Ananome

Ananome (pronounced /ˈænənoʊmi/ or (less frequently) /əˈnænɵmi/) is a process in which one or more creatures (the parents) change jointly into one or more different creatures (the products) following an interchange of parts and perhaps an alteration of form. Darsis and henosis are special cases of ananome with only one parent and one product respectively, but it is possible for ananome to involve multiple parents interchanging substance and resulting in multiple products. (Sometimes transfiguration is considered to be a trivial special case of ananome with only one parent and one product, but it's more usually considered a separate process... or, conversely, ananome may be considered a special case of transfiguration.) Other special cases include amepsis, in which the creatures in question exchange only specific appendages or other parts; detreusis, in which the substance (and perhaps mentality) of one creature is distributed among several others; and the opposite process, eranisis, in which bits of several creatures are gathered together into one new creature.

The minds of the parents—their memories and personalities—may be interchanged along with the bodies. In fact, many etorists consider this a necessary condition for true ananome. This may mean that the products each consciously share some or (rarely) all the memories of the parents, but it may also be that the memories are too fragmentary to be coherent, or may be completely subconscious. It's quite common, still, for a product of ananome to suddenly remember something known by one of the parents, especially if triggered by some related event, or for a product of ananome to exhibit one of a parent's character traits, perhaps even without memory of its origin.

The adjective used to refer to a creature that undergoes ananomy, or a process that produces or is otherwise related to it, is "ananomic" (/ænəˈnɒmɪk/).

Natural ananome

In some species, ananome takes place naturally, perhaps being a normal part of the creature's development. A Euterran example is the cellular slime mold, which normally exists as discrete amoebae but which, when food is short, can henose into a slug-like collective organism called a grex. The slime mold, however, has no neural structure, so the mental component of the ananome doesn't apply. A more intelligent ananomic organism is the faskling of Eidecia, which can henose into a collective called a fask, which may even be noetic.

Magical ananome

Ananome can be induced by magical means even among species that do not go through the process naturally. Some wizards enjoy inflicting ananomic transformations on their enemies, though this tends to be a rather inefficient method of attack. Others use ananome to create new species, or at least to reform existing creatures into new creatures more congenial to their purposes. Sometimes ananome can also occur unintended through a miscasting or aspontaneous enchantment.

Technological ananome

On somewhat rarer occasion, ananome can be induced through technological means as well. In Icathiria, the Clarke chambers sometimes have this effect, at times near instantaneously merging and redividing their living contents into new creatures. More often, though, technological ananome is a more prolonged and gradual process, that may involve surgery or similarly time-consuming procedures.

Mental ananome

Some unusual mental transformations may mix and interchange the thoughts, psyches, and memories of their subjects—their souls, if such things exist in the local arcanum—while leaving their bodies unaltered. Such a transformation is sometimes referred to as mental ananome. Not all scholars are content to consider this real ananome; many require actual physical interchange to qualify. Still, a fair proportion do consider mental ananome to a true form of ananome, albeit an uncommon one.

Reversing ananome

Reversing ananome is rarely a simple process. While another application of the same phenomena that produced the ananome in the first place (or other phenomena of like effect) may suffice to undo the physical transformation, the mental aspect is harder to repair. Even if the forms of the parents are resotred, their minds may be hopelessly intermingled, or even if restored to some semblance of their former selves may still be adulterated with vestigaes of each other.

Nevertheless, while it is difficult and rare, it has proven possible to restore creatures ananomically transformed to their former state, if not entirely intact than at least only moderately worse for wear. The fact of this possibility has led to the question being raised of whether the consciousness of creatures ananomically transformed is somehow retained during their transformation, even as their minds are scattered between different products. While some such creatures once restored have reported accurate memories of events that occurred during the transformation, it seems impossible to establish for sure whether these are really indications that he was conscious during this period, or whether they are reconstructed after the fact from the memories of the creatures he was transformed into (and later from). Ultimately, some etorists are content to dismiss the question as purely philosophical.