The Hollowed

⚠︎ Content Warning: The following text contains brief discussions of stillbirth, disfigurement, as well as the skinning and utilization of hides.

W.I.P

The Hollowed, or Vacuumanis cavus, are a race descended from the failed experiments of The Nine Choirs, an ancient civilization that attempted to harness the biology of the Warden. The Hollowed are almost universally blind, navigate primarily through echolocation, and vary considerably in appearance, though they all bear some form of Warden characteristics. Over many generations of survival within the deep dark, they have developed a culture wholly their own, distinct from that of the civilization which created them.

Physiology and Classification

Physical variation among the Hollowed is extensive. Three terms are used to describe this range, each built upon the shared root Tskal, meaning marked or touched.

• Tskalvo refers to individuals present with extensive sculk coverage, exposed bone and horn structures, and a build closely resembling that of a Warden.

• Tskalen refers to individuals presenting a mixture of both extremes, and represents the most common classification.

• Tskalir refers to individuals that retain human-like skin and other features, with only minor or negligible sculk markings.

These classifications carry no social rank. A Tskalvo elder holds no greater standing than a Tskalir messenger.

The majority of the Hollowed are blind from birth, and a considerable number are born without eyes altogether. Stillbirths and physical irregularities occur at a much higher rate than what would be expected in another species of purely natural origin, reflecting the Hollowed’s artificial origin. They are unstable in terms of their population and health.

The Hollowed have a lifespan of 150-200 years.

Senses and Communication

Echolocation allows the Hollowed to perceive the outline, distance, and movement of nearby entities and objects, though not in fine detail. This sense must be actively engaged through vocalized clicks; it does not operate passively. As a result, an entity that remains silent and motionless is essentially invisible to a Hollowed.

Pallesthesia is a secondary, passive sense that allows the Hollowed to detect vibration continuously, including distant footsteps and other movements, without requiring active echolocation.

Individual recognition among each other rarely relies on echolocation at all, as doing so would be considered unnecessary and often exhausting to do constantly. Recognition instead depends loosely on scent and primarily on click-signatures, a vocal pattern unique to each individual Hollowed and is comparable to a fingerprint.

Culture

Notable Phrases

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Taboo

• Physical contact initiated without prior announcement.

• Directing echolocation toward another individual's face without warning is treated in a manner comparable to unwelcome staring within sighted cultures.

• The deliberate imitation of another individuals click-signature.
• Loud or undirected noise within shared spaces is generally viewed as inconsiderate, and in certain contexts, alarming and overwhelming.
• Standing motionless and silent near someone without first announcing oneself.
• Moving or handling another individual's belongings without leaving a marker or notice of having done so.
• Wearing an overpowering artificial scent into communal or residential space.
• Touching another individual's vocalization tablet without permission.

Diet

The Hollowed diet consists primarily of cultivated fungi, subterranean roots and produce, and cave-dwelling fauna, supplemented in recent generations by goods obtained through surface trade. As visual presentation holds no significance, food is evaluated principally on the basis of aroma and texture.

Written Records

A tactile script exists for informal and everyday use. It is written backwards using a needle-like tool to make indents. Once finished writing, the paper is flipped so that the indents are raised bumps. They are read by fingertip touch.

Formal record-keeping, however, relies primarily on resonance tablets. These consist of carved slabs of stone or bone that are read through sound produced by dragging a tool along the spiraling grooves. Specialists trained in this discipline, for both writing and reading (or hearing, in this case) are referred to as stone readers.

Wall-relief, carved directly into architecture, serves both as public text and as a component of the broader wayfinding system. Think of these as road signs, used for announcing exits, current location, warnings, etc.

Birth, Death, and Use of Remains

Upon the birth of a child, the surrounding kin-cluster gathers to observe a rite referred to as sounding the new voice. The infants first vocaliztion is recorded and preserved onto a resonance tablet, functioning thereafter as the individual’s name. Note that there are two variations of every Hollowed name. A click, which is what the above first vocalization refers to, and then the word for it, which is given later. Children born stillborn are subject to the same rite, only with a blank tablet.

Mourning does not last long as death is frequent, however it is done with great care. The deceased have their vocalization tablet retrieved and sounded every day for a period of one week before it is buried alongside the deceased individual. Certain close kin can retain bones or other parts from the deceased.

An established, openly acknowledged tradition holds that no part of the body should go unused following death. Bone is commonly worked into tools, rare weapons, clothing, and architectural elements, while skin may be prepared into clothing. This practice originated during the early days in which resources in the deep dark were scarce and, while less common since the establishment of surface trade, remains practiced by a meaningful portion of the population.

Children are raised communally among all Hollowed rather than solely by their parents. Instruction in clicks typically precedes formal spoken language. As individual aptitudes emerge, children are directed towards one of the specializations describes below.

Society and Specialization

No formal caste system exists among the Hollowed, however, individuals generally align with one of the following functional roles according to demonstrated ability.

• Click-control specialists serve as scouts and sentinels, forming the basis of the settlement's early-warning capability. They show high control of their voice.
• Speed specialists serve as messengers, a role of considerable importance given the scale and complexity of Hollowed settlements. These are individuals who are usually Tskalir.
• Depth-shapers serve as architects and engineers, judging by ear and echo-density alone which stone can be safely carved and which cannot.
• Growers maintain the mycelium gardens and cave-adapted crops that sustain the population.
• Menders.
• Warriors possess unusually strong sonic capability and are trained toward defense. The Hollowed are notably reluctant combatants, and so they deploy their warriors rarely and strictly in a defensive capacity. Advocacy for offensive military action is viewed with considerable alarm within Hollowed society.

Religion and Belief

Religious sentiment among the Hollowed remains unresolved and fluctuates between individuals.

Towards The Nine Choirs, sentiment consists simultaneously of neutrality and resentment, without resolution between the two. They are much at a crossroads, unable to wish their existence away, and unable to justify their feelings in a meaningful manner.

Toward the deity referred to in surviving Choir records as "Him," most Hollowed express indifference or deliberate distance, given that this figure was never regarded as belonging to their own people.

Architecture and Settlments

Hollowed settlements branch out from renovated ancient cities. They have been expanding into stone, consisting of densely interwoven chambers, shafts, and galleries. Many newer sections are constructed to brush the edges of caves and provide access to the surface.

Architectural design prioritizes acoustic clarity. Many surfaces are smooth to support echo-friendly navigation, wayfinding relies on texture rather than visual signage (wall-relief), and louder communal spaces are situated apart from quieter residential areas.

History

The Hollowed trace their origin to the Nine Choirs, an ancient civilization organized into nine ascending ranks, which sought to draw nearer to their deity through the creation of a perfect being combining the Wardens physical power with the intelligence of another unknown being.

Their creations, the ancestors of the modern Hollowed, survived within the deep dark and eventually developed into the people known today. Not much has changed physically compared to cultural changes in comparison of the two.

For further historical detail, see The Nine Choirs.

Abilities

Spoken language among the Hollowed is quiet and directional. Each individual is capable of projecting their voice in a narrow, targeted cone, permitting conversations to be less intense on surrounding Hollowed, as their hearing is exceptional.

A separate system, referred to as click-song, allows for the transmition of compressed sensory impressions. This can be used to transmit near-perfect depictions of anything a Hollowed has ‘seen’ (echolocated), similar to a photograph being handed between individuals. It can only be done by very close proximity or physical touch.

Mental and Magical Prowess

There is little to no difference between a Hollowed’s cognition and that of a human.

The magical abilities of the Hollowed is currently unknown, but they do not present any outwardly.

Military

The Hollowed maintain a limited, defense-oriented warrior class, described further under Society and Specilizaiton. No standing offensive force exists, nor is there historical precedent for conquest or aggression, owing to a firmly established cultural aversion to inflicting further suffering upon outsiders.

Miscellaneous

Characters

None currently.

Author

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