theme concepts

Ei • do • lon
- A phantom, ghost, or elusive entity. The spirit double of a living being.
- A representation of an idea or an idealized form.

Cha • me • le • on
- Any of numerous Old World lizards of the family Chamaeleontidae, characterized by the ability to change the color of their skin, very slow locomotion, and a projectile tongue.
- Any of several American lizards capable of changing the color of the skin, esp. Anolis carolinensis (American chameleon), of the southeastern U.S.
- A changeable, fickle, or inconstant person.

Despite popular belief, chameleons do not in fact change their colouration to match their background or camoflage themselves - rather, the response is one related largely to mood, health, and certain environmental factors, and serves as communication device.

Exiles of Eidolon (previously Changeling Dream) is a website devoted to the Asian Ball-Joint Dolls owned or to be owned by Scarlet Seraph. These posable, completely-customizable resin dolls can have their appearance adjusted with little effort through the use of interchangeable eyes and wigs, and with a bit more time and work, recreated entirely with make-up and modding.

Each of the characters in Exiles of Eidolon have been driven from the realms they once called home. Some were forced. Others chose to leave in pursuit of a goal. Most are changelings of Déchiré - a world ravaged by a god so vengeful that its non-human residents abandoned their bodies to seek sancutuary in Eidolon, the spirit-world.

Tran • sub • stan • ti • a • tion
- Conversion of one substance into another.
- In many Christian churches, the doctrine holding that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, although their appearances remain the same.

The primary storyline follows Malachaim Luphase, the self-created, immortal ruler of the Anima Invidia, through his endless pursuit of the false god who denied his kin physical form and condemned his lover to inevitable death. Intermingled with a chase that takes him across the borders of heaven and the unnumbered earths is the search for a process that can tie soul to body and, ultimately, return the dead to life. Religion having failed him, he turns to scientific magic and the realm of alchemy.

Trans • mu • ta • tion
- A change. Transformation.
- The act or an instance of transmuting: as the evolutionary change of one species into another.
- The state of being transmuted.
- The supposed conversion of base metals into gold or silver in alchemy.

As an alchemical concept, transmutation was difficult to acheive, but thought to be worth the effort to create a thing of value and beauty. The Holy Grail of alchemy was the Philosopher's Stone, an object that, it was believed, could convert base metals to gold, heal the sick, and grant immortality - either through application of the stone itself, or by eating from plates and utensils made from the gold produced by the stone. A similar desire can be seen in the search for the Elixir Vital, or Elixir of Life, which was purported to heal, return youth, and make the drinker immortal. A powdered version of the Philosopher's Stone, which may have been the most sought after, was said to be red and glittering, to lack smoke when heated to its melting point, and to create gold when mixed one part powder to one-hundred parts silver.

Part magic and part science, the mystical concepts of alchemy tied astrology to earthly elements and chemical processes. Due to the need to keep their secrets from nonbelievers, alchemists also made use of a code that used living and mythological beings to represent the physical components of their work:

The Red King - Supposedly, the Red King represented gold. It is my personal belief that the Red King would have more accurately personified the powdered version of the Philosopher's Stone, as a remnant from an alchemical text states that it is the union of the Red King and the White Queen that brings about the ultimate goal of the Great Work - transmutation into gold.

The White Queen - Silver

The Winged Lion - Mercury/Quicksilver

The Wingless Lion - Sulphur

The Grey Wolf - Antimony

The Ascending Dove - White sublimates

The Black Crow - Black or purifying matter

The Toad - Earthly matter

The Salamander - Fire

In addition to these beings, images of other creatures, plants, planets, and gods could be implemented in order to specify what should be done with the materials being worked with. Actions, colours, and numbers all had particular associations and meanings that could only be interpreted with those versed in alchemical lore. The substance of the Philosopher's Stone was thought to be in perfect balance: Day and Night, Sun and Moon, Silver and Gold, Male and Female.

Clad in the raiments of a woman and crowned with silver, Luphase is the Widow-Queen; embodying the potential for transmutability in Asian ball-joint dolls.

© 2005-Present, Scarlet Seraph