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"/> 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><ref>“You trashed my truck?” Matthew asked.

“I scraped the side,” John said.  “And left it by the side of the road about a half hour up the road.  I’ll fetch it as soon as this situation is resolved, and I can cover the costs.”

“You have money?” Lucy asked.

“I take it off the Others I kill.”

“Do Others have that much money?” Verona asked.

“I don’t spend much,” John said. - Excerpt from Out on a Limb 3.1</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>
• Librarian - seeks knowledge and tries to spread it out among people. one example is Nina Lecerf.
  • An animus that collects comics<ref name=":1" />
• Master Craftsman - skilled at creating (possibly magic) items<ref name=":3" />
• Muse - purpose is to inspire art.<ref name=":0"/>
• Nemesis - a theoretical animus that exists to match and counter a specific exceptional person.<ref name=":2" />
• Observer - They who watch; who see the events that could become important, have an effect by existing, may answer to some Greater Power depending.<ref>Observers
  
  The Observer is an Animus, a spirit given flesh and drive to singular ends, and is often seen as a harbinger (not Harbinger) of ill tidings and catastrophe.  In truth, however, they take the form of mortals who remain a step away from things, watching from a distance and often from places that are hard to immediately access (such as the far side of a chicken wire fence or a window).  They study events by a system that only they truly understand, sometimes focusing on tertiary players in the grand scheme of things, rather than the people or objects closer to the primary event.  The primary event, in any case, is a catastrophe, great moment in history, or something important to the ambient spirits that warrants a more focused eye on events than their ambient awareness can provide.  The Observer is often neutral, expressionless, and avoids taking actual part in the events, except perhaps to take items of apparent inconsequential value.  Because of the nature of the events they observe, those observed are almost always jumpy or aware something is off, so the Observer may end up having small effects in the course of events as they amplify paranoia or serve as red herrings themselves.
  
  The events can include the formation of non-practice cults and religions (including masonic lodges or fraternities that are breaking new ground), the testing of new science, networks of criminal activity forming in the background of suburbia or broader institutions (such as academia or law), the performance of new major and untested rituals, the subversion of City, Hero, bloodline, or other forms of subtle Order, and freak disasters, natural or manmade.  They may or may not have an apparent or obvious supervisor to whom they report, and it may be their role to provide exposition to the group or individuals that higher powers assign to the issue at hand, if they see fit to intervene. - Wildbow on Discord</ref>
• Predator - Unnamed beasts whose purpose was to remind settlers in North America of the terrors of the wilderness.<ref name=":0"/>
• Pugilist - seeks out and defeats champion fighters<ref name=":2" />
• Swordbearer - purpose is to find heroes, equip them, and send them on their path.<ref name=":0"/> May have the ability to create artifacts from nothing, depending.<ref name=":3">In Chapter Two we discuss the Others for whom craftsmanship is tied to their being.  The Dwarves of Deep Midgard, Artisan Fae of the Spring court, Master Craftsman Animuses, and some Peddlers (a broad category encapsulating your ‘magic shop’ Other, including those similar to the aforementioned Gnarling). We’ll discuss ways to shape the self and put yourself into your craftsmanship, including titles, signatures, and immersive crafting.
  
  Chapter Three will cover Others who create the material from nothing, sometimes with its own properties.  Greater powers such as gods may create something from nothing to bestow a gift on a chosen champion, some Animuses for whom giving powerful gifts is a common practice (swordbearers), some goblins I hesitate to attempt to label (the labels intentionally change), and those Others with access to a strong means of translating power between states. - excerpt from Forged Hearts, quoted in 4.5 Bonus Material: Bedtime Reading</ref> 

References

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