Flamescript

Also referred to as engrammatic soulfire, flamescript is precisely soulfire which has been "woven" into an engrammatic structure, allowing it to encode conscious information.

Scriptcraft

Scriptcraft, the process by which engrams are created, shared, and improved upon, is one of the most vital components of firekeeping; especially gimyndine firekeeping. It begins with transcription, the process of creating an engram, infusing soulfire, and then encoding the engram into infused flamescript. However, it should be noted that the process is identical for forming non-infused flamescript, simply without the infusion.

Transcription

Transcription itself begins with a flamescribe coating a chosen medium in their soulfire, as this will be where the engram they create will be encoded. They then enter a meditative state of visualization, which is described to occur in three stages:

1. Conceptualization - The initial "brainstorming" of an engram, setting down required effects, inputs, and structure. The overall figure is fuzzy, but the start and end can be identified.
2. Redefinition - In this stage, the concept is refined and fleshed out. Individual logics are settled upon, minor conflicts are resolved, and processes are made more efficient.
3. Crystallization - Up until this point, the mind of the flamescribe has never conceived the engram in full. With everything settled, the entire engram is visualized at once, and the lightfire collapses into a unique pattern encoding the engram, not dissimilar to a waveform collapsing to a single version.

Upon completion of this process, the soulfire will infuse upon the surface in a unique engrammatic construction with varying amounts of spin. From this point onwards, soulfire which contacts the infused flamescript follows the form of the encoded engram automatically, while remaining under the infuser’s control, allowing for the rapid reconstruction of complex soulfire machinery. The manipulation of an active engram and soulfire is a separate skill, however, and left to flamebearers.

Permanence

It should be noted that if a flamescribe possesses sufficient skill, the process of transcription can occur with much less than complete focus, and flamescript can be encoded briefly upon the body, allowing for scripts to be "remembered" in the short term. This process is much more straightforward and long-lasting for those with an ichorous corpus, who can simply embed engrams directly into their body as the underlying structure of the ichor; this is the foundation of corporeal ichorware.

Form

The form of flamescript varies heavily, due to their origin in the myriad thoughts of sapients. Those engraved using dyed gimynfire contain idiosyncratic circular patterns, the system used by the Hytheans to describe reality in mathematical notation. Flamescript burned by a soulkeeper, on the other hand, takes on a more chaotic and inconsistent shape that carries an uncanny beauty nonetheless.

Vestiges

Of note is the peculiar connection between engrams and the mental states of their authors. When one is realizing an engram, they are guided through the emotions and thoughts the flamescribe felt when conceiving the engram. Experienced flamescribes can even witness flamescript and immediately intuit the mental state of its creator at the time. This can be guarded against with conscious effort by the flamescribe during the engraving process, but doing so detracts from the quality of the work.

Conversely, the more intimate a relationship the scriptlighter has with the flamescript's author, the more effectively they can utilize the engram. The best current theory posits that the greater ability to simulate the author's mind and decisions–derived from the greater understanding of their thought process and, at the very least, typical response to stimuli–allows them to more effectively enact their envisioned effect.

As a result, lighting or reading another's genuine flamescript is considered a rather intimate act, and is the reason many scriptlighters marry their flamescribes. The heightened intimacy leads both to the flamescribe hiding less of their true selves and contributing to the quality of the engram, and to the scriptlighter being able to more efficiently employ the engram crafted by the flamescribe.