INTELLECT: Bathymetry Scour the depths of world-information. Trace the outlines of fundamental ideas and principles. Cool for: Wikipedia enthusiasts, Those-in-the-Know, Historian Wannabes Culture is a scattered, messy web of nodes and lines, but some nodes shine brighter than others. Core components of culture shine the brightest, while notable events, basic facts about the world, geography, language, media literacy all fall under the jurisdiction of the Bathymeter. *You* are a Bathymeter, scouring the world for the basic truths, the realest-of-the-real knowledge. No chasing rumors, no repeating whatever someone else whispered to you; get to the bottom of world, crack open basements, break open crypts, whatever it takes in order for you to have a *true* understanding of the world and its operations. At high levels, Bathymetry will set aside hours of the day to researching as much knowledge as broadly as possible, bouncing from one idea to the next, hot on the trail of some universal truth. You won’t eat, you won’t sleep, but you’ll *breathe* information. At low levels, Bathymetry will provide a somewhat mythological view of the world. Not necessarily a correct one, but one composed of rumors and legends, various half-heard ideas gathered along your journey. Schematics Organize your thoughts onto paper. Design, implement, and execute systems. Cool for: Project Managers, Journalists, Aerostatic Crew Engineers Create organizational systems, scrap old ones. Make new ones *again.* Schematics allows you to partition the world into categories of information, and to build and improve upon systems of organization. At high levels, Schematics will encourage you to spend most of your time planning, doing preliminary work, preparing for a future that will be meticulously designed and flawlessly executed by your hand. Schematics may grow too rigid in its predictive reasoning, however, to the point where things not going according to plan can derail your plans entirely. At low levels, however, you will be unable to effectively visualize or organize the future, on paper or otherwise. Order of Operations Assure that your house is in order. Exist in the present, plan for the future. Cool for: Lab Chemists, Neat-Freaks, Planners and Schedulers Order of Operations nudges you in the right direction, in its opinion. It insists that the completion of *tasks* is a worldview in and of itself. That one’s value is essentially based on their ability to be productive, and that action is the greatest signifier of worth. While *doing* is of course, very important, assuring that everything is laid out and planned before action is taken is perhaps the *most* important step. It will assure you that everything will go smoothly as long as steps are laid out, and plans are devised ahead of time. At high levels, Order of Operations will insist that each and every hour of the day is scheduled out beforehand, and that deviation from any part of the schedule is essentially a wasted day. While you may be more productive, it will certainly chime in to remind you that *the plan* is the most important part. At lower levels, it may not help to schedule important events, remind you of duties and debts owed to others, and will essentially reduce you to a time-ignorant individual. Absolute Bearing Zero in on a single topic. Shut out the world in favor of a single task. Cool for: Experimental Nuclear Physicists, Passionate Sculptors, Lovers of All Things Map-Related The world is a busy, noisy, bustling place. Absolute Bearing turns down the world-volume and turns your attention towards the fine details nestled in the *big picture,* and encourages you to nurture them, study them, make yourself intimately familiar with the microscopic components of *everything.* Absolute Bearing will shut the blinds, turn on a lamp, and make one task the most important thing in the universe for an hour or two. Or three. Or five. At high levels, it may make a shut-in of you. You’ll get out less often, and if you do, you may spend the whole time with friends turning over a particular problem you’ve encountered in your work that’s now eating away at you. Details will become your best friend, but you may lose other friends over it. At low levels, however, the big picture will be *all there is.* You’ll become more easily distractible without a single-focus voice aiding in your concentration. Free Association Connect the dots. Piece together the greater *puzzle.* Cool for: Cruciverbalists, Deluded Conspirators, Legitimate Journalists Free Association wants you to not only gather relevant information on a topic, but also to connect it to seemingly “unrelated” topics. Only when you begin to piece together their similarities will a tapestry of *hidden knowledge* begin to emerge. At high levels, Free Association will gather information that some may consider *useless.* Birthdates of politicians, license plate numbers outside that cafe you like, the number of birds you saw at the park, and it will put together a powerful story of bird-based-conspiracy ongoing within the city. However, at lower levels, it may not even suggest basic connections to you, and that’s going to make it a lot more difficult to understand how you got lost at sea in the first place. PSYCHE: Navigation Chart a course. Chase dreams *and* careers. Cool for: Captains of Conscious Vessels, Aeronautical Engineers, Hopers and Dreamers Navigation urges you to press forward, no matter the weather, and brave the storm through. It sees the light at the end of the tunnel, that there is a future beyond the darkest and coldest nights alone at sea. It encourages you to keep yourself alive, if not for yourself, then for the crew. At high levels, Navigation will ensure the safety of those closest to you, and of your vessel, no matter the cost. It can often make deals with temptation and substance-oriented skills, allowing you a smoke or a drink every now and again, as long as morale is kept high enough to *keep moving forward.* This doesn’t make it less strict in your behavior, but some exceptions will be allowed, whether a wise choice, or not. At low levels, however, the stern voice of reason will grow quieter, and the tide will slowly rise to *overwhelming* heights. What now? Tidal Wave Be overwhelmed by the mysteries of the world. Seek out *hidden* truths. Cool for: Parapsychologists, Gnome Hunters, Researchers Tidal Wave crashes against the shore of your understanding, pulling from the depths of reason and human knowledge, and dredging against the seafloor of perspective. It encourages you to pursue the extreme places of the world, since they are chock full of *latent paranatural potential energies,* to visit cryptic old bookstores in search of esoteric lore, and to meditate on the absurd nature of reality. At high levels, Tidal Wave will not concern itself with preserving your sanity as it dispenses occult information directly to you. Flames will burn brightly where impossible before, the tides will cough up strange and unnerving treasures, and the moon may grow brighter and closer each night. You may have a hard time communicating with anyone without bringing up ghosts, ghouls, world-spirits, or leylines. At low levels, however, any mystical ideas beyond something like gremlins or faeries will go right over your head. Metaphor too, will be interpreted in a more literal sense. You will be more *boring* without some wonder. Attunement Walk in the shoes of others. Relate to other people. Cool for: Psychologists, People Who Create Group Chats, Party People Who Care Attunement is a lens in which you can assess the mental and emotional states of people you know more than people you don't, but it also allows you to imagine how you might behave in someone else's situation. It pauses your egoistic train of thought to allow another to walk within your mind, breathing in the variety of other perspectives that individuals can have on any number of topics or ideas. At high levels, Attunement may interrupt your own thought processes or opinions by prioritizing other people's emotions or perspectives, and you may begin to lose a sense of being, of existing as a unique individual within the collective, rather acting as a mirror or lens that views the outside world. At low levels, however, Attunement will misunderstand basic social cues or insinuations. You may find yourself out of the loop, and you will not know where other people are coming from. Refraction Step outside of your body and see yourself in a social context. Understand where you belong. Cool for: Paranoid Behavioral Analysts, Cold Businessmen, Those Striving to Climb the Social Ladder Refraction takes the lead in assessing group dynamics based on observation, cataloguing social cues, taking *hints,* and understanding what people think of you. It enables you to understand your rank within the pecking order of hierarchical society, puts you in your place when confronted with those wielding *extreme authority,* and allows you to navigate the various abstract human constructions of societal life. At high levels, Refraction will constantly double and triple check what your standing is with a person, insisting that you talk to them, then *analyze* their response to gauge their perspective on *you.* Refraction may also allow you to grow more self-centered, ironically using a group mindedness in order to see whether people *like* you or not, more often than simple navigating social life. You may begin to mistake popularity for genuine fulfillment. At low levels, you will make social faux pax without realizing it, may misunderstand groups and their egregore, and will fail to be a team player in any context. Alma Do Mar Breathe in the sea. Understand the oceans and their stewards. Cool for: Xenooceanographers, Divers, Polar Researchers Alma Do Mar presses your ear against the sand, and listens intimately to the tide and life within the waters. The coast pours in through the mouthpiece of Alma Do Mar, taking you to the shore even when you're hundreds of kilometers away. No matter how far you think you are from the great Panthalassa, Alma Do Mar reminds you just how close the sea is. It's custodians, too, are made bright and are understood by Alma Do Mar, translating their technical speech into the poetry that is conservation and ecological miracle. At high levels, Alma Do Mar will consistently urge you to return to the primordial sea. Have a beach day. Have twenty. Smuggle yourself aboard a research ship, whatever it takes to return to the seas from whence you came. You will know the glint in the eyes of marine scientists when describing their particular aspect of work, and oceanographic terminology will be illuminated more readily to you. At low levels, the greater seas will become less bright, less poetic, less warm. Alma Do Mar will calm itself, and become less insistent that visiting the place of life's birth is of any necessity, or even importance, at all. 1000 Faces Interpret and appreciate fictional works. Add narrative purpose to your life. Cool for: Deluded superstars, Cosplay-Roleplayers, People who believe in witchcraft or magic. The Hero of 1000 Faces encourages you to make use of the fiction you engage with. It affirms with a clarion call that fantasy and fictional narrative is of extraordinary importance in setting a standard of how to live and behave. 1000 Faces extracts values from myth, legend, and poetry and weaves their lessons into the story of *you.* At high levels, 1000 Faces may become caught up in attempting to find *hidden connections* within your life, in a narrative context. Of greater importance will be finding *references* to fiction in your daily life, rather than extracting and utilizing greater narrative themes to your advantage. At low levels, however, 1000 Faces may even encourage you to read non-fiction more often than fantasy or science fiction, after all, they are just *stories.* PHYSIQUE: Field Repair Organize your resources towards keeping the physical body safe, and in check. Patch up minor wounds without sacrificing valuable time. Cool for: Well Adjusted Athletes, Germophobes, Pathological Biochemists Field Repair is your body telling you to slow down, go to bed when your head starts to ache, drink water when salt stings your lips, and bandage your wounds before they start to sting. It encourages you to keep yourself in good condition not out of some moral respect for the body, but out of the practicality of your body's capabilities being limited by injury. At high levels, Field Repair may insist you refuse to partake in any recreational drugs, deviate from specific diets, or take any sorts of risk for fear of injury. This can manifest in driving cars less often for fear of crashing, being overly cautious in otherwise ordinary situations, or hypochondriacy. However, at low levels, Field Repair will make poorer judgement about the overall condition of your well-being, mistaking grave injuries for minor ones, and insisting that your physical state is generally a lot better than it actually is. Amour Propre Love yourself. Care for the temple of your body. Cool for: Bodybuilders, People With High Self-Esteem, Those in Need of Assurance Amour Propre is the calming voice which insists you take a mental health day, encourages you on a job well done, and walks you down the hall of your *gallery of attempts and successes.* While focused largely on thwarting imposter syndrome, Amour Propre also assures you of your worth in the world, and encourages you to learn and grow from failure, especially. At high levels, Amour Propre can begin to inflate your ego to an unrealistic and disrespectful level. Amour Propre may feel slighted or challenged when others don't seem to appreciate your work or efforts, or you may take *too much* time off for yourself without really deserving the break. At low levels, however, Amour Propre will let the world walk all over you, without as much as a word of respect to you. Charybdis Enact revenge upon the body. Use spite to hone your self. Cool for: Wrestlers, Line Chefs that Can Settle Disputes, Heavy Machine Technicians Charybdis is the primal force urging you to shape yourself into a powerful tool, something capable of destruction, though also capable of creation through building your physique and body mass. The maw of Charybdis is wide and hungry, encouraging you to pursue aesthetics and functionality. At high levels, Charybdis will mock and deride you for doing anything other than hitting the gym and grinding out arms every other day. Your silhouette will never be *hard* enough, your posture *poised* enough, or your arms big enough to satisfy the primordial world-gyre. At lower levels, Charybdis won't bother pressing you on physique at all, and you will have a harder time finding reason to even continue pursuing the path of physical improvement. Explosia Punish liars and world-criminals. Convict the people destroying the planet. Cool for: Coral Farmers, Anyone Who Loves Biodiversity, Despairing Anarchists Explosia is the primordial voice of rage against the bastards destroying the planet. It opens your eyes to the hypocrisy of corporations, greenwashing campaigns, and blatant lies spread of the *glory* of the hyper petrol-industrial world complex. It encourages you to organize, spread the word, wake others up from their stupor. Pull the mask from the face of capital, and reveal the inhumanity beneath. At high levels, Explosia will fuel you with the burning rage of a thousand forests aflame, pressing your body towards the brink in order to work as often as possible to dismantle the world shredding corporations, in whatever way you can. At high enough levels, Explosia may convince you that putting your body on the line for the planet is the most noble death there is. If not, you'll at least become more extreme in your beliefs of environmental preservation, working along the brink of legality, and sometimes circumventing the law, if planetary ecological justice can be upheld. At low levels, Explosia will not chime in at all. Fuck the planet. Let it burn. Annihilation Replace the cells in your body. Spiraling introspection. Internal Axiology actualized. Cool for: Thesian Naval Engineers, the Past-Obsessed, Field Biologists Annihilation speaks to the part of your mind most focused on becoming something, someone, better than whoever you were before, and whatever you've become now. Without hesitation, Annihilation will scramble to decipher what makes other people *superior* to you, in hopes of applying the principles deciphered to your own way of life. Creation requires destruction, and you’ll need to destroy your self, your ego, again, and again, and again if you ever wish to improve. This will, of course, require deep, introspective critique, as well as daily action. At higher levels, Annihilation will forge new personas each day for you to breathe in, test out, experiment with, while still retaining a central semblance of self. You will take the most effective parts of the personalities of people you know, or observe, and implement them within yourself. However, like the ship of Theseus, enough replacement after a time may lead you to question your sense of self entirely, to the point where you may find it difficult, or even impossible, to function. At low levels, however, you’ll be stuck in a rut of character. With a severe lack of persona biodiversity, you may find it next to impossible to change and grow. Death Drive Free yourself from the empire of your body. Chase death in subtle and unsubtle ways. Cool for: Skydivers, "High Functioning" Addicts, Saturation Divers The Death Drive is your best friend in encouraging risk-taking behavior, both in short term stupid decisions, and in pursuing long-term habits in order to dull the nausea of abject reality. While other skills deal with addiction in specific ways, Death Drive is your buddy in clarifying that drugs are *not* good for you, but that you should do them anyways. Memento, mori, right, baiat? Make the *best* of this life while you can. At high levels, Death Drive insists that you overload your nervous and endocrine system with enlightening caffeine concoctions, to stay up late, pull all nighters in pursuit of the void. You'll find yourself more and more willing to care less and less about your physical health, as long as you're fulfilling the base desires in any way you can. At low levels, you'll find the thought of destroying yourself as an art project in and of itself a little strange, and will probably pursue healthier means of coping, however you will find it harder to understand others who seek immediate self destruction as a method of dealing with the world. MOTORICS: Polarstern Remain steadfast. Sail the waters without breaking down. Cool for: Silver Birds, Diplomats, Retail Workers Polarstern loves it when you can refrain from *losing your cool.* Keep your adversaries and friends alike guessing at what's going on beneath your perfectly neutral posture. Polarstern straightens your back, takes the telling notes out of your facial features, and marches you towards your destination. At high levels, Polarstern will allow you to remain ambivalent in most conversation, not emotionally investing yourself in it unless absolutely necessary. You can more easily distance yourself from over attaching yourself to others as well, having the dignity to be *normal,* and appear cool and poised in most situations. In time, you won't even remember why you emotionally invested yourself in arguing or discussing things with others at all. It's irrelevant. What matters only is the content of the conversations anyways. Your puppy died? That's unfortunate. And you will react like a stone wall. At low levels, you'll burst out laughing at stupid jokes, let your expression break when someone strikes a nerve, and slouch like nobody's business. Las Ramas Breathe in the world. Stretch your limbs. Strive. Cool for: Rock Climbers, Explorers, Enthusiastic Unpaid Interns in-it-for-the-Experience Las Ramas are the voices that clamor within your head telling you just how high you could climb, on a rock wall, or more metaphorically. They want to see your potential at its fullest. They encourage your ambition to grow, and love seeing you rise. At high levels, Las Ramas will whisper of possibilities that may be outlandish, but will continue to encourage you to reach out as much as possible in every direction in the world. They'll take you down pathways you've never thought to explore before, get you lost in the woods admiring the beauty of it all, and navigate seemingly impossible places out of sheer interest and a desire for more. Las Ramas may also provide conflicting ideas for where you should place your ambition, suggesting you to explore thousands of topics that are interesting, but are otherwise unrelated to the task at hand. Limbs will stretch across chasms to chase possible rabbit holes. Las Almas embodies the joy of that chase. At low levels, you may have no ambition, so to speak. The world will become more routine, more ordinary, and smaller. You won't go climbing as often.