True Name

"A True Name is the spell that makes a person. Learn their True Name, and you have learned them as well." - Ahmir al-Mehri

Among True Mages, there is no more important and protected piece of information than a True Name. Invoking someone's True Name allows a mage to bind or control that person, no matter who they are or what powers they posess. Historically, True Names were used to bind the gods of Ynys when the Clarati invaded, allowing the sorcerers easy and uncontested control of the island.

What's In A Name

In the Structure of the Universe, we describe how the world, and all the people in it, are part of three realms; the Physical Realm, the Dream Realm, and the Spirit Realm. A True Name is also connected to all three realms, and has three components.

The physical component of the name is the simplest part, and is the part of one's name that is most often used. It is the name first given to that person, either when they were born or later. Depending on the native language of the person, it may be purely spoken, or it could have signed or written components, but it will always have a physical representation, either as a sound, gesture, or text. Most often, it is purely spoken.

Next is the dream component. This part of a person's name is an idea, that must be held in the mind when the name is invoked. This idea is a summary or description of the person's eidolon, or dream body. Learning this aspect of a person's name is not easy, and usually involves a great deal of study and observation, usually assisted by magic.

Finally, there is the spirit component of their name. This is a structure of magical energies that matches the resonance of their pneuma, or spiritual body. Creating such a structure is usually only possible to True Mages, as people without that gift cannot manipulate the energies involved. Determining the resonance of someone's pneuma is only possible through specialized magic that is both difficult and obscure.

The Named and the Nameless

Not everything in the world has a True Name. In order to have one, you need to possess a physical body (soma), a mental body (eidolon), and a spiritual body (pneuma). Plants, animals, Numina, and Artifacts all have true names. Most objects do not, as they do not think or participate directly in the Dream. When an entity ceases to have all three components, their True Name no longer applies, and whatever remains of them is freed from any bonds laid upon them. To learn a little more about the ways this may happen, you can read about Death and What Comes After.

Some Call Me Tim

True Mages will almost always adopt an alias in order to keep their physical part of their True Name a secret. While the physical name is only one-third of someone's True Name, it is safer if potential enemies do not know even that much. Among the Clarati, they would typically choose names from Lingua Clara that related to the idea of light in some fashion, and also suited their personal proclivities. Other True Mages have made different choices that reflect their own cultures and interests. The best known True Mage in the world today is the Malika of Saba - her chosen name is the Nagari word for 'Queen' and can be seen as a statement of her intent to rule the island of Saba.

Name Changes

Most of the time, a person's True Name doesn't change. They may adopt an alias, move to a new place, and take up a new profession, but remain the same person inside. But this doesn't mean that there aren't ways to make it happen. It just means that you have to stop being the person you are, and become a fundamentally new one at a very basic level.

This doesn't sound easy, and it is even harder than you may think. The most common way a person's true name changes is during apotheosis, when the eidolon of a deceased person manages to become the seed of a new god. In these cases, they lost their True Name when they died, and gained a new one when they came back. They are transformed into a Numina, and while they may have the memories of the original, their physical and spiritual components are new, which changes their identity and their name.

How Do You Spell That?

Recording True Names is a challenge. Physical names are easy to write down (usually), but there are few writing systems designed to record pure ideas or spiritual resonances. Different mages across the world have invented their own systems for this, but there is no widespread system in place. Most of the time, a mage must learn an entity's true name through intense study, or have it taught to them by another mage.