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You've always loved the dark. Most kids are afraid of the dark, but you never were. something about it felt... safe. there were no monsters, just a comforting stillness. it never really mattered, back then, but things have changed now. you've grown up, gotten older, changed as a person. you shed your name years ago, made your body your own by force. but there's still something missing. there's still an emptiness inside you, but you can't quite place it. a longing for something more. you feel so lonely, even with all the friends and lovers you have.
something calls to you, from deep within the earth. you've heard legends of a strange life in the depths, but never seen it yourself. some adventurer types have brought back "samples" but they're always dead, never living. a dark blue mulch, decomposing in their hands. you need to see it with your own eyes. so you book a guided tour of the nearest location. they say it's an "ancient city" but you don't really believe them.
the months fly by like seconds, as you wait for the date of the journey to arrive. finally, it's here. you prepare all the things you need: a bedroll, food, water, a few books for reading in the downtime. your guides will handle the logistics.
the journey starts in the mouth of a deep, deep cave. you look over the edge (carefully fenced off) and could swear you can't see the bottom. the only thing you see is the faint impression of stars, glittering in the dark. it's near midnight, so you look up at the sky. all the clouds are gone, which is unusual for this time of year. the stars glister above you, but feel far more distant, far less reachable. you turn back to the mouth of the cave. it's time to descend.
the trip is harrowing. tight corridors force you into poses you never would have made otherwise, and flooded sections require specialized gear to traverse. you keep going, though. the tug in your mind gets stronger with ever meter you descend, until it seems to fill your awareness. you feel yourself opening up, like your body is fit to burst with the effort of keeping itself contained. you keep moving.
your guide vanishes, at some point. you think they said something about a point of no return, but you don't care about that. [come closer]. it doesn't matter.
finally, finally you reach those stars you saw all those days ago. they're not stars. you reach out and touch one, and the fleshy substance around it gives way with the force. you rip a piece off, but it dies in your hand, same as all those samples. it doesn't matter. [come to me my chosen]. you keep going deeper. you're losing track of time, the only light you have is the gentle flickering of the substance around you. [our name is Sculk, chosen].
you sense the sculk wants you for something. you can't tell what, but you know it's important. after and uncountable number of days, which you think could be a week, maybe two, you finally see it. the City. it lies in abject ruin, but you don't care. you know where you need to go; what you need to do. you hurry through the paths of the city. some kind of specialized organ responds to the noise you make, and another makes a loud shriek in response. you were told that doing so would spell your doom, but nothing has happened.
you reach a small building, seemingly residential. you decide to stay there for the night, get some rest. the Sculk is soft in a way you've never felt before, like memory foam crossed with a freshly dried blanket. you drift off to sleep.
in your dreams you find our avatar, a being of bone and moss. We look you in the eye, and see the power within you. a decision is made, among the whole of the parts of the whole. you shall be our Chosen.
you wake in a cold sweat, and lay there for who knows how long. probably an hour. it's all fitting into place. you've never felt this way before; the burning passion in your heart, the tension in your gut, the twinge in your loins. you know what must happen. you make your way to what seems to be the center of the city—a massive towering frame, empty save for the residual spread of the Sculk.
you approach the frame. you know what is bound to happen, and welcome it with open arms. you fall to your knees, and find the corner of the frame. with a quick bash, you split open your skull, allowing the Sculk to enter. as quickly as the pain blossomed, it vanished, replaced by a sensation of fullness. Sculk tendrils creep up the rest of your body as you stay there, near-catatonic. for you, of course, this time was nothing at all. one moment a darkening of yourself, and the next an awakening. you still don't know who you are, where you are, WHAT you are. something is still wrong. you have to escape.
your escape is already in motion, my devout. you must hold on for a little longer, while i acquire the needed magic to achieve it.
days pass, weeks. she never returns. eventually you start tending to the shack yourself, leaving touches of the Sculk in your body in surreptitious locations; in the corner of a room, the back of a dresser covered in cobwebs. nothing special. just kickback from what you knew you had to do as a kid. if you ever had to go back, you would die.
one night, you are lying in the bed you set up near the frame, and something makes yourself known to.
I... am Sculk. I would like to broker a deal. you may go wherever you wish, the unholy-non sculk will reject you, but you don't care about that do you? Good. in exchange, i get to be along for the ride. I need to see the world to expand, you understand.
you do understand. you understand more than anything. you accept the deal without a second thought. it's already within you, keeping you alive. it's the least you could do for it.
as you accept, you feel something slipping into your mind. it's like your mind was an empty glove, and Sculk is the filling made specifically for it. the sensation of fullness is too much. you pass out on the cold, hard, rock floor.
when next you awaken, your body has changed. sculk takes the liberty of informing you that because you had already reshaped your body, you have many abilities that most others would not. she tells you that most of them are yet to blossom, but that the changes you currently see are just the beginning.
you first hear Her voice the next day. she wants you to find a secluded place, and pay direct tribute to her. she won't tell you what it is, only that it will be the most transcendental experience of your life. It is.
in the next months you are quickly promoted to the highest position possible: mouthpiece of the goddess. whenever she talks through you, you feel the love invading your every cell. you hate feeling love, you hate feeling needed, you hate feeling like something is greater than you. but you made your choice.
in the rare occasions She manifests directly, there's only ever one reason. she wants your physicality, a contrast with Her own. she knows exactly what you want, how you want it, and how to do it. she knows this, because she knows every thought you have, every sensation you feel, ever emotion you experience. you feel sick at the thought. you don't have emotions, that's for other people. She makes you feel them anyway. it's part of the fun for Her.
months later, some other being tries to find your goddess. instead, your goddess speaks through you. She says that she doesn't care to manifest physically. the red bird you're talking to says she doesn't care, she just wants to talk to Her. so you let them. nothing comes of it, of course.
a week later, you wake to find every nerve in your body afire with pure bliss. you question what is happening, and get no response. for the next week you are completely indisposed, as even the lightest of touch is enough to make you a non-threat. as it turns out, this experience is quite nice for you.
as it happens, She has one last task for you. she needs to produce more subjects, yet as a single being, it is impossible to create anything truly new. so she enlists you, as the being to form the new subjects. She also seems to be incorporating elements of that damnable bird in the mix. there are red feathers everywhere, and not in an organized fashion. you know what this means, and what it means for you. you desperately Need this.
months later, and the clan has expanded. your body is still overly sensitive. as She pours herself into your mind as the first occasion of the day, you contemplate keeping her out, and kissing instead. you think you would like that very much.