Peek: Unremarkable (Patreon)

This... is going to be harder than he thought. He and the others from the Great mother are here to lend their assistance in fighting the Betrayer, but every last one of them also hopes to start unraveling the mystery that is the new gravity affinity.

On the surface, it's simple: it's down. It's such a simple concept that it had been overlooked my literally everyone until Thedeim pointed it out. But seeing what the dungeon and deity actually does with it shows the simplicity is hiding quite a lot. Like the fact that down doesn't have to be constant, and weight is an expression of how hard down is pulling. It also doesn't have to actually be down for something to be drawn to it!

He's tried talking to a few of Thedeim's priests for more information, but it seems they're still figuring it out, just like him. Ironically, it's easy to get distracted from testing after seeing how rigorous their testing methods are! Isolating variables, questioning conclusions, rerunning tests to make sure they're accurate... they could easily join the ranks of the Great Mother's warrior scholars!

But with them still figuring things out, he's turned to observing the denizens and scions when he can. The creatures of a dungeon have a deeper connection to their affinities than people do, having instincts to guide them, instead of minds complex enough to consider the implications of what they're doing.

He wasn't even sure that would work, at least at first. If it's a new affinity, would the denizens still have instincts for it? Don't they need time for those instincts to form? From his observations, they have just as much control over gravity as any other denizen and their affinity, and will each express it in their own unique ways.

Most of the spawns use it as a sort of telekinesis, or as a way to approach from unique angles. But there are two examples that really test the boundaries. One is an outlier that he cannot, in good conscience, add to his data set. Rocky already does impossible things with known affinities. That he can do ridiculous feats with gravity goes without saying. Perhaps once he and others have a better understanding of the affinity, they'll all be able to truly appreciate what he can do, but for now? He can only observe and marvel.

The other demonstrates the sort of lateral thinking that would come up with the idea of gravity. The Unremarkable foxes are actually incredibly remarkable with how easy they are to overlook, and are only more impressive for not using an ounce of mental mana to pull off!

He just wishes it didn't make them so difficult to study! At least there are other conceptual abilities seen in other affinities to compare with. Fire affinity denizens can appear dangerous as an inferno without a single spark, shadow denizens can feel unsettling even in direct light, and life affinity denizens can seem inviting even when covered in deadly thorns. It's not well researched, but perhaps that should change.

He may be trying to grasp beyond his reach by starting with the foxes, but they're the ones he has available. He looks at his notes and at what little information the Dungeoneers have on the denizens and the affinity, finding them both wanting. There's so little, it's difficult for him to even decide where to start!

He tosses out the idea of understanding the physical effect of gravity. Plenty of others are working on that. No, he wants to understand what about it makes the foxes so easy to overlook. He pauses at that, recalling his earlier musing, and even takes a moment to write it down.

So obvious it doesn't register.

He's onto something, he can feel it. It brings to mind two pieces of wisdom he's heard from Thedeim's clergy, who say the scions themselves came up with them. Stuff is made of stuff. Things don't just happen. He looks around his small room in Thedeim's cathedral, trying to think along those lines. They also seem so obvious that they don't even bear saying, but... that only makes them easy to overlook.

What other obvious secrets are hiding in plain sight? Part of him is worried about the answer, but most of him is eager to find out.