theories/thoughts/analysis about touchstarved 2025 demo
So uh, I did a long analysis post back when the first demo dropped. I won’t repeat things that I already wrote there but I have some more thoughts especially with the changes and additions they made + several of the scattered official tumblr posts that followed the demo release!
Also heads-up, I will edit this with the daily routine posts from the devs' account if they're relevant, since I already commented on Mhin’s, but apart from those I won’t touch this anymore afterwards 🙏
(Spoilers under the cut)
Kuras
His new red choice… Really amps up his association with fire, and it seems to be directly linked with how close we are to him: if you didn’t get the red choice you still feel it, but you’ll miss this line: “I realize it’s more than physical warmth. The sensation calms my nerves and quiets my mind—the closest thing I’ve ever felt to a comforting embrace”.
One thing is interesting though: the red choice was unlocked during my Unnamed playthrough, but not during my others even if I picked the same choices. I tried again picking the opposite choices with my Unnamed and still got that red choice, so I’m pretty sure it depends on your origin, not your relationship with him. Since, as of now, Kuras hasn’t yet revealed his true nature to us (I suspect Eridia more or less knows, though), it would make sense that specifically the origin about detecting hidden supernatural presences would notice earlier than the others.
The dev answered a question on their tumblr about Kuras, “Kuras came through the Shroud because he loved humanity. He’s had human friends, colleagues, and lovers… all of whom he’s destined to outlive. Each person he’s loved—and lost—left an indelible stamp on him.” The stamp part caught my attention; since we feel his powers more whenever when get closed (physically, but moreso emotionally), I wonder if he can… channel? That affection into energy. Kind of how deities are fueled by their followers’ faith, perhaps an angelic being like Kuras is fueled by emotions?
A bit of relevant lore was posted on the dev team's tumblr: “Divine Teacher — The Senobium's folklorists note a curious pattern in humanity's oldest tales. Though the details vary, these stories share a common theme: an otherworldly teacher, bringing the divine gift of knowledge. Alchemy and literacy, art and war...supposedly this being shared all that they knew with the earliest civilizations. In some tales, the otherworldly teacher is a loving, benevolent figure. In others, they are a harbinger of chaos and ruin.” as well as the quote “Hope. A strange concept, after so long seeing myself as the agent of ruin.” Prometheus is the obvious parallel, due to his association with fire (though I would hope Kuras still has his liver intact), but there’s many versions of the Theft of Fire; in the Book of Enoch there’s fallen angels who shared knowledge with humans, too; and undoubtedly several more myths about inhuman figures sharing knowledge. Mhin says that “[Kuras]rarely does [take payment from patients]. That just means he’s paying down the debt elsewhere” which could be related to his distaste for dealing with the Senobium… I wouldn’t even be surprised if he had a hand in creating the Senobium (his robes are white too, and he does collaborate often, yet he isn’t afraid of retribution for messing a little with its members from what we can see of his ending scene), and he had all the time in the world to witness how the knowledge he gifted was used for worse things that he could’ve hoped for :(
Kuras, like Ais, keeps on his own for the most part, though they don’t dislike feeling close to people: Ais actually dislikes isolation but he’s probably too jaded to want to bother interacting, while Kuras actively craves closeness (it’s part of the reason he has a free clinic methinks) even if he knows it will hurt him when he loses it.
Leander
Leander’s group is now called The Adderstone. The symbology of an adder stone, aka witch stone, is definitely a bigger hint at Leander’s unique connection to magic, whereas previously the Bloodhounds evoked the feeling of a mercenary group with a penchant for investigations. In the new demo Adderstone is defined as “a semi-precious mineral that draws out poison”, which also makes me think of his constant disposition as a confident protector and his tendency to disregard the riskier aspects (ie, he wouldn’t care about getting poisoned himself). The Adderstone’s meaning is still vaguely reminiscent of my previous thoughts about the Bloodhounds: Hounds are a breed specifically intended to track something specific (or someone specific) by scent, and in the new metaphor that something/someone is the poison that Leander and his mercenaries are drawing out, hunting.
Adder stones are sometimes also symbolically tied to snakes, some sources saying they were created by turning dead snakes into the stone, others say that the ring-like formation was made by a hardened bubble of saliva when snakes joined together… All quite nicely tied to the recurring Ouroboros symbol in Leander’s outfit and merch!
“I’m no prior or curator. I’m not much for paperwork or pencil pushing. And honestly, I don’t even think those robes come in my size.” I am reminded of an old post by user @/toeridiaorbust about how Leander and the Bloodhounds Adderstones clothes are a direct color inversion of the Senobium’s robes.
“If you want nothing but guidelines, improper policies, and needless bureaucracy, you know where to go […] The Senobium won’t help you. They’re more likely to torture you than to lend you a hand.” Now this? Makes me wonder if his prominent scars are connected to his loathing towards the Senobium.
“But I’m not going to wait from word from on high […] These are our streets. We make our own luck here […] I founded the Adderstones to help people like you.” connects to the “as above, so below” tagline that was in his posters in the first demo and first hinted at him creating the Adderstone as an alternative to the Senobium.
The lore snippet about him on the dev’s tumblr doesn’t add anything that we don’t know from the new demo about Leander and the Adderstone, but there’s an interesting part at the end: “Locals speak praise for the charming leader whose seemingly benign reign extends even below the city streets into the shadowed depths of the Silent Crypts.” Considering all of his symbolism about the cycle of rebirth (I went into detail in my old analysis post), the fact that this references a crypt of all places doesn’t feel coincidental… We haven’t heard of the location yet from what I can remember, but I would bet that it’s connected to Leander’s hidden curse / source of power.
In an old post, the devs confirmed that “The magically talented son of an old Hightown family, Leander was expected to join the Senobium when he came of age. Instead, he packed up his bags twelve years ago to chase his own dreams” which matches with his own words in the demo: “I grew up idolizing the Senobium. I wanted nothing more than to join their ranks, to learn magic from the best, to make a real difference. I was young and blinded by the legends and the legacy. I was so damn naive. All it took was one trip here, to Lowtown, to show me the truth.”
“I won’t leave you, and you won’t leave me” + “How would you feel about being on a leash?” + “You can decide how to thank me. Or I can decide for you.” he’s not beating the yandere allegations.
“It’s not every day I find something that truly challenges me” we already knew he likes being challenged, which is pretty much his whole relationship with Ais. It’s interesting because with MC, he tends to prefer when they defer to him, trust him, take the flower and hold hands…. I think both things are a way to reaffirm his confidence: a challenge surpassed is proof that he’s strong enough to face what he has ahead, and having people trust him (in Kuras’ words, even willing to put their lives on the line for him) is a different way to feel that kind of influence.
The new scene of him coming into MC’s room with the excuse of having information about the curse, it feels like a contrast with the other characters’ ending scenes. Everyone shows a little about themselves, their attitude or their habits, but Leander feels like he mirrors MC. Even asking him about his relationship with the others, he comments on what we say about them rather than speaking up about them unprompted.
I initially didn’t think much of it so it may be nothing but it’s worth mentioning anyways: while chatting with Leander nearer the ending, he can say “How would you feel about being on a leash?” which is easy to dismiss as just him being a little freaky, but then I recalled after the first encounter with Vere, when the MC remarks that they could share his fate and get “leashed” by the Senobium. I doubt Leander would intentionally let MC in the hands of the Senobium, considering his animosity towards them, but it’s still a chilling thought that feels like foreshadowing...
Vere
re: his bad/secret ending, I appreciate that he shows some restraint this time around. I’m now pretty certain that you can only get the option to “Reach out to him” (red choice) versus “Resist him” (neutral) if you played along with him at least a little bit; while “Surrender” (bad ending) is only unlocked if you don’t have his approval and you say that if you can’t find a cure it’s over for you (rather than “I’ll keep looking”).
In two posts on tumblr (here and here), the devs posted a couple of peeks at Vere’s living space. “Candles flicker in the waning light, illuminating a crowded desk at odds with its gloomy surroundings.” and “Few in living memory know why the Senobium built the secret prison where Vere is kept. What do you think happened to the other prisoners?”. Given it’s described as a secret prison, I’m torn about it being located in the entertainment district where we first found him. One one hand, he was shackled there and it was morning, the Senobium cleric hadn’t yet come to fetch him. On the other hand, it feels like a weirdly dangerous place to put the deathly charming Monster in? No other buildings can be seen from the window, which is either just to not clutter the view or it’s a tall building, a spire taller than the rest, which would only leave the blue sky visible from that angle.
The three items that mainly occupy his space are candles (I would’ve thought he would be able to see in the dark, perhaps just not comfortably or perhaps he likes the atmosphere they create... or they're not there for his benefit, but that of his captors), books (I could swear there’s a full picture of his sketchbook somewhere but just considering this sneak peek of it here, I think it’s the one in the middle of the desk… As for the books, he doesn’t like puzzles, I’m not sure he would be the studious type, so my bet is on them being entertainment), and shackles in his bedroom and by the desk. This last detail feels particularly invasive, as the implications are that someone is scheduled to keep an eye on his routine, dictating when he is allowed bedtime and when he can read/draw/brush his tail (there’s a little brush and mirror in the shelves). There’s also some handwritten papers on his desk, I wonder if he’s allowed to send letters or if he just writes them?
One additional detail caught my attention: doesn’t the decoration in the chair by his desk look remarkably similar to the design of Kuras’ earrings? Though there’s different additional elements for each, they both are a circle with three drops underneath it… Which makes me even more convinced that Kuras played a significant part in initially capturing Vere.
The comment about “What do you think happened to the other prisoners?” brings to mind Vere’s insistence that if the Senobium realized what the MC is, they’d be leashed as well. I don’t doubt that other Monsters have been kept by them in a similar manner, perhaps some of them also were offered a way to end their suffering by Vere, like he did with MC in his secret/bad ending.
In a tumblr post by the dev team about his lore: “Bloodstained Snow — The Senobium's archives hold countless records of stories that defy belief. One ancient report recounts the haunting of a remote village by what is described at first as a god, and then as a demon. Heavily redacted, the papers depict a team of researchers hunted by a self-proclaimed deity that transforms into a malignant entity. After the beast succumbs to freezing conditions, its ultimate fate is unknown-doubtlessly lost with the pages removed from the report.” I would bet that this is (part of) the reason why Vere dislikes snow… Apart from that, it’s interesting that Vere presented as a god first. History is written by the victors, and I wouldn’t take this recounting as the full truth. If he approached the village like he did with us, at first charming (if a bit unnerving, but deities can afford that) and then started preying on people’s trauma/insecurities, it’s not much of a stretch that they’d label him a demon—and to be fair, his monstrous form doesn’t inspire much safety either. I wonder if he first caught Kuras’ attention (or wrath) by proclaiming himself a god?
I’m also still thinking of Vere being a foil for Mhin: both hunt Soulless, he does out of obligation and they do presumably as a choice in line with their ideals; one leans completely on his Monster side and lets it leak through nonchalantly, the other despises Monsters and hides their own unnatural skills; Vere puts on airs to hide his thoughts, overwhelming you with (effective or not) charm, while Mhin is standoffish and avoids opening up by… well, avoiding you.
Ais
The Exile notices “Not many scars, though. Strange. Save for one cut along his brow, Ais is unmarked for how seasoned he acts.” In a post on tumblr the team answered a question about this particular scar: “Ais’s scar serves as a memento of his first day in the human realm, a stark reminder of all that can be lost. His gang imparted a lesson he’ll never forget, and he returned the favor in kind.” What feels more likely to me, is that he passed through the Shroud with his gang, they had a serious disagreement and/or they betrayed him (we already know from the character sheets and other hints that he doesn’t like being alone, I feel like it’d take something serious for him to turn his back on them), fought and he got injured during this confrontation. Then he found (?) Ocudeus, and we can assume from the fact that the red-eyed woman who lead us to the Seaspring still had visible marks of her previous health, that the Seaspring doesn’t restore wounds, so the wound was already there and didn’t get healed. I don’t think it’s likely that Ais has regenerative powers (also, his knuckles are bruised constantly, and he bleeds when MC bites him).
Leander also says that Ais “doesn’t see humans as equals”. Humans, by their very nature, can’t realistically be a match for the power of a Monster, so Ais wouldn’t consider them on the same level as him. In the same line of thinking, he seems to like more when MC can hold their own, and I feel like it’s connected to his trauma about being betrayed: if people can take care of themselves (like Vere, who’s as dangerous as Ais, and Leander, whom he respects), if he gets betrayed by those he likes, then at least he won’t have to hold back and it will be a fair fight.
When Ais says his old gang “took a walk”, the Exile wonders about this “He knows how to scare people, and he expects submission, but it’s uncommon for someone so used to being in power to be so… alone.” The Exile also has the most positive reaction by far to the Soulless in the Seaspring. When talking with Mhin, the Exile says “[Ais’] Soulless seem to like him though […] There’s a big difference between Ais’ Soulless and that many-eyed Soulless [that attacked me].” Being playful (perhaps even being in groups) isn’t a behavior they usually display, and I wonder how much of that is because they share being under the influence of Ocudeus so they're not hostile to what they consider allies, and how much it could be Ais’ doing instead: if he feels so alone, I would bet that he would (subconsciously or not) use the bond with the Groupmind as a way to feel less isolated, and those feelings impact the behaviour of the Soulless.
Ais talks about “a time where Leander’s resolve will be tested, same for anyone in this plane or the next” I think that the Adderstones remind him of what he had, or could have had. He sees something of himself in Leander, but Ais is jaded by his previous experience. I now wonder if the assassination attempts are his way to test him, make sure he’s ready for whatever comes, something that he feels like he lacked when he was left alone?
The lore post about Ais on the official tumblr reads: “Death Knell — Whispers echo about a fearsome Monster within the Shroud, their overwhelming power and authority stretching across the realm’s underworld. Few have seen the face of this infamous ruler. As Monsters continued to abandon the Shroud to seek thrills in the human realm, the being stayed behind, devouring forsaken domains and Monsters alike until no challenges were left. Now, as the being seeks conquest elsewhere, Monsters stir in anticipation of impending carnage.” This also could reference the time where [everyone’s] resolve will be tested; I wonder if it’s a general comment, about Monsters as a whole (Ais himself likes a good challenge), or if Ocudeus specifically is working towards something. In England, there was a tradition to ring the so called passing bell from the church when someone’s death was imminent; then the death knell when they passed away (there’d be additional rings to signify gender, and age, so that people could get an idea of who it was); and finally the corpse bell when the funeral was being held. If we want to read too much into the cool moniker, perhaps Ais is not meant to be the harbinger of chaos, but merely a warning sign.
The Unnamed will comment about hearing a faint heartbeat pulsing underground, when they first approach the land near the Seaspring. Earlier they also comment about feeling a kind of thrumming in Eridia itself, I wonder how far Ocuseus’ influence expands? Is it limited to where its Groupmind members are?
Leander says that he’s known Ais for around six years, which considering Kuras says that Ais is a recent arrival, could be that he’s passed through the Shroud into Eridia for less than a decade even?
Mhin
They’re EVEN MORE of a nerd in this version. Clearly knowledgeable about Soulless’ biology, even though they deny having studied anatomy or medicine. In an older post on the devs' tumblr, “Mhin was forced to apply their anatomical knowledge to violence in order to survive. After years of bitter experience, they learned to fight with agility, elegance, and surgical precision. Even in Eridia, their skills see more use in combat than healing.” which again makes me think they maybe didn’t formally study them, but being an apprentice to someone isn’t out of the equation (perhaps even Kuras, the Divine Teacher?). Them saying to an Alchemist’s red choice “It’s been a while since I had someone answer [my theories]” hints that they weren’t always alone in leading a life like this, before. Like Leander says about them, “Vulnerability doesn’t get you much except heartache.”
“Something about them is strange, unlike any human or Monster I’ve ever met. I can’t quite place my hand on why, and that’s a first” is what an Unnamed says when first encountering them. Not human, not Monster, but a mix of both—Not enough Monster yet too far gone from Human. A post on the devs’ tumblr depicts Mhin (partially?) transformed: they’re still clearly recognizable, it could be they’re just mid transformation but considering the comment from the Unnamed, I don’t think Mhin can become fully a Monster (like, say, Vere’s shadow fox is also kinda incorporeal but more shaped): it is said that Monster gain more control over their human form as time progresses, so Mhin has probably only recently become like this.
The description of “a tar-like substance leaking from their eyes and bony extrusions” matches their pin designs as well as their “costume” in the official 2024 Halloween art, and the tar/blood leaking from their eye matches the pastry on the official 2025 Valentine’s Day art (bottom right corner).
Ais calls them “dove” and considering their Monster form seems to be quite the opposite, black ichory feathers and all, makes me believe that Ais has seen them shifted sometime and is poking fun at it. Or I’m just reading into it too much and it’s about them having white hair and Ais defaulting to bird nicknames for some reason.
The Exile comments “It’s one thing to strike down Soulless. They’re creatures of instinct, aggressive and dangerous to everyone. But Monsters are lucid, thinking beings—beings that Mhin seems to loathe.” It feels like their hatred is brought on by how familiar they are: they know the thoughts that compel a Monster (hence their insistence that MC seeks help from someone less dangerous than them) and they hate that they’re their own thoughts.
In a recent post detailing their daily schedule, it seems to me that Mhin doesn’t sleep, or barely does. I’m more inclined to say that it’s a consequence of their nature, that they haven’t accepted (so they still want to sleep, even if they can’t or don’t need it), similar to how Kuras doesn’t really eat.
Since they both compete in the same field, I wonder if Mhin and Vere first met while hunting Soulless? Do they ever meet while on the same contract, or do they run in different circles?
I don’t think they mentioned this in the first demo, but Mhin says they grew up in Eridia. Which really surprised me, because in the pre-release content they’re referred as “outsider” and “outcast”… Unless that’s changed in the rewrite, maybe they were cast off when they were young, or maybe they weren’t physically exiled but rather their family/group of origin estranged them? “Eridia wasn’t perfect, but it used to be a place worth living in” also could be said in a more subjective sense, Mhin didn’t lead a perfect life but they were satisfied with it before. Moreover, Leander says about them “I’ve known them since they arrived here.” Perhaps they grew up in Eridia, left at some point, and came back later? And when asking Kuras about Mhin, he says “Like you, they’re a recent arrival.” though that could just be that Kuras has a different concept of time, considering he’s centuries old. In any case, I highly doubt it’s just an oversight from the team because so far every detail is very curated. There’s something here about Mhin’s timeline that I can’t quite put my hands on yet.
Now the juiciest bit of info about them yet in my opinion, is on their tumblr lore drop from the studio: “Lost Expeditions — In a bygone era, before Eridia became the last beacon of humanity, there was Lovent. Yet where a bustling metropolis once stood, there is now only a blasted crater and empty ruins, blanketed by fog. The inhabitants, and large chunks of the city, had vanished into thin air. Over the following years, scholars flocked to the ruins in search of answers. Like the Loventians, they disappeared without a trace, and none ever returned.” Lovent is also referenced in another post, as “The previous largest city, Lovent, was the epicenter of the first Fogfall. In the century since, Soulless and Monster incursions destroyed most cities, leaving Eridia as the largest remaining one.” It makes me wonder, if Mhin maybe did grow up in Eridia, went to Lovent either in time to be caught in its destruction, or afterwards to investigate it. It’s possible that this is how they became a Monster… In the description of their flower, there’s also a reference to “barren wastelands to ruins perpetually shrouded in Fogfall” which is way too similar to “empty ruins, blanketed by fog” to be a coincidence. It’s possible that they physically entered the Fogfall/Shroud, and what emerged wasn’t fully them anymore.
Thanks if you read so far, as always I’m always happy to read other thoughts about it all or if I missed something 👀
I posted this a little while ago on the Touchstarved reddit to answer someone's question about the ages of the cast and I thought I'd post it here for your theory consideration 🙂↕️
*I use human years (HY) and Shroud years (SY) on occasion.
CW; very very mild spoilers from backer updates
tldr at the end ♥️
Oldest to youngest; Kuras, Vere, Ais, Mhin, Leander and this is dearly canon with Vere, Ais, and Mhin having some ambiguity in Shroud years.
1)
In Kuras' character lore page he's implied to be referenced in humanity's oldest tales, I think Kuras being the oldest is backed by this piece we got about Vere last month too;
2)
Vere is the second oldest if you're counting years in the human realm, but technically the third oldest (update #58)
*In updates about their birthdays and such RSS jokes about Vere and Kuras being an obnoxious 15+ digit age haha
3)
I assume Ais is the third oldest in human realm years, but I think in Shroud years ™️ he's older than Vere? Because it's either him or Mhin, and Mhin has to be young enough to be from Eridia, unless Eridia is effectively Mesopotamia
- Since he's from the Shroud, he doesn't have the same restraints on age that humans do.
-Leander mentions knowing Ais for 6 years give or take. It's possible he's only been in the human realm about that long, as he presumably needs to travel into Eridia to have built his relationship with Vere (I don't believe they knew each other in the shroud, as Vere has been collared for a long time. If they did know each other then centuries, at the very least, will have had to pass since they were reunited)
-And then whatever his ties to Ocudeus imply that we don't know. According to the Death Knell lore drop I think Ocudeus is the only rival to Kuras' age, maybe it's older.
4)
I've seen a theory on here about Mhin being from a different era and getting stuck in time during a trip to Lovent or the like. They've mentioned being from Eridia and how things weren't always the way there are, yet everyone believes they are new. (The Lovent is from a 'bygone era' too, if we take that literally it could be implying Mhin is the one older than Vere in SY, or at the very least that means Ais and Vere are older than an era SY) Compared to Ais, who could be a few decades old or much much more, and Leander who likely isn't older than 35, I don't think Mhin being here is a stretch.
*also, is Mhin human? I've been certain they are for so long I've forgotten where I might have read they were human. I know Leander is just some guy ™️ so does that mean he's the only human? Even though everyone is monstrous, but I'm not sure if it's exactly cannon that Mhin isn't a monster from the Shroud. I could just be misremembering 😓
5)
Leander is the youngest (update #32 -June 2024)
"...Leander was expected to join the Senobium when he came of age. Instead, he packed up his bags twelve years ago to chase his own dreams..."
I wonder what exact age this quote is referring to. Normally, we'd assume 16 or 18, but 'of age' in Hightown could be something completely different. 16 is the youngest I figure, so minimum he's possibly around 28 but it's anybody's guess.
TLDR;
Kuras - history has been forgotten plenty of times since his arrival to the human realm, Eons
Vere - confirmed second oldest in human realm years, Epoch or Era
Ais- third oldest in human realm years, potentially older than Vere in Shroud years
Mhin- second youngest, potentially older than Vere in Shroud years.
Leander- confirmed youngest and personally I see him as mid to late 20's, 25-32 ish
Yall really liked the Mhin clothing analysis so here’s one for Vere:
Vere’s clothes are very loose, very sheer, and very lightweight. Quite the opposite to Mhin. He seems to be trying to wear as little clothing as he possibly can.
He’s also chained and collared by the Senobium. Chains are heavy, thick, and restrictive.
So his clothes are the complete opposite to that. He wants freedom, it’s been stolen from him. His is forced to wear restraints, so his clothes are the one thing he can use to give himself a sense of freedom
Kuras's Atonement + His Past with the Senobium - A Theory
So the latest Kuras character lore came out, which hints at Kuras or one of his fellow angels being the 'otherworldly teacher' who taught humans stuff like writing, art, WAR, etc. Inventions that can be used for good, bad or in between. Hence there are differing views of this entity - as benevolent or a harbinger of ruin.
Moreover, the caption states (it's highly plausible that Kuras says it) - “Hope. A strange concept, after so long seeing myself as the agent of ruin.”
This, plus an earlier stats post that puts his empathy at 2 / 5 lead me to the folllowing conclusion -
We know that Kuras is atoning for a past blunder by entering the human world and setting up his charitable interventions. That catastrophe was probably the event of him introducing all these new concepts to humans WHILE lacking the lived human experience to truly foresee, understand and empathise with the consequences. For example, war happens for resource access, profiteering, ideology, punitive 'destroy those sinners' rage etc. Perhaps Kuras introduced war hoping to elevate the humans he considered righteous or wiser over those he thought evil, lesser or dangerous, but this judgemental aloofness meant he overlooked the reasons WHY people do evil, overlooked moral greyness. And then this spiralled out of control because he failed to grasp and predict humanity's vices.
It's like how less intelligent animals commit atrocities ultimately for survival and genetic lineage, but more intelligent animals like dolphins, otters and above all, humans will commit atrocities and shape exploitative systems for non - strictly essential reasons.
But why didn't he correct his mistake ? Maybe he lost hope for humanity out of disgust and left them to their sordid devices. But that fixed nothing and only led to more suffering. Or maybe his specific kind of inhuman purity (and I mean 'pure' in a very NEUTRAL sense) prevented him from understanding humans enough to do anything about it all. And then he went into exile in the mortal world to finally try to decode and dialogue with humanity through with an open mind instead of an untouchable omniscience.
Perhaps that's why he hates the Senobium. They seem to pursue knowledge and innovation for all kinds of reasons at ANY cost, treating living creatures as a lab simulation. Earlier he had good relations with them, back when he stuck to his original path. But now it's just a reminder of his biggest sin.
Possibly a stretch, but what if he had a hand in the Senobium's initial establishment + growth ?
touchstarved LIs and their matching alchemical processes
in attempting to achieve the magnum opus (creation of the philosopher's stone), alchemists devised a 12-step, and to each, a zodiac sign.
which is really good because i get to play theorist and attempt to link things together now :]
tldr: the alchemical processes give us a hint towards character motivations and very general guides for their routes i feel
Mhin - 1 - Calcination - Aries ♈︎
calcination is the thermal treatment of a solid chemical compound, raising it to high temperature without melting it under the restricted supply of oxygen to remove impurities or volatile substances
easy linkage to their desire to rid themself of their curse!
it is interesting how calcination is linked to very controlled fire (who else is linked to fire? kuras!) but more than that I like how it also stresses that the compound must not melt in order for calcination to be successful, could this hint at how carefully mhin (and by extension, the player) must tread in dealing with their curse?
Leander - 3 - Fixation - Gemini ♊︎
fixation is the process where a previously volatile substance is transformed into a form that is not affected by fire - this is done so by separating the substance and putting it back the same or in a different shape at a subatomic level
this honestly screams 'rebirth' to me which isn't surprising at all considering leander is also associated with ouroboros and the triple moon symbol which represent the same theme
it is interesting how fixation stresses the process of breaking something down to recreate it stronger, it's double interesting that making something stronger equals not being affected by fire
all in all leander's link to fixation is telling of his drive for power and knowledge, maybe even through self-destructive means. after all we still don't know where he got that scar from
Ais - 5 - Digestion - Leo ♌︎
digestion is the process where raw materials are transformed into a more purified or refined state - it's more symbolic than the biological digestion and refers more to how a substance undergoes a series of stages leading to its ultimate transformation
if anything, this process is a better link towards ocudeus than ais (who is acting as that fuckass octopus' agent, even if he doesn't know it yet) we know Ocudeus has consumed all challengers within the shroud and is now seeking to expand his domain into the real world after all
that means the raw materials can be seen as those who drink from the Seaspring and thus are transformed and join the groupmind as a big happy family!
it is interesting that many Monsters in the real world are simply bracing themselves for Ocudeus' inevitable onslaught, you'd think someone would warn the humans but at the moment everyone seems more willing to watch it all burn
Vere - 8 - Separation - Scorpio ♏︎
separation is the process where a previous mixture is separated into two or more distinct products in order to obtain purity
in more spiritual terms they highlight a need to distinguish the true self from acquired personality traits shaped by external influences
this one's also pretty obvious (for now...) as we know vere's gotten sick of the senobium and is viewing us, the player, as a new opportunity to get out from his chains
but this has also made me think, after a separation like that there is always waste and byproduct, how are we going to deal with the aftermath? and more importantly, after such a long time of being under the senobium's thumb, who is vere without them?
Kuras - 10 - Putrefaction/Fermentation - Capricorn ♑︎
putrefaction in the purely alchemical sense is linked to nigredo - in modern terms it's simply allowing something to rot undisturbed but I don't necessarily see the links between that and kuras' route unless of course we're supposed to think that kuras is the seed to rotting humanity (which is a bummer.) - putrefaction was necessary to cleanse and cook all alchemical ingredients necessary for the philosopher's stone into a uniform black matter
kuras' linkage to brimstone, sulfur, and divine fire/judgement also lend itself to this definition
cleansing fire and turning everything to ash seem just up kuras' alley in his journey to atonement, we just might get singed along the way
also interestingly nigredo in analytical psychology is also metaphorical for when an individual confronts the shadow within, which are very fitting for kuras' self-imposed guilt and turmoil
