Chaos
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Revision as of 20:01, 16 August 2008
Chaos is an ethical principle within the world of Lost Souls, and a fundamental principle of its cosmology. This page explains the difference between the two, and the nature of Chaos Favour.
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Ethical Chaos
Ethical chaos is promoted by Eris Discordia and several of her affiliated deities. It represents challenging authority and acting with autonomy, often regardless of the consequences of that decision. Ethical chaos can accept communalism as a group of equals coming together; some people mistakenly believe that ethical chaos is essentially solipsistic, with each individual pursuing only hir own concept of reality. This is one possible manifestation of anarchy, but not the only one. It can also allow people to persuade others and accept good reasons for doing things... and this can, eventually, evolve into order, much like with the cosmic forces of Chaos and Order.
Cosmic Chaos
As a cosmic principle, Chaos represents mutability and flexibility. The concept of an observer influencing the outcome of an event unpredictably is chaotic; but in its rawer manifestations, Chaos allows for the spontaneous creation or destruction of substances or even categories of substance. Chaos allows for predictable change over long time scales (it is possible to flip a coin and get heads-tails-heads-tails-heads-tails for hundreds of years), but never offers a guarantee that any apparent pattern is founded on a deeper organizing principle that will allow it to continue.
Chaotic Gods
Gods tend to be aligned with ethical chaos, not cosmic Chaos. Even Eris Discordia wants more for her followers to be constantly challenged and developing more than for them to suddenly disassociate into a pile of glitter or two weeks' back pay. Gods who are aligned with cosmic Chaos (either by intent or by virtue of complete madness) usually fall into the category of chaos gods -- mad entities with myriad shifting personalities unified only loosely by a set of common goals.
Chaos Favour
Gods of ethical chaos appreciate Chaos Favour, but do not directly create it. Instead, it represents a spiritual affinity with some aspect of cosmic Chaos; most commonly in living beings, it is an affinity with the creative and stimulating forces of Chaos, rather than a true desire to see the world burn and explode (although they may entertain the possibility). Adherents to the latter do exist, however... often in the service of chaos gods or darker beings.
