Lythian
Natural
Philosophy
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Lythian |
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"As I gain in both learning and understanding, it seems to me more and more that knowledge is not exclusive, but diverse. The Truth, it seems, is not one, but many. That is not to say that everything is true; quite the contrary. Falsehood exists - it is simply that the truth is not unique."
Gal of Ela'o
No one could accuse Kethiran thinkers of lacking breadth. Indeed, with the works and ideas of seven worlds to draw upon, the rarified intellectual elite of Harn have unparallelled scope of reference. They draw upon these ideas freely (whether or not they are aware of their origins) and few truly able thinkers disregard many of them. The scientific view put forward by Terrans, for instance, is demonstrably valid in their own world and, to a large degree, in Kethira as well. It is rather that the Kethirans find the implications of some sets of beliefs unpalatable. The Terran world view, for instance, allows marvels to be performed by scientific means, but eliminates the possibilities opened up by Magick. Whether the elimination of Magick is due to the effect of belief upon a world's reality, or simply a result of the constriction of thought patterns and animosity to "unbelievers" engendered in "believers" would doubtless be hotly debated, were there sufficient Harnians aware of the issue to render debate practical. Regardless of the truth of this, the Lythian intelligentsia have concluded that, although the scientific paradigm is clearly not untrue, it is not for them. The "Holy Grail" for Harnic philosophers, in as much as they are aware that they have one, might be said to be a system which allows the combination of both Scientific and Magickal schema with neither psychologically nor sociologically undesirable side effects. Their situation, at the "centre" of the seven worlds of the "Kethiran Group", allows them a unique point from which to do this taking into account the ideas, if not the actual writings, of such diverse groups as particle physicists, zeta-space mathematicians, Trans-Mystics and Neo-Lollian visionaries.
The philosophical system commonly referred to as Pvarism is the result of generations of Lythian scholars groping toward this "perfect philosophy". Its Magickal implications are extensively discussed elsewhere, so the bulk of this tract will deal with its "Natural" interpretations. The plural here is used advisedly, for as you will see Pvarism is not so much a monolithic system as a vigorously debated array of theories.
The basis of Pvarism, which is agreed upon by most Lythian thinkers, is that Kelestia is composed of a limited number of principles, or elements. The identity of these, and their exact relation with the "First Gods", which they seem to represent, is more debatable. Six elements are almost universally accepted (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Thought and Artifice), although the last two are sometimes regarded as seperate since they are not "physical" elements and are not, for instance, much used in Alchemy. Other principles commonly claimed are Luck, Fate, Space and Time. The last two here are subject to much controversy. Some think of Space as being not an element but rather the "canvas" on which the elements are painted. Some think that Time is simply a fourth dimension of Space, with the shape of an object in this dimension being perceived as motion. Others think that Motion is, itself, a seperate element. Making sense of these diverse views is not easy; there follows therefore an analysis by various possible systems of three physical phenomenae, illustrating how the several systems explain the observable facts, and expounding some of the sub-theories which have some common currency. The three phenomena have been chosen for their diversity and degrees of complexity and are: the flight of an arrow, simple alchemy and the nature of disease.
This apparently simple example is, in fact, far from straightforward, but will serve to illustrate most of the basic concepts employed. Firstly there is the extreme view that either (a) Fate has decided the course of the arrow or (b) the "shape" of the arrow in the fourth "time" dimension is fixed and is how it has been created and that all is thus pre-ordained. This is not a common view, at least on Harn. Regardless of other views held, almost all Harnic thinkers believe that sentient beings (at least) have some degree of free will and are able to affect reality at least in their own vicinity and at least in the near future. So it is the archer, a (hopefully) sentient being, who sets the arrow in motion. This highlights a particular consequence of the "free will" theory; that (sentient) beings are capable of summoning and/or manipulating the various principles according to a set of rules and restrictions (Shek p'vars obviously make use of a logical extension to this - that ways other than the "innate" or "obvious" ways can be learned). Thus a human is able to impart motion to itself or to another object by following certain rules of transferrence.
Now our archer has loosed his arrow, either by imparting motion to it or by altering its shape through time to describe a path interesecting with its target (hopefully). Let us examine what happens to the arrow next. As it flies through the air the arrow loses some of its motion (speed) and, some would argue, some of the Artifice (here being manifested in the skill of aiming) imparted to it by archer and bow. For those that ascribe to the fourth dimension theory of Time this is fairly easy - they say that with physical remoteness in both space and time the shaping of the arrow gets harder and hence both slower and less accurate. For the multiple elementalists, however, there are (at least) two answers. The first is that the motion imparted to the arrow is transferred, by the same rules of transferrence used by the archer and his bow, to the air through which it flies - the breeze felt when an arrow narrowly misses is cited as proof of this (although fourth dimensionists say this is simply a feature of imprecise control by the archer "moving" the arrow). This covers the motion element nicely, but the loss of aim or "Artifice" is less clearly explained. This leads to the second theory, that of "ethereal sponge". Shek p'var tend to think of the elements as existing in a great ocean beyond some mystical barrier which holds them back, but if that were so, say the Spongists, a single catastrophic spell backfire would spell the end of Kethira. Rather, they say, the elements exist in a matrix reminiscent of those sponges which come from the seas of Karejia; in some places the element will be "soaked up", in others it will "seep out" (where each occurrs being variable by element, earth being paticularly noticeable at ground level, for instance, and encouraged by certain "seeds" which we call plants). Motion and Artifice are clearly soaked up in the Air. Mages in this schema operate not by "opening flood gates (hopefully) under control" but rather "squeeze" the sponge for a semi-arbitrary amount of element. As a slight digression, some have tried to explain the improved accuracy of steel tipped arrows in terms of their higher content of Artifice (metals, having a certain amount of "inherent" Artifice, are naturally easier to work than stone, although if sufficient work were put into a stone it might conceivably acquire as much Artifice as a steel arrowhead).
The other noticeable thing the arrow in flight does is to tend toward the ground with increasing rapidity. At the simplest level this is merely regarded as a rule of shaping by the fourth dimensioners. Others say that there is a natural attraction between "particles" of the same element - thus an arrow, which is largely wood (Earth) and steel (Earth/Artifice/Metal) is attracted to the great mass of Earth and Metal that exists at and below ground level. That the motion should get faster as the ground gets nearer seems obvious, but the concepts of inertia and of overcoming the Motion upward initially imparted by the archer and bow are also neccessary to fully explain observations. Perhaps the most "advanced" school, but one reviled for its "Scientificism" is one that describes yet another element; Gravity (which the ground has in abundance). Another interesting view is that the Air, finding the Earthy arrow unpalatable, simply rejects it. Followers of this school commonly view nature as a continuing struggle between the First Gods/Base Principles, with the Earth trying to invade the Air with growths of trees and such, and with Air fighting back (commonly allied with water) with gradual erosion and fierce storms. This battle gets quite complex, with Fire seeming at first to be anathaeme to life/Earth, but in fact providing mountains and good soil in the long run.
The subject of Lythian Alchemy has been covered in depth by an excellent Tome by Petryk of Macdonel (See J.Patrick McDonalds article and Tome of Alchemy, plus N.R.Crossbys original article to which it refers), so what follows is merely a synopsis. Lythian alchemists have long realised that the concept of everything being composed simply of six or four elements is untenable. They have subdivided the traditional elements into several types of corpuscules as which they may manifest. They describe a further principle, a force which they tentatively ascribe to the Savoryan element, which holds these corpuscules of Prima Materia together as compounds. That it should be possible to sunder, combine or recombine these corpuscules using either natural rules or Magickal manipulations is easy to understand. So too is the natural incompatibility of fire and water which leads to both evaporation (as the water seeks escape) and dousing of the fire. The fact that living things need air to breathe was problematical until it was realised that it was in truth only the phlogistin (a form of Fire) which was neccessary for life, and that pure "Fixed Air" killed plant and animal both.
Lythian physicians abandoned some time ago (for the most part) the idea of bodily health being simply a matter of the balance of the elements or "principles" or humours in a living body. While such imbalances are commonly the symptoms of disease, it is generally accepted that this is as ofter as not the body attempting to combat the disease itself by radical means. Some Doktors ascribe to the Alchemists idea of corpuscules, some do not, but most agree that disease is most commonly the result of aberrant Growth/Earth principle inside the patient. This poses a dilemma for the host body, for it relies itself upon this principle for its own continued existence. A common result is fever, as the host body tries to raise its temperature above that which the aberrant parasite will endure; clearly this is a risky procedure. Treatment is usually a combination of moderating the symptoms (administering water to a fevered patient both internally and externally) and attempting to bolster the bodys defences or purge out the invading principle. Thus a disease believed to be blood based might be weakened by bleeding and substances such as Yulpris, which is known for its supreme virtue in discriminating between types of Growth principle, may be administered. Honest Doktors sadly agree that several of these methods also harm the host, so a balance of maximum benefit/minimum harm has to be struck.
Original author was Mark Hazen,
but has been edited by Avathar Valcana
for campaign reasons.