Hebrin Maul's Theory of Planar Connectivity

Hebrin Maul's Theory of Planar Connectivity and How It Relates to the "Soul"

Through a series of discussions and observations, I have come across several ideas which conflict with the current theory of determinism, the most salient of these being the supposition of the Plane of Time. I have never visited this plane, nor am I guaranteed that such a plane exists, but I do have evidence and observations which, when taken with a decent amount of logic, points to the conclusion that Time is an element, just as Fire and Water are elements.

The first segment of this theory is an explanatory view of the "soul". We know, from common lore and observation, that our souls are connected to our bodies by "silver threads" which, when severed, cause the death of the body. The soul, for lack of a better term, resides on the Astral Plane, and follows the body around throughout the course of one's life. We also know by the same means that individuals are composed of various elements in varying degrees: fire, for emotion, passion, what have you, water for blood and other various fluids, earth for the physical form itself, and air for the breath of life. As all of these things are in essence part of our essence, it would make sense that we draw these elements through an interconnection. Similarly, we pull our sense of time, our age, our understanding of the passage of events, from a Plane of Time. It would also follow that there was, indeed, a Plane of Magic, the conduit for which is the Vortex of Mortal Magic. All of these planes we are interconnected with. The foundation for my theory is that this interconnectivity is not a multitude of threads going from us to each individual plane, but a single thread that passes through all of the planes simultaneously.

Therefore, as we get to the Plane of Time, our threads take on a new meaning. The best imagery I have been able to come up with is a river, which pulls your string out of place with its flow. Each individual has his or her own thread, and it gets pulled a certain distance. This is a person's "life time" as it were. If, for some reason, a thread is cut short, the person's life ends sooner than originally determined by their species, overall health, and other outlying factors. These "truncations" are generally the result of threads intertwining and breaking each other, for instance a war would cause many threads to break each other, the flotsam being swept away in the flow of time. We have evidence, although secondary, of this by the "youthing" of several individuals over the course of history. As such, a catastrophe of immense proportions could be seen as a boulder or blade falling into the time flow, severing many threads that are flowing together through time.

Another segment of this theory is the nature of divinity. The gods, for the most part, started as mortals that were then "ascended" to the heights of divinity. Their threads are very long and very thick, there only being a few weapons in existence with the ability to sever them. This is not due to their "power", but to the strength lent to them by their followers. A segment of each thread gives up a minor portion of itself, a strand of the overall thread, to their belief in the divine. The gods, through the power of their ascension, then add this strand to their thread, making them ropes of enormous thickness. The Nine, in particular, have many more followers than the Lesser gods, and therefore they are vastly more powerful. In a very real sense, one of the Nine can and has in the past ended the existence of many people with nothing more than a thought. This theory can be supported by the death of O'Ma, during which many of the followers felt deathly ill and some of the clergy died in the aftermath according to texts found in the Library of Kuras. By the same token, this interconnection with divine individuals also explains Divine Magic. It has been noted by many that priests do not get their power from the Vortex, but from the gods themselves. This would stand to reason, as a god's thread is vastly thicker and not of the Prime Material Plane it probably touches the Plane of Magic of its own accord, and the clergy of their faith draw their power directly from the divine being itself.

I know that this will seem blasphemous to some, but the followers of Vorin have always sought truth, and that is the purpose of this. The gods themselves have not seen fit to lay this all out for us, so we must add experience to speculation and move forward. This flies in the face of pre-determinism, though. The idea that all life goes through a series of set events removes the possibility of individuals, whether alone or in groups, changing those events. Having witnessed several times the ability of the individual to overcome insurmountable odds gives me the belief that we determine our own fate. A Fatespinner has the ability to redirect fate itself*, generally to their own personal wellbeing. They can alter the course of events in small ways to avoid the less favorable outcome. To hold that all events are determined from the beginning of time is to deny something that many experience on a daily basis. Fatespinners are also capable of looking forward in time to assist themselves in achieving a goal. This is much like Scrying, only it achieved by looking at the Prime Material Plane through the river of time, like looking at a fish swimming in a stream. The image is recognizable, if slightly distorted in distance and size.

As a final note, I will say that the gods are not the only ones who can accumulate strands of other people's threads. Nobility gathers strands from their small folk, parents gather strands from their children, and generals gather strands from their subordinates. This gathering of strands lends that individual strength beyond that of normal individuals. For instance, the words a king speaks are law, the words a parent speaks are wisdom, and the words a general speaks are orders. This lending of strength allows these individuals to alter the course of events for those they borrow strength from.

Hebrin Maul

* the ability to redirect fate itself - Note that the academical understanding of Fatespinning may differ. -Sage Miriel Hana, ATU