#book: cucurbit prisoner records 1927

[moth-short]

An Analysis on the Nature of the Carapace Cross

This entry cannot be fully in character, as it contains information not published in-universe. Sunset Diaries is not seen in either Cultist Simulator or Book of Hours, but in Enigma, Weather Factory's CultSim ARG. All of this is sourced from the Wiki, and will feature many different books in quick succession. It will also feature spoilers for the Moth Ascension of Cultist Simulator, in addition to spoilers as to the activities of the Nocturnal Branch in Book of Hours, aswell as the furthest place in the basement.

Sunset Diaries | Author: Christopher Illopoly

As the memoir of Christopher Illopoly, this one holds a place in my memory. Not for his previous works, but for what it holds - precious information on the lost species that holds our attention so much, the Carapace-Cross. We will be looking at only the foremost paragraph - "March 1959 '[THE CARAPACE-CROSS DID NOT PERISH BUT PASSED WITHIN]'. Of course they did; of course they did. By definition, this changes nothing, and yet I cannot ignore it. At the very least it lends strength to Coseley's arguments. I am beginning to think, after all, that he is right. "Birds of a feather stick together." Teresa, Teresa. Perhaps, had we known, it would have changed nothing for you, either. Is it fair to tell you? '[THE CARAPACE-CROSS DID NOT PERISH BUT PASSED WITHIN.]' I feel sick." (source: Cultist Simulator wiki)

From this point, this will feature spoilers for the Moth Ascension from Cultist Simulator.

The relevant line here is, of course, "The Carapace-Cross did not perish but passed within". This has been on my mind for weeks, since I have read the passage. At first, this seems like utter nonsense - at least, unless you've played through the Moth Ascension of Cultist Simulator.

None of it seems to relate at all to the Carapace-Cross, until the ending - the "Dodo and the Dragon" ending, where it says, paraphrased, "the Carapace-Cross are as dead as the Dodo and the Dragon". The achievement description is, "I have become something winged, dark and undying; something that no longer exists." Okay, so, there are no Moth-Long in the world. They hide in the Mansus as Carapace-Cross. This is a revelation in itself. But what does this mean?

The Manner in which the Alchemist was Spared | Forge 14 | Author Unclear

"In the days of the Carapace Cross, when humanity lived in the dark and ate on its knees, humans could enter the Mansus like vermin. One learnt the arts of Flint, the arts of shaping and remaking..."

If the Carapace-Cross lived at the same time as humans, then what does this mean? Consider it another way: humans were Carapace-Cross from the very beginning, and in the Moth Ascension you are reverting back to a previous state of humanity's being - the Carapace-Cross passed within, into the depths of the human DNA, and can be pulled back out with enough pursuance into the ways of Moth, who had, akin to the Carapace Cross, passed within the Wheel and usurped it from the inside-out. (Source: In Memory of Gods)

In Memory of Gods | Winter 10 | Author: "The Barrowchild"

The Barrowchild describes how the Grail drained the Hour called Tide, how the Moth 'usurped the Wheel from within', stealing its skin, and how the Forge first eclipsed then shattered Flint. 'Perhaps these are glories,' she observes, 'but then it cannot be that Glory is merciful.'

Five Creations | Grail 14 | Author: Scholar Shohei

"THE CARAPACE ORIGIN: we were born from shell, like the children of the wasp from the spider. THE GLORIOUS ORIGIN: our life-motes descended from Light. THE ORIGIN BEFOULED: we were found naked and smeared with muck in the roots of the Wood..." "Shohei's preferred theories are that we are the children of apes who walked upright, although his tone here is satirical; or that we consumed not only our parents, 'which is not the Crime of the Sky', but also our origin, so that we came from Nowhere."

The Moth "usurped the Wheel from within". The Carapace-Cross "did not perish but passed within". I hate to say it, but it seems like humanity is due to be usurped from within, as was the Wheel before by the Moth. The 'Carapace Origin' suggested by the scholar Shohei may be a theory that humanity are, indeed, of Carapace-Cross origin - though the Wiki points out the passage, "or that we consumed not only our parents", stating that it implies that humanity evolving from their ancestors the apes is akin to the Moth usurping the Wheel, and that they are cut from the same cloth.

So, to summarise the theory already covered: humanity came from the Carapace-Cross, evolving from the progenitor as from apes. Carapace-Cross DNA is thus buried - far back, where we could not know it.

From this point, we are discussing Book of Hours spoilers for the plot of Cucurbit Prison, the Nocturnal Branch of Hush House. There are also spoilers for the furthest place in the Basement, where the final secret of Hush House is hidden.

Cucurbit Prisoner Records 1927 | Nectar 12 | Author: Governor Collers' Private Secretary

"Accounts by Governor Collers' private secretary of interventions and experiments in the last years of the Cucurbit prison, focusing particularly on prisoners he believes might have Carapace Cross lineage."

"Two prisoners suspected of oneiric crimes are enouraged to access their inner Carapace Cross tendencies, and develop the attributes of the Seglaz-kind ('sickle-formed pseudocrustacea'). Regrettably they lose the ability to breathe air; one dies and Collers releases the other into the sea. Collers describes how he's successfully induced an unstable Carapace-larva to develop into a greater form, using Insects and Nectars techniques in the context of considerable Moth-aspect. He hopes that similar techniques might be used to expedite the moral development of prisoners..."

There is so much to look at here. Not just in how utterly unhinged Governor Collers clearly was, but just in general as to the subject matter at hand. This almost seems to confirm the theory that humans evolved from Carapace-Cross even just in the blurb - if humans can have Carapace-Cross lineage, that must imply it, correct? At least, unless humans bred with Carapace-Cross, and it is only select members of humanity that have the lineage, and such why only select members of humanity feel the call to change and have their Carapace-Cross DNA usurp theirs.

I would like to say that the two species are unlikely to be biologically compatible, but considering the fact that it seems that the Carapace-Cross also have several sub-species - such as the Seglaz-kind mentioned in the prisoner records here - it is surprisingly likely that at least one sub-species is capable of interbreeding. Perhaps it also implies that Carapace-Cross, as long as they are of the major species, can develop any such attributes of their sub-species.

We can even see the Carapace-larva Governor Collers had "successfully induced ... to develop into a greater form" in-game - it has not hatched, and still hangs in the Mazed Cell.

In conclusion, I believe it abundantly clear that Carapace-Cross are either humanity's precursor in Secret Histories, or a species that has bred and whose DNA lies dormant in select bloodlines. It has been said that Carapace-Cross and neanderthals were around at the same period of history, and Carapace-Cross have been implied to have a staggering amount of subspecies (akin to the staggering amount of species under the banner of "insect", so who knows what the Carapace-Cross name is truly referring to?) - so who is to say what is wrong? Perhaps the Carapace-Cross were never a species at all.

Recall the Taxonomic Rank system of biology - it goes species (the specific kind), genus (what it is), family (what kind of animal it is - cat vs dog, or somesuch), order (e.g carnivora, carnivores), class (e.g mammalia, mammal)... Perhaps Carapace-Cross is not a species. Perhaps this should be obvious. Perhaps Carapace-Cross is akin to a class - or even more likely, a phylum - "a group of organisms with a certain degree of evolutionary relatedness" Sources: (Wikipedia - Taxonomic Rank and Phylum)

Perhaps that is what Carapace-Cross are. Not a species, not a genus, but a banner - a precursor to many, many species, that had to fill an extremely wide array of evolutionary niches for their respective habitats, which would make complete sense for how many types of Carapace-Cross are described on the statue in the basement, the fact that Carapace-Cross can be both dark and winged, and this strange Seglaz-kind, a crustacean that breathes water instead of air.

The Carapace-Cross' true revelation of Book of Hours is not that they have passed within humanity - that was already known in Cultist Simulator. The true revelation of Book of Hours in regard to the Carapace-Cross is that Carapace-Cross are an evolutionary point for so many species in the Secret Histories-verse that it could be said that they are within everything. This is just a theory, but I feel it has some basis.

Thank you for reading.