User:Pauolo/sandbox

= Hallownest Groups = The lands of Hallownest are filled by several groups of strange creatures. They occupy various territories around the vast kingdom and developed their own societies and cultures aside the Pale King's rule.

The Mosskin Tribe
The Mosskins are a tribe of bugs covering themselves in moss and leaves, living in Greenpath. They let the Pale King build roads throughout their lush caves, but warned that anything straying from them would be subject to their laws. They also chose to stay away from the Queen's Gardens, once an extension of their territory, claimed by the White Lady. Unlike the Moth tribe, however, they kept their faith.

According to the Mosskins' faith, the vegetation in Greenpath and the Queen's Gardens, as well as themselves, appeared from a dream of Unn, a higher being. They revere each plant in these caverns as the will of the mysterious creature and believe their prosperity is tied to the vegetation's state. They also believe that Unn will one day call them back to their dream.

Despite their primitive appearance, the Mosskins are evolved enough to carve and leave tablets scattered across their territory. They built a temple to their faith on the shores of the Lake of Unn, where the Higher Being used to appear. The path to the lake is protected by Moss Knights, Mosskins trained in wielding Nail and Shell.

The Infection is driving them mad, aggravated by the disappearance of Unn. They believe the vegetation in Greenpath is dying and must be protected from intruders until Unn calls them. A group of Mossy Vagabonds forsook their faith and duties in favour of the Radiance and her light. Led by the Moss Prophet, they congregate in the Moss Chapel below the Queen's Gardens and will defend him with their lives. These strayed Mosskins eventually all die of the Infection as the Knight progresses through their journey.

The Fungal Tribe
The Fungals are a species of sentient mushroom-like beings, neither bugs nor plants. They took residence in the Fungal Wastes bordering both the City of Tears and the Deepnest, where they can hide among the scenery. These territorial creatures possess a hive mind and developed their own language. Both their language and the Lore Tablets they leave can be translated by wearing the Spore Shroom charm.

Fungals can evolve, from the young and inoffensive Shrumelings to the more dangerous Shrumal Warriors and Ogres. A giant unconscious Fungal creature can also be found at the heart of the Fungal Core. While they accepted the rule of the Kingdom of Hallownest for the prescience of the Pale King, they opposed incursions of Deepnest's beasts on their territory. Like most of the Kingdom, they were affected by the Infection and will attack any intruder to protect their young ones.

While they share a mushroom-like appearance and the same language, Mister Mushroom is not one of them. He has a mind of his own and his own agenda throughout Hallownest. Though the Lore Tablet in Kingdom's Edge suggests some sort of worship by the mushrooms with Mister Mushroom as the deity.

The Mantis Village
The Mantises in Hallownest form a tribe of proud and ferocious bugs. These naturally-born fighters built the Mantis Village deep within the Fungal Wastes. Led by the Mantis Lords, they defend their territories from intruders with their lives. Their flying youths are compelled to prove their strength before becoming warriors. However, they all come to respect any who would defeat their leaders in honourable combat, and give them the freedom to enter their territory.

Despite being opposed to the Kingdom of Hallownest, the Mantises concluded a truce with them. They also agreed to keep the beasts of Deepnest at bay, of which their village is at the border of. At some point, Elder Hu believed the Infection spread to their village and tried to purify it. He was killed by the Mantises after attacking them, not realizing his own madness driven by the Infection.

The Mantis Traitors
Unlike most other species in Hallownest, the Mantises are able to resist the Infection. Their defiance towards it, however, forces them to outcast any who would be affected by it. the Traitor Lord chose to embrace the Infection and opposed his three sisters. He was forced to exile along with other youth and warrior followers.

The traitors set tents in the lower part of the Queen's Gardens, but the Infection which gave them new strength also drove them mad. They placed marks throughout the abandoned gardens while claiming them as their territory. They tried to drive out the White Lady of her sanctuary but failed to do so because of the great knight Dryya protecting her. Nonetheless, they continue surviving in the overgrown gardens, fiercely attacking any intruders on their path. Some of them also became fighters at the Colosseum of Fools.

The Soul Sanctum's Scholars
The bugs of the Soul Sanctum are highly intelligent scholars who served the Kingdom of Hallownest. They researched ways to expand the mind and attain pure focus, secluded in their spire in the kingdom's capital. When the kingdom's minds became plagued by the Infection, the Soul Master, head of the sanctum, sought its cure in the soul, the energy animating bugs and beasts alike. He refused to listen to the Pale King opposing his work, failing to realize that his own infected mind was influencing him.

In their madness, the scholars consumed souls, convinced it would lead them to immortality. These experiments had their share of failures, deforming some of them into formless Mistakes and Follies. More successful ones retained their physical integrity, becoming supernaturally skilled Soul Twisters and Warriors. All but the Soul Master suffered, however, the progressive loss of their self, lost among the countless souls they consumed.

Even with the kingdom's fall, the infected scholars hoarded souls in the sanctum. They gathered ancient Soul Totems, but also the husks of countless unfortunate bugs, kept in remembrance of the sacrifice of their souls. They even captured a Snail Shaman to forcefully steal its soul abilities.

Unlike the kingdom's bugs, the scholars survived the fall of Hallownest. Some of them remained in the Soul Sanctum and attack any intruder, with the Soul Master still clinging to the Infection's false promise of immortality. Others, although also infected, joined the Colosseum of Fools as fighters. The Volt Twisters, in particular, adapted the teachings of the sanctum to evolve their abilities and continue fighting or meditating in seclusion.

The Flukes
The Flukes are a species of worm-like parasitic creatures who took over the Royal Waterways. They stay in the City's sewers for their calm and dampness, and don't venture past it. Most of the Flukes encountered are affected by the Infection. Like other infected creatures, they display violent behaviour towards intruders on their territory.

Flukes are primitive, not completely mindless, but neither do they have the full ability to think. With the exception of the uninfected Fluke Hermit, they don't seem to have any other purpose other than to reproduce and grow. They also understand the concept of family. Their mother, Flukemarm, cannot move from her cave below the waterways and keeps breeding more and more Flukes. The Infection also made her noticeably angrier, enough to scare away the Fluke Hermit.

Flukes usually wander the waterways looking for anything to eat. The Fluke Hermit, however, lives aside with some younger Flukes in the Junk Pit. She is also the only Fluke encountered by the Knight with whom they can communicate with.

The Nest
The beasts of Deepnest are arachnids in appearance and used to be one of the most intelligent species in the land of Hallownest. Unlike the Pale King's Kingdom, the Nest was led by a king of honoured caste, but a queen of common descent, Herrah the Beast. She outlived her consort but her followers, Little Weavers, Stalking Devouts and Weavers, continued serving both their queen and the Nest with devotion.

The creatures of the Nest lived in the Distant Village, houses of silk suspended in a deep cavern at the far end of Deepnest. Their brood was however tended to by creatures such as the Midwife, one of which survived the Infection and hides deep below the village. The Weavers, talented silk crafters, were not natives of Hallownest and resided in their own den, hidden at the heart of Deepnest.

The Nest kept their territory bound at the edge of Deepnest and defended it with hostility against the Fungal Tribe. They also rejected the rule of Hallownest, such as violently forcing the Kingdom to cease the construction of a tram line throughout the upper part of their territory. The Mantis Tribe kept the Nest's beasts away from pushing further, following a truce with the Kingdom.

Eventually, the Pale King was able to bargain with Herrah the Beast for her help in containing the Infection plaguing Hallownest. The Distant Village was also linked to the kingdom's Stagways, although its station was never visited by the Last Stag before the Knight's journey. With her consort dead, Herrah had a daughter with the Pale King, Hornet, to perpetuate the Nest's rule. In exchange, the queen became a Dreamer to seal the Hollow Knight, the Vessel containing the Infection. Yet, this sacrifice proved unsuccessful and the Nest found itself infected nonetheless.

Hornet left the Nest, but would eventually return, seeking answers throughout the doomed land of Hallownest. The Weavers also left Deepnest to return to their old home outside Hallownest. Herrah's surviving followers continue to protect her by hunting intruders, their mind clouded by the Infection. The Distant Village itself grew silent, with the exception of the Beast's Den serving as a deadly trap for unfortunate wanderers.

The Bees
The residents of the Hive, below the Kingdom's Edge, are a species of sentient bees. These airborne warriors possess a hive mind which dictates their behaviour among the Hive. Hivelings carry out simple tasks, and can colonize husks to serve the Hive's purpose. Soldiers and Guardians defend the Hive against intruders. Lastly, the flightless but fierce Hive Knight acts as the last rampart before their monarch, the Hive Queen Vespa, who grew so huge she couldn't leave the Hive.

The Hive attacks any intruder who doesn't wield their blood. They also rejected the Pale King's philosophy of evolution and, deemed a threat to the Kingdom of Hallownest, were walled off it. Despite their isolation, Vespa's death weakened the Hive, allowing the Infection to spread through. The infected residents never realized the death of their queen. Their corrupted hive mind dictated to defend her tirelessly, much to the sadness of their queen's spirit.