The Flesh Below Leng
The Flesh Below Leng is how many notes and documents refer to Nowhere from a lore perspective.
Lore[edit]
Documents[edit]
Several documents and notes refer to the Flesh and with them we can gain greater understanding of what it is.
One example of someone referencing the flesh can be found in the Dreamers Diary where they state
I was a worker in the mines of Leng, when I was consumed by a shapeless mass of flesh, my flesh joining with the flesh of many others, until only my bones remained. My mind joined the collective of flesh which persists beyond death. [1]
This document establishes that the flesh beneath the mines establishes a collectivity of minds for those that it consumes. And that this collectivity continues past the death of the individual. Another reference can be found within Nowhere, this diary is labeled the Dreamer and states
A prison which the only escape is death. Deep below, the dreamer floats in the sea of flesh. The red eye birthing a new world from their dream for eternity and each time the dreamer turns over in their sleep, the world turns over too until only flesh remains.
This document establishes that the red eye, the dreamer and the flesh below are all closely connected with the dreamer's dream being born from the red eye but growing weaker until it is overrun by the flesh.
Both documents that refer to the flesh do so in comparison to the dreamer establishing them as deeply connected people.
The Plates[edit]
The Plates found throughout the game, which are the seals on the King in Yellow.[2] These seem to be made out of the Basalt Rocks mined in the mines with parts of the Flesh within it.
These Plates seem to hold some level of Bioresonant ability, this can be seen from the obtaining of the first plate early into the game which proceeded to trigger either a memory or a entry into a different plane of space and time to the Rotfront Radio Tower. [3]
Obtaining the Plates[edit]
Each plate required an action from Elster in order to obtain, most of these actions either related to the name of the plate or could be used to tell details about the obtained plate.
The Plate of Knowledge was obtained after using the rings on the Empress, due to the nature of this puzzle giving us an insight into the life of this figure it can be seen that this is the knowledge we learned.
The Plate of Love was obtained after lighting an incense at the alter for the Yeong family, seeing how Elster loves Ariane this can be understood to be representative of that.
The Plate of Balance was obtained after using the dolls to balance a scale to take the plate.
The Plate of Eternity was obtained after opening the Butterfly chest early into the game, it takes us to the Rotfront Interplanetar Station 06. The exact connection with the name is currently not known.
The Plate of Flesh was obtained after using completing the Maze this can be seen as a symbolic gesture of Nowhere as a whole (a giant maze, known in the code as "Labyrinth")
The Plate of Sacrifice is found in the second maze, its meaning could be seen as similar to the meaning of the Plate of Flesh, however its exact meaning is unknown.
Physical Manifestation of the King[edit]
Due to the many connections between the King in Yellow and Nowhere, with it being the location of the plates as well as it being a location certainly within the realm of his creation, it has been argued that the King and The Flesh Below are the same being.