Introduction
Here's a little bit of a world-building/philosophy piece for Starspun Tale. You can find another post in this series here.
We think of names as a set of sounds, or a string of letters that identifies us, by which we are called. This is usually good enough, but becomes murky when fairy magic comes into play. Names the Fey sell or buy are more than that.
A Name is a any combination of those:
– It is what you are called. The basic identifier, a set of sounds, perhaps a string of letters.
– It is your relationships, your social roles. Maybe you’re a parent, a friend, a lover, or a hated foe.
– It is your reputation, the stories they tell about you. Maybe they call you the Dragonslayer, the Hermit of the Mountain, or the Exile.
Selling Names
When you sell a name, you sell all the things tied to it. Let’s see an example.
Let’s take Joe the Potter. He’s an artisan, a proud owner of a workshop founded by his great grandfather. He has a bunch of labourers as well as a student learning his craft.
Joe dreams of something more, so he goes to the woods to bargain with the Fey. He sells his name for a sliver of their power. Now he doesn’t need any tools to shape clay – it takes any shape he desires and hardens without the need for a kiln.
He returns home to find no one recognizes him. No one knows his name, and when he tries to insist he’s Joe, his workers threaten to call the guards on him. His friends and family no longer recognize him. He’s thrown out of his home, maybe people even think he’s some kind of changeling and sic the guards on him. Meanwhile the real Joe is considered to have been lost in the woods.
Now, he could have sold only a particular title. If he sold the title of “potter,” he would no longer have his work licence or his place in a labour guild. However, he'd still keep his friends and relationships as well as his pottery skill.
You can sell a name you don’t want. Maybe you’re a thief or murderer? Selling your name would allow you to rid yourself of the stigma and start anew, but the Fey certainly won’t accept such a bargain for free.
Remember that selling or buying names is only possible with magic. Using a different identity to introduce yourself to people allows you to create new names, but it won’t work on those who already know you.
Essences
To define the distinction between true and common names, one should first ascertain what essence is, since that is what a true name describes.
An essence is not physical matter, but rather something like an ethereal blueprint. Everything physical or influencing the world in any way (objects, bodies, sounds, even thoughts) stems from essences.
Nature is a common essence, like a common set of rules for making particular blueprints. For example, all humans share over 99% of DNA, most humans have a working heart, a working brain and the like, but everyone is different in some way (eye colour, height and more) i.e. each blueprint is unique even if they fit into the same categories. The concept of True Names refers more to specific essences and not generalised natures here.
Messing with an essence can change your nature. A human becomes a fey, or a vampire, nature and wildlife can become corrupted, mad alchemists can produce chimaeras out of joined essences, etc.
True Names
Words, phrases or thoughts that describe essences perfectly and are something of a key to them. They allow sorcerers, warlocks and the like to affect spirits, people or the rest of the world with their magic.
More importantly, as you change and progress, you can earn new true names – they’re something like titles, but they leave a permanent mark on your nature, on what you are. For example, rather than just being called a Dragonslayer, you partake in the essence of dragonslaying. By your very nature, by how you act, speak, and think, you become a threat to dragons.
True Names can also be traded, to a limited degree. For example, a human being can hold the name of a wyrm. That wouldn’t necessarily turn them into a dragon, but they would certainly have access to its magic, perhaps its strength, or even its authority.
Thanks to Michael from Sheepandsorcery for prereading this.
