Hex’s Proposal: Impositions

The good doctor proposed a pact-based power, one that by design would avoid being ‘shitty’, shitty being the usefulness of the pact being based on tricking the other party or parties entering the pact via withholding information or exploiting some loophole that allows gaining underhanded advantage.

While the design of praxis pacts doesn’t - for the time being - allow making pacts with other denizens of the Switchboard, it does facilitate making impositions under doctrines, and thus facilitating the wielding of doctrinal power.

Wielding Praxis Power

Consider the following excerpts from The Blank-Slate Mind;

Praxis and the praxis powers are the meta-power system element of it all. Praxis is the realization of doctrine tangibly. The mechanics of doctrine are majorly passive and relegated to the background, but praxis seeks to change that. Almost at will, a denizen of the Switchboard may strike with the power of praxis, and attack a target’s doctrine with their doctrine, their mundane action transcending to the doctrinal level. When such a thing occurs, a protocol-level mechanic - the Praxis Protocol - is invoked by the Astrolabe, and chalk bends to conform to the result of the grand arcane mathematics carried out in the realization of doctrine striking out against doctrine.

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It can be thought of as two large reservoirs of chalk being wagered against each other. This chalk is drawn from all those who adhere to that doctrine - all of Spyndl’s Operators, for example. When a praxis act is performed, it is done ‘in the name’ of a particular doctrine, against another doctrine, and this act is immediately ‘picked up’ by the Astrolabe, triggering the Praxis Protocol. Imperceptible ledgers are consulted, and dice are rolled almost - one doctrine’s attack against the other’s defense - and a numerical modifier determined by the doctrines’ bayesianity is added to the result. The winning doctrine thus takes a dividend of chalk from the losing one, and this chalk enters the reservoir, and is ‘paid back’ almost to all those who adhere to that doctrine.

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There are two qualities of the praximechanics - when being harnessed - that I wish to point out;

• They are a means for denizens of the Switchboard to call upon a reservoir of power greater than their own, formed by the calcic dividends rewarded to thoughts and deeds taken by a collective in the Switchboard.

Further elaboration on this point can be found in The Blank-Slate Mind itself, primarily the sections on doctrines.

• Doing this is primarily unconscious. While one can consciously play to the writ of their doctrine, a vast majority of actions that skew the balance of doctrines in the Switchboard are done without the explicit intent of skewing that balance, and in turn, the vast majority of harnessed doctrinal power is done unconsciously, by those who - in critical moments - chose to adhere to and act in line with their principles, and thus channeled the power inherent in those principles - turning writ into action, the very essence of praxis - to facilitate triumph in aforementioned critical moments.

Of course there are those who are capable of drawing out praxis powers on demand, the act of doing so consciously made more doable by previous occasions of unconscious usage. Opening up the potential strait to the reservoirs of praxis chalk is thus a rare skill, as is the utilization of the praximechanics to one’s own means.

Primarily, praxis power is utilized in a fairly straightforward manner of target-specific empowerment. Consider this excerpt from an arsenal card that features a praxis-modified technique;

Defensive Mark of Office: Subjugation - Brch, Induc, Prax “The path before you is still worth walking, even if you can see it ends lower than others.” Slamming the end of the Oblige groundward releases an incapacitating shockwave that inflicts inductive doctrinal damage on the knees of sufferers, compelling them to fall and be unable to rise momentarily. This cast cannot be performed immediately after use, however the effect lasts longer through the mechanics of praxis, based on the ill-will held by the target towards the Spyndl Academy.

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This technique operates by inflicting a temporary inductive effect on the target. However, the mechanics of praxis sees to it that the duration of the inductive effect is lengthened based on the disposition of the target’s doctrine in relation to the Spyndl Academy. Used against a Sil’khan, this technique will likely only be as effective as it says it is on the tin. Used against a Vahnkin faithful to the First Sultan however, their previous altercations with the Spyndl Academy means that this technique will have its efficacy praxicaly enhanced.

It must be stressed however, that wielding praximechanics in this manner is very much reserved to only those who are the strongest, most ardent practitioners and adherents of already powerful doctrines. For this reason, praxis power is out of the reach of much of the Switchboard.

Were it not for one means; impositions.

Praxis Impositions

An imposition upon a denizen of the Switchboard is a clause added to their astrolabic ledger which compels a certain action or inaction from them to yield a certain result. This clause operates via the praximechanics, and often takes the form of shouldering some burden to reap some benefit - especially with regards to their usage in combat.

The making of impositions is facilitated by a subroutine under the Praxis Protocol; the Imposition Subroutine. Triggering this subroutine requires a being - thinking weave - to merely request that they form an imposition, and the subroutine will go into motion. This can only be done while the requester of the imposition is within an astrolabic ledgerial space - that is, within the effective range of an armillary star. Once invoked, the requester will have the opportunity to request an imposition from the highest espousers of their most foremost doctrine.

Narratively, the acquisition of impositions is done with a doctrine’s greatest ‘representative’. Primarily, these are ‘avatars’ of the doctrine’s ‘founder’ in some manner, engineered into semi-being by the Astrolabe via reading the relevant index ledgers.

Once one invokes the subroutine, the Astrolabe hooks directly into their computational strait and creates a virtual space where the devising of the parameters of the imposition takes place. This process and the on-goings within the space operate at vastly faster speeds compared to regular calcic thought, and as such it is possible to form complex impositions with powerful doctrines in the space of an eyeblink.

Primarily, denizens of the Switchboard take impositions under the doctrines that fall under the umbrella of ‘Great Doctrine’. These are primarily;

• The Astrolabe and the Doctrine of Perpetuation
• The doctrines of the Great Families
• Doctrines formed and elevated by thought and action (such as the doctrine of the Spyndl Academy)

Impositions made with the Astrolabe itself are predicated on the criteria that the results of the imposed clause further perpetuates the Switchboard. In a sense, an imposition need only guarantee that it will not bring about an end-state. This means that a vast amount of proposed impositions will meet the Astrolabe’s criteria, but it also means that considering the Astrolabe reaps very little from imposing these impositions (it has little to gain), the impositions one can obtain from the Astrolabe aren’t particularly strong (it has no reason to give plenty).

It is considerably more different with impositions made under the doctrines of the Great Families. The Astrolabe - lacking in a number of human qualities - operates on far simpler principles than the various avatars of the doctrines held by the Great Families. These avatars are namely;

Confirmed

• The Sil’khan - The Nine Skydancers
• The Vahnkin - Vahn, First Amaranth Sultan

Tentative

• The Fel-Arcad

  • The First Arcology at Rosenthal
  • Arcad Rosen
  • Arcad Rosen, Danseer Nadira, and a Rosenthalist

• The Lancasters

  • The AiThl, possibly (refer to DT.Kitchen)

An imposition as it exists calcically is an entry in the ledger of both the maker of the imposition and the doctrine under which the imposition was made, spanning both in a manner that is written into the astrolabic ledgers of the Astrolabe’s ledgerial spaces, and thus realized into reality via the local computation of the armillary stars that exert the ledgerial spaces. What the imposition facilitates is made possible praxicaly via astrolabic computation.

Taking Impositions

The taking of impositions preserves an essential human element to it; bargaining. Once the Imposition Subroutine is invoked and erects a cognitive space that the avatars of a doctrine and the one proposing the imposition can occupy, the actual making of the imposition is down to bargaining between the parties.

Generally speaking, the ramifications of this are primarily narrative in nature. Entities such as the Nine Skydancers and the Amaranth Sultan are possessed of very human emotions and ambitions, and as such the nature of impositions made varies considerably from person to person and context to context. It can be broadly said that each entity generally has it in mind to care for their own, and as such the Skydancers will make generous impositions with the Sil’khan, and the Vahnkin will eat well from the hands of their Sultan. That does not change the fact that these entities occupy nigh-deific placement in the Switchboard’s hierarchy of beings, and as such are possessed of acting in manners that might be less than rational or ideal to those seeking to make impositions with them.

Behold some general rules;

The Nine Skydancers The Skydancers are all possessed of varying aspects - such as war, knowledge, travelling and pursuit - and generally an imposition taken under the Skydancers is more specifically made with a single Skydancer, with the others chiming in from the sidelines to offer advice, commentary, and - for the sake of narrative - banter. Their having aspects also means that impositions must generally be in line with their aspects; impositions with Skydancer Zahir favoring battle, and ones with Shadri favoring knowledge.

There is one noteworthy bit about the Skydancers however; their being Striders and Sil’khan at heart, and to no small degree they’ve inherited the natures of their Danseer ancestors, particularly their appetites for amusement and conquest.

Vahn, First Amaranth Sultan The First Amaranth Sultan is no stranger to praxis impositions, being under one himself in the making of himself as what he currently is. He is also no stranger to using his unique positioning in the Switchboard to further his own ends through his kin and faithful, and so of all the Great Families, the Vahnkin are believed to reap the greatest impositions from the avatar of their doctrine.

Governing the parameters of impositions given by the Amaranth Sultan are his Anchor Variables.

When the negotiation necessary to bring an imposition into being is completed, the parameters are then passed to the Imposition Subroutine for the handling necessary to bring forth the imposition into calcic reality.

Impositions and Ledgers

When a imposition is given the all-clear by all relevant parties, it is passed to the Imposition Subroutine, which in turn passes it to the Inscription Subroutine under the Ledger Protocol. The Inscription Subroutine writes the parameters of the imposition - including the fact it was made - into the Indexer Ledgers, bridging over entries between the ledger of the maker of the imposition, and the ledger of the relevant doctrine.

However, via the praximechanics of the Praxis Protocol, this bridging entry is taken and elevated from an indexer ledger entry to one in the astrolabic ledgers, thus turning the imposition from merely a record of an agreement between parties, to a physical, tangible law applied throughout the astrolabic ledgerial spaces of the Switchboard.

So long as the criteria of a imposition are met - and they are met within the boundary of an astrolabic ledgerial space - the imposition will act as outlined in its parameters.

This does mean that, to an extent, impositions are region-locked. Impositions - like most other things of astrolabic make - break down once going beyond the Far Armillary Rim.

This also means that an imposition may only work in a certain sector of the Switchboard as the astrolabic ledger the imposition is encoded in is constrained to the dominant armillary star that served as the master of the ledgerial space where the imposition was made. It may take a turn of the Radiance Cycle for the ledger to be sent back to the Astrolabe via the Current, and a couple more for the ledger to reach other armillary stars and become written into their own exerted ledgerial spaces, and thus permeate more of the Switchboard.

Expectedly, this poses something of a nuisance to the more nomadic peoples of the Switchboard, who may find their commitments quite literally lagging behind them as they travel. I find this immensely amusing.

Further Notes

Some impositions are ‘applied’ to things, in the sense that the imposition’s effects are conferred upon an object of the creator of the imposition’s choice, rather than the creator themselves. In this case, the Imposition Subroutine passes the maker of the imposition an equation, carving it into their memory strait, allowing them to confer it upon anything of their choice.

Note about making impositions with others in the presence of a doctrine.

• Enforcers of that doctrine must work to ensure the imposition is maintained/adhered to or they suffer damage to their praxis.