I need a word

[Guest]

@zil,

One other thought is something fairly straightforward.  In DC Comics there is a character named Tatsu Yamashiro (aka: Katana -- duh) who owns a magical sword called the "Soultaker Sword" which steals the souls of anyone it kills.  The soul is stored in the weapon for all eternity.  The owner of the sword may call up the souls therein for simple communication as well as to take temporary corporeal form to do the bidding of the sword's owner.

Another word came up in this research:  Totem.

Edited June 21, 2018 by Guest

[SpiritDragon]

2 hours ago, Carborendum said:

In Palladium, an object that acts as a battery for mystical energy is called a talisman.  Obviously a slightly different meaning than what is used in our world...

In D&D, a phylactery is used to denote the storage device of a lich's soul.  Again a different usage than the Hebrew word of the same name.

In the early Christian era, a fetish, meant something that held within it a holy relic that provided power or protection to the bearer.

You can also just make up a proper noun:   A Telan Crystal.  What does "Telan" mean?  Absolutely nothing.

Or use a variation of another word in a foreign language: tubikla.  I think you know where that came from.

2 hours ago, zil said:

Excellent.  I like this.  Common word, but new meaning.  Yes, this is good.  This widens our pool of words (so to speak).  Off to the subconscious for this!

Thank you!

 

Just some ideas if you go along with this line of thinking... and do tell me to bug off if my suggestions are terrible.

You might base it on words with some sort of holding capacity such as a tank, cell, cartridge or case.

Perhaps you prefer to base it on the shape such as cylinder, tube, or pipe. Maybe you can use a word that gives a nod to both shape and function such as drum, canister, or cask - if these sound too large maybe cup, jar or capsule. Perhaps these are all too common, though.

Or if you still prefer to distance yourself farther from something that somewhat defines your object and work to redefine a word for it with a somewhat less used, but still common word you might fancy something along the lines of simply referring to your contraptions as artifacts, vestiges or even contrivances.

..."Thad always noticed that he felt more drained than usual every time he traveled into the border region. This last sortie left him very feeble and he didn't seem to be recovering. Meanwhile Mortimer of the mountain was stroking his beard with delight at the new capacity his contrivances had attained recently drawing the life essence from Thad's party. Soon he would have enough..."

[zil]

3 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

and do tell me to bug off if my suggestions are terrible.

Not gonna happen.  You need to run through a zillion ideas to find the right one, and if you dismiss them before even considering, you risk dismissing the right idea - or the spark that ignites the right idea.  I was rather pleased to discover that the "send this off to the subconscious" is something Brandon Sanderson and other published writers do - I've been solving creative puzzles that way for years (not just writing, but programming and similar things).

I like your ideas.  I have considered whether to have a chapter from a bad guy POV at the beginning, to show who, what, and why.  If I do that, your idea would work very well.  If i don't do that, then I need to call it something else - of course, the character can just struggle to find a name for it, that would be fine too - certainly it's new to him.  He might well perceive it as a sort of magnet or vortex and would only assume (with reasonable certainty) that it has a storage (or transfer) capacity.

[mordorbund]

17 minutes ago, zil said:

would only assume (with reasonable certainty) that it has a storage (or transfer) capacity.

Like, a capacitor?

28 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Meanwhile Mortimer of the mountain was stroking his beard with delight

Lawyer

1 hour ago, askandanswer said:

You need a word? Sure, go ahead, take your pick. There's plenty to choose from. No need to limit yourself to just one.

"Literally every word ever spoken" - OED

[zil]

1 minute ago, mordorbund said:

Like, a capacitor?

Too modern-sounding.  Would yank the reader right out of the story.

[mordorbund]

5 hours ago, zil said:

Sounds like he gave you a friends & family discount.

Well of course. I've never accused him of being an unethical lawyer.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, zil said:

Too modern-sounding.  Would yank the reader right out of the story.

Reservoir? Receptacle? Reserve? Stock? Egg? Store? Tarn? Mere?

Edited June 21, 2018 by Guest

[SilentOne]

4 hours ago, zil said:

He might well perceive it as a sort of magnet

Hey, I was going to suggest magnet!

Well, I'm pretty sure nobody's said Barrel Magnet yet.

[bytebear]

Capacitor?

[mordorbund]

12 hours ago, zil said:

Too modern-sounding.  Would yank the reader right out of the story.

I'm not too sure about that. I mean, you've got this instrument that has capacity to draw in and contain an influx of souls. I just don't see how this flux capacitor would have any modern connotations.

[zil]

55 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

I'm not too sure about that. I mean, you've got this instrument that has capacity to draw in and contain an influx of souls. I just don't see how this flux capacitor would have any modern connotations.

The word would.  That word doesn't appear to have existed prior to the 1920s, and I can't think of a single person who wouldn't picture a circuit board upon reading it.  In fiction, it doesn't matter whether the word is accurate if the word is also something that doesn't fit in the fictional world.  And I don't see how this word fits in a world full of swords, horses, and magic.  It would be akin to someone in medieval Europe talking about watching television.

[mordorbund]

 

34 minutes ago, zil said:

1 hour ago, mordorbund said:

I'm not too sure about that. I mean, you've got this instrument that has capacity to draw in and contain an influx of souls. I just don't see how this flux capacitor would have any modern connotations.

The word would.  That word doesn't appear to have existed prior to the 1920s, and I can't think of a single person who wouldn't picture a circuit board upon reading it.  In fiction, it doesn't matter whether the word is accurate if the word is also something that doesn't fit in the fictional world.  And I don't see how this word fits in a world full of swords, horses, and magic.  It would be akin to someone in medieval Europe talking about watching television.

 

Quick straw pole. How many people here think of the medieval times when I say "flux capacitor"?

[mordorbund]

Now I'll behave myself and stop filling @zil's mental mulligan stew with garbage. Good luck sorting that out!

[Vort]

On 6/20/2018 at 8:45 AM, zil said:

Would I have to give @Vort part of my royalties? 

JAG will enforce the terms of our contract.

I was thinking something along the lines of a "vault". I think "capacitor" is the perfect word. Mord nailed it. But if it doesn't fit the chronology, oh well. There's always "vault".

[SpiritDragon]

What about Crypt?

crypt

 

 

Noun

A cellar or vault or underground burial chamber (especially beneath a church).

WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University

 

 

 

Noun

A vault wholly or partly under ground; especially, a vault under a church, whether used for burial purposes or for a subterranean chapel or oratory.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

 

 

 

Noun

A simple gland, glandular cavity or tube; a follicle; as, the crypts of Lieberk/hn, the simple tubular glands of the small intestines.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

It has an air of mystery and spiritualism associated with the next life while defining a repository or resting place where things go in, but don't generally come back out. Were you planning on them being buried?

 

[zil]

1 hour ago, SpiritDragon said:

It has an air of mystery and spiritualism associated with the next life while defining a repository or resting place where things go in, but don't generally come back out. Were you planning on them being buried?

Not only are they going to be buried (at least partially), but the people placing them there are likely priests of the state religion of the neighboring country (which country is seriously perturbed with the country targeted by the devices).  The religious leaders have a vested interest in these matters.  "Magic crypt" doesn't exactly sound great - and could be confusing - yes, the crypt would be magic, but it's also for sucking up and storing magic - encrypting it, as it were.  Anti-crypt, anti-magic crypt.  Demagifying Crypt.    [Some proper noun] Crypt.  More pondering needed.  Thanks for the idea.

As far as "feel" goes, crypt, vault, reaper, and Carb's ideas like talisman or totem tend to fit best.  Could just go with "magekiller" - which is its goal, but it won't kill just any old mage, only certain specific ones with a unique and hereditary sort of magic¹.

Further, while re-reading this thread, I've just had an idea for changing the male lead which might fix a problem I've been encountering.  Or not...  Grrr.  Hate to break it to y'all, but it's really hard to come up with a logically consistent plot, magic system, and conflicting cultures - I keep punching holes in my own story.   Good thing the class doesn't start until January.

¹New thought occurred right there.  [...time passing...]  Nope, appears to be useless.  Sigh.

[SpiritDragon]

I thought I should explain that I posted the multiple definitions not because I thought anyone would be unfamiliar with the meaning of the word crypt, but because I was unfamiliar with the third definition and found it amusing that it also happens to refer to a potential tube shape which as we know is cylindrical like the special watchamacallit Zil is seeking to label.

[SpiritDragon]

4 minutes ago, zil said:

Not only are they going to be buried (at least partially), but the people placing them there are likely priests of the state religion of the neighboring country (which country is seriously perturbed with the country targeted by the devices).  The religious leaders have a vested interest in these matters.  "Magic crypt" doesn't exactly sound great - and could be confusing - yes, the crypt would be magic, but it's also for sucking up and storing magic - encrypting it, as it were.  Anti-crypt, anti-magic crypt.  Demagifying Crypt.    [Some proper noun] Crypt.  More pondering needed.  Thanks for the idea.

As far as "feel" goes, crypt, vault, reaper, and Carb's ideas like talisman or totem tend to fit best.  Could just go with "magekiller" - which is its goal, but it won't kill just any old mage, only certain specific ones with a unique and hereditary sort of magic¹.

Further, while re-reading this thread, I've just had an idea for changing the male lead which might fix a problem I've been encountering.  Or not...  Grrr.  Hate to break it to y'all, but it's really hard to come up with a logically consistent plot, magic system, and conflicting cultures - I keep punching holes in my own story.   Good thing the class doesn't start until January.

¹New thought occurred right there.  [...time passing...]  Nope, appears to be useless.  Sigh.

Ooh! I'm looking forward to reading your story. You had mentioned that you weren't sure about calling supernatural powers in your world magic. Perhaps the powers are fueled by some sort of special essence. For simplicity let's suppose it's called Essence X - perhaps the vaults/totems or crypts could simply follow the term Essence X - Like Essence X crypt.

[Sunday21]

53 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Ooh! I'm looking forward to reading your story. You had mentioned that you weren't sure about calling supernatural powers in your world magic. Perhaps the powers are fueled by some sort of special essence. For simplicity let's suppose it's called Essence X - perhaps the vaults/totems or crypts could simply follow the term Essence X - Like Essence X crypt.

Must read this! Can we hide some lds stuff in this story somewhere? Maybe a ministering sister?

Edited June 27, 2018 by Sunday21

[SpiritDragon]

4 minutes ago, Sunday21 said:

Must read this! Can we hide some lds stuff in this story somewhere? Maybe a ministering sister?

I'm told that the BYUTV Series Extinct does this well. I haven't seen it yet, and I'm not sure I want to get invested in it since it didn't get renewed for a second season. Anyway, I was hearing that it did an excellent job of working in LDS values and teachings into the storyline.

[SilentOne]

1 minute ago, SpiritDragon said:

it didn't get renewed for a second season

😠

[SpiritDragon]

I got pulled away by my phone company trying to sell me on their latest TV service as I was having some interesting thoughts.... maybe they'll come back.

I was thinking that perhaps a synonym for power would be useful as an antecedent to crypt or vault, perhaps the mage's power is tied to their life force and as the power they are endowed with is leeched away into the crypt, so too is their very life force. Thus the endowment crypt is actually in very deed a mage killer. If it didn't sound too anachronistic you could always go the geneticrypt because it sounds like some powers are passed via bloodlines.

[SpiritDragon]

5 minutes ago, SilentOne said:

😠

I feel like this could easily start a thread-jacking conversation 

[SilentOne]

1 minute ago, SpiritDragon said:

are passed via bloodlines.

Blood Crypt?

1 minute ago, SpiritDragon said:

I feel like this could easily start a thread-jacking conversation 

Then it would be remiss of me to let it drop. 😇

I was pretty angry at BYUtv for quite a while there and don't really trust them enough to start any new shows. I was really hoping to see it picked up by Netflix or Amazon or somebody but am about out of hope for that.

[SpiritDragon]

22 minutes ago, SilentOne said:

Blood Crypt?

Then it would be remiss of me to let it drop. 😇

I was pretty angry at BYUtv for quite a while there and don't really trust them enough to start any new shows. I was really hoping to see it picked up by Netflix or Amazon or somebody but am about out of hope for that.

I actually just learned about it this week. It seems interesting, but now that I know the story won't likely play out I'm not sure I want to get emotionally invested in a story that I can't get answers to my questions... it would be like going back to the nineties and watching the Pretender which I never felt answered the questions it brought up satisfactorily. They kept my attention because I wanted answers only to find out they would never supply them.