Magic Theory 004 - Sculk, Bones and Necromancy
With more information im finding out with the sculk and warden, I might have to contradict this earlier theory about it.
Perhaps it was never really related to the end at all, maybe it relates more to necromancy and undead.
According to this tweet here, It turns out sculk blocks have more in common with bone blocks than endstone. Which is fitting, because you can find bones in places like soul sand valley, and we all know sculk has something to do with souls. Now, it seems like both bones and souls might have connections. Because, you know, the dead.
Here is the visual comparision of the following blocks:
and audio comparision here, in order:
Sculk Catalyst Placement.mp3
Sculk Shrieker Placement.mp3
If you listen closely, the sound of the sculk blocks resemble the sound of bone blocks, proving it may be made of bones, or bone-like material.
So if it is bones, then what is it the bones of? Was the civilizations in the deep dark trying to revive some huge creature with the sculk filled with soul energy? Is it the bones of the warden, or something bigger?
Furthermore, to prove it has relations to life and death; sculk spreads when a mob dies near it.
(In courtesy of the zombie who sacrificed themselves for research.)
This could mean the sculk consumes or collects the soul of the mob that died next to it as a way to spread; allowing it to have a wider range in collecting more unfortunate souls to continue spreading.
The spread is presumably caused by the soul energy's power.
As you can see, souls are seen to come out when the spreading happens.
EXP Orbs can also be collected when you mine the sculk blocks.
Personally, I think EXP and souls are not the same thing. This is because you can collect EXP from mining things like coal, or trading, not just from slaughtering mobs.
But instead, maybe souls do contain EXP and your soul collects them. Hence why the sculk drops them when mined. The soul that was acting like a container for EXP is completely broken, so the EXP inside it instead drops out.
The EXP you collect are the remains of whatever entity that has fallen victim to the sculk. It was theirs and now its yours.
(What exactly EXP is will be a post for another day, but here's a link to a post about EXP having something to do with revival, aka could be related to necromancy; which is the craft of reviving something)
Speaking of EXP, it is said the amount of sculk that spreads is directly related to the amount of EXP collected.
Maybe souls containing more EXP have stronger energy, causing the spread to be further.
Next, the sculk shrieker has the ability to darken the surroundings.
This is very much a stretch, but it does remind me of the darkening ability the wither has when you summon one. ((Bedrock))
Sculk Shrieker's Darkening Effect: (x)
Wither's Darkening Effect: (x)
Again, this part is a massive stretch. The sculk shrieker darkens the surroundings but not the sky, whereas the wither darkens the sky.
In another post, I mentioned there that it was more of the wither's power to manipulate weather and giving its curses into lightning.
But I thought it was still a bit relevant to put it here as comparision; as both candidates have soul-related things about them and somehow have this similar darkening ability when it comes to surroundings.
TLDR: Because sculk has a lot of relations to souls, death, EXP and bones, this makes me think it has links to the topic of necromancy.
Candles are found in the deep dark cities. It is a known concept that candles are commonly used in rituals and religious affairs, so what if that is their purpose?
I wonder if the art of necromancy had started and was discovered in the deep dark cities, with either soul experiments or spiritual rituals being conducted down there. Did bodily sacrifices occur to spread the sculk more?
Perhaps they were done deep down, because toying with souls was considered unethical at the time?
Maybe its where the undead curse/virus originated, considering it acts like an infection spreading?
This is all just speculation until more info is found, you can add on if you want.