2 replies to this topic

[Bluespheal]

So I've been thinking, how can the curse be explained, how does it work, what it it's nature? (Some spoilers and walls of text ahead, TLDR version at the end)

Obviously is something magical or supernatural, since it can pretty much transform you, however, the other symptoms are much more akin to nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness (kinda obvious once you draw the parallels to diving) so it got me thinking, if those real-life illnesses are caused by pressure, what exactly is at work inside the Abyss? here are some of my thoughts:

First of all, there is a big sign this whole thing is caused by the so called "Force Field" that engulfs the depths of the Abyss, and that may be it, but yet again, what is this force field, magic, light, a gas? that got me thinking even further. We know so far said force field covers the surface of the abyss and it's kinda like a liquid or gas, the more you delve down, the thicker or more dense it becomes, it has some weird properties with sunlight, kinda reflecting it downwards, making the abyss blurry and unseeable from the outside, and at the same time bestowing light into it. 

That's where my first theory formed, the force field is a gas, why? well, just like I said it seems to be somewhat heavier than air, since it "sinks" and gets more and more compressed the lower you go. It refracts light, albeit in a pretty unusual way and it's invisible to most people, but it can still be seen or sensed by some, even the Tamaugachi has a nose-like organ to sense it(the organ is mucus like a nose), perhaps it's emitted from the bottom of the abyss, and makes up a bubble up to the surface, which could be expanding every 2000 years. 

All good so far, but this hypothesis quickly starts to fall apart. While gases do refract light and if heavier than air are denser the lower you go (because of pressure), it doesn't explain some things regarding the curse, if it was a gas, it would have been discovered, since gases are just chemicals floating in the air, you'd suffer the curse the same while ascending and even more so while descending, since it would be thicker and thicker the more you descend, there's no key difference to touching more air from below or from atop. You could protect against it with any sealed container, which someone would have already tried, even the curse-warding box can't protect from the curse (dunno why it is even called that...) so we need something that can pass through most solid objects, that's where my second idea developed.

The force field is light, or more specifically, radiation, waves can cause interference with other waves, hence the manipulation of light. Some forms of radiation can travel through most things, hence why it seems impossible to block the curse. If you go upwards your body is colliding with waves at a greater frequency, kinda like the doppler effect and certain animals can see those invisible waves, once again we might have a match.

However, once again we end up with some contradictions, what and where is the source of this radiation? unlike gases, which could be underground, there aren't any strong or big enough sources of radiation, radioactive elements like Uranium could be the cause. But then the "where" starts to be the problem, if it's at the top, how come the lower you go the more severe the effects are, if anything despite colliding at a greater frequency, the waves would become weaker the lower you go, and the top would be where the symptoms manifest the most, if it's at the bottom, the doppler effect would be reversed, descending would be far more dangerous. Now what about a spectrum-like scattering along the walls? that could work, except for the fact that the borders, where said radioactive material would be found, are actually safer than the center of the Abyss, so as you can see, radiation would also be a tough candidate for the force field.

It was here when I started to think more about it, a liquid? nah, sound? maybe, but kinda the same problems with light... what could it possibly be?!... then while seeing the map of the abyss I caught a glimpse of something...

I saw that the Great Fault was kinda at the same level akin to the ocean floor, that's when it hit me, what if the curse it's just pressure? seeing how insanely deep the Abyss goes it kinda all made sense to me finally, even when it was just being air pressure... except when some research was done...  light can be refracted by pressure, but I doubt it would make a top layer of refraction. Then I thought about sealed containers, we actually use those to protect against pressure irl, then again they don't seem bent, or make any difference. Then the whole going down and up thingy, at first didn't made sense, but out of all the previous theories, this ones fits the most, you slowly suffer some ill effect while going down, and some severe ones while ascending, just like divers. I also thought about the edges, maybe being below rock and walls was somehow lessening the affect of pressure, oh boy I learned how little I know about pressure...

So that's how far I've come regarding the curse, maybe some of you have something to say, add or correct, mind that all this was thought of what I know and whatever little research I did, so if anyone knows or has any ideas, I'll be glad to hear them.

TL;DR: What is the curse as in physically? a gas, light, sound, liquid, pressure, magic? I did some research but came out empty-handed, any ideas?

[Lithe]

I think you're trying to describe it too strictly in currently understood real world science definitions.  There is a deep level of spiritualism with frequent reference of the soul embedded in the abyss, and that goes beyond the spiritualism of the religion of the abyss.  Considering how it seems to react very well to consciousness and things like life-reverberating stones and blessings and curses exist (and birthday disease too, I guess), it is probably related to that type of conception in real life.

 

I'd think of it as closest to light particles/waves, but something distinctly different.  Consider it an unknown particle of some kind of which we simply have no means of measuring or observing in specific controlled circumstances outside of the abyss.  It reacts to the energy of the brain and can subsequently read desires off of it.  Those desires cause literal transformations when reacting with this particle at certain depths, etc.

 

As to why it prevents people from going up, I wouldn't exactly take Nanachi's explanation at face value, especially since she can't exactly pinpoint how it works, just that it works by 'having something like downward spikes that prevent you from going upward'.

 

I think no matter the real particle or wave it is closest to, you're going to have to make up a lot of the details yourself.  Loosen up your speculative constraints for now, and probably forever since we will probably never get a very deep explanation about the curse, just an overall picture of the entirety of the abyss itself, if that at all.

[starburst98]

it could be a literal forcefield being generated by a crashed spaceship or something, reg isn't immune to the curse, he's just on the whitelist.