Animus

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An Anima or Animus is a type of being defined by a task. Physical and embodied, they are considered somewhere between spirits and Incarnations. They are so defined by their purpose as to arguably be incapable of good nor evil.<ref name=":0">“The Carmine Beast predated us,” the Aurum said. “But not the Alabaster Doe.”
“She was an Animus, a walking intent,” the Alabaster said. “Much as your Dog of War is one.”
“I- I’m not familiar with that.”
“Forces between spirit and incarnation that exist for purpose. Often

malign, but not always.  Physical.  They are defined by the task they

accomplish. The Swordbearer animus exists to find the noble and heroic,

equip them, and send them on their path.  The Dog of War exists to

perpetuate the senselessness of war. Muses inspire art.”
“What did she do?”
“Before she was the Carmine Beast, she reminded civilized men who had

come here why their ancestors were so afraid of the deep night,” the

Alabaster said. “Henhouses emptied, livestock slaughtered. Howling that shook hearts, and fangs that took the lives of people who were in the midst of discovering just how dark a forest can be without the torches, candles and lamps of a nearby city.”
“Was she evil? I know we asked, but- before?”
“She wasn’t good or evil so much as she simply was. Just as she was the Carmine Beast. The role precedes all.”
- excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.1 </ref> By carrying out their task, they are sustained (i.e. no need for food) and empowered to continue carrying it out.<ref name=":1">“…animus that we know doesn’t need to eat either,” Avery was saying.

“The gunman?”

“No comment.”

“Pretty usual. Nina gets her sustenance by reading. She gets resources for pursuing her aim that way too. Money to buy train fare to

get to the next big city, to visit the various bookstores and yard

sales there.”

“I’ve not had much luck at the yard sales,” Nina said. “Some graphic

novels.  But that’s the province of another sort of Animus.  A snack

and curiosity for me, nothing of particular interest.”

- excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.5 </ref>

They are believed to form from spirits congealing into something solid, using a "path" that has been "worn down" by humans performing a task as a mold. They appear without a concrete background or identity, in contexts where people are disinclined to look too closely into their history.<ref name=":2">“How does someone become an Animus?” Verona asked.

“You don’t, as far as I know. Or if you do, you lose so much ‘you’ that you’re essentially someone or something else altogether,” Zed answered. “They tend to emerge from paths that are carved out by humanity. Enough people have gone looking for books or tried to track down information that the path was worn out, and spirits were able to consolidate into something solid. Sometimes the path is carved out by many, other times it’s carved out deep. ‘Many’ gives you a Nina. Deep can give you… I don’t know…”

“A pugilist, who wanders, looking to take down the undefeated,” Nicolette supplied. “Or a nemesis, to answer and match the investigator

or rising star that’s doing well.”

“Would have to be a rising star in an underground band scene or something,” Zed said. “They don’t have backgrounds and can’t spring up in contexts where people would be free to dig into who they are.”

“I was spitballing, but yeah. The nemesis is only a theory, anyway.” - excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.5 </ref>

Examples include:

Dog of War - purpose is to wage/perpetuate/exemplify a particular conflict.<ref name=":0">“The Carmine Beast predated us,” the Aurum said. “But not the Alabaster Doe.”

“She was an Animus, a walking intent,” the Alabaster said. “Much as your Dog of War is one.”
“I- I’m not familiar with that.”
“Forces between spirit and incarnation that exist for purpose. Often

malign, but not always.  Physical.  They are defined by the task they

accomplish. The Swordbearer animus exists to find the noble and heroic,

equip them, and send them on their path.  The Dog of War exists to

perpetuate the senselessness of war. Muses inspire art.”
“What did she do?”
“Before she was the Carmine Beast, she reminded civilized men who had

come here why their ancestors were so afraid of the deep night,” the

Alabaster said. “Henhouses emptied, livestock slaughtered. Howling that shook hearts, and fangs that took the lives of people who were in the midst of discovering just how dark a forest can be without the torches, candles and lamps of a nearby city.”
“Was she evil? I know we asked, but- before?”
“She wasn’t good or evil so much as she simply was. Just as she was the Carmine Beast. The role precedes all.”
- excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.1 </ref>

Swordbearer - purpose is to find heroes, equip them, and send them on their path.<ref name=":0">“The Carmine Beast predated us,” the Aurum said. “But not the Alabaster Doe.”

“She was an Animus, a walking intent,” the Alabaster said. “Much as your Dog of War is one.”
“I- I’m not familiar with that.”
“Forces between spirit and incarnation that exist for purpose. Often

malign, but not always.  Physical.  They are defined by the task they

accomplish. The Swordbearer animus exists to find the noble and heroic,

equip them, and send them on their path.  The Dog of War exists to

perpetuate the senselessness of war. Muses inspire art.”
“What did she do?”
“Before she was the Carmine Beast, she reminded civilized men who had

come here why their ancestors were so afraid of the deep night,” the

Alabaster said. “Henhouses emptied, livestock slaughtered. Howling that shook hearts, and fangs that took the lives of people who were in the midst of discovering just how dark a forest can be without the torches, candles and lamps of a nearby city.”
“Was she evil? I know we asked, but- before?”
“She wasn’t good or evil so much as she simply was. Just as she was the Carmine Beast. The role precedes all.”
- excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.1 </ref>

Muse - purpose is to inspire art.<ref name=":0">“The Carmine Beast predated us,” the Aurum said. “But not the Alabaster Doe.”

“She was an Animus, a walking intent,” the Alabaster said. “Much as your Dog of War is one.”
“I- I’m not familiar with that.”
“Forces between spirit and incarnation that exist for purpose. Often

malign, but not always.  Physical.  They are defined by the task they

accomplish. The Swordbearer animus exists to find the noble and heroic,

equip them, and send them on their path.  The Dog of War exists to

perpetuate the senselessness of war. Muses inspire art.”
“What did she do?”
“Before she was the Carmine Beast, she reminded civilized men who had

come here why their ancestors were so afraid of the deep night,” the

Alabaster said. “Henhouses emptied, livestock slaughtered. Howling that shook hearts, and fangs that took the lives of people who were in the midst of discovering just how dark a forest can be without the torches, candles and lamps of a nearby city.”
“Was she evil? I know we asked, but- before?”
“She wasn’t good or evil so much as she simply was. Just as she was the Carmine Beast. The role precedes all.”
- excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.1 </ref>

An unnamed beast whose purpose was to remind settlers in North America of the terrors of the wilderness.<ref name=":0">“The Carmine Beast predated us,” the Aurum said. “But not the Alabaster Doe.”

“She was an Animus, a walking intent,” the Alabaster said. “Much as your Dog of War is one.”
“I- I’m not familiar with that.”
“Forces between spirit and incarnation that exist for purpose. Often

malign, but not always.  Physical.  They are defined by the task they

accomplish. The Swordbearer animus exists to find the noble and heroic,

equip them, and send them on their path.  The Dog of War exists to

perpetuate the senselessness of war. Muses inspire art.”
“What did she do?”
“Before she was the Carmine Beast, she reminded civilized men who had

come here why their ancestors were so afraid of the deep night,” the

Alabaster said. “Henhouses emptied, livestock slaughtered. Howling that shook hearts, and fangs that took the lives of people who were in the midst of discovering just how dark a forest can be without the torches, candles and lamps of a nearby city.”
“Was she evil? I know we asked, but- before?”
“She wasn’t good or evil so much as she simply was. Just as she was the Carmine Beast. The role precedes all.”
- excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.1 </ref>

Librarian - seeks knowledge. Can rapidly read through computer files; employed by Technomancers.<ref>Out on a Limb bonus - SunnyDay Logs</ref> Restores and replaces damaged books.<ref>Alexander approached. He smiled at the woman. “Would you be

interested in doing us a favor, Nina? Restoring what you can, and binding new books to replace the ones you can’t?”

The woman held both hands over her heart, and there was a faint paper

sound, as if she had papers inside the breast of that suitcoat that was
so fitted it could be a corset.  “May I?”

[...]

“She’s an Animus,” Zed said. “A librarian in this case. A conservator and collector of knowledge. Her entire existence as an Other was and is books. Visiting old bookstores, antique stores, auctions… sitting in libraries every night, making her own books or painstakingly copying tomes getting too old to be readable.”

- excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.4 </ref> Also acts as a steroetypical librarian (shushing people)<ref>“Shh,” Nina whispered, holding a finger to her lips. She indicated the books. - excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.5</ref>

Pugilist - seeks out and defeats champion fighters<ref name=":2" />
An animus that collects comics<ref name=":1" />
Nemesis - a theoretical animus that exists to match and counter a specific exceptional person.<ref name=":2" />

References