#void lore

Reference used, btw! It was so fucking hard to get it right because of Oleander's hair and coat blocking Void's eye lmao

And a quick bonus!! New Assassin Outfit AND Assistant Vigil Outfit!!!

New Vitiligo and haircuts!!

Layers of the Void realm

Composed of darkness, dark matter, and shadow, it is a quiet and vast plane where Lament is the overseer/ruler. It is a cold place, no sun or complete warmth, with very few stars to light up the skies. The landscape is made of a fine, sparkling black sand (similarly colored to labradorite), speckled with leafless dark trees and pools of clear fluid that reflect the stars and trap their light for consumption. Those whose souls are claimed by Lament are turned into Shades- silhouettes of wispy shadow that wander the barren landscape as her subjects.

Void: Uppermost layer of the Void

Abyss: Second Layer of the Void

Not as dark in visual appearances, composed of jagged rocky landscapes of obsidian and bedrock. Souls that die within the Abyss are turned into mindless beasts filled with an endless rage and need to hunt. Dark deities linger in the void, ancient and forgotten by humans that long to regain the strengths they once held. Their voices whisper in the backs of minds, trying to ensnare anyone who is lured by temptation.

Mania: Third Layer of the Void

Thick, dense trees cover the ground of this layer. The landscape is battered by frigid and biting winds, making the branches rattle like bones and the leaves chatter like whispers. Any soul unfortunate to end up in Mania is forced to walk through endless woods in spirals, unable to find any end or exit to their plight. No animals or prey exist in the layer, causing starvation and intense dehydration. The victims quickly lose their sanity and what remained of their minds, either muttering to themselves or biting on what's left of their flesh. They become Husks, walking figures of madness that crave any kind of sustenance and will even try to kill other Husks for food.

Null: Deepest Layer of the Void

OK SO the 13th/the Void ended up with a lot of FFIV inspiration. That's perfect for me as the Void has been kind of my Thing since i started playing

the basic concept of the Void is kind of like, it's a world where the heroes failed -- one way or another, by deception or hubris or simply dying and being reborn as twisted monsters, they all became the villains. to this end we get the hero version of Golbez, of course, but like...

in the Lunar Subterrane dungeon, you delve into the hero Golbez's memories of his final moments, in which he and Durante are struggling to repel an invasion of Baron. the environment is a little...desert-y to be a one-to-one match for the FFIV Baron, which i already thought was interesting, but then Durante laments "nothing is exempt from their avarice" right before we get to the second boss fight of the dungeon: Damcyan Antlion

i thought it was really interesting that it was specifically a DAMCYAN antlion, because that immediately made me think -- wait, if this is effectively the "opposite" of FFIV, is Damcyan the invading force here? the antlion's boss mechanics involve dragging you into sand pits and crashing into pillars to bring them down, so it sure does make an effective siege weapon... hey, didn't they mention "avarice"? Some supplemental FFIV stuff mentions that Damcyan is extremely wealthy, to the extent that money is literally named after their ruling dynasty...

oh my god is there an evil version of Edward on the 13th

given the lack of permanent death once the laws of physics were broken enough over there, does that mean there's specifically a DEMON version of Edward that exists in the Void right now

so i immediately mapped out a basic concept for Bugward, gave him an Italian mythological name to go with all the Dante's Inferno stuff, and somehow got so fixated on it that now i'm balls deep in an expensive doll project.

transcription of the COOL BUG FACTS i scribbled on one of the earlier sketches

That is not his face

palace full of shed skins [was imagining like a cicada here]

don't listen to his words, he is incapable of love

not because he's a voidsent though, he was like that before

originally prince of the world's wealthiest nation

corrupted by Durante after his invasion of Baron, an act which fused Golbez's armor to Durante's body permanently [direct revenge for the death of Golbez obviously]

favorite methods of execution: quicksand, carnivorous worm pit

known to disguise himself as a commoner, seduce peasant girls, then feed them to his pet antlion when he gets bored of them

"i'd die for you" "then perish"

Gold Void (Rain World)

Appearance: Black in its pure form but develops ripples of gold when exposed to impurities. Normally exists as a liquid called "void fluid."

Location: Naturally found in subterranean reservoirs known as "void seas." While it may seem that Rain World's planet has a mantle made entirely of void fluid, this is false; the void seas simply seem infinite due to the weirdness of void. Void fluid has also been exploited by an extinct civilization and can be found in various artifacts.

Creatures: Always have gold in their palettes. Some creatures are mostly dark-colored while others are mostly white. Species include echoes, ghost voidspawn (the small gold ghosts), and void worms.

Properties:

Capable of dissolving virtually anything, including reality itself. This makes storing void fluid very difficult and expensive. Rain World's Ancients found a way to dilute void fluid and were able to engineer materials that take a long time to dissolve, allowing them to store it. Since gold void is highly corrosive, handling it is a very bad idea.

Unstable and volatile when exposed to energy. Void fluid is normally inert, but using energy sources (such as heat, kinetic energy, electricity, or even void fluid that's already been energized) can make it volatile. This was harnessed by the Ancients to power technology. However, this technology must be handled with care, as mishandling can lead to a runaway reaction and the formation of a temporary singularity.

Has an unusually strong effect on reality. Examples of this include the void sea's screen-melting effect and the aura that echoes have. Some Ancient technologies make void fluid wiggle reality in a specific way to get desired results (e.g. to produce an antigravity field).

Abyssal Void (Hollow Knight)

Appearance: Pitch black and may have glowing white "eyes." Normally exists in a liquid form but becomes gaseous if disturbed.

Location: Similar to gold void, abyssal void exists in reservoirs deep underground. One such reservoir is found directly underneath Hallownest.

Creatures: Black with glowing white eyes. Some abyssal voidspawn inhabit physical bodies or constructs, which act like a protective shell. Includes vessels, shades, kingsmoulds, and whatever the Collector is.

Properties:

Nightmare Void (Don't Starve)

It absorbs sound and creates silence. Locations near an abyss are eerily quiet, and abyssal voidspawn tend to be silent as well. Some voidspawn can "roar," but instead of making a sound they make a wave of silence instead.

Repelled or calmed by light. Bodies of abyssal void may become violent towards light sources, but are paradoxically calmed by bright lights. Abyssal void creatures tend to prefer dark places.

Appearance: Nightmarish shadows. Its tangible form is a gelatinous liquid known as nightmare fuel. It can also appear as dark flames.

Location: Found all over the Constant but is strangely abundant in the Ruins deep underground.

Creatures: Nightmare voidspawn (aka fissured voidspawn) are normally living shadows with holes where their eyes would be. They are normally invisible and incorporeal but can be seen by creatures that have low sanity. Includes terrorbeaks, crawling horrors, and Mr. Skitts. Some creatures resemble the Ancient Fuelweaver instead, or are more tangible like the fused shadelings.

Properties:

Has an insanity aura. Creatures and objects made from nightmare void cause intense unease and stress in living creatures. Since nightmare voidspawn usually only appear to someone who has low sanity, this can create a nasty feedback loop.

Can be puppeteered - for a price. A monarch (formerly a king, now a queen) exists who is able to direct and control nightmare void; however, they are changed forever by this and are, in a way, voidspawn themselves.

Note: "Them" in Don't Starve lore refers to multiple beings. Void is the most powerful and influential of them.

End Void (Minecraft)

Appearance: Black, purple, or staticky. Its tangible form is a purple particulate that does not persist for very long.

Location: Mostly found in a dimension known as the End. Tangible end void is rare and is emitted by some end voidspawn.

Creatures: Usually mostly black with purple eyes and accents. Includes endermen and the Ender Dragon. If a living creature lingers in the End for an extremely long period of time, they may eventually become an end voidspawn.

Properties:

Can be used for teleportation. Endermen are able to teleport and eyes of ender are used to activate End portals.

Aetherial Void/Shimmer (Terraria)

Appearance: Glowing, shimmery, and pearlescent. Usually found as a liquid known as "shimmer."

Location: Pools of shimmer naturally generate in the Aether mini-biome.

Creatures: Shimmery and pearlescent. Include shimmer slimes and faelings.

Properties:

Can transmute or decraft things. By dunking them in shimmer, many items can be given a new form or broken down into the materials used to craft them. Critters and slimes are easily turned into aetherial voidspawn through transmutation, but larger creatures such as humans need more time to soak.

Intangibility. This is also known as the Shimmering debuff, where the player becomes intangible for a short time after entering a pool of shimmer. Aetherial voidspawn can become intangible at will.

Memory Void (Sky: Children of the Light)

Appearance: Doesn't have a tangible form. Instead it manifests as pocket dimensions called "memory spaces." These dimensions have two variants: an empty, grayscale one with a solid, reflective floor (ex. the ancient memories) and one that is blue with distant stars and no floor (ex. the vault of knowledge). It's possible the blue variant exists due to interactions with light magic.

Location: Memory spaces.

Creatures: Ghostly and translucent with glowing, star-like flecks. Includes cosmic mantas. Normally the only way to convert a creature into a memory voidspawn is if it dies while inside a memory space.

Properties:

Can form memory spaces. Memory spaces preserve locations in a moment of time as if it's a memory. These spaces can be entered and interacted with. Shared spaces are a miniature and temporary form.

Is harmless to living things. This is highly unusual for a void type. The only danger presented by a memory space itself is the fact that it's infinite, so it is possible to get lost inside one (light barriers can be erected to prevent this).

The world of Sky has many memory spaces, including:

Most of the Vault of Knowledge. The actual Vault is the stone room you reach after meditating at the end of the realm.

The empty void you are in after dying in Eden.

The starry location you reach after going through Orbit and before you are reborn.