#stagway beetles

[hollow-knight-husbandry]

These guys! Big guys, love em!

Holy shit. A Stagway beetle? Did you actually find one of these?

You may not know it, but this is one of the rarest insects there is. It’s estimated there are only about 20 left in the wild, if any. They’re so terrifyingly close to extinction I could actually cry.

All hope is not lost, though—the good news is that a captive breeding program called the Stag Nest Project is working hard to raise their numbers and hopefully reestablish a substantial wild population. Team Cherry (a hollow knight rescue I’ve mentioned before) donates a lot of money to them. The Stag Nest Project recently posted a photo of one of their fabulous Stagway studs! Look at this glamorous guy!

They’re planning to breed him with one of their females soon and hopefully produce some nice and healthy eggs. I’m cheering for them!

Obviously, anything that endangered is not a pet. No animal that low in numbers could possibly be domesticated—maybe tamed, but domesticating them will require breeding a lot of new individuals.

If you have one of these beetles captured or happen to see one, call or email the Stag Nest Project or better yet, go to their location and give them the beetle, if you have it captured. It’ll be safe there and with any luck it will be able to pass down its genes and increase the population. They already have a decent number of both females and males, but the more genetic diversity the better.

[little-demy]

On another topic about the mantises, they were pretty screwed even before the infection. Where do I even begin? The most neutral territory they are connected to is the fungal wastes and that's about it.

Now, I decide to instead of looking at the lore and text of several characters, I let the world do the talking for me. Oh God, is it theoretically bad. First, the most well known fact is the constant need to remove Deepnest beasts that attempt to invade. That's the most obvious one, second is the fact that people were likely going through their territory to get to the city of tears. Oh sure, there's stagways but they are likely reserved for people who have money to burn. So there were probably the occasional trespassers who went through their territory and they could barely do anything about it without causing a fuss. At least until the infection lockdown on the city of tears. Still, the fungal wastes also connect to the fog canyon and the queen's gardens so the Mantises had to put up with that too.

The last and probably the most damning problem they had to go through is what is assumed to be a short cut into the royal waterways... Uhhh...

Unless Hegemol was a mantis, which would explain the crest statue at the gates, I don't think that's a shortcut down there... I think it's where all the sewage comes out...

Yeah, the mantises got the shortest stick.

Ough, being surrounded by different kingdoms definitely challenging for them. I never really thought the idea of Hegemol being a mantia tbh🤔

My personal hc he'd be some kind of beetle, tho

[public-transportation-tournament]

Transport Canberra Bus Network, Canberra, Australia vs Stagways, Hallownest (Hollow Knight)

Transport Canberra Bus Network: ok look maybe it's a standard not-too-great bus network to you. But hear me out. For a city with no trains and until recently no tram, the buses are all an autistic kid has to be super into. Our buses are iconic. Look up the 'action dinosaur bus' to see my favourite one. It's light blue and has dino skeletons on it and a message about reducing fossil fuel usage! For several years we had a couple of buses running around completely decked out in the rainbow pride flag! Our old bus shelters are iconic! They're big concrete things and I love them. You can buy merchandise of them, coffee mugs and such. I love the action/transport canberra bus network and so should you!

Stagways: It's this big stag beetle that gives rides through this huge tunnel network.

[ask-impure-vessel]

Leaving the White Palace

The vessel hears the two voices, flinching at the mention of lost or gone vessels. They exit the White Palace into the Ancient Basin and began to head upwards, towards the city first. The Pilgrim’s Way is the fastest way to Monomon’s domain on foot, though there’s also the stagways between the King’s Station and Queen’s Station. They decide on the stagways for the sake of expedience.

Enough time has been wasted.

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊, 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙽𝚘 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐’𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚍𝚘𝚖. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚜.

The Vessel hit the bell at the stag station. A stag quickly runs up. “Oho, a new customer. It’s been a while. Where would you like to go?” The vessel points to the appropriate station. “Can do. You’re the king’s knight aren’t you?” The knight nodded. “No mistaking that height. That’s amazing! I’m Vesta. I’ll gladly carry you where ever you need to go. If you just need to go somewhere, anywhere in a hurry and you don’t have time to decide where, just tap my ruff thrice and I’ll help you out.” The female stag beetle spoke in a bubbly tone. “Get on and hang on tight, friend knight!”

The knight curled in on themselves to avoid hitting their horns on the ceiling as the stag ran through the tunnels, their hands clinging to the bars for dear life. Times like these, they cursed their long horns.

They came up to the Queen’s station and the knight climbed off, giving a polite bow to the stag.

“Oh, dear knight there’s no need for that. I’m just a humble stag. You already serve the kingdom, right? Just like the five great knights! I heard that Isma’s been seen in this area. She’s usually in her grove, so that’s strange. Maybe she’s on assignment here? Well. You have a good one! I’ll always answer your call! I’ll be resting a bit, so I might be around when you return.”

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚊𝚓𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚏 𝙺𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙸𝚜𝚖𝚊 𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙺𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙳𝚛𝚢𝚢𝚊. 𝚂𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚊 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚍𝚢’𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚎.

It was not a long climb, at least to the archive. The Vessel just had to not disturb the ouma that were floating around.

Simple enough.

[wind-come-calling]

There is an angle to the civilization of Hallownest and the impact of the Pale King’s rule upon it that I have seen rather neglected on Hollow Knight’s worldbuilding discussions, and it is the sheer stage of development and refinement the kingdom had reached when the Infection first appeared.

Of course, by the time the Knight returns there are few are few characters left who can offer insight into the inner workings of ancient Hallownest, but a lot of things can be inferred from the ruins of this dilapidated kingdom:

1. Hallownest had not one, but two working transport networks(the Stagways and the Tram). At the kingdom’s peak, the services of the Stag beetles were well-established through-out and widely available to its citizens, while the Tram still was in an early stage of development and use and thus, its use was restricted to select individuals chosen by the Pale King(probably to aid them in official assignments).

Even so, it’s easy to imagine the Tram was intended to eventually render the Stagways obsolete.

2. Scattered all around Crystal Peak, there is evidence it hosted a fully-fledged mining operation(one that employed functional automatons, no less!), probably because of the potential applications of its endemic crystalline formations as power sources an jewellry material.

It’s impossible to ascertain how much time the operation was active, but the kind of infraestructure we see through the mountain’s galleries isn’t laid out in two days.

3. The Teacher’s Archives not only are a repository for the accumulated knowledge of Hallownest, but also a laboratory for research and innovation.

The preserved swarm of Charged Lumaflies seems to be there because Monomon was studying them(perhaps she was researching electricity as a power source?), and the Ooma and Uoma that populate the Fog Canyon imply she also dabbled in the creation of artificial life.                                        

It’s possible both of these experiments were part of a larger project, as the capacity of the Uoma to generate electricity may be taken to mean they were suposed to serve as power sources of sorts, having been judged to be more reliable than the Lumaflies.

These evidences show Hallownest as a developed civilization that, in its peak, had reached or surpassed their analogue of the Industrial Age and also, it contributes to paint a picture of the Pale King as a ruler with  scholastic tendencies, a tinkerer who felt the compulsion to experiment and “improve” the world around him until it matched his ideal vision.

This perspective certainly can give new depth and perspective to some snippets of lore, such as the feeling of betrayal the scholars of the Soul Sanctum experienced when their monarch banned their research, or why Monomon held such an esteemed position despite her questioning and inconformist mindset.

Perhaps the Pale King saw in her a kindred soul of sorts, among the rest of Hallownest’s inhabitants?

[nilovalentine]

“there’s nothing wrong with being useless.” can you tell what my fave character and fic are…… (anwyays more fanart of Stag beetles and broken legs by @lost-kinn and @aryashi o3o)

[defender-ogrim]

The white palace. It stood, grand as hallownest itself, glowing and radiant. White and pure, a place where the king and queen resided along with all close subjects to the king. Ogrim stood at the entrance to such a place, marveling at its incomparable majesty. Everything around him was empty. Empty... Where... Ogrim looked around, but saw no people. There were supposed to be people here.

He took a step forward and the palace started crumbling. "No... No no no no no!" Ogrim started to move towards it, making it halfway before the palace collapsed entirely. The bridge snapped and threw him headfirst into rocks above. He was out in a moment.

Slowly coming to, Ogrim sat up. His armor was dirty and stained. It was white just a moment ago... The palace grounds were empty, dark, and the place felt haunted. Ogrim stood, walking out. Where did the stairs go? There was just a drop down opposite to the stagways. The stagways--What of them? He turns, walks all the way to the stagway, only to find it dusty and vacant.

Voices echoed down the tunnel. Survivors, maybe? "Get him up." "Are you sure that's a good--" "You heard me, don't question me. Get him up."

A bright light shined right in ogrim's face. He sat up. There are brass walls with green light illuminating them faintly, but a main overhead light kept things from being dark. His armor was missing, so his blue fluff showed and the dark shell on his back. A dazed state required so much attention to process surroundings that he didn't realize people were talking to him.

Monomon tapped the bug's shoulder. "Ogrim, are you there?"

The touch startled him and snapped the bug back to reality. "Oh- Uh. Yes. I'm here." 'Here' must be the archives. He was in a medical bed and across from Monomon was Quirrel.

"You appear to have had another dream. Would you describe it please?" Monomon spoke, soft as ever.

Ogrim's face felt dry. Had he been crying? Focus, wonder later. "The palace was empty and it crumbled. I hit my head and woke up to find no rubble or life, just an empty stagway with people talking far down the stagway. It was dusty and abandoned."

"Hhmm.. This one appears to be the most often reoccurring." Quirrel mumbled, to which Monomon nodded in reply.

That's right...

Ogrim was here because of these strange, almost fever, dreams. The king sent him here after he's screamed bloody murder a few times. The dreams he'd been having.. They were so familiar, even before repeating. It felt too real for comfort...

Monomon left Ogrim be to sit and wonder while she and Quirrel went to talk.

By the gods he was tired. You'd think after waking up; he'd be rested, but he only felt exhausted. The beetle flops back down and finds sleep isn't hard to get.

Maybe he could rest this time...

[gamersucklet]

Char ask: Hollowed Knight

favorite thing about them

bug :)

least favorite thing about them

nothing they are supreme

favorite line

THEY DONT SPEAk

brOTP

they r pals with the stagway beetle 

OTP

are there actually ships for this game. is that a thing.

nOTP

random headcanon

trans bug

unpopular opinion

trans bug

song i associate with them

fdmsnvbdnvbdsngfgdsfhjsd idk

favorite picture of them

ALL they ar e JUST CREACHER but this one i made is pretty fucking sick