#hk sanctum shaman

[littlebittyhollowbugs]

Are you still rambling about dynamics between characters? If so I kinda got an obscure pair and idk if you have thought about it. The snail shaman you find in the Soul Sanctum and Soul Tyrant.

Ooooh!! Yeah

I don't know if I've ever rambled about the soul sanctum or snail shaman characters/lore on here yet, but tbh just assume I have thought about every aspect of this game before XD

So yeah! I'll gladly share my thoughts on these two and what I hc their relationship was like.

To start, I'm on board with the theory that the shamans are void beings. I've read quite a few theories on this.

This one in particular I really like.

From the little we know about the shamans it seems that they have been around since the days of the void civilization, and after the Pale kings reign were shunned and potentially forced out of society.

At the very least their power was shunned.(Which you learn by dreamnailing the shaman mound's whispering root)

While the other shamans are located within mounds, which seem to be sacred locations, the sanctum shaman has no mound that we know of.

What we know about him from the crossroad shaman's dialouge is that he possessed the desolate dive ability, and possessed a "ferocious temper"

I hc that this shaman was upset with the way he and his people had been shunned by Hallownest society and wished to prove that their power could be used for the benefit of the kingdom.

Now about the Soul master, I hc that before the infection, he was trusted by the king and the sanctum was a place dedicated to research in regards to soul and how to best utilize it for growth and healing purposes.

After the infection began to spread, the Soul master was desperate to help in creating a cure utilizing soul, but was unsuccessful.

I also hc that the soul master was once one of the king's advisors, until he began to propose dangerous ideas.

The king forbid him from practicing any of his ideas and took away his title of royal advisor. (This is all inspired by the soul tyrant's dreamnail dialouge where we learn he used to speak directly with the king, who shut down all his plans)

After all of this transpired the soul master began going about his goals in secret, and without aid from the king himself, he quietly sought out the aid of a snail shaman.

The shaman, desiring to be accepted into hallownest society, agreed to be a partner of sorts with the master of the sanctum.

Help him and, in turn, prove his people's power could still be of use.

So yes, the master and shaman of the sanctum started out as partners and allies, granting eachother respect and working together under a unified cause.

The soul master's plan was evidently, to "attain pure focus" that is i believe, to be constantly harvesting soul from the world around you. (The same power the king's soul charm grants you.)

It seems that he and his scholars believed that power would grant them immortality and protect them from the infection, but they were never able to actually attain it.

Their experimenting with/sacrificing others in attempt to gain more soul (and eventually their desired immortality) were practices the soul master had learned from the shaman (or were at least inspired by him.)

The shamans, being born of void, were able to harvest soul from other living beings without side affects.

This doesn't apply to the average bug, as we see from the sanctum warriors, whose dreamnail dialouge suggests that taking another beings' soul into themselves can mess with their minds and memories.

The soul master himself was eventually driven to complete madness, and I believe every soul he consumed from the bugs he had captured contributed to that. (Though obviously he had become insanely desperate even before this)

I believe that most of the victims had been killed and sacrificed after the return of the infection, and after the king's disappearance. But that they had been experimenting in secret before then.

I also don't believe it was the shaman's intention for so many to be killed, he might not have intended for anyone to die at all, just have portions of their soul harvested to be used (for what he believed was the greater good.)

But after the soul master was driven to madness and had become obsessed with immortality he forced the shaman to stay and serve him until eventually turning on him too.

I like the idea that they were once allies, which makes the shamans fate a betrayal. To me that's more interesting than the soul master just capturing a random shaman and experimenting on him.

I imagine before the soul tyrant became mad with power, he and the shaman connected over their desire to prove themselves and their abilities useful to the kingdom, and genuinely wanted to help the kingdom to progress.

They connected over their frustrations, over their power and plans being shunned and denied.

The shaman found the acceptance he had desired a long time in the soul master, only to watch his partner dive deeper and deeper into insanity before at last betraying him. (Though, while the master did grant the shaman respect in the beginning of their relationship, and was certaintly fascinated with him and his abilities, he never saw the shaman as his equal.)

Tbh I haven't gone over their relationship very thoroughly before. But my sisters and I have discussed it.

If we come up with more hcs concerning this I'll make sure to add them!

They are interesting to think about.

[transmogrified-in-the-void]

Regret

[hollypies]

HK lore ask!

What do you think of the snail shamans? Do you think they're from the ancient civilization that worshipped Void? Do you think they're made of Void? I wanna hear your theories/headcanons :)

Hi windy!! Hi!!!

So, snail shamans are kinda weird. I dont think they're made of Void, but they might be tied to the Abyss in some form.

See, the ancient civilization created SOUL totems, and had a much greater understanding of SOUL than any other bug. I wouldn't be surprised if they knew how to use spells. Infact, they probably did, considering we upgrade our shriek in the Abyss.

We've seen that normal bugs can't use SOUL normally, and when they do they kinda... wellll just look at the Soul Sanctum. Their minds swelled, and they were more susceptible to madness. They weren't naturally attuned to SOUL like the Snail Shamans. Which is most likely why they captured one of the shamans. This Shaman literally explodes upon inspection.

The Soul Tyrant was most likely studying how these Shamans were able to use SOUL, and clearly learned something from it. Idk what, but they did learn.. something. But I think this Shaman exploding is not indicating that they're void, but more over this Shaman was granting Ghost its knowledge of SOUL to them before they died. Ghost literally exorbed its knowledge.

By the time Ghost enters Hallownest, there's only one Snail Shamman left alive. The first one we meet. I'd also like to point out that the places we find the other Snail shamans are all Ancestral Mounds. Just untended due to their deaths and overgrown.

Again, due to their manipulation of SOUL, I think they may be descendants of the ancient civilization of some sort, but they don't worship the void like they're ancestors. I think they just retained their knowledge of SOUL and SOUL manipulation, but little else. It also seems that each Shaman can only use one spell, ans most likely can't heal like the Knight can. That's why the Snail Shaman makes us kill the Baulder instead of dealing with it themself.

There might also be only a few spells that were ever mastered, and those spells are the ones the Knight uses. Of course, there could be a fourth, due to the dead Snail Shamman in the gravesite, but I believe that Snail Shaman has been dead a long time, and was most likely just good at collecting and understanding SOUL, due to the charm we find with them.

Tldr, Snail Shamans are funky lil guys who might be tied to the ancient civilization, but they don't worship Void. They simply study and use SOUL in ways that normal bugs, probably due to their ancestors.

[vinehasnohopeleft]

i just think they are neat.

[cerberus253]

SNAILS

[some-deadpeep]

Which part of HK ya sad about? Because there's a lot to be sad about there and i can relate to your pain

OH BOY ITS A LOT

1- QUIRREL IS DEAD

2- CLOTH IS DEAD, OR SHES GONNA SACRFRICING HERSELF IN ANOTHER KINGDOM

3- MYLA IS INFECTED

4- SEER IS ALONE, AND DISAPPEARED

5- The snail shaman isn’t aware he’s the last of his kind. They are the only we see alive in-game, and he speaks about them (he is aware the soul sanctum snail/ 3rd uncle is dead) like they are still alive- even commenting how he would like to see he would like the crystallized mound shaman’s mound- if he weren’t tied to where he is.

6- all the bodies in the abyss and soul sanctum?? All those bugs and kids.. what the fuck soul master and pale king?

7- THE HOLLOW KNIGHT WAS AWARE THEY WEREN’T HOLLOW AND THEY TRIED TO CONTAIN THE RADIANCE ANYWAY.

8- HORNET IS ALONE IN THE DREAM NO MORE ENDING

9- SEALED SIBLINGS- THE ENTIRE KINGDOM IS FUCKED NOW.

10- the Nailmasters and sage.. idk why I’m sad about them.

11- WHEN YOU BEAT LOST KIN, IT JUST SAYS ACCEPT. LIKE YOU ARE ACCEPTING THE FACT THEY ARE DEAD? AND THE FACT WHEN THE ACHIVEMENT FOR DEFEATING BROKEN VESSEL AND LOST KIN ARE JUST CALLED ‘ RELEASE ‘ / ‘ PEACE ‘.

12- the fact I hc that the infection is agonizing means all the infected are in so much pain.. well some of them disturb it.

13- Ogrim.. he misses the other great knights so much.. dude your one of my favorite boss fights you can’t do this to me.

14- Hornet is there in herrah’s room when you kill her mom... it just

15- monomon’s death is just another story

16- I JUST WANT THEM ALL TO BE OKAY AND GET THEARPY

[writing-frenzy]

HK Reference Sheet: Spellnail/Witch Doctor Felix of the Snail Tribe

Here we go, a reference sheet for me boi; hope it comes out alright. though there might be a slight spoiler with some of Felix’s abilities for my fic.

Stats:

Intelligence: 8/10

Wisdom: 7/10 

Charisma: (What he thinks:) 3/10 (what it is) 7/10 (Note: takes a hit whenever around Restingglass Mound and Racist Bugs)

Soul: N/A (For reasons)

Spiritual Abilities: 3/10 (Note: Must have at least 6/10 to become a Shaman)

Nail Skills: Master of the Crystal Nail Style (Restingglass Mound), Master of Misting Doubles Nail Style (Misting Mound), Master of the Grass Cutter Style (Evergreen Mound) (Note: To be a Nailsage, one must Master 5 Nail Styles, create your own Arts, and then pass them down.)

Witch Doctor: Accomplished (basically, 10/10)

Spellcasting: 9/10 (At 10/10 can multi-cast; all Gods can do it naturally, the cheats) (Felix is great at casting spells; creating them, not so much)

Family and Friends:

Gemshell and Lime: Mothers

Lute: Older Brother (Eldest)

Green: Older Sister (Middle)

Tale: Youngest Sibling (Still young and doesn’t care yet)    

Ancestral Mound Leader Snail Shaman Fossil (Teacher, Uncle)

Evergreen Mound Leader Snail Shaman Song (Teacher, First Cousin Once Removed) (Note: they are the Overgrown Mound Shaman)

Misting Mound Leader Snail Shaman Mist (Teacher, Great Uncle) (Note: they are the shaman in the Soul Sanctum)

Restingglass Mound Leader Snail Shaman Jade (Teacher, Great Aunt) (Note: they are the Shaman in the Crystal Mound)

Spellcrafter and Shaman Apprentice Lee (Friend)

(Putting the rest under the read more, as this is getting long)

Appearence: Height is about eye level to THK waist, his shell making him appear a little taller. (He is indeed taller then Hornet). His shell is like one of these shells:

Just a creamy white with some grey instead. It doesn’t have a lip, but in the future he will make himself a little visor to help him with that (snails are sensitive to light, some worse then others).

He has wet black skin like all snails, though his is dotted with scars from training accidents and practice from Nail fighting and Potion making. (as well as from an incident when he was young.

Felix has a few regular burns and acid burns along his hands and his arms from that, not to many, as Felix has an incredible healing factor that makes most minor ones disappear fast. Same with Nail scraps, only some of the deeper ones have remained around his legs and torso.(There is one really dark spot over where the top of their chest is, it looks like a really dark blue in some lights if it hits just right.)

Felix wears a green traveling cloak he got while he was in Greenpath, so it is made of a sturdy, waterproof hemp that does have a hood that can cover him. He also has a dark colored messenger like bag with him, which carries all his things on his journey. He now wears two silk-like bands around both his arms, covering two glowing tattoos gifted by the Pale King and the White Lady.

He also has a staff made from bone wood, a pale colored wood that can be harder then bone at times, it has been carved at the top in a shape of a curved spiral, almost like a shell but more jagged. It’s end is nail sharp, and usually died a color from poison that rests on the end, giving it a darker coloring there as well as a slight smell, depending on just what poison was applied. 

It can also detach into two pieces, as well as reattached, allowing Felix to fight with two weapons in hand.

Well, that is all I can think to be honest: hope you all enjoy reading about my boi!