What Do Souls Really Give You?

[AceOfAlmonds]

Azoth is like a bootleg knock-off soul from China.

And with a lot of enhancements, you can make a working soul out of it, but until then it frequently catches on fire.

[Baaldam]

I once wrote in the old forums a theory about that the origin of "souls" come from former human spirits- that they were among the weakest of their kind in the shadow, and during that time man was no different than any other animal. It all changed when they all gathered together and ate each other up, merging into a colossal being which was the greatest representation of humanity in the Shadow. Then, Father Wolf saw it as a threat, fought against it and killed it- only for it to scatter its Essence through the world, where it merged with every living human being, turning the entire race of humanity into what now is known as an "Host". That means that humanity is just what happens when an all race turns into a Shartha (and they were the first to do so) and all of our "inner wars" and "desire for conquest" comes from the simple wish of the Shard in each and every one of us to unite and re-create the glory of the former spirit.

Never meant for it to be a "head canon", though- just a mad blasphemy used to taunt players during a Werewolf game.

As an aside, it does correlate interestingly with this guy - and considering how sumero-babylonian elements seem to be peppered here and there in Uratha language and myth...

[SunlessNick]

Azoth is like a bootleg knock-off soul from China.

Or an Ikea flatpack; you'll have a soul just as soon as you figure out the abstruse instructions (and until then, everyone will be annoyed at you for making a big mess in the living room).

[reseru]

Azoth is like a bootleg knock-off soul from China.

No, come on! What about all those metaphors about Prometheans being a furnace?

Azoth is the raw essence of soulstuff. It's powerful, nearly impossible to handle except in moments of passionate creation (some similarities to Sekhem here, with passionate emotions and all), and must be refined to be of any use. Prometheans aren't fueled by knock-off souls, they're fueled by the irradiated proto-plasm of soul itself until they refine it into something all humans have. Because, you know, they eventually become humans.

Prometheans, in my head-canon, are drawn up from the Lower Depths. That's why they don't have souls. They're empty creatures who are trying to Ascend into the Fallen World

[amechra]

So, did Promethean 2e add anything that might warrant examination?