Below the Root

Below the Root is a 1984 adventure game written by Zilpha Keatly Snyder, developed by Dale Disharoon, and features art by Bill Groetzinger. It was published by Windham Classics, a division of Spinnaker Software. It was released for the Commodore 64, and there are also (vastly inferior) versions for the IBM PC and the Apple II.

The game is based on Zilpha Keatly Snyder's Green Sky Trilogy of novels. Although it is named after the first entry in this series, the game's story is a direct and canon sequel to the trilogy. This is because Zilpha had decided that one of her final plot elements was a mistake, and wanted to reticfy it while advancing the original plot.

The game's "soundtrack" was composed by Zilpha's husband, Larry Snyder. It consists of bell-like musical phrases in the style of the choral chant important to both cultures as described in the books. These pieces are heard when an important discovery is made or the player gains important skills or advances.

Gameplay

Below the Root is an early, pioneering example of what is now known as the "Metroidvania" genre.

Most of the gameplay focused on the challenges of getting the character to move around the game world. Various objects in the game were used for this. Of primary importance was the shuba, which allows the character to glide diagonally instead of falling, and also prevented the character from being hurt by falls.

Along the way, one learns a variety of Spirit-skills, such as pensing, kiniporting, and grunspreking. These are the key to making progress in the game world and achieving the ultimate goal. Communicating with animals as well as people through telepathy is vital to enhancing the character's Spirit-skills.

However, this traversal-and-magic centric gameplay isn't as simple as it might initially sound. Below the Root was highly ambitious for it's time and had many subtle and clever details woven into it's universe.

First of all were the social norms of Green-Sky. Theft and violence were alien concepts to most of the books' characters. Therefore, one could not (as is common with adventure games) simply walk into a room and pocket an unattended object. One had to either find the owner of the object and ask permission, buy the object with tokens in a shop, or locate the object in a public area.

(In the books, the Kindar economy was a moneyless quasi-communism; it was the Erdlings who used tokens and were used to being able to buy whatever they could afford.)

Another interesting detail is that the vegetarian Kindar characters did not get much nutrition out of eating meat, and temporarily lost psychic abilities. Likewise, the narcotic Wissenberries were somewhat more health-damaging to Erdling characters.

(In the books, Kindar often used the berries in rituals and ceremony, as well as recreationally, and for relief of physical and emotional pain.)

One of the most notable aspects of Below the Root is the extremely low level of violence in the game. The player could be hurt only by falling, coming into contact with snakes or tree spiders (invented for the game), or walking into walls.

These incidents merely resulted in a jarring "bump" sound effect and an animation of the character crouching and rubbing their head, as if recovering from a nasty knock, rather than any gruesome or graphic injury.

The worst thing that could happen would be your shuba tearing, so that you could no longer glide until you obtained a new one. Even the occasional adversary did not hurt one's character grievously, although one did slowly lose health points and game time, and might find oneself sent back to one's nid-place with an ominous notice that "you were found unconscious."

Your character could be kidnapped and held prisoner by the racist factions of the Salite or Nekom in one of the two "prison houses" in the game. A player with no other way to escape these prisons (or who found themselves otherwise trapped) could "renew", which was essentially a process of slipping briefly into a sort of recuperative coma, which resulted, as with the loss of all health points, in a loss of game time and the character returning to their nid-place (again, assuring that the character could never actually die during the game).

Additionally, if you were to use the machete to kill anyone, you would immediately suffer permanent penalties to your spirit abilities, making the game unwinnable.

Characters

Below the Root was among the first games that offered a choice of multiple protagonists, varied in gender, age, race, and beginning level of spirit skills. Furthermore, NPCs treat the characters differently based on your choice of avatar. A child character could be invited to play. Erdling characters could be given a chilly reception at some Kindar houses and vice versa. Consistent with the books, these people were portrayed as being opposed to any alliances between the two cultures, and thus had to be avoided whenever possible. Pensing a stranger provided clues to their attitudes and distinguished friend from foe. While the game's technology limited the extent of these features, they were certainly present.

Neric

"Neric is a Kindar-born young man. Though only moderately spirit-gifted, he is strong as we ll as impulsive. Neric's nid-place is in the Star Grund, not far from the Star Grund Shops."
(Spirit Limit: 5, Stamina: 20)

Genaa

"The beautiful and charismatic Genaa, a Kindar by birth, is a very robust young woman, with no spirit skill. Her home is in the Grand Grund, in the center of Green-Sky."
(Spirit Limit: O, Stamina: 20)

Pomma

"A Kindar child of 9 years, Pomma is Raamo's sister. Though extremely delicate, she is greatly spirit-gifted. Pomma is revered by Kindar and Erdling alike as a holy child. Her nid-place is found in the Sky-Grund."
(Spirit Limit: 10, Stamina: 10)

Cham

"Cham is a ten-year-old Erdling boy. Agile and alert, he is very sturdy for a boy his age. Cham has the ability to pense emotions but not messages. The Silk Grund is where his home is found."
(Spirit Limit: 5, Stamina: 15)

Herd

"Herd was born below the root but now lives in the Broad Grund. Like all Erdlings, he can pense emotions but not messages. He is a sturdy quester, and also very rational."
(Spirit Limit: 5, Stamina: 20)

Resources

Below the Root's Manual
Below the Root: A story, a computer game, and my lifelong obsession
Obscuritory: Below the Root
The Cutting Room Floor: Below the Root
Green-Sky fan site
Below the Root's female characters (archived)

Lexicon

Below the Root's manual came with a small dictionary for players unfamiliar with the books.

grund: one of the enormous trees whose branches support the Kindar stores, nid-places, and public buildings
fruit & nuts: considered a Kindar delicacy. you may have an initial supply in your nid-place. if not, find other sources
honeylamp: a Kindar lamp. once lit, it won't last long
lapan: a small animal that looks like a rabbit
Nekom: an Erdling society, dedicated to revenge and violence
nid: a Kindar hammock woven of living tendril. the nid-place is the home of a Kindar
pan bread: the staple food of the Kindar and Erdling people. You may find an initial supply in your nid-place. if not, you will have to find other sources
Salite: a Kindar society, whose purpose is to rid Green-Sky of all Erdlings as well as all those who believe in the unification of the two societies
shuba: an outer garment that allows Green-Sky citizens to glide safely. one is provided in your nid-place. you may need to find new ones later
sima: a small tree-dwelling animal, a favorite Kindar pet
thkens: money. there's some in your nid-place. supporters of the quest may provide you with more. you can acquire more by selling items to merchants
trencher beak: an essential tool for cutting through brambles and earth falls. you must find at least one, for in the fertile Green-Sky, vegetation grows quickly and may impede your quest
vine rope: woven from the tendrils of the sacred wissen-vine, these ropes will help you move about the trees or across bodies of water
wissenberries: the berry from the wissen-vine. although they are no longer legal in Green-Sky, you may find them helpful when used with caution
pense: the ability to read the emotions or thoughts of a human or an animal with your mind
grunspreke: the ability to make tree limbs grow with your mind
kiniport: the ability to move tools or your own body with your mind