Aes Sedai, sitting composed and calm across the table from them, "thanergy is the energy of death that comes from the natural ending to all things. The Wheel of Time turns. It is a natural cycle, where each part has its necessary place, which begins at birth, continues through life into death, and then into eventual rebirth. As life passes into death, the energy of that change is what can be harnessed as thanergy."

She draws a circle and divides it with seven spokes as she explains this.

"Resentful energy, in contrast, is formed from less natural, unbalanced causes. Pain and rage from torture or injustice; the depths of human misery taken to extremes of suffering - things that can be created with evil intent. It arises from the evil of humanity given essence and form, as far as I can tell."

As she discusses this, her serene tone does not change or waver.

"In the world where I was born, this sort of evil is known to have been inspired by the Dark One, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. That is what the Shadow is, in essence - the darkness on a human soul that comes from evil born of pain; from corruption and malice and vicious, intentional cruelty. Those who turn to it may find themselves quick to anger, more open to actions they once would never have dreamed themselves capable of taking, more inclined to engage in evil for its own sake. That last is where they may be lost, but not everyone succumbs. There is a saying, that no man can walk so long in the Shadow that he cannot come again to the Light."

A single beat of silence falls between them.

"I do not say that you are evil, Wei Wuxian. But you asked why I saw this mark, and this is what I believe to be the reason: the nature of the power that you can wield."