A Prisma’s Inflection describes the changes imposed upon it by abstract ideas and concepts. Inflection exists on top of core Prismatic Expression - modulating and twisting its core shape and properties, but never replacing them. Not all Prisma has a distinct inflection; untouched wilderness tends to represent raw Expressions.
What is Prismatic Inflection?
Prisma is Stained in two different ways:
First - by objective, material, worldly phenomena (granting its Expression)
Second - by subjective, immaterial, abstract phenomena (granting its Inflection)
This secondary means of staining occurs when sentient, opinionated, biased beings impose those very ideas on nearby Prisma.
One Expression, Many Interpretations
While Entropy itself is an uncaring, objective, worldly phenomenon, a religious knight in a holy order and a shady thief who prowls the slums both have their own interpretation of the phenomenon. The former might visualize Entropy as a holy smite of divine judgement, decimating unholy creatures of the night. The latter might visualize this concept as the poison that coats her dagger, melting away the flesh of an unsuspecting target.
Both are biased interpretations of the same fundamental idea of Entropy as a destructive force of decay. Yet, these abstract interpretations actually stain the nearby Prisma in a corresponding manner.
Following the example, then, the Prisma stained by the Holy Knight and the broader culture he belongs to would still have underlying expression, but it would also have underlying properties matching the Inflection. It would be more radiant and carry properties of sunlight. The Entropic Prisma would burn creatures such as Vampires and Demons, and the Stratic would have healing properties.
The Thief, on the other hand, might have Prisma with a grey tint - obscuring anything that passes through it. The Entropic Prisma might be slightly venomous to an outsider, and the Stratic might create obscuring fog as a means of cover.
A being’s origin - their hopes, dreams, biases, and cultural ideals - are reflected in their Prisma’s Inflection. A region’s Inflection mirrors this, but among its broader population.
Principles of Inflection
Prismatic Inflection fades slowly when a culture is removed from a region, and quickly when detached from a living being’s soul.