The level of stress, sanity, and meter of the internal Coherence of any Spellweaver.
To lose Composure is to lose oneself, if all Composure is lost at the level of surrender, the Soul Leitmotif fractures, enveloping the Spellweaver in pure Dissonance.
When the cocoon hatches in a wave of Discordant Interference, what walks out is an Atonalis, no longer a person nor Spellweaver but a broken hungry husk permanently trapped in the torturing paradox of an existence without Coherence.
Thus, Composure is the most important metric for any Spellweaver, it is visible in the Soul Leitmotif as it gets cloudy with muddy black Dissonance that becomes blacker and cloudier the closer a Spellweaver is to surrender and Corruption.
Composure consists of 5 stress levels on the Soul Leitmotif that mirror that of the growth phases of an Atonalis from Nascent to Primal Discordia:
- Pristine: The perfect rest state for a Soul Leitmotif, it is vibrant in color, beautiful, and emits light with the color of its primary binding. Usually represents a peaceful and Consonance filled state of mind. Momentarily, a Soul Leitmotif can become pristine on intense moments of joy.
- Clouded: This is the normal state for most Spellweavers, it has the vibrant light of the primary binding but certain parts of the inside of the gem have black Dissonance which gives it the primary color a clouded view of the interior structure, it doesn't look translucid as a Pristine state, but it doesn't have physical damage. Despite being murky, this state is usually where a Spellweaver acts with most confidence, mirroring that of Sectile Atonalis where they have rationalized enough their own wound to be fully functional but without the awareness necessary to cripple them in their own despair. Formless Masses
- Fractured: This is the first sign of actual damage to the Soul Leitmotif, black cracks appear visible in the outer casing, not just on the inside cloudiness anymore. This state is necessary for triggering a Motif Awakening as the seeping cracks allow the Soul Leitmotif to adopt and embellish new Ornaments from the created space within. It is healthy, and almost inevitable, for a Spellweaver to reach this state but it's key to remember that any wound is merely a source of power, and what gives power can also crack you open. If the wound continues to fester it's a dangerous pivot to surrendering oneself.
- Spiraling: This is the final level before the point of no return, and it has a signature of black fractal spirals that begin to mirror the own internal chaos of the Spellweaver that is falling to the abyss of despair. The spirals on the surface are similar to Sky Glass but devoid of its beautiful tactile qualities, and this is the closest state that a Spellweaver can be to becoming an Atonalis before falling to the point of no return. This is the last point where anyone can intervene to save them. Any breach further on the hungering fractal spirals and the Soul Leitmotif will undergo its permanent transformation when it is fully consumed by the black of the Dissonance, turning itself into a Dissonance Core.
- Surrender: Once a Soul Leitmotif reaches this point, there's nothing anyone can do to save them. It has a clear indicator of two distinct crack sounds, the first is when the threshold is reached, when the Soul Leitmotif went beyond its maximum stress point, and the Spellweaver is on its last remnants of Coherence that tether their Composure. The second crack is the inevitable moment when the Spellweaver vocalizes their last words. Upon reaching this state the Dissonance cocoon emerges siphoning the user inside of it, transforming the Soul Leitmotif into the very Dissonance Core of the Atonalis. The location of the Dissonance Core is often the Wearable State of the soul gem in the last moment the dying Consciousness assigned value to anything. The refusal to process pain feels exactly like mercy right up until the moment it permanently turns you into a predator.
The state of the Soul Leitmotif Composure directly aligns with the internal state of mind of the Spellweaver:
A Pristine State of Mind, a Clouded State of Mind, a Fractured State of Mind, a Spiraling State of Mind, and the Surrendered State of Mind.
Despite the visual cues, these are only visible during the resting state of the Soul Leitmotif. If it's on the Wearable State, none of the Clouded or Pristine levels are visible, the only moment the Dissonance is visible on a non resting state is only until the Spellweaver's Composure reaches Spiraling or below, and it will become visible as Discordant Interference pulsing with flickering dark alongside the color of whichever binding they're channeling.
Societal Implications
Due to the Composure meter reflecting the internal state of mind of a Spellweaver, there are several layers of implications on how this information is shared, externalized, or even weaponized through relationships, and even diplomacy.
Usually the sacredness of sharing the inner view of the Soul Leitmotif is considered a moment of vulnerability, which is precisely why it's mostly equipped in the wearable state and only transformed into the resting version due to forced exhaustion, sleep, or sacred meditation. It's uncommon to have a Soul Leitmotif in a resting state without a personal guard of sorts, and it's impossible to do so without consent unless the Spellweaver physically passes out.
Even travelling parties or with allies the Spellweaver tends to keep in secret their dormant Soul Leitmotif whether in a pocket or directly by clutching it somewhere in their body during sleep. (Like hiding money under the pillow)
Furthermore, this also extends to a personal level for relationships. To deliberately invite someone to see the inside of your soul is a deeply personal and intimate gesture of courtship and romance between Spellweavers, and in some cultures the exposure of the bare soul is indistinct from showing a naked body, which makes by proxy the dormant state as sacred as the act of physical intimacy, and to some degree both can be intertwined.
On a societal level this also reflects in diplomacy, where envoys most often than not tend to be non Spellweavers, as Humanity without a Soul Leitmotif is useful precisely to keep undercover the internal state during the negotiations. Even if there's a Spellweaver present, most notably with any Head of State, they tend to use it on the Wearable State as both class, clothing, and as means to prevent the visualization of their internal state of Coherence.
However, there are some cultures that do require honesty as means to establish any formal treaty, this type of society tends to align with the Aureus Pillar or Waltz Pillars, and they present negotiations through a pedestal where the dormant "sacred" state of a Soul Leitmotif is an anchor to the truthfulness of both parties, sometimes this technique is required in unethical practices such as torture or court trial to get information that prevents perjury due to the microscopic flashes of the Soul Leitmotif and its relationship to the Key of Attunement.
— This article is abridged. The full record runs longer in the archive.