HWE Enigma Primer

What is Enigma?

Enigma is something beyond knowing, a compound or energy source beyond anything else. It is a mystery beyond understanding. Even those with intimate knowledge of the substance's manipulation know precious little about its origins and even the full extent of its properties. There is always another kind of Enigma to be discovered or released, and with each new variety discovered, more questions are asked.
Nonetheless, Enigma's power serves as an irresistible draw for all kinds of characters, who wish both good and ill. In the right hands, Enigma could cure any number of diseases, power machines of war, or convert entire populations to a warped view of perfection.
Enigma is a tool and a hazard in all of its forms, and those who would seek to control it would do wisely to keep that in mind.

Varieties of Enigma:

*Normal Enigma: A material that comes in various states of matter with the dominant one being either a solid yellow crystal or luminous radiation, Enigma is a mystery even to those that study it intensely. It's origins, it's limits and even its shelf date cannot be quantified. Enigma is a substance that is both everywhere and extremely rare based on its concentration. The amount of Enigma seems to go through cycles in that in one era it can be as plentiful as grain, the next hundred years can see it disappear almost entirely. Enigma is so named for how it continues to refuse to be entirely studied or understood. Just when researchers think they've mapped all possibilities of what the element can do, Enigma reveals yet another new avenue of utility and reaction. Comparisons to fictional 'Unobtainum' or miracle metals, the 'wonder element' are often made. Enigma however is consistent in one thing, contact with it changes things, alters them, and sets them in motion. The chaos of life is reflected in Enigma's many resulting reactions. It's signature influence is unique compared to all other elements and is instantly recognizable as such. In character, Enigma is an extroverted and energetic substance. Even in a solid state it is always pulsing and expanding in some manner. It's effect on living organisms is particularly note worthy as is the singular reason why Kaiju exist. It is also the reason behind many unexplained phenomena and things we presume are supernatural or too fantastical in origin to exist. Enigma does the impossible . Enigma seems to do it all; but in that very same stroke it is incredibly dangerous. The mutations it creates can never be entirely mapped out or controlled. The higher in concentration Enigma becomes the more volatile and explosive it is, resonating with the same sort of horrors nuclear power can cause with perhaps even longer lasting consequences. The difference being those consequences are not usually a flat location of cancer inducing no man's land but rather larger than life animated catastrophes. In moderation Enigma both improves and makes life. In excess it overwhelms life and causes civilization to flat line. Enigma also knows it's own and areas or creatures that are high in Enigma levels tend to lure similar creatures to them subconsciously.  Out of the various types of Enigma, the basic form of it is the easiest to interact with...for better or worse.

*Negative Enigma: An anomaly that appears from time to time, Negative Enigma is what happens when the polarity of Normal Enigma is reversed. The resulting reaction is usually devastating, and the Negative Enigma is usually destroyed in the process, but sometimes a little bit survives. Unlike other kinds of Enigma, Negative Enigma doesn't warp reality. Instead, it drains it of energy and vigor. In areas that harbor concentrations of Negative Enigma, colors seem to dull and the air will grow cold. Prolonged exposure usually means death for anything that doesn't harbor a pulse strengthened by Enigma, or anything doesn't harbor a pulse at all. Negative Enigma also reacts dynamically with Normal Enigma, and if the two collide, it often results in explosions and necrotic lightning. Kaiju created from such reactions are almost universally undead abominations. In further contrast to Normal Enigma, Negative Enigma tends to force other entities of the same type away from it, similar to magnetism. Two Kaiju made from Negative Enigma repel each other on a fundamental level and fights between them tend to be more passively territorial with the Kaiju with the highest concentration pushing out the other but otherwise rarely engaging in prolonged combat. Encounters between Kaiju made from Negative Enigma and those made from Normal Enigma however can multiple types of extreme. Negative Enigma born entities are naturally drawn toward Normal Enigma laden entities as either a source of sustenance or simply to satisfy some sort of inner equilibrium that are now heavily keyed to. Negative Enigma is an energy that self balances and self corrects itself in an how it gives life to that which has lost life. It is effectively the great equalizer of Enigma types. However, it's influence is primarily found in material matter that already exists. In things that do not have material matter or never did, it has nothing to cling to and if deprived of that connection to its material host, Negative Enigma dissipates.

*Faith: A form of energy similar to Enigma but oft believed to be little more than a philosophical expression of the religious and spiritual communities. Concrete evidence of its existence is all but impossible to verify despite accounts of its existence going back  millennia and to the dawn of human civilization. While not physically tangible, Faith works in the same mysterious ways as many psychic abilities are said to operate...if the operator was perhaps the entire planet or a collective of sentient beings. Faith can be recognized through phenomena many refer to otherwise as 'miracles'. Experiences, actions or events that only have a critical moment of executed 'Will' as a catalyst. As such reliably tapping into this ethereal and some would dare to say celestial reservoir of power is supremely difficult. Rather, a lifetime of experience and preparation, with little in the way of material distraction or undermining physical ailment is what is required to access this mysterious form of energy. Operating at a level of energy that cannot be tangibly seen and rarely felt, Faith often takes the form of simple but bewildering illumination. Some who have attempted to study it exclusively have called it 'the beautiful illusion' for enrapturing the mind but having no material substance. Rather, Faith appears to, and temporarily, raise material matter to an idealistic state. It's grandest potential and most dream like visage. Mortal existence cannot maintain such projections of 'Will' indefinitely and so the influence of Faith is something that often appears in direst need or intermittently through many generations. There is no clear character that Faith possesses save for that it is the intense and ideal projection of the 'Will' that is tapping into it. As such it takes countless forms but all of them of an idealized candor and deep mental resonance. Another aspect of Faith is that the few accounts it has taken form it is often expressed through a catalyst of some kind unless the force of the 'Will' themselves has a bodily vessel suitable enough to act as a catalyst. Thus Faith is often recognized as something that is executed by instrument, like music, and not so much through the operator themselves. For the operator to make themselves a catalyst would require a lifetime or even multiple lifetimes to harness the necessary 'Will' and character to be a proper vessel for Faith. Such individuals in the past have been referred to as Saints, Apostles or Buddha. More often Faith is executed through very precise and ritualistic catalysts that take various forms across countless cultures. A Shinto Miko for example would channel Faith through a Gohei or through inscribed paper talismans. A Catholic priest in another example may have authentic Latin scripture tattooed into his body or use a Bible's pages as a catalyst. The limitations of Faith, other than it's difficulty of access, is that it is subverted by the deeply primal, the non sentient, and the strong enough 'Will' that deliberately fights against it. Under such conditions Faith either cannot manifest or has great trouble manifesting.

*Abyss: Abyss energy, unlike any other type of energy, can best be called the most akin to a reset button. A natural byproduct of The Nothing between Planes, The Abyss is the energy that permeates the primordial chaos that everything has settled on and may one day sink into once more. Appearing as brackish, oily black 'dark matter' that when energized often has a glowing aura or nimbus of red around it, Abyss corrodes and corrupts everything it touches. This defilement of matter is a metaphysical rot that tears down boundaries, illusions and barriers of all kinds. With the express purpose of returning matter to pure energy which is then redistributed throughout the Planes. This however utterly destroys whatever that energy was once composed of to make and so is about as 'final' as a fate as one can imagine. Abyss energy is heavy, a dark physical mass that is sometimes animated, sometimes not. Unlike other forms of energy Abyss is largely consistent in its effects regardless of how much of it or less of it is applied. Higher concentrations of Abyss simply allow it to effect more things at once. Abyss is thus an energy that has a heavy and stubbornly constant character regardless of how much of it there is. That said, after infection from contact with Abyss energy, an organism or location may not be effected the same way. Some organisms seem to grow grotesquely stronger as their surface attributes are stripped away. Others become erratic and unstable as they are forcibly changed into new forms. Yet others are devoured and disintegrated much as you would expect. The ultimate result however is always destruction, decomposition and dissipation. Much like a cancer, Abyss energy corrupts and mutates everything it touches but it also uses those so corrupted to spread itself farther and farther afield. These mutations, unlike those from Enigma type energy, are not designed to last overly long outside of The Nothing, rather they are vessels for further contamination and destruction of the Plane the Abyss is making contact with. Abyss contact effects living organisms as a one two punch of gradually escalating mental trauma and substance abuse. The mind is assaulted by both the growing influence of the Abyss on the body and the
horrors being visited upon every living sense. This is especially noticeable with those that have actually come into direct contact with The Nothing even for brief periods. Over time mental illness and bodily infection worsen until the victim is either completely insane and seeking the Abyss, a horrific primal mutant, or both. Abyss energy is relentless and remorseless in its exposure of the 'dark truth of existence' and tears down pretensions both physical and meta physical, even at the expense of itself. However the Abyss is not unstoppable, indeed for if it was the Planes would not exist. High concentrations of either type of Enigma can match it, neutralizing it. Faith, as mysterious as it is, seems to have a good track record of routing Abyss infections both of living things and of places. Likely through fostering an idealized 'Will' that can wrest the reins of control away from the Abyss through ritualized structure and illuminating the infection as an individual existence. The Abyss counters this through sheer force of mass and attrition of picking things apart until they cave. Regardless, this has allowed the Abyss and other forms of energy to coexist in a balanced and tenuous example of mutualism.
   
Mixed Energy

While not very common, the four primary types of Enigma energy are not always mutually exclusive. Rather, they can occasionally be found in various levels of coexistence within the same location or even the same organism (commonly a Kaiju). These are the various combinations that have been known to exist or theorized to exist.

*Normal and Negative Enigma - When these two seemingly opposite forms of Enigma come together, the results are either one overwhelming the other, the two mutually obliterating the each other, or very rarely, the two find a tenuous balance and stabilize. When such a stabilization occurs, the result is a system, either organic or otherwise that requires a constant balance of input and output. Normal Enigma is always producing energy to send out and express, Negative Enigma is always consuming that energy and leeching it from its surroundings like a vacuum. In order for the two to reach any sort of harmony, the Negative Enigma must siphon the energy necessary for the Normal Enigma to express. Kaiju that have a mix of these two Enigma types are reliant on managing their energy resources. Should they succeed in this, they are capable of expressing a wider variety and more frequent utilization of Enigma dependent phenomena. If their energy management fails however, the Kaiju is often rendered unstable and suffers catastrophic self destruction as the two types of Enigma tear the Kaiju apart.

*Normal Enigma and Faith - As rare as it is, Faith has been seen coexisting with Normal Enigma, often acting as a temporary heightened state where the effects of the Normal Enigma are taken to their natural and potential extremes. With Kaiju this often enhances the natural abilities of that Kaiju to greater heights. Due to Faith's ironic inconsistency, these 'transformations' and heightened abilities are often temporary and come in the form of emergency eleventh hour 'power up' style scenarios. The Kaiju in question must be a particular specimen that has both strong Enigma capacity and a form of sentience that allows a powerful 'Will'. Such Kaiju are commonly of the middle range in size and have a strong aptitude for combat though exceptions have and do exist. Kaiju with strong cultural ties or origins are also known to display these two types of energy in concert, giving the expression of said energy historical significance and specific form.

*Normal Enigma and Abyss - What happens when the endless potential of Enigma is perverted into an infectious weapon by The Abyss. Horrifyingly one of the most common combinations as Normal Enigma phenomena is the most common and therefore the most commonly corrupted. As with Normal Enigma, the higher the concentration of either energy type the more volatile and dangerous it becomes. Abyss energy pushes this to dangerous extremes and many Kaiju that have both energy types or are suffering increasingly levels of Abyssal Influence, become the equivalent of walking bombs; recklessly tearing everything apart in a berserk, self destructive frenzy. Kaiju that carry both of these energies become dangerously powerful and are tenacious in the extreme but at the same time lose the ability to grow or evolve beyond their own malformed state. Kaiju that naturally appear with such a combination are insidious in the extreme but likewise have a notable plateau that prevents them from truly growing beyond what they are. Rather, such Kaiju tend to use the potential inherent in Normal Enigma to redistribute their mass into 'variant' states. Dark and twisted mockeries of life's adaptations.

*Negative Enigma and Faith - A rare combination, these two energies most commonly combine when ritualistic worship and interaction with the dead reach an all time high, or a calamity nearly wipes out an entire culture. Negative Enigma thus gives continued existence to these dead and destroyed cultures as well as the people who were a part of them. The precedence for such a combination is inevitably tragic and usually some inevitable crime against humanity or sentience itself. A Kaiju that embodies these two energies or has access to both of them would become an avatar of retribution or vengeance, unrelenting in righting the wrongs that brought it into existence. The relationship between the two energies is one of situational extremes. If the two energies are focused toward a specific goal, the two energies remain in sync and fully resonant until the objective is complete. Once the objective is complete or has been made unobtainable however, both energies dissipate as the stimulus has ceased to exist. One can refer to this dynamic as requiring 'unfinished business' to maintain the cooperation of both energy types. This paradigm makes Kaiju that have this combination an implacable force but one that exists within set parameters and vanishes outside of them.

*Negative Enigma and Abyss - Uncommon union of these energies makes the combination fairly rare but when this combination does come into existence it is a force of terror on the world. This horrible union comes to pass when The Abyss forces its way into an area that is either a mass grave, has had a great number of deaths occur in the area or is an area where Negative Enigma has taken hold. Unlike other forms of energy Negative Enigma has a very standoffish and neutral interaction with Abyss energy. Rather than struggling for control or trying to refute its existence, Negative Enigma instead enters into a dualistic symbiosis with The Abyss. The Abyss is a consistent force that spreads and assimilates everything back to nothing. Negative Enigma is the cold and enhanced echo of what once was. In this capacity, The Abyss provides and keeps providing Negative Enigma consistent vessels for it to exist. In return, Negative Enigma siphons energy and feeds it's benefactor so that it can keep ramping up its assimilation attempts on higher and higher priority targets. This is the source of the 'zombie apocalypse' that many fear in fiction. Between these two energies that fear becomes a reality. This relationship remains strong so long as there are reliable sources of energy in which to harvest. Once that ceases to be the case, the two energies seek to cannibalize each other until the more dominant one succeeds. Character wise this union is insidious and far reaching, systematically destabilizing targets until those targets become a part of it or are rendered neutralized. Kaiju that possess this combination are harbingers of ruin and bringers of the apocalypse. Civilization is quickly devoured by Kaiju that embody these two forces simultaneously. The way this union is properly countered is through either a specialized 'hard counter' or scorched earth policy.

*Faith and Abyss - By all accounts this mix of energies that are fundamentally opposed, is impossible. An energy that requires concentrated Will and projection of ideals combined with an energy that tears things apart and reduces them to nothing, -shouldn't coexist. By their very nature, Faith and Abyss energy should spare no expense in seeking to eradicate the influence of the other. In theory however, Faith and Abyss could find common ground if the Abyss has a 'Will' that serves its cause. In something of a Paladin to Blackguard scenario but beyond simply being an evil twin. Rather, the vessel utilizing Faith distorts and ruins their own ideals into something that deliberately sabotages what they once represented. This way Faith is 'enslaved' into perpetuating the goal of The Abyss, which is to render everything to 'zero'. Thus, in theory mind you, this union would be the ultimate triumph of Abyss energy with the self destructive goal of mutual annihilation. Literally worship of oblivion. Such a miserable existence would be more likely to occur in a person than a Kaiju, but if a Kaiju should arise that DOES embody these two things...it would be a tragic and insanely destructive entity indeed. For what you would witness would be the idealization of The Abyss and what it stands for: The End of a all things. No restriction, no mercy, no escape.

*Normal Enigma, Negative Enigma and Faith - Another theoretical combination, one of great potential. Supposedly plausible among the Outer Planes or perhaps a result of a very specific number of phenomena that occur in time with one another. This merger of three specific energy types is one that could be considered the pinnacle of material potential and existence. Combining the expanding variety of life, the somber echo of death and the idealization of will into one font of great power. The ability to manipulate creation and in fact, bring about genesis is a possibility when these three energies are in sync. It could be considered the realm of godhood or perhaps the height of enlightened possibility. The idea of a human having such power is something of truly mythical proportions, perhaps once an age. A Kaiju having these energies would either be a constructed marvel beyond mortal reckoning or a being that has little in the way of humanity. For indeed humanity stems from mortality and such a Kaiju would be as distant from its peers as it would be from anthropomorphism of intent. While perfection is a flawed idea unto itself, the notion that such an entity could embody 'perfection' is perhaps not so far-fetched. For something that has the blueprints of existence laid before it has little need for doubt. The idealized form of balance, weighing life and death in equal measure and with will bordering on truth. The Alpha of possibility.

*Normal Enigma, Negative Enigma and Abyss - More of a nightmare than a theory. Something conjured up from the most feverish hallucinations of delusional madmen. If one would make allegories of godhood for the union of the two Enigmas and Faith, then the two Enigmas and the Abyss would be an allusion to devilry. An antagonistic force that undoes creation, the Armageddon, the Apocalypse, the time when all that was is no more. The baptism of oblivion to fore seed the cleansing fires of chaos. An dreaded antithesis to the material in every capacity. Not merely the herald of the end but vile continence of that same end made reality. Unrelateable in its absolute dedication to annihilation, there is no reason to be made with such a union of energies regardless of its form; save defiance. Anything less is a sure path to extinction and death. All aspects of creation, twisted upon themselves to bring about their own ruin. The only reason such an emergence itself would continue to exist beyond devouring an entire plane would be to continue its work on other planes. If a character could even be assigned to such an existence perhaps it would be despair made manifest. Far as the horizon and a thousand fathoms deep. A doomed existence, doomed to end others of their own. An absolute grudge towards an absolute end. The hand of doom, reaching out to prey. The Omega of inevitability.

*Normal Enigma, Negative Enigma, Faith and Abyss - With these four primary forms of energy across the planes, one might wonder where is the source?  From where do these fantastical fonts of power come from? Are they simply elements of an existence that allow a continual cycle? Or where they laid intentionally to be self sustaining? Life in excess is a burden. Death in excess is failure. Light in excess is blind to interpretation. Dark in excess is obfuscation of nothing. So what then is the combined result of all four in unison? What secret could be gleaned from all these energies, often of conflicting and directly antagonistic character being united together? The answer is unknown. It is quite likely that the answer to that question is of such an absolute riddle that deciphering it would be a feat beyond mortal comprehension. Would the Abyss energy drag all of existence into certain oblivion to become a new truth, our final desire? Would Faith illuminate an ideal existence? Would the final destination of the hereafter become known after Death? Would we finally know the meaning of Life through its seemingly endless forms? Perhaps all of these things, perhaps none of them. What we can theorize is that no man, indeed perhaps no Kaiju should have this power. It would be a realm that one can hardly explain or convince the likelihood of either obtaining access to. If one such entity existed could it even be called a Kaiju let alone any smaller being? The power to create and destroy in any and all capacities. To explore entire worlds, entire planes of potential. Or perhaps that potential is the exact reason it doesn't exist in any active capacity. Would it even need to? Would inactivity, through its presence alone be enough to determine outcomes? So many questions and none of them definite. Attempting to bring all four energies together, even in small amounts, results in a void. Whether it calamitous or disappointingly inert in nature, the result is commonly nothing. Either the site of the union is made into nothing, or the union itself produces nothing but a sum loss of resources. Perhaps this explains the nature of the Material Plane and its status as an anchor and center of the planar collective. For the Material Plane has been exposed to all four types of energy numerous times throughout its history and yet it still exists, persevering through calamity after calamity and periods of mundane stillness. It is thought that perhaps such a union would be the key to altering the character of reality, from the fantastical age of Kaiju to the more practical era of Man and back again. But these are not matters for us to speculate on, so far out of reach and understanding. Would we even be able to communicate with an example of such a union in the first place?

What Does This Mean to You?
Enigma is basically another word for “magic” in The Hollow World Enigma – it’s an all-powerful force that can do whatever the plot demands. Generally that means “makes giant monsters possible,” but it also allows us to explore other fantastical character ideas. Wizards, ghosts, the undead, and all sorts of other crazy, impossible creatures and creations can easily be explained as being powered by enigma.
That’s not to say it doesn’t have rules. The different “types” of enigma listed above are all used for very specific things. Normal enigma mutates things into Kaiju and other supernaturally powerful creatures. Negative enigma creates the undead and destroys everything it touches. And so on and so forth. There has to be some consistency to the way we use enigma in our stories – otherwise everything just seems chaotic and sloppy.
It is also important that we don’t over explain Enigma. The name, after all, means mystery – and that mystery is a key element to making this plot device work. If we explain to much, we’d have to explain why the impossible things that happen in our story can happen – which, by definition, is impossible.