2024-11-25 20:28:35 ¶ ●

Who is the Worm?
Once, it was a tiny reflection born in the Underside. Insignificant and fragile, it was vulnerable even to the touch of mortals, possessing neither name, nor mind, nor identity. The creature’s sole feature was its ability to tear through boundaries.

Driven by fear of the world, the nameless being gnawed its way into the Vast and became the Worm that Burrows Through Space.

Upon entering the Vast, the Worm consumed its first soul and discovered the link between a name and a soul. Now it could steal, devour, and grow. The Worm began developing the first inklings of consciousness. With the increasing number of devoured souls, it started forming its power and its sense of self. It realized its fear and its purpose — to survive and cease being vulnerable; to gain the ability to explore the world without fear.

Continuing its feast, the Worm became a true calamity, claiming countless lives. People called it the Devourer of a Thousand Souls. It was then that followers began to appear, the first and most loyal among them being Apathy. The rest were known as ink demons or simply the Ink.

The Worm’s rampage claimed so many mortal lives that even the Rué — the four gods — could no longer ignore the threat and descended from the Underside to intervene. However, they were too late and found that the Worm had grown beyond their power to destroy. Once a pitiful creature, it had become an equal to the gods — a mighty false deity.

To reduce the number of victims and weaken the Worm, the Rué and their offspring, the Ruén, gave mortals their names as protection, denying the Devourer and the Ink easy prey. Then, they pooled all their strength to split the Worm and imprison it in the Edge. Thus ended the terrible era of the one known as the King of Ink Demons.

Millennia passed, and the Worm became little more than a legend, a tale to frighten children. Its existence was questioned, yet the scars of its feast remained etched into the world. It was because of the conflict with the Worm and the Ink that the Rué became a constant part of mortal life, actively involved in their history. The widespread tradition of wearing plant-based protective names and concealing true names took root and endured through the centuries. Meanwhile, the Ruén began competing among themselves for spheres of influence over mortals.

The world forgot the calamity, but its source waited patiently, licking its wounds and biding its time.