June 30, 2012

It's A Sorta Greeny-Purplish Color


In our years upon the world, we as a species have learned much about the world around us. From the primal teachings of the Gods (especially learning how NOT to behave like idiots), to the wonder and beauty of the natural world. We have come to understand that pure light is composed of all the colors in existence, and that blackness and darkness is simply an absence of light.

We have long known that what we see is not all that there is. We have known of this since time immemorial. With this knowledge we have conjured, and for our power we have abjured.  We have calmed our primal selves, and have created a (relatively) peaceful existence within the city. We no longer shamelessly hunger for power, and our massive tower at the very center of the city is a testament to beauty and grace.

Gentleman, we have achieved mighty things. We are standing upon the shoulders of giants, both those of our ancestors, and upon the shoulders of the giants that our ancestors ruthlessly destroyed, back when we wizards got up to such shenanigans, which no one should do of course, I myself would never dream of doing such horrid things as amassing huge armies to do my bidding, or learning the ways of magic such to match the Gods themselves, no of course I wouldn't.

But we have yet to answer one simple question: Why is it purpley green? We know that only a few select individuals such as we can even see this, the eighth type of light. But what sets us apart, what allows this extra ability? Why do we perceive things as we do, and why is it the color that it is?

Gentlemen, I present to you today my answer to this ancient question. As you know, the visible spectrum is but a line, and what we see as color is but a fraction thereof. In truth, the spectrum extends far above and far below what we can see. And yet there is a paradox. I present the color wheel.

The important word here is wheel, as in circle. I have never, not once, have I ever seen the color spectrum presented as anything but a circle. Have you? I doubt that you have. To perceive the visible spectrum as a circle of colors is ingrained in the very mechanisms by which we perceive the world. In truth, the wheel is just a straight line segment cut from a larger one, and stitched into a circle. We even know where this incision takes place, between red and blue.

But hold on, you may say. There is no distinct line between those two colors, there's even a whole nother color in between them; Purple! And therein lay half the answer to our question. In order to perceive a small segment of the spectrum as a circle you need something to stitch the ends of that segment together. What we perceive as purple is nothing less than that which binds the world together. The eighth color of light is what holds the color wheel together, just as that which produces that light holds the disc together.

Gentlemen! I now know a great secret of the world. We all know that this special light has itself an eightfold spectrum. This is because there are in truth, Two Spectrums! What is generally seen as purple to others is the intersection of the magical spectrum and the regular. Our octagonal cells, in addition to the standard rods and cones, can perceive both.

But why green? The answer to that is a bit trickier. We have thus far been concentrating on our conception of color as being circular. But now we must exam the two spectrums as they really are, straight lines. Now, purple exists in this conception at either end of the spectrum. For the eight colors of magic, we see the same thing except that this time the color in question is seen between green and yellow.  The division point in the magical color wheel lies at a sort of yellow-green color. You see gentlemen, that the two spectrums intersect at blue/red (visible light) and yellow/green (magical light), and can be conceived of as two color wheels intersecting each other at right angles. That intersection happens to be at purple & green, and that, gentlemen, is why octarine is a sort of greeny-purplish.

This draft letter submitted to the Arcane University Peer Review on this date by:

[Editor: Illegible, looks like an R, or maybe a P followed by squiggle. Does anyone know a P or possibly an R Squiggle?]

Share/Bookmark