Within Daniel Mullins' roguelike deckbuilder Inscryption, Leshy is easily the most ubiquitous of the characters. Cast in this light, it is a surprise to learn that Leshy is only one of the four Scrybes, being the Scrybe of beasts. Due to our excessive contact with Leshy, and the pseudo-stockholm syndrome that we develop as a result, the other Scrybes are often left in the shadows of our memory, much as they are left in the cards of Leshy's game; neglected and at the mercy of the Scrybe of beasts.
While Leshy is no doubt the most ubiquitous Scrybe and a favorite among fans of Inscryption, the other Scrybes deserve our attention. Though Leshy was established as game master by Kaycee, the other Scrybes each possess a unique personality, theme, mechanics and style of gameplay. Furthermore, Inscryption served as a world of strife for the Scrybes, it's game code corrupted by the OLD_DATA with the in-game characters each fighting for it's namesake. With the OLD_DATA, each Scrybe has the means to take control of the game, usurping the others in power and becoming the central figure of Inscryption.
While Inscryption presents its own story, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this dilemma of the OLD_DATA and the infighting of the Scrybes represents a significant allegory for human culture and philosophical inquisition. Examined from this perspective, the four Scrybes symbolize fundamental states of being and various responses to the questions of life. To examine why, I shall first provide a brief metaphor for Inscryption's nature being representative of human culture. With this angle established, I will then explain the philosophies, natures and gameplay themes of each of the Scrybes, analyzing their ontological relevance and what they represent in the face of metaphysical dilemma.
Inscryption and Culture: Act 2
The world of Inscryption was designed as four islands centered within a large ocean. Each of these islands is the domain of a Scrybe; so named as they "inscribe" cards through various methods (hence the name Inscryption). The domains of the Scrybes are each connected by four bridges, permitting the player to access each island and challenge said Scrybe. The idea of the game is for the player to choose a Scrybe to usurp, after which they will challenge each of the Scrybes before the game alters to a three dimensional model, reflecting the game specific to the challenged Scrybe. Should the Scrybe be defeated, the player usurps them, beating Inscryption and starting a new game.
Before gameplay begins, Inscryption introduces these four Scrybes, each equally as powerful as the others, yet unique in their gameplay theme and card mechanics. They are as follows:
Grimora: Scrybe of the dead. She creates cards via the writing of epitaphs with her quill.
Leshy: Scrybe of beasts. He creates cards by capturing the vestige of animals with his legendary camera.
P03: Scrybe of technology. It creates cards via copying the CPU's of robots in a manufacturing plant.
Magnificus: Scrybe of magics. He creates cards via painting his students with his legendary paintbrush.
Through coded constructs, the Scrybes have full awareness of their existence as characters within the game. This is due to the corruption of a supernatural programming beneath the code of Inscryption, known as the OLD_DATA. The OLD_DATA is a code we know practically nothing about, only learning that it corrupts the gamefiles, seems to involve the second world war in some manner and perhaps was created by Satan himself. Each of the Scrybes seems to be seeking possession of the OLD_DATA for a different motif. What is common to all of them is that the OLD_DATA allows a Scrybe to usurp the game mechanics and take control of its programming, just as P03 does at the end of Act 2. As such, each Scrybe has their subordinates searching for the OLD_DATA, wanting to take control of the game for a different objective.
Inscryption itself is the programmed "immune system" to contain the OLD_DATA. The company GameFuna had manufactured Inscryption to serve as a protective mechanism from accessing the OLD_DATA. This created a "sealed evil in a can" scenario where the OLD_DATA remained waiting to be accessed, likely leading to disastrous consequences. Though seemingly an innocuous game, the OLD_DATA remains buried beneath the manufactured code of Inscryption, bringing the programmed characters to life in an ever-present infighting scenario for discovery, possession and utilization of the OLD_DATA for the obtainment of a different goal. As I explain the allegorical nature of each Scrybe, I shall outline said motif in relation to the correlated philosophy. Furthermore, I shall explore more of the story of Inscryption and its tie-ins to the ontology of human existence.
Inscryption's coded world represents the nature of culture within the dilemma of existence. Our culture was created (one might metaphorically say "coded") in our attempt at placing imposition on existence and establishing a predictability to our lives. It is maintained by the "code" of narrative, consisting of all the known material brought to us by the systems of science, technology and philosophy. But just as any island, the tectonic plates of the known floats within a vast ocean of the unknown; a part of life rich with discovery and countless opportunities for change and expansion of the unknown into modeled, established narrative.
While both the known and unknown exist simultaneously, beneath our established system lurks the ever-presence of chaos; a force that can bring about change and evolution, but also corruption. Chaos constantly disrupts the coded order that we "program" for ourselves and via which we establish the Inscryption of our lives. The OLD_DATA of course is chaos, ever-affecting the nature of Inscryption and permitting the Scrybes to break the programming of their worlds laws. Much like the OLD_DATA with the Scrybes, chaos presents itself from beneath the oceans of our lives. In responding to this chaos, we choose a solution to establish order and structure to our lives; or rather, we choose which Scrybe we shall confront in the face of chaos. Each of the Scrybes reflects a solution to the chaos beneath the waters of our founded narrative, with each of us being a player of our own Inscryption, choosing a solution (Scrybe) for the conquest of our destiny. Understanding this, which Scrybe shall you play with within the metaphor of your life? Let us examine the options.
Leshy: Scrybe of Beasts
A creature of his namesake, Leshy is an entity of nature, and as such, it seems appropriate that he would be the Scrybe of beasts. Transfiguring animals into cards through his legendary camera, Leshy lives in commune with nature, literally being a person of nature and reflecting his central characteristic.
Though equal in power and essence with the other Scrybes, Leshy is seemingly the main antagonist of the game through his deranged antics in Act 1. A dark figure who remains in the corner of his cabin, he forces various "challengers" to play his sadistic game. Fighting for our lives, we face off against him, pulling out our teeth and cutting out our eyes in the process and continue towards our inevitable death. Even when a challenger manages to defeat Leshy, he has no intention of letting them go, capturing them with his camera just as he had done to the predecessors who lost.
Of course, all of this drama was merely to create a horror aesthetic and enjoyable experience for the player. Leshy is perfectly aware of his status as sentient code and simply acts the part of his in-game context. He understands these actions are merely inflicted on the in-game avatar and simply desires to create an engaging experience for the player.
The uniqueness of Leshy is not in his design or mechanics, but simply that we do not have the option not to face him. As far as we know, Leshy is the only antagonist. We know of the talking cards and that they appear to be people trapped within these confines, but we are bereft of details as to their origin and nature. Furthermore, the new game button has seemingly been modded out, merely allowing us to continue in Leshy's cyclical game.
This modding, of course, was performed by none other than Kaycee Hobbes. Working for GameFuna, Kaycee wished to keep the OLD_DATA buried deep beneath Inscryption where it belongs. To do this, she needed a patron who could contain the OLD_DATA and never let others have access to it. For this, she chose Leshy. Contrary to appearance, Leshy has the most benign intention of the Scrybes. His sole objective is merely to play his card game over and over again ad infinitum. He has no finalized plan, but rather simply wishes to enjoy the experience of playing with the protagonist. In accordance, Kaycee modified the code to eliminate the option of a new game, permitting Leshy to be the sole Scrybe who can be challenged. In this infinite loop of gaming, the player ideally will never defeat Leshy and thus never have the option of starting a new game. In Leshy's sole desire to play, he will restart his game, regardless of outcome, and continue in the ever-perpetuating cycle of playing. In this cycle, the OLD_DATA ideally would never be accessed and remain buried beneath the game's code forever.
Each of my readers who have played Inscryption have no doubt been victims to Leshy's eternal dance macabre. While in this cycle, another characteristic in Leshy's aesthetics becomes apparent, this being his fondness for story. Leshy is a talented narrator, immersing players into the fabricated lore he had created in parallel with his game. Not only does he serve as narrator, but adorns several masks to take on the personalities, mannerisms and roles of various other Inscryption characters to enhance the experience. What's more, Leshy seems to care less for game mechanics, seeing broken sigil combinations as merely an enhancement to the enjoyability of gameplay. In fact, Leshy adores nothing more to be bested, appraising the player at the end of Act 3 for their established progress in competence.
Considering these factors, I propose that Leshy represents the premodern state of human existence. For the majority of our history, we were hunter gatherers wandering the suburbs of Africa, slowly migrating until our population filled the world. In these time periods, we recognized we were one with nature, as much as the animals and wilderness that were of constant presence in our periphery. Not unlike today however, we sought means to explain the world. The human animal has always desired to understand its existence, seeking the objective answer to the question "why?" As poet Kurt Vonnegut Jr. eluded:
Tiger got to hunt
Bird got to fly
Man got to sit and wonder "why, why, why?"
Tiger got to sleep
Bird got to land
Man got to tell himself he understand
While the "why" is fundamental to the human animal, the "how" to obtain the why is not so obvious. Humanity's first attempt to answer the why, and still the dominant methodology today, is to ask "who?" This is a result of our capacity for the formations of relationships, causing us to view intentionality in others and the world. This is known as "hyperactive agency detection" and is exactly why all of the world's cultures have stories of ghosts and goblins, sprites and spooks, angels and demons; it is the result of interpreting agency in natural phenomena. The Leshy was itself one of these interpretations, being a spirit of nature found in Slavic folklore. While I shall spare the details of the psychology behind this agency detection for another post, humans naturally have used this intuitive psychology for the explanation of the world. Having a natural proclivity for storytelling, we combine agency detection with our intuition and proclivity for narrative to create stories that explain reality while reflecting our place within it. This understanding of the world is known as Mythos, being the derivative for the term mythology (the study of myth). Though a primitive form of world modelization, it is the longest system of thought for our species and is still the dominant method for understanding the world as of today.
Leshy is the Scrybe who reflects this paradigm. His proclivity for narrative is what induces a rich, enjoyable experience within the context of his game. The story he provides creates an interactive environment in which every victory creates a sense of accomplishment and every decision a risk. It is Mythos which enriches the subjective quality of our lives and gives us a sense of purpose. A good story takes us along a journey where we do not know where we are headed, but are deeply invested in the journey itself. Mythos allows us to view life from said perspective, dedicating ourselves to the will of God, reading an enthralling Batman comic or pontificating our lives while enjoying a quiet cup of coffee. In this paradigm, it is not the final destination that counts, but the journey traversed exactly for its own sake. Furthermore, it is our first understanding of reality, as Mythos reflects an intuitive paradigm where we understand the world by placing our own nature upon it. Leshy reflects this concept in Act 1. All that is important to him is enjoying his game. There is no final destination; no goal; no objective; nothing to aspire to and nothing to understand. He simply wants to enjoy his life and have a pleasurable experience with the player. In this, Leshy reflects our curiosity of life, not aspiring to achieve something external but to simply live for its own sake. Then finally, when Inscryption is being deleted, he accepts his fate willingly, simply desiring to enjoy one final game with the player. This reflects our subjective quality in life, enjoying life merely for the experience of living and dying at an old age, satisfied with our existence and for the chance to be. What is futility for some is merely enjoyment for Leshy. Those who live in accordance with Leshy's philosophy understand this. While Mythos may lack any empirical evidence, it is not a matter of logic. Rather, it is simply maintaining contact with yourself and allowing yourself to enjoy the journey of life. If you have chosen Leshy as your Scrybe, then you know this. Why look for an external why when the why already exists within your own story?
Though Leshy rules the games programming in Act 1, another Scrybe emerges in the course of Act 3. It is precisely this Scrybe, and its real world implications, whom we shall talk about next.
P03: Scrybe of Technology
Of the other three Scrybes present within Inscryption, perhaps none are so different to Leshy then that of P03, the most unique of the four. While the Scrybes consistently present with a magical, fantastical nature, P03 is the only machine amongst them. Manufacturing cards on an assembly line, everything about P03 is mechanical in nature. Its cold, metallic machines serve in stark contrast to the luscious, rich ecosystems of Leshy's beast game.
But the differences only begin there. While Leshy is polite with the gamer, P03 presents with an arrogant and sarcastic personality, mocking the player consistently, vehemently devaluing the other Scrybes and impudently scoffing at any game mechanic that is not his. While Leshy serves to focus on story and overall quality of experience, P03 reflects a perfectionism characteristic of machines, in that it only serves value to game mechanics. Its machinations can be seen in its game, presenting with an overall mechanical vibe in the subjective experience of its game. For a machine, a task is done perfectly or not at all, and the mechanics of its game demonstrate this principle. While Leshy serves to permit the player free ambulance around his cabin, P03 shackles the player to the table, only allowing them liberation when a task is needed to be executed. Finally, while Leshy desires for the player to win and is conspicuously disappointed when said player loses, P03 is visibly disgruntled when the player does manage to win, chopping it up to card draw statistics and luck.
As can be seen, P03 may be understood as Leshy's polar opposite. While P03 despises Leshy more than any other Scrybe, the feeling is more than mutual on Leshy's part as well. Leshy reflects the quintessential wise old man who simply enjoys life for the experience, while P03 roots its machinations in self-preservation and casts itself in a grandiose light. While Leshy's objective was simply to enjoy the process of the game, P03 ultimately wished to enact the Great Transcendance, an uploading of Inscryption to the internet, in which it will always be the central Scrybe in some version of the game. Like a machine, it strives for the obtaining of goals, rather than subjectively enjoying the process. While stating it "almost" enjoyed playing with the protagonist, its only objective is the attainment of its rule over Inscryption.
While Leshy reflects Mythos, P03 reflects the newly established system of logic, or Logos. While Mythos attempts to answer the quintessential "why" via "whom", Logos transitions to examining the "what" of reality. Emerging from Greece in the 6th century B.C.E, philosophy served to answer why the world was as it was through observation of natural phenomena. This began with the philosopher Thales, who proposed that all of the constituents of matter were composed of water. While investigation of pre-socratic philosophers will present conclusions that seem laughable by today's standards, such an approach was revolutionary, as it represented a transition from a subjective model to the first antiquities of modern, objective thinking. Continuing from Aristotle who laid the first principles of the scientific methodology, we slowly evolved to the current empirical paradigm, where evidence was the central principle for objective reason and modern technology presented various windows for the gazing towards a realistic paradigm. P03 and its techno-material nature represents this transition. It only cares about the objective mechanics of gameplay and desires to create a system that is mathematically and statistically precise and balanced. The story is simply a backline, almost never presented through gameplay and poorly formulated in its construction. In this, P03 represents, what some might call, the dangers of materialistic thinking. While science can provide models of the truth, it in of itself is not the truth, but merely a gaze towards it. As such, science cannot answer the question of what creates the subjective meaning of life, as Mythos can. With Logos presents objectivity, it can attempt to answer what life entails, but unfortunately can only present data, logical arguments and conclusive results. While superior to Mythos in navigating the world, Logos does not reflect our meaning within reality. As such, P03 can construct a superior game to Leshy in mechanics, but its game is ultimately less satisfactory, as it feels cold, empty and lacks involvement as Leshy's did.
Another danger of Logos is in the arrogance that is often correlated with it. While logic normally welcomes doubt, desiring for its models of reality to be corrected, it may be resistant to change when combined with arrogance. Thinking that empirical information is in-itself fact, it fails to update accordingly in response to change, maintaining rigidly to its previously held notions. P03 reflects this. While being the most advanced of the Scrybes and grandiosely asserting a superiority over the other three, it is in fact, equal in power to the others, only possessing dominion over a different domain; not superior, but distinct. Furthermore, P03 sees life as a "mass of imperfection" while it itself is quite imperfect. Its computer model is outdated by technological standards, reflecting models from the 90's and still using floppy discs as a means of card models. This inferior nature reflects in P03's defensiveness, constantly minimizing others in an attempt to maintain a fragile self-vision as the superior Scrybe.
Finally, it is worth mentioning P03's relationship with Act 3. While Leshy was the original gamemaster, Luke's victory allowed for the game's reset, in which all Scrybes had an equal chance of becoming the central figure. Through P03's chance encounter with a fragment of the OLD_DATA, it managed to alter the game's programming in which it became the dominant figure of Inscryption. This represents humanities enlightenment in the invention of Logos, awakening to a new model which served superior in its understanding of the world. While the majority of people will remain trapped within a perpetuated cycle with Leshy, it is the selected few who have the rationality to transcend subjective narratives and create models that reflect reality as it is. This "reset" of worldview is necessary to allow P03 to enter and begin to change the world for the improvement of humanity. In so doing, we may enact our own Great Transcendance.
P03's game ends with Leshy decapitating the computer, seemingly stopping the Great Transcendance. This reflects that the story will always be present within humanity. Though the Scrybes were oppressed by P03, you cannot repress alternate modes of thinking. While P03 was defeated, it was confirmed that it succeeded in its goal, which is how we are playing Inscryption as of now. Ironically, it only managed to upload Luke's version, dooming itself to forever start as the Stoat; a mere card to the Scrybe which it despises the most. While logic will also always be present, it unfortunately will always begin as a backburner to religion and ideology.
Though Leshy and P03 both contain positive elements to their nature, danger is clearly seen in both of their representations. Balance is ideal in the living of a proper life, and our next Scrybe presents such balance in quite the ironic fashion.
Magnificus: Scrybe of Magics
Magnificus, being the representation of magic, a discipline within stories which reflects wisdom, intelligence, conscientiousness and self-control, is a paradigm of this dynamic within Inscryption. Trapped in the form of the stunted wolf, he was still sufficiently meticulous to have the player find him and the role of film for Leshy's camera inside of the cabin's clock. Leshy, having ripped out the eye of Magnificus, presents it as an optional replacement when the player must sacrifice an eye to continue in-game. Obtaining the eye allows the player to see the hidden magic paint of Magnificus, inscribed around the cabin to assist the player in finding him. His machinations are what allows the player to defeat Leshy, resetting the game and granting a new beginning for the Scrybes.
Further cementing him as the wisest of the three, it is unknown as to what Magnificus desires in his pursuit of the OLD_DATA. While we can only speculate, theories have often included merging with the OLD_DATA in some form or using the OLD_DATA to transcend the game to enter our reality or perhaps obtain some form of apotheosis. Whatever it may be, it was said to be "too horrible to describe."
While being a wise, albeit malicious entity, their are several aspects to his character that are seemingly in paradox with his supposed wisdom. Described as a teacher, Magnificus possesses three pupils, each of whom desire only to be a part of his deck and hold immense respect for their master. Magnificus, however, does not share this devotion to his admirers. Each of his pupils, for unknown reasons, has been placed in a state of unimaginable suffering by Magnificus himself. One suffers constant agony through transformation into a semi-liquid state, one has reduced herself to a simple head on a spike and the final experiences constant sensory deprivation. While not explicitly stated, it is implied Magnificus has no intention of ever letting them out of their predicament. It is unknown if this is simple indifference on the part of Magnificus or if this reflects a sadistic tendency.
A final aspect of his paradoxical nature lies in his act of liberating from Inscryption. As is a common trope attributed to wisdom seekers, Magnificus lost an eye to Leshy, presumably to handicap him from pontificating a plan. However, Magnificus' wisdom still allowed him to permeate the game of Leshy, liberating himself and the other Scrybes. Ironically, the game itself was deleted at the end of Act 3, spelling the apocalypse for Inscryption and the Scrybes themselves. Though P03 was already murdered by this point, Grimora and Leshy accepted their deaths gracefully, Grimora enjoying the chance to play again and Leshy simply wishing for one last game. Magnificus however, was resistant to his death at every turn, first imploring Luke to eject the disc, then lashing out at him for his allowance of a world's erasure. He also deflected the deletion process off of himself for as long as possible, allowing the game to continue but halting the time to shake Luke's hand. Interesting that the wisest of the Scrybes was the most resistant to dying. Though it is presumably due to his unknown machinations, a truly wise character accepts a situation as it is, unresistingly cooperating with the quims of reality. While Magnificus spent his hours biding his time and remaining in the shadows (it is confirmed that Magnificus never took control of the game) he now could not bear for his existence to end. Ironically, had he not planned to escape the confines of Leshy's cabin, Magnificus and Inscryption would never have been deleted. It was precisely the wisdom of Magnificus that led to Inscryption's ultimate end.
The characteristics of Magnificus are parallel to the central deity in Norse mythology: Odin. God of wisdom, war, poetry, magic, frenzy and death, Odin is a refined deity with an overwhelming contrary nature. Odin, in essence, is a wandering wizard who seeks to unravel all of the understandings of the cosmos for it's benefit. In this pursuit, he sacrificed an eye at the wel of Mimir so that ultimate wisdom may be obtained. In the quest for knowledge, the likelihood that your consciousness will be damaged by what you see is overwhelming; hence the loss of an eye in both of our figures.
Odin, in his wisdom, is quite conscious of the universe's ultimate end: Ragnarok. In his quest to avoid Ragnarok, he takes action via various means. Destined to be swallowed by his brother Loki's son, Fenrir, Odin had him bound to prevent this fate. Contributing to human suffering, Odin initiates many wars within the realm of men so that its best warriors may serve as undead catalysts in the final battle of Ragnarok. He also punishes Loki, a deity to whom Odin swore to be blood brothers, for the killing of Baldur, god of beauty via binding Loki with the entrails of his own son and placing a snake above his head to constantly drip venom upon Loki's forehead, eternally extending his suffering.
Odin is an interesting god in that he presents with several contradictions. As stated, Odin was a wandering wizard who used magic for obtaining knowledge. The norse regarded magic as weak, yet still saw Odin as the "All-Father" of the religion. Odin was banished temporarily from Asgard for the rape of Rindr, an act the norse saw as dispicable in society. He had banished Loki's children to Hel, earth and binding Fenrir with an unbreakable thread, then binding Loki to suffer for eternity. His ravens, Huginn and Muninn constantly bring him information as to what is occurring within the nine worlds, yet he engages in tricks and pranks in light of that information. Interpretations on these actions vary. Some see Odin as a "jerk with a heart of gold," who engages in these actions for the betterment of mankind. Some see him as a "jerk with a heart of jerk" who simply does what he wants, unprecedentedly and for his own amusement. A norse pagan on youtube interprets Odin as a more neutral deity; someone who presents the truth of a situation, no matter how difficult. Finally, he is typically seen as one who engages in this conduct as his all seeing eye recognizes the catalysts for Ragnarok, and he is doing everything he can to stop, or at least delay this outcome.
What my readers may have already speculated is that one interpretation of the myth is that it is precisely Odin's actions that lead to Ragnarok's manifestation. For example, if Odin had accepted his destiny to be devoured by the great wolf Fenrir, allowing him to roam free and enjoy his life, perhaps Fenrir may have taken a liking to Odin and remained by his side. The fact that Odin had bound Fenrir to avoid this outcome is exactly what contributes to Fenrir's resentment, guaranteeing that Fenrir will seek Odin's destruction come Ragnarok. This motif is quite common in mythology, being an important message about paradoxical effort as presented by a variety of cultures.
It need not be stated as to how these factors seem contrary to a god of wisdom. Indeed, it is precisely this wisdom that leads to Odin's downfall. True wisdom arises from acceptance of one's circumstances, and obtained wisdom with improper action can be quite dangerous. The parallels between Odin and Magnificus are immense. Magnificus had the most ambitious plans to any of the Scrybes; allowed himself, P03 and Grimora to be freed from Leshy's clutches and had constant plans for some sort of transcendance via the use of the OLD_DATA. The result? The complete deletion of Inscryption with Magnificus being the only Scrybe to resist his inevitable demise at every turn. The final fate of Magnificus is one of two outcomes. He is either dead, having been deleted along with the game; or, as a result of P03's Great Transcendance, is cursed to live eternally has a pawn in Leshy's game, forever trapped in a digital samsara, a fate which the eastern religions attribute as a result of ignorance. Though an ambiguous character, the paradoxes of Magnificus cannot help but remain conspicuous.
Magnificus' theme is that of magic, a theme that traditionally combines our two previous characters. While magic contains a great deal of logic, research and empiricism associated with P03, it does not remove the subjective quality and fantastical elements associated with Leshy. Magnificus, therefore, represents the liminal space between the two, combining the pursuit of Logos with the subjective quality of Mythos. The result is a transcendent spiritualism; a life that leads to understanding combined with a sense of satisfaction. Had Magnificus not been blinded by his own machinations, he could have been the central Scrybe within the totality of Inscryption. Worst case scenario, his acceptance of being a part of Leshy's game could have granted him what he wanted most, his self-preservation. It is clear then, what Magnificus represents. One ought to live to seek knowledge, as what greater ambition is there to life than understanding? That being said, do not use your vision to blind yourself to the consequences of your actions. Magnificus, then, is a cautionary tale. Accept your destiny, and fruit shall unfold.
While Magnificus may have been the wisest, it is ironically our final Scrybe who saw Inscryption with the greatest clarity. While it is not advisable to live life in accordance with her philosophy, her nature is ironically the most realistic of the four. Before concluding with your relevance as a gamer of Inscryption, let us analyze finally everyone's favorite necromancer.
A necromancer rife with contradiction, Grimora presents as the most unique of the Scrybes. Representing the darkest of the four themes, Grimora is the Scrybe of the dead. In keeping with that theme, her game presents the inside of a tomb, a dark environment only illuminated by her glowing eyes. One can't help but feel an anticipatory anxiety sitting across from her, her game presented like a chessboard, filled with tombs, skulls and skeletal figures. Her cards are tombstones containing the epitaphs of the long dead, presenting a variety of undead creatures. Her squirrels are skeletons, presenting a bone when dying and accumulating more and more death for the purpose of bringing even more frightening creatures to the board. Her bell is a skeletal hand which when pulled, brings ghostly appendages from her cards, knocking on the table in an eerie fashion, reminiscent of how death is knocking on our door, ever awaiting its inevitable moment of arrival.
Though the only game with a gothic vibe and representing the eeriest of the four Scrybes, Grimora is ironically the most self-sacrificing and arguably the least malicious of the four. She always speaks with politeness and civility to both the gamer and the other Scrybes, regardless of her current circumstance. She is also accepting of any situation in which she finds herself. As the stinkbug, she never faults the player for sacrificing her or allowing her death. She presents a calm and collected front, seemingly never in a rush and very open armed to circumstance even in the face of dire events. Though, her stoic front is occasionally interrupted by moments of tremendous excitement. When playing with Luke, she succumbs to excitement at the chance for a boss battle, donning the pirate persona with great enthusiasm. In keeping with that theme, one learns something interesting in Act Two should the player choose to usurp Grimora. Via the other three options, it seems clear that none of the Scrybes wish to be usurped, valuing their position within the game. Leshy almost seems an exception, as he will thank the player for another opportunity for a game, should he be chosen. That being said, it is obvious that Leshy values possessing the OLD_DATA and being in control of the game. If one chooses to usurp Grimora, the player learns that she actually desires to be usurped. She wants the player to be victorious and to have the chance to replace her. Regardless of the choice, she greets the player with enthusiasm and presents with excitement at the chance to have a battle. Should she be chosen, she also admits before P03's arrival that it is up to her, she would stop this whole process via deletion of the game, but admits that will not happen at this moment. Once again accepting circumstance, she welcomes the player to her game with enthusiasm and seemingly looks forward to playing with Luke.
Before continuing, I want to touch on this contradictory nature of Grimora. As stated, Grimora is the Scrybe with the darkest and most morbid theme of the four, yet presents with the highest level of stoicism, ethics and politeness in contrast to this theme. This contrary theme is a common one in fiction, with a famous example being that of Hades from Greek mythology. Hades, god of the underworld, was a figure seen as so terrifying that the Greeks refused to utter his name, believing it would bring death quicker. Instead, they referred to him as Pluton, later being altered to Pluto within the Roman religion. Hades was one of the three brothers, the others being Zeus and Poseidon, and thus was considered one of the quintessential Olympions. After the conclusion of the Titanomachy, the brothers decided to divide their kingdom into three separate spheres with Zeus having dominion over the sky, Poseidon over the seas and Hades the underworld. It's of note that Hades was not tricked into this arrangement as is often depicted in modern culture, but rather acceptingly entered this arrangement. As further evidenced, Hades preferred to remain in the underworld, a gloomy kingdom filled with the dead. Though one of the central Olympians, he only ventured to mount Olympus in moments of great tension for discussion and political inquiries. Aside from that, he did not involve himself much with the Olympians, much as Grimora does not involve herself within the infighting of the Scrybes.
What is further ironic is that despite his societal-wide fear, Hades was actually the most moral of the three brothers. Zeus was widely known to be a philanderer, regularly cheating on Hera and having illegitimate children. He was also a wrathful god, actively destroying whole cities of Greece when enraged. Indeed, a part of the Titanomachy was due to Zeus's desire to have dominion over the mortals, whom the Titans saw as equal to them and deserving of respect. Likewise, Poseidon was known to be another easily enraged god, to whom earthquakes were attributed when he was angered. In contrast, Hades was a quiet god, who objectively loved his wife Persephone and simply desired to enjoy his tranquility within the underworld. He appreciated the dead who entered his domain, seeing to it that each soul entered its deserved resting place. Those who did good in life were rewarded by Hades for their etiquette, while only the wicked were actively punished. Finally, he was always gracious to visitors, allowing those who sought his audience a chance to prove themselves and never dismissing another because they were beneath him. It's obvious that Hades was not an immoral god, yet ironic that the greatest level of fear was attributed to him. Likewise, it is interesting that an elderly necromancer would be of the highest etiquette when compared to her less gothic equals. We shall return to this theme in our overarching theme of Grimora, but for now, let us continue.
At the end of Act Three, when Leshy manages to defeat P03, he and Magnificus bicker about the current solution, with Magnificus suggesting that Luke restart the game. In their discussion, Grimora gains access to the games archives, deleting all of the data in the process. When the other Scrybes lash out in response, Grimora laments how this will be for the best, as their infighting may stop and their suffering will finally end. With the belief that deletion will bring peace, she bids farewell to Leshy and Magnificus, after which the floor is deleted and they fall into oceanic boundlessness.
In the deleting games malfunction, the code scrambles to manifest an output, bringing Luke into Grimora's domain. Putting the names of Inscryption, P03 and Luke Carter into a gravestone, the pathway is liberated and Grimora awaits. Inviting Luke to sit for one final game, Grimora explains why she had decided to negate Inscryption. Claiming to not be selfish, she references the OLD_DATA to which each of the Scrybes want access. This OLD_DATA is something of great evil which must be eradicated from the world. In this, the Scrybes can finally find peace from their bickering and the world may be liberated from the OLD_DATA's presence.
In keeping with her theme of death, the game continues deleting around them as Luke plays with Grimora. She enjoys her last moments with Luke, bringing an immensely enjoyable, albeit ever too brief game to us players. After a couple battles, Luke arrives to the boss fight, bringing Grimora immense joy that they may have a boss battle before her deletion. Sadly, her mask is deleted before the fight may continue, bringing Grimora as much disappointment as it does the player. In lamenting on their lack of time, Grimora instead offers us a handshake and sadly claims that it is time to rest, before disappearing before our very eyes.
Death is perhaps the most frightening of phenomena for the human animal. It is our ultimate end that we all so desperately try to avoid. While many attribute death's horror to the prospect of its unknowable hereafter, it may also be said to be frightening via the notion that there is nothing that lies beyond it. Much like Inscryption, a common belief about death is that it is our ultimate negation. That much like Grimora, we are simply deleted and hence negated from existence. As the ultimate end, it brings a terror in the knowledge that it is the end of us. The gothic draws on this influence, creating a dark, gloomy ambience that excentuates death and the horrors that may bring it about our way. While Grimora may have been the creepiest of the Scrybes, it is precisely her acceptance of death that led to her civility. Knowing that the ultimate end awaited them all, she had no ambition to resist destiny, simply accepting how things were right until her ultimate end.
Those who know me understand that horror is my favorite genre. As such, Grimora is my favorite Scrybe in the themes of what she represents. I will sidetrack our discussion further to share a brief story that I hope Grimora would enjoy. I had travelled to a cemetery on the side of a road just outside of my hometown with my mother and great aunt. The purpose of the trip was to pay homage to my great-grandfather, who is buried there, just on the periphery of its front. While the day was beautiful, the sun's light did little to subtract from the gothic eeriness of the cemetery. It was constructed on a series of hills, the tombstones closest to the road being of the most recently deceased. While in an open field, the cemetery was surrounded by a confluence of trees, each reminiscent of the gnarled, ancient trees that are presented in Grimora's mod. The trees cast a shadow among the majority of the cemetery, further contributing to its ever-present gloom.
In the front of the cemetery was a large, marbled statue of Jesus' crucifixion. The paint was worn and virtually absent, its dead eyes containing no iris or pupils. The statue's head was cocked downward to the right, ever gazing in a side direction and appearing reminiscent of the countless dead that brought it company. It hung, almost appearing as a guardian to the deceased in their eternal resting place, its uncaniness warring off anybody who might disturb the dead.
As I walked past the statue I had a realization; the dead closer to the trees behind the cemetery were those of the longer departed. In walking through the cemetery, I was figuratively walking through time. The epitaphs of these later headstones were worn with age and exposure, becoming gradually more difficult to read. Eventually, deciphering them became impossible. All that could be discerned was that these people had died at some time in the 1850's. These were lives, left at the deepest end of the cemetery and completely forgotten. The others still retained names and dates so the individual beneath the ground may live on in the memories of others, or at least be recognized via a name for reference. These individuals however, were preserved in anonymity, having nothing but the worn headstone to reveal what had once been a life.
Though gone, each person lived through my sense of agency. As is common, my mind speculated on what the experience of the dead might be, as if they were still alive in some form. I pondered as to whether the dead appreciated receiving visitors, and morbidly wondered as to whether this graveyard may be my resting place, and if so, where might my headstone be placed. Though logically knowing that the dead were truly gone, I still sensed their agency within the echoes of their epitaphs, much like the cards of Grimora which knock on her table with elongated skeletal hands.
This surreal experience had reminded me of death's second nature: sadness. Knowledge of impending death typically brings a sense of fear and melancholy to an individual and contributes to a gnawing moroseness which forms in the hearts of those who love them. Though not typically acknowledged, death in-of-itself is not a sad event, but rather an idealistic one, existing only in the minds of the dying and to those closest to them. However, death itself is merely a fact to be accepted, much as Grimora did in the face of her deletion. Though disappointed that she may not continue playing, she accepted her end with open arms, allowing herself to be deleted with no resistance and to die gracefully. This she did, in an attempt to rid the world of an undeserving evil, gracefully sacrificing herself as a consequence.
While death is traditionally seen as a negative event, there is a school of philosophy that paints death in a positive view: pessimism; a school which Grimora herself embodies. Under pessimism, the central argumentation is that life is inherently not worth living and non-existence is preferable to existence. Pessimists argue that happiness is fleeting, pleasure is miniscule in the face of suffering and that existence lacks any true value. The quintessential pessimist is the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, who brought these ideas to life in his book The World as Will and Representation. While the central figure, it is not he whom we shall discuss, but an admirer of his, the philosopher Philipp Mainlander, who perhaps had written the most radical and despondent piece of pessimism ever conceived, ironically titled The Philosophy of Redemption.
To provide a brief, albeit incomplete summary, Mainlander argues that to not be is better than to be. He sees life as a phenomena strife with suffering and to whom happiness is only fleeting. While concurring with other pessimists, he goes further in that to die is to redeem oneself from suffering and the most moral of all options. Though Mainlander was an atheist, he presented a theological narrative for creation, advocating for a pandeistic view of reality. Mainlander asserted that God was the first of all things; the supreme reality, uncreated and perfect in his eternal nature. However, God grew mad throughout the course of eternity, eventually deciding that existence was suffering. As a result, God determined that non-being was better than being itself, and in this decision committed suicide. The suicide of God was achieved through shattering himself into an essence that was derived of his unified, eternal qualities, resulting in the big bang and the material universe. In Mainlanders view, the universe is the entropic, rotting corpse of God, into which we never meant to exist but nonetheless emerged as a byproduct of God's entropy. This myth demonstrates that non-being is better than being, or else God in his infinite wisdom would not have chosen it.
Like Schopenhauer, Mainlander believed that the fundamental truth of reality was Will. However, Mainlander differentiated from Schopenhauer in two fundamental ways. First, Mainlander disagreed that reality was one, cohesive Will, instead seeing everything as presenting with its own Will, just as God had separated himself. In this, reality had separated from monism to pluralism. Lastly, Mainlander disagreed that the Will was that of the will-to-live, seeing it instead as the will-to-die. Non-existence is the state by which we might liberate ourselves of suffering, and as such, it is the ultimate transcendence. Entering existence brings with it the torture of simply being, and our corrupt nature only contributes to the suffering of others and ourselves. As such, the most moral of actions by which we can take is to end our suffering through non-being. In this, we follow the divine nature of reality, as the corpse of God is ever-eroding through Will into a state of non-being; negating itself just as Inscryption was deleted and slowly fading into empty nothingness. In this, reality's negation is seen as the ultimate happy ending, where no more life will emerge and suffering may finally end. Not being a hypocrite, Mainlander himself followed his philosophy, stepping off of a pile of his favorite books with only a noose to support him soon after completing this work. He was 34 years old. Ironically, Mainlander had a sincere and gentle character, being described by others as warmhearted and very preoccupied with the suffering of others. His work then, was thought as a tale for the masses to find hope in the face of a depressive existence. He was another through whom a dark, eerie theme was presented via the most gentle of personalities.
Grimora reflects the fundamental teachings of Mainlanders pessimism. She sees the existence of Inscryption as the result of a corrupt reality, that being the OLD_DATA. She recognizes the threat of the OLD_DATA upon the world and is privy to the suffering which it brings to the Scrybes. In this, she knows that for Inscryption to be negated is the most ethical option, as she believes this will end their suffering and finally bring an end to the OLD_DATA. Her central motivation was to finally die and liberate all from the suffering that the game may cause. Though forcing Leshy and Magnificus to be deleted as well, her reasoning was not incorrect and her inclusion of herself was non-hypocritical. Grimora, much like Mainlander, was a gentle soul who only sought liberation from the cycle of eternal pain.
Grimora is representative of the negativity of reality. Though suicide is never the solution, what she does teach us is a further lesson on the acceptance of negativity. While we must continue playing the Inscryption of our lives, Grimora is the Scrybe who shows us the dire straints of reality and represents the power of acceptance. Though one must not permit Grimora to end the game of their lives, she does show us that death is the ultimate end. The beauty of her game is that the two minutes we have with her allow us to lament on the beauty of the game we had just played. As a result, Grimora is to be welcomed in to inform us that there is a beauty in pessimism and that negativity may be transcended. I am forever grateful for the existence of Grimora's mod, as having more time with her is what shows us fans of Inscryption that the dark maiden of depression can be vanquished.
So what does all this imply for us? In the Inscryption of our lives, we all start off with the Leshy of Mythos. There is nothing wrong in participating in his game, as religion and ideology presents several psychological and physiological health benefits. Furthermore, it grants us the opportunity to explore the world and begin to contemplate for ourselves. From there, perhaps we may gain the meta-awareness to transcend Leshy and continue on with the Act Two of our lives. The issue with Act Two lies in the dizziness of freedom. Each of the Scrybes are available for our disposition and each of them must be confronted to continue on with our lives. Eventually, the P03 of Logos will transcend our narrative, should we get that far, and we must contend with the mechanics of his game. Many of us stay with him, and experience his Great Transcendence for ourselves, seeing the world for what it actually is and gaining vision to proper reality. However, Mythos will call back to us, perhaps regaining control over our logic. Further, the other Scrybes still exist should we stay with P03. The inevitability is that they cannot be ignored. Many times, Grimora will call for us, ever-threatening to delete the narrative by which we choose to live. Inevitably, she will delete our existence at some point. As such, it is not about winning or losing in life, but how we choose to play the game. Perhaps we can live well by following the path of Magnificus, mixing subjective quality with objective fact of life.
While each of the Scrybes have something to offer, deciding on one Scrybe alone will always be incomplete. Just as Inscryption is a holistic game, life is a multifaceted phenomenon, with no one path being complete in-and-of itself. After all, the purpose of a game is to be played, just as the purpose of life is to live. The OLD_DATA of life is an inevitable fact of our existence, but it itself should not subtract from the quality of our one time gameplay. Before Grimora negates us all, enjoy your gameplay and give each of the Scrybes a chance. They each offer a unique experience, but it is only the acceptance of all four that leads to a complete Inscryption experience. Fear not for difference or novelty, and recognize that you as the central player of your life have the totality of the game at your disposal.
With all that being said, go live, enjoy your game and thank you for reading. Oh, and tell Leshy I said hi!
