[The World Below] Dialectics

Matthew here, with another delve into The World Below!

Last week we dove headfirst into the wonderfully grim settlement of Glowstream, which I’m sure a lot of you will be exploring in adventures to come. But at the end of that blog, I asked you what you wanted to see next regarding The World Below, and the most popular response was Dialectics!

---

Dialectic

What does the World Below want from me?

How far will these changes go?

What Syntheses does my spirit possess?

The World Below is a place that leaves a lasting, changing mark on every one of its inhabitants, but it’s a two-way street: the World Below’s inhabitants change the environment around them in turn. This mark is referred to as a person’s Dialectic. Some call it an attunement to the environment of the Vast Underneath, which would otherwise be lethally hostile. Alchemists hold the strongest view on this point, believing people are undergoing a rapid evolutionary process, and that the World Below is trying to help everyone survive in the only way it can. Others call it a mutation, explaining that people aren’t changing to survive, but are simply contaminated away from their base state.

Dialectic adaptation is how an individual communes with their world, and while the person and the elements may have diametrically opposed views, or cross paths at alien intersections, they eventually come to an accord. This enables a character with a simple Thesis or understanding to harmonize with the World Below, and discover their first Synthesis.

Every person has a Dialectic, with some advancing slowly, over a course of decades, while others become attuned to the stones, creatures, and elements around them in a matter of months. To remark upon “the state of one’s Dialectic attunement” or ask, “how does your adaptation progress?” draws a mixture of responses, most of acceptance, others of hesitation. Some understand that everyone has a Dialectic, so shame is a ridiculous emotion to attach to the adaptive process. Others see them as far too personal an issue and steer conversations away from such matters until they’re unavoidable. Most find their Dialectics manifesting in adolescence, but for others the adaptive process takes longer. Experts correlate that people who leave their settlements, exploring distant tunnels and mapping far-off caves, are more likely to advance faster than someone who remains in a single location their entire lives.

A character’s Dialectic can make them reassess their place in the World Below and see their environment as a home. Often, characters dwelling closer to the Fade develop as the crystalline, jewel-obsessed Adamas, explorers who venture in or near the Abyss develop deathly, shadowborn Plutonic traits, people close to the wind caves of Aicratha or one of the enormous subterranean seas or magma channels develop as Elemental Dialectics, the Dark feeds into the development of Myceli transformations, and the Well produces adaptations known as Qeobaca. By no means is this an unbreakable law, but there are correlations based on proximity. Scarabs are the anomaly, as they appear at random throughout the World Below. These Dialectics bear the behaviors and sometimes even appearances of great insects and other bugs. Plus, some characters have exhibited talents from across multiple Dialectics, confusing guilder graybeards even further.

---

Now this is just a teaser, of course, but the Dialectic Path is what I’d call the secondary Path for characters in The World Below. Where your Dawn tells us where you’re from, what you aspire to, and what philosophies you possess, and your Calling tells us what you’re doing and where you’re going, your Dialectic speaks to a spiritual kind of belonging. Attunement is a good word to describe a Dialectic’s relationship with the world around them, and it’s through said attunement that each character develops Syntheses.

Syntheses are characters’ adaptive powers. As your dialogue and relationship with the Vast Underneath grows, you adapt to the world, and are able to channel its energy through yourself. This isn’t Kaos; it’s something more natural than that. Or at least, natural to the World Below. Interestingly, it only seems to affect humanoids, and those same humanoids believe the World Below’s monsters wield Antitheses. Which is to say, our player characters see themselves as the protagonists harmonizing with their world, and that monstrous threats are a blight trying to purge them. Naturally, some monstrous creatures view things quite the other way around.

Now, before we go too far into Syntheses we can look back at one of my favourite Dialectics: the Plutonic.

---

Plutonic

“Behold us in fright if you must. Only we know of the deeper mysteries. Only we can see all that is hidden.”

—    Lanzer Whiptail, Plutonic Explorer of the Wastes

Epithets: Abysnl (formal), Shadowdancers (formal), Mystery Speakers (respectful), Blighted (derogatory)

What foul ruin must a person experience to possess something of the Abyss within them? Is it enough to be born proximate to that hellish void, or is it something in their temper, their parentage, or their destiny, that condemns them to a Plutonic existence? To be Plutonic is to be feared, but with it, respected. The Abyss clings to you like a cloak, but it is no shadow born of the Dark. This is an emptiness, an absence of life as well as light, and within that vacuum is born thoughts, secrets, and monsters terrifying to those not a part of this adaptation.

The Plutonics have many questions about themselves. Some seek out scholars of their own Dialectic, while others address the Abyss itself for answers.

Am I Doomed?

There’s no inherent ill fate in store for a Plutonic person, though they may be more aware of dooms for other people through their understanding of mysteries and esoteric threats. As a person’s Plutonic Dialectic develops, they drift further and further from life, until they can be considered undead. Whether this is a curse or a benefit is subjective. Plutonic undeath doesn’t grant the stability of eternal life in the same way as complete exposure to Kaos but does allow a Plutonic to commune with creatures others might deem too mindless or alien to understand.

What Is My Relationship With Kaos?

Plutonics are no less likely to harness Kaotic powers than people of other Dialectics. However, there’s something esoteric that all Plutonics know instinctively: if Kaos is life eternal, the Abyss is the opposite. Some Plutonic philosophers believe Kaos rocks and specifically the Well, are the protoforms of stars fallen from the sky, through the World Above and into the World Below. This in turn makes the Abyss a great, collapsed star, and represents the Well’s destiny when it eventually implodes. Plutonics keep their own counsel on such things, but it seems inherent in the Dialectic that Shadowdancers will spend much time analyzing the relationship between Kaos and the Abyss.

How Do I View Other Dialectics?

Plutonics have few predispositions toward other Dialectics, as they accept that few choose their Paths. However, they view Myceli with jealousy, as the Dark and the Abyss seem related, and on the face of it the life-giving, self-propagating Myceli have the better deal. Likewise, Adamas and Elementals focused on light and heat tend to make Plutonics uncomfortable, the former because of their allure and social ease, the latter because most creatures kind to Plutonics dislike bright light and intense heat. Plutonics and Qeobaca have the closest relationship, as while one is blessed with darkness and the other Kaos, both feel cursed.

What Role Might I Serve?

Plutonics play many parts in a pack. Whether interacting with alien entities to navigate safe passage, communing directly with the Abyss to pry free dangerous mysteries, or manipulating shadows as if they were tangible expressions of a Plutonic’s form, the Shadowdancers serve several purposes. Perhaps more than any other skill, Plutonics are known for hiding well, cloaking the darkness around them, enabling them to spy, track, or murder with little fear of reprisal. The shadows seem to absorb their physical prowess, but the secrets whispered from the Abyss provide them with great enlightenment. Plutonics become creatures of darkness as their lives go on and they drift farther from the people they once were.

Tell Me of Other Plutonics

“I might peel away the light and see what’s left to us, what wisdom might emerge from the void.”

The World Below contains many people of the Plutonic Dialectic, each of them distinct.

• The inquisitive arcanographer who seeks to build a library in an unlit cave, protecting all his esoteric findings from those who might steal them.
• The cautious bounty hunter for her guild, who never questioned an assignment until now, as the Abyss starts to rumble and churn inside her.
• The jittery Shadowdancer who possesses a fervent curiosity about what might occur if a being of the Abyss, such as herself, were to plunge into the Well…
• The traumatized outcast from Mud Town, who was met with fear and derision when they started developing Plutonic Syntheses. They know they have powers and purpose, but need to find allies who believe in them.
• The shadow-minded Plutonic who wants to delve into the Abyss itself and pry its secrets free, no matter the risk or the cost to himself.

---

We’ll leave it there on the subject of Plutonics, and next week we’ll be exploring the reasons why player characters band together in this game, as well as the role of spirits in the World Below! Thank you to Chris and Nicolas for the requests regarding those two aspects of the game.

And to the rest of you, please continue to tell us what you want to hear about and see of The World Below! And do tell others about these blogs. Share them, post about them, and message them to your roleplayer friends.