So You Want To Learn Umbrations

[Jimothy]

Hey there, champ! It's time for another foray into the realm of half-discovered Exvulnerum lore!

On this episode, we'll be compiling information on the nine umbrations! Please comment your own tidbits, and make sure to link them to your source, whether it comes from the forum, comic, or an old Zules post lying around somewhere on the internet.

Spoiler: Tidbit Format

<url>#Page::#Panel</url>; Tidbit.
E.g.,
204::4; Gina's brother, West, is a big fat butt.

Feel free to make inferences in your tidbits!! You'll likely be on the right track! Just be sure to put an asterisk before the hyperlink to let us know that the text evidence you cited doesn't explicitly state your tidbit as fact.

Spoiler: Inferences

182::2+4; Cosmos peter can detect civilization.
.
This is a comic-supported statement, as the page shows dark-grey peter on the spellfront (the color of cosmos), and West knows where civilization is after using it.

*182::2+4; Cosmos peter reacts to man-made structures that differ from the natural order of the universe.
.
This is an inference, as the comic has yet to come right out and say that. However(!), it's still a valid post, as its logic does at least make a little sense thematically, and is not yet contradicted by what we know so far.

Once we have enough tidbits to fully comprehend an umbration and its implications, all the tidbits will be synthesized into a single summary.

EDIT: While you're at it, check out @Oegyein's 'Umbration Predictions' thread for some really good inferences based on the Cresnov infographic made by Zules! It contains a lot of good theory that I have yet to compile here. And so we go!

​

Spoiler: Essence

Summary:


Tidbits:
205::1; Essence peter can detect depth of memory.
268::2; Some essence deimons can see the "fruit of a soul".

​

​

Spoiler: Duality

Summary:


Tidbits:
204::5; Duality peter has the power to compare and contrast.
204::1; Duality Pete is one of the best outlaw names I've ever heard.

​

​

Spoiler: Cosmos

Summary:


Tidbits:
340::3-5; Cosmos is the magical domain of chaos, entropy and destruction.
340::3-5; Some Cosmos deimons can alter spoken language.

​

​

Spoiler: Velocity

Summary:


Tidbits:

​

​

Spoiler: Radiance

Summary:


Tidbits:
180::3-5,205::2; Radiance peter glows in response to input from other peters.

​

​

Spoiler: Corporeality

Summary:


Tidbits:

​

​

Spoiler: Innervation

Summary:


Tidbits:
467::2,5; Innervation peter can heal wounds.
*497::4; Based on the color of light coming from Evey's hand, Innervation also transmits and increases pain.
*467/497; Innervation may be the domain of senses and strength.

​

​

Spoiler: Caprice

Summary:


Tidbits:
214::5; Caprice is the magical domain of emotion (and possibly something else.).
*(Humanity?)
214::6; Caprice is objectively the "worst" umbration.

​

​

Spoiler: Cognizance

Summary:


Tidbits:
*8::3-4 Cognizance has the power to create illusions.
204::2; Cognizance peter has the power to read minds.
214::2; Cognizance is the magical domain of the mind.
214::4,6; Cognizance is objectively the "best" umbration.

​

Thanks to Avidro for providing
..the initial list for formatting!..​

 

[Tee]

Ok on that Cosmos tidbit. I'm pretty sure he only knew which way civilisation was because its the direction the people ran off in.

Also on Cosmos
340::3-5; Cosmos is the domain of chaos, entropy and destruction. It's deimons can change peoples spoken language.

 

[Jimothy]

Oh. I misread that. Thanks, @Tee. But now I need to check a thing: @Zules! On page 182, is the dark grey on West's mask a non-radiance peter, or just shadow?

 

[Jimothy]

340::3-5; Cosmos is the domain of chaos, entropy and destruction. It's deimons can change peoples spoken language.

@Tee, your contribution to Cosmos has been added!

 

[Zules]

Oh. I misread that. Thanks, @Tee. But now I need to check a thing: @Zules! On page 182, is the dark grey on West's mask a non-radiance peter, or just shadow?

 

[Tee]

Getting straight answers out of @Zules is like getting blood out of a rock hey XD

So its not a shadow and its too segmented to just be crime or impurities (is it?). So it has to be non-radiance peter, right?
Best guess would be Cosmos due to the colour. Now the question is, what part of that spell was cosmos. Time for a reread.

 

[X-39]

Getting straight answers out of @Zules is like getting blood out of a rock hey XD

So its not a shadow and its too segmented to just be crime or impurities (is it?). So it has to be non-radiance peter, right?
Best guess would be Cosmos due to the colour. Now the question is, what part of that spell was cosmos. Time for a reread.

Maybe it made the light effect them more? Or scattered it over a wider area so it didn't just make a little ball in his hand like his Amber-tracking one?

Edit: I think it just allows him to change the light level, actually, you can see in 180::3-4 that it starts out just a little glowy and he concentrated to make it blinding.

Side note: it definitely matters where you put the peter, because the Essence in his Amber-tracking mask is pointing towards his brain, and there's a bit of Radiance inside the Cognizance, which I suspect basically forms an "if" statement.

 

[Tee]

Maybe it made the light effect them more? Or scattered it over a wider area so it didn't just make a little ball in his hand like his Amber-tracking one?

Side note: it definitely matters where you put the peter, because the Essence in his Amber-tracking mask is pointing towards his brain, and there's a bit of Radiance inside the Cognizance, which I suspect basically forms an "if" statement.

OH BOY.

If @Zules means for the spell fronts to work like some form of physical programming....

Pretty sure I just squealed like a little girl finding out that their favourite boy band is giving out free tickets in their town.

 

[X-39]

*497::4, I'll admit this is based solely on the color of light coming from Evey's hand, but it does seem pretty obvious:
Innervation also transmits and increases pain.
Based on that and the healing thing, it seems like it's safe to assume it's domain is basically senses and... strength. So, Innervation.

 

[Jimothy]

@X-39 Awesome! Couldn't have put it better. Your contribution to Innervation has been added!

 

[Jimothy]

@Oegyein Is it alright if I absorb your inferences from the infochart into this thread sometime in the coming weeks?

 

[Oegyein]

@Oegyein Is it alright if I absorb your inferences from the infochart into this thread sometime in the coming weeks?

Absolutely! But on one condition:

I demand fresh Exvulnerum memes as royalty payment.

 

[Jimothy]

These are something of my... own design.

Spoiler: Old Exvulnememes.

 

[EstherTb]

I have literally never seen these before!

 

[Itunes Helper]

These are something of my... own design.

Spoiler: Old Exvulnememes.

View attachment 372View attachment 373View attachment 374

Is this.... from a time before time?

 

[Jimothy]

Is this.... from a time before time?

Yes... relics of a bygone age, when Pantsvulnerum was in full and rapid production, our members were few, and Cresnov was scarcely a half-year old.

 

[EstherTb]

Yes... relics of a bygone age, when Pantsvulnerum was in full and rapid production, our members were few, and Cresnov was scarcely a half-year old.

We should really bring Pansvulnerum back!

 

[EstherTb]

You know doing the Pantsvulnerum myself and rereading that prologue so many times...I know that we already said that Cognizance is in the domain of the mind, but:

*8::3-4 Cognizance has the power to create illusions.

Dzuna doesn't say it's a direct result of her umbration, but I just assume it is.

 

[Jimothy]

*8::3-4 Cognizance has the power to create illusions.

@EstherTb, your contribution to Cognizance has been added!

 

[Marken]

A note: @Zules was/is a homestuck. zules.com/titletest

my thought is that the different opposite pairs of aspects from homestuck is either a pair of umbra, or both are contained in a single umbration. here is how it plays out in my head:

space/time = cosmos
light/void = radiance/corporeality
mind/heart = cognizance/essence
hope/rage = caprice*
breath/blood = velocity/innervation
life/doom = duality

this is also all helped by the fact that the different color schemes match suspiciously closely...

the only one that doesn't match color is mind = cognizance, but that makes more sense than the color matching version, which would put rage = cognizance

*) @Zules has said somewhere that she was a sylph of hope, which furthers my theory.

Therefore:

Cosmos is the spacetime continuum, and represents universal forces such as the strong and weak nuclear forces, gravity, and entropy. It is related to corporeality, and complimentary to velocity.

Corporeality represents (non)existence, isolation,darkness, philosophy, and paradoxes. It is related to cosmos, and complimentary to radiance.

Radiance represents communication and light, as well as radiation and "people skills." It also represents whether or not something is demonstrably real, noticeable, relevant, or present. It is related to cognizance, and complimentary to corporeality.

Cognizance is thoughts, information, choices, and theory. It is connected to all the inner workings of the mind, and to personalities in general. It's related to radiance, and complimentary to essence.

Essence is the self/soul, and represents our feelings about ourselves, and the way we react to our environment. It is related to caprice, and complimentary to cognizance.

Caprice represents emotions in general, as well as the amount of harmony or disharmony between two people. It also represents social standing/ranking, thus the crown shape. It is related to essence, and complimentary to innervation.

Innervation is the most practical umbration, and it cares most about staying alive, and keeping others alive. It represents someone's inner strength and well being, and the drive, energy and will required to keep going. It is related to velocity, and complimentary to caprice.

Velocity represents the motion and forces that immediately affect us, and also where the future might take us. It is related to innervation, and complimentary to cosmos.

Duality represents all opposite pairs: true and false, near and far, alive and dead, good and bad, etc. It defines the "rules" by which the other umbra abide, and can equally and fairly compare them. It most related to itself, and is its own compliment.