Beholders

Beholders are a class of individuals psychically attuned to the moods and urges of their planet’s core. Vidronian beholders have a connection to both the core and the planet’s atmospheric dome [sphera crystallina], which form a complete organism.

These sensory abilities are attributed to a condition known as vestibular nexum, a defect of the inner ear. Vestibular nexum causes an individual’s balance and spatial awareness to be influenced by their planet’s position in space rather than their own unique location. Classic symptoms present as an acute attack of tinnitus, dizziness, and nausea.

“A lion enters your ear and lets out a roar whose echo never dulls. Your home, the faces of everyone you’ve evquicksand. They are locked away from you now. Nothing matters except the hungry pull of the planet and her desire that you walk alongside her.”

The condition is best managed through frequent psychic engagement with one’s planet. Interacting with the core allows the individual to gradually build a tolerance to their connection.

Being able to discern precise differences in space and position then allows one to have transactional influence with their planet. These individuals predict weather and climate events with perfect accuracy, and assist in minimizing the damage caused by natural disasters.

Vestibular nexum is a common occurrence, affecting 5%-7% of the population on most planets. The terrestrial giant Camros boasts a beholden population greater than any other in the Solace system, giving support to the theory that larger planetary organisms somehow benefit from the condition, creating a symbiotic relationship. The moral value of this relationship (or if it actually exists) has been the subject of conquest, war and debate throughout Solace.