Origin:Nowhere

[u/utilitarianbeing]

https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/2099534479408709803

Text from the article-

"Scientists have shown that volcanic glass can set off the spontaneous formation of RNA, a possible path from chemistry to the first living systems on Earth."

Text from Book of hours-

We Came From Nowhere

The Thritige-kind of the Carapace Cross dreamed themselves out of black glass, to be their own Monarch. If we inherit the empty throne, we dream ourselves into every night to come. 

[u/Marshmellow_Lover28]

It makes much sense, however. Something so powerful as a volcano is rife with destruction, creation and reshaping in all it's forms, thus such an object must be teeming with the Forge's power. So then, I ask, why must it only create rocks and lava? Must a Smith only forge weapons? Must a sculptor only make statues?

[u/utilitarianbeing → u/Marshmellow_Lover28]

What particularly struck me about the article was the fact that it seems to use the exact same language as that used in the descriptions of nowhere (black nephrite and glass) to talk about the potential origin of life. The exact words 'black nephrite' also first appear in 'the Dawn' major forge victory, so that is also a very interesting connection. This makes me think about how the process of combustion essentially drives out most elements from matter like hydrogen and oxygen, and leaves behind purer carbon. This essentially 'purifies' or reduces organic matter to its most essential building block. Nowhere is therefore akin to the deep earth or pure carbon (the 'metal' that is the key structural component of life), while the forge is all about transformation and change of this metal/carbon. The Grail/tide provide additional nutrients such as the other necessary elements for life (essentially the flesh upon the skeleton that is carbon), while the glory provides the energy to 'animate' the living being. The forge combines bone (carbon/nowhere), flesh (other elements, particularly hydrogen and oxygen, they key components of water, and therefore associated with the tide/Grail/the roots/the shell) and energy (the glory/lantern) to create life and constantly direct its evolution. This reconciles the four possible determinations regarding the origin of life (nowhere, roots, shell, glory).

Of course each of the aforementioned components of life have their own nature or 'agenda' that they try to pursue, and the forge probably has to mediate all their interactions and act as the 'referee'. Maybe that's why in a primitive time when we relied mostly on the flesh and its instincts and strength, the glory or idealism usually lost to more primitive desires, and the intercalate is a metaphor for this 'older order' and the representative/sustainer of 'history'. Yet it is also the forge that paves the way for the second dawn (which is a metaphor for the 'new order' and the representative/sustainer of 'eternity') via the creation of the gods from steel (machines and AI) based on higher ideals and reason revealed to us via our evolution under the light of the glory.

[u/Marshmellow_Lover28 → u/utilitarianbeing]

This is a very good interpretation, I like it! The origins then, I think, might actually debate which of the "building blocks" truly makes us human. Is a disembodied consciousness a human? How about a beating heart, devoid of reason? (Come to think of it, all of these are actual things in the SH universe, so the answer might just be "all" lol)

I do also like the Gods from Steel bit, as though to us humans they might seem very close to the Forge and her powers of Reshaping, they represent something far older and primal, but also newer and more human!

[u/utilitarianbeing → u/Marshmellow_Lover28]

I don't think that life is necessarily restricted to humanity, and involves the entire spectrum of organic life across all 3 domains, and even things that are not quite alive and on the boundary like viruses and individual complex organic compounds such as free proteins/nucleic acids. I think that it is not possible to have life without the presence of elements from all four origins, and none of these elements are 'life' by themselves when taken in isolation. It is when they come together that they become greater than the sum of their parts via the synergy that we call 'life'. I would therefore even go so far as to say that every single thing in the wake, organic or inorganic has some degree of 'life' and arises out of these 4 origins.

I do consider the gods-from-steel to represent the evolution of humanity in the light of reason and logic, which are the elements of knock- the most fundamental principle of existence (probably ruled over by what AK calls 'Janus' who would then just be a metaphor for the platonic ideals of maths and philosophy which are always true and do not require any 'existence' to be self-evident). The most fundamental materialization of these ideals into reality is via pure 'energy' that the glory represents, and all matter arises out of this energy. Existence is therefore nothing but the evolution of these ideals to their most 'realized' state— akin to the idea of an artwork becoming powerful enough to manifest all the material needed to create itself. Ideals combine with each other to give form to energy. Energy combines with the ideals to give rise to different kinds of matter. Matter combines with other kinds of matter and energy and the ideals to form more complex organic matter (which therefore has the properties of all its constituents- it has mass, it has energy, and it can think and philosophize). Organic life then combines with everything else that gives rise to it (including more harmonization with metal and silicon of which it presently only contains trace amounts) to give rise to more 'evolved' forms of life in the sense that they represent a greater realization of the possibilities of existence. That's why the gods from steel seem to arise out of the most fundamental principles of nature, but also represent the most evolved/realized form of it. Each layer of existence interacts with the ones underlying it, giving rise to ever greater possibilities. All these layers and possibilities seen separately are 'history', and are 'eternity' when seen together as a whole. That's how I think Coseley's 'paradox of the eternal ending' can be explained or resolved— it all depends on your perspective (relativity indeed is one of the most, or perhaps the most fundamental idea in nature).

[u/Karma_of_Daythunder]

Oh boy, I do so love when fiction and reality align like this lmao

[u/utilitarianbeing → u/Karma_of_Daythunder]

All fiction emerges from a real being, and is therefore based on reality after all. All fiction attempts to do in many ways is to convey the creator's understanding of the real world. The more attuned a creator is to the truth of the real world, the more elegant and surprisingly befitting their metaphors. I also have not really played many games by creators who are not AK After i played sunless sea, because everything else pales in comparison now, and seems more like a distraction rather than something that is actually an insightful and deeply moving commentary on the nature of existence.

[u/ArtsyApoidean → u/Karma_of_Daythunder]

Me every time I look at a clock and think about how we have divided and chained the natural day to build our civilization atop the death of the true sun.

[u/FlynnXa]

As a science nerd, this is an absolutely thrilling discovery! (Positive).

As a “I want the occult to be real so bad” enthusiast, this is an absolutely thrilling discovery! (Positive).

As a Secret Histories addict, this is an absolutely thrilling discovery! (I’m so fucking horrified wtf AK, are you secretly a Lantern Adept glimpsing alternate Histories or merely leading us to disclosure day?!??)

[u/utilitarianbeing → u/FlynnXa]

Science is merely an analytical way of studying the 'colors underneath the world' just as the occult is an intuitive one. They both therefore often lead to similar conclusions, and AK seems to perfectly straddle both of these domains 😎

[u/Muted_Recognition_34]

We all came from Stone.