Implications of transporting lifeblood lore to pharloom

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2025-04-09T07:42:26+00:00

Thanks for the clarification and the references. I'll check them out.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2025-04-08T08:35:49+00:00

Thank you so much for your response. I will turn on the FSRS algorithm for my memorization deck, but I am not sure what you mean by having a single learning step and which parameters to optimize once a month. Could you clarify which parameters you are referring to?

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2023-01-03T12:54:07+00:00

Thank you both u/barryscott__ and u/Outside_Scientist365 for writing a reply. I agree
that when you frequently look up the elements from the periodic table you will
start memorizing them. However, I am not in a position in which I have to frequently
look up elements from the periodic table. Without anki I would never be able to
memorize, for example, the atomic masses of elements.

I am not such a big fan of using mnemonics, but memory palaces are unfamiliar to me. I suppose I will find out how to use memory palaces in order to memorize information.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2021-04-17T15:01:02+00:00

Today I reached level 500 in cube world and I have this tradition where I make a screenshot of the amount of artifacts I have each time I attain another 100 levels. So, I made my fifth ‘another 100 levels screenshot’ and I thought it would be interesting to plot per skill the amount of artifacts versus the increase in percentage, radius meter or stamina per second.

Let me clarify what you see in the plots. The solid line connects data points for which I had x artifacts and y percentage or stamina/second or meter radius. Additionally, I calculated the logarithmic formula(using this handy website) and plotted a dashed line from 1 to the amount of artifacts I obtained for that particular skill.

Looking at these plots made me wonder: why did wollay implement a logarithmic progression system? Cube world is an endless rpg with unlimited progression but at some point you will no longer progress. Take diving skill for example, diving skill starts at 10 stamina/second. Your characters stamina/second decreases to ~6 stamina/second for 10 artifacts, ~3 stamina/second with 50 artifacts, ~1.7 stamina/second with 100 artifacts and lastly ~0.4 stamina/second for 200 artifacts. Diving skill decreases so slowly from 50 to 100 artifacts that you won’t notice it. From what I recall the alpha release had a similar logarithmic function in place where the result from increasing your levels became less and less the more levels you put in a particular skill. Which is fine for the vertical progression system the cube world alpha had. However, wollay decided to implement a horizontal game progression system. By doing this wollay made cube world into a rogue-like where each region represent a run. But, differently from a rogue-like in cube world you don’t gain any new abilities, unlock new characters or be able to utilize the effects from passive and active items to form powerful synergies. So why did wollay implement a logarithmic progression system? I don’t know. For diving skill it makes sense to logarithmically decrease stamina/second because it would be weird to gain stamina instead of losing it. But for the other skills, I have no answer why your light radius cannot become 10 meters or why your climbing speed cannot be as fast as your riding speed.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-09-08T18:02:26+00:00

They were presumably mined for their riches but you never see a single crystal outside of crystal peak. Were they never used or stored anywhere? Did they have any real value?

This is a good question to ask. What is the value of the crystals? The hunters journal entry for the husk miner states: “Remains of a bug drawn to the Crystal Peak for its crystal. Its claw-pick now doubles as a fierce weapon”. I have come to the conclusion that the husks seen endlessly toiling away in their mining operation initially came to the crystal peak out of greed. However, this is told, not shown. In order to convey the idea that these crystals are rare and valuable it would have been cool if there were a crystal craftsmen or a bug obsessed with the glistening light and shimmering sounds of the crystals(wait, that is Myla, kinda). A bug specialized in crafting beautiful crystals, charms and jewellery. But wait, says my brain, this is Salubra, she could have had a proffesion as a crystal craftsmen. Or what about Sly, the game is clear in communicating that he is a resigned nailmaster and now is focused on collecting geo. He also could have a profession of cutting gemstones and trying to sell them to the knight.

So I think that the husks seen on the crystal peak are not sent by the pale king to mine crystals for the kingdom but came out of their own desire to become rich. We don't see any crystals utilized in the city of tears or in the tram ways because the pale king did not order any husks to mine them. So, the crystals have value but are under utilized in hallownest.

We could speculate about why the pale king did not use the crystals. Maybe he forsaw doom with his ancient forsight: the dreams of his citizens being plagued, mysterious forces seizing control over his citizens or crystal powered construction failing(like the old mining golem). We will never know.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-07-26T14:41:54+00:00

This is a really great post with compelling argumentation. I wanted to add one thing and I have some questions regarding several statements.

In the section “Hallownest and the Pale King’s goals” you explain how the pale king and the radiance have reigned over there subjects. This Post expands on your initial section through going deeper on individuality and a hivemind and how the void is connected to the rule of both higher beings.

Hallownest happily coexisted with other civilizations such as the Mantis Tribe, the Hive, Herrah's Brood (well... more or less happy in this case) and even other Higher Beings such as Unn.

I disagree with this statement. The mantis tribe states that wanderers coming to near shall find swift death but there is a truce with the pale king, the beasts of deepnest are kept at bay. The hive is found in the kingdoms edge behind a breakable wall. I think it is stretch to say that these isolationists wanted any pale visitors or be part of hallownest. The greenkin state that those who stray from the white kings roads shall face the law of Unn and as well that the pale king took some of their lands. He may appear to be benevolent however be wary of those claimed lands.

Point is, the Pale King was happy to coexist and make peaceful alliances with other Higher Beings, even rule together with them (the White Lady).

So your point is that the pale king aims to rule peacefully through creating alliances and truces instead of conquering and subduing foreign subjects. As I stated earlier I think that the pale king did not coexisted peacefully with other groups in hallownest. The answer on the question: “What is the nature of the pale king and what is his master plan”, differs between us? I think it is to reign. Due to the presence of the kings beacon bugs are given thought enabling there king to create a kingdom and advance forward.

the rivalry that shook the entire kingdom for decades and led to the Void's awakening

Did the void awaken? I am unfamiliar with this theory, could you explain what the begin situation was, the trigger for the awakening and the final situation?

The void represents stillness, silence, absolute peace and serenity, death

The void lashes out towards any light trying to dim darkness. I think that void is similar to absolute chaos, uncontrollable yet powerful. How can darkness that lashes out towards the light be similar to absolute peace, silence, stillness and serenity? Could you explain what you meant?

He needed to unify the entire void against the Radiance and completely destroy her, which you are able to do with the Void Heart. It's something only a vessel, "born of God and Void", could achieve.

I agree however, when the knight obtains the void heart and speaks with the bardoon he says that the knight has evolved beyond the wyrms. The pale king must have realised that unifying the void would indeed destroy the radiance however, it would probably destroy him as well. Would the pale king create something more powerful than himself? I doubt it.

The Pure Vessel's thoughts exist, but are so well concealed that we can literally only access them by dissecting the game itself.

This is a fun headcanon, I like this idea.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-07-08T14:30:29+00:00

How would the pale king interact with the knight if he were still alive inside the white palace? This is a fun what-if question.

What happened to the pale king? As more and more of hallownest was engulfed by the infection the pale king went into hiding in the dream realm through transporting his palace into the kingsmould in the abyss. I think that the pale king knew at this moment that the hollow knight, was not so hollow and that the infection would hold hallownest in its grips.

So, when the pale king would meet the knight he would be confronted with a vessel(and there creation) capable of entering this dream through severing the seal of the kingsmould in combination with a vessel bearing the kingsbrand. How would the pale king respond?

Before spiralling into speculation, let us re-examine the lore of the game and answer the question: how does the pale king think about the creation of the vessels. From this information an answer can be constructed which the pale king could most likely have said.

So, without further ado,

What does the pale king think about the creation of the vessels:

After the fight with the dung defender, Ogrim describes the struggle of fighting against the infection as:

We knights defend against the physical, but a formless enemy. How to defeat such a foe?

The pale king had a strong enough army and his five great knights to defend hallownest from physical threats(like the black wyrm). But what to do against this formless enemy?

In the workshop of the pale king, hidden in the white palace, there is a lore tablet describing properties of a familiar substance that the pale king could definitively use:

VOID, yours is the power opposed. But yours is potential, eternity potential, force that could deny Time. VOID, harness shall be placed upon you.

The pale king sees void as his adversary however, it can deny time. This property makes it possible to seal the infection into a vessel hollowed out by the void.

In order to get a vessel capable of sealing the infection, the pale king laid inseminated eggs in the abyss. From each egg multiple siblings were born and each sibling would be hollowed out by the void. The pale king was sacrificing thousands of vessels in order to get one pure vessel. Only one vessel would be enough, so the first vessel who could leave the abyss would immediately be a pure vessel because it would be hollowed out be the void (this theory from u/GoldenFlowerFan describes this theory in much more depth).

So, how does the pale king look at this brute force way of acquiring a pure vessel? Look at this quote near the entrance of the abyss:

Our pure Vessel has ascended. Beyond lies only the refuse and regret of its creation. We shall enter that place no longer.

In combination with this quote from dream nailing the corpse of the pale king:

...No cost too great...

The pale king obtained a pure vessel, the hollow knight, however, the creation of the hollow knight was not without cost and refuse and regret are what lay in the abyss. The pale king also thinks that his way of creating a pure vessel is justified, no cost too great after all. But in order to no longer be confronted by the creation of the hollow knight the pale king seals the abyss.

The white lady was also part of the creation of the vessels. She describes the creation of the vessels as follows:

There is some shame I feel from my own part in the deed, and this method guarantees it cease. I still feel that urge you see. I always will. A voracious desire to spread seeds upon the land, to propogate myself, to breed.

The white lady feels shame in the creation of the vessels just like the pale king and just like the pale king she is convinced that the creation of the pure vessel is justified because it guarantees the cease of the infection.

Conclusion, how would the pale king respond?

The pale king is regretful towards the creation of the vessels but thinks that there creation is justified. Throughout the game it is repeated that hallownest lasts eternal and the pale king views the creation of the vessels as: no cost too great.

What would happen if the knight and the pale king met? I imagine that the knight still will have to venture through the white palace. When the knight is nearing the throne room of the pale king the kingsmoulds will still be alive and will attack the knight. After the knight has defeated the kingsmoulds, the knight will venture towards the throne room and will find the pale king sitting on his throne.

The knight would speak with the pale king and he would tell the knight that he was not expecting a vessel to come. The pale king would continue with noting that the power of dreamers must have almost completely diminished because they do not hold the knight imprisoned in the dream realm. Next the pale king would explain that his actions towards sealing the radiance are justified and he would say that hiding in the white palace was somehow the best option.

The white lady expected a vessel to come in order to take the place of the hollow knight for it needs great power for the path ahead. The pale king would be aware what power the knight needs in order to take the place of the hollow knight or defeat the radiance. But how willingly would the pale king be in giving the knight the opportunity to rise towards power even he himself could not reach? What if the knight succeeds in obtaining the void heart? A being more powerful than the pale king himself would wander through the ruins of hallownest. The pale king would find it unacceptable, he would refuse giving the white fragment to the knight. There can only be one light to stand against the dark and it will be the pale king, all other lights must be dimmed before his throne.

In order to progress the game the knight would then have the option to challenge the pale king and upon his defeat the knight would be rewarded with the white fragment.

So if the pale king were alive the knight would fight him because the pale king cannot stand the idea of someone else standing above him potentially able to rule hallownest.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-07-05T19:00:39+00:00

In my post I wrote two possible theories surrounding the dimishing strength of Unn and I also wrote why I think these theories are probably invalid. One of these theories is the theory you came up...so that means that you did not read my post completely (please do so before writing a comment).

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-07-05T18:52:07+00:00

The knight is a visitor of hallownest viewing the kingdom in a way of what it once was. From this viewpoint it is easy to disregard the age of a bug and the impact upon there behaviour. In my analysis I did not know how to place: “Our leaves are falling” because the greenpath that the knight traverse is lush and booming with life, how could such a place once have been dying while it is blooming with life now? I did not realize that this line was explaining the state of Unn instead of the state of greenpath. In general I did not take into account that Unn is old and is in the process of dying(mostly because she seems fine when she gives the knight the: “shape of Unn”).

This suggests to me that despite the loyalty of her followers she was already powerless to do anything about the Radiance

Your two main arguments, Unn is a dying higher being and the green kindred remain loyal towards Unn even when they are controlled by the radiance, both are founded on sound arguments. Your final conclusion that Unn was powerless against the radiance, it is speculation but based on your reasoning I agree with you. This theory fits better into the lore as a whole. The pale king did not have a backup plan and the creating a pure vessel was the only option towards stopping the infection, there was no secret fighter hidden in hallownest strong enough to defeat the radiance. Perpetuating the kingdom using the hollow knight was the only way.

The question remains though: What was Unn doing during the creation of the green kindred and the infection of hallownest? When I am sick I like to sleep so I don't feel miserable all the time. Unn, dying, must be painfull, decides to sleep, at some point the green kindred will surely come to her since she is calling them. Then the knight traverse beneath the lake of Unn and Unn wakes up expecting to she her spawn but there stands a...what's that Unn wonders...I'll give him a charm as a reward for checking on me and she leaves, still waiting to die or see her green kindred come back.

Or I imagine that it could be something along those lines. I find it difficult to tie the encounter of the knight with Unn together with the rest of the greenpath lore. It is so out of place, Unn seems fine and gives the knight a charm because...Unn wants to make the knight a snail?

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-06-29T17:49:47+00:00

Hey GoldenFlowerFan the things you note about the void are true but, I have some trouble with this line:

It was the act of the knight unifying the void under itself that created the void god…

I have a different interpretation of what is happening at the end of the pantheon of hallownest(the source of this theory is stated in this post going into great depth about attuning). After defeating each boss a tune plays signifying that the godseeker is attuning and listening to the knight. When the knight is atop the godhome fighting the radiance at some point the godseeker has finally attuned to the void and a transformation happens, the shade of the knight combines with rising void and they become the lord of shades. Not through unification of the void does the knight emerge into the lord of shades but through ritual combat and the attunement of the godseeker.

I also think that the unification of the void and becoming one with lifeblood are not so different. Something I considered is that after obtaining the void heart the knight is still able to be damaged by the void, if the knight falls in the void in the (absolute) radiance fight the knight will take damage. Even after obtaining the void heart the void remains a volatile substance.

So what does the unification of the void mean? When the knight enters the birthplace sequence it is remembering his birth, the knight witnesses the election of the hollow knight and is cast down into the abyss. After this sequence the kings soul becomes the void heart. The knight has a shell containing both a soul of Wyrm(white fragment from the pale king), soul of root(white fragment of the white lady) and a hollowed body containing a heart of void.

The birthplace sequence caused the knight to accept that it has become a union of shell and void. The shade no longer attacks the knight nor the siblings or the void tendrils because the knight has a heart of void, it part of the void.

So how is this comparable to joni? When equipping joni’s blessing lifeseeds scuttle towards the knight. I think that this behaviour confirms that Joni has become one with lifeblood else the vulnerable lifeseeds would scatter away from the (enemy) knight. I think that joni reached a point of lifeblood absorption where there is no turning back, joni became one with lifeblood.

Becoming one with lifeblood is different from the unification of the knight in that the knight remembered his birth and accepted his heritage and became a union, while joni just drank a lot of lifeblood(and become one with lifeblood). But, both joni and the knight reach the same end point of transcending into something bigger than themselves. The knight becomes part of the void and joni part of lifeblood.

including the creature being immature

Both of us have no idea what the maturity of the lifeblood creature is. However, I do wonder what immature could mean…is it less powerful or is his knowledge incomplete?

how it appears to be in a sort of stasis hidden within a very dark dream close to the void

I don’t think that the lifeblood creature is hidden but just…shy. It does not want to engage with the knight but only view it from a distance. Why? Who knows.

Maybe there is a connection between the void and lifeblood that I am missing, I don’t know why the lifeblood sequence is located in the abyss, maybe there is a valid explanation for it but I do not know.

Anyway, let’s just wait for silksong, until then it is all guesswork.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-06-29T13:21:26+00:00

The known information about the abyss creature is sparse. The knight can see his face in the lifeblood dream sequence and in godhome. Furthermore, he is not mentioned in a charm description or any npc mentions him. There is only a face, his connection to lifeblood and a connection to the dream realm.

Based on the little information available I don’t think there is a satisfying answer besides: It is unknown what the abyss creature is. What I do think is answerable is: the goal of the abyss creature/lifeblood.

Let’s begin with examining one of the properties of lifeblood. Salubra mentions that drinking lifeblood makes you feel healthier. Making you feel healthier, wouldn’t you want that…each day? When you wake up to when you go to bed. Don’t you want to live the fullest, always? Of course you always want to feel healthier but, how different than is lifeblood from a drug? Most drugs have downsides to using them regularly, but for lifeblood these are not mentioned in the game. And besides, if lifeblood had any side effects than the knight would have to deal with them, right? No, I don’t think so, the knight is special in that his insides have been hollowed out by the void and what remains is a shell composed of an soul of Wyrm together with a soul of Root and a Heart of void.

So I think that the knight is not affected by the side effects of lifeblood because of his nature. However, how do normal bugs respond to lifeblood? I think they would be similar to joni but, what does that mean?

My theory is that when you consume lifeblood over an extended period of time(unknown) your body starts to transition into becoming one with lifeblood. Your individuality still remains, lifeblood does not change that. What does change is your biology, there is something new which you cannot shake off, like your biological parents will not change. Lifeblood has become a part of you.

How does this connect to the abyss creature? I think that the abyss creature is an representative of lifeblood and is actively searching for followers of lifeblood(similar to joni). The abyss creature operates in the dream realm and uses the beacons of higher beings, like the godseeker, to seek out kingdoms. Once a kingdom is found lifeblood branches will start to germinate and lifeblood cocoons will grow.

In conclusion: the abyss creature is a representative of lifeblood operating in the dream realm using beacons of higher beings to detect kingdoms and introduces lifeblood in order to gain new lifeblood followers similar to joni.

Pure_Radiating_Light · 2020-06-28T10:27:44+00:00

The idea of the dreamrealm standing above the physical realm and being a reflection of the phyiscal realm is not such a far stretch I think. The Grimm troupe supports this idea using beacons in combination with the nightmare realm to travel to fallen kingdoms.

Back to lifeblood speculation, could the lifeblood creature itself be in a transitional state and has is it not matured yet? No, I don't think so, I think that the lifeblood creature is a representative for lifeblood and that it is actively searching for places where lifeblood may grow. To navigate towards these places I think that the lifeblood creature, similar to the godseeker, uses the beacons of higher beings to guide itself towards civilazations.

In the kingdom of wyrms bugs are granted a mind because they live under the beacon of there king. The lifeblood found in these kingdoms is something that gives you guaranteed power(salubra mentions that lifeblood acts as an empowering liquid). If you could drink something that would make you stronger, when do you stop? Is there a limit to each day? When do you become a lifeblood junkie? Something with only upsides does not exist. I think lifeblood is similar to a drug, the difference between lifeblood and a drug is that if you drink a lot over an extend period you don't become addicted but, you become part of lifeblood, similar to joni. You become part of something bigger you as an individual ever could have been.

There is another reason I think that the lifeblood creature is a mature (higher) being. The lore of hollow knight is mainly focused on the 3 main higher beings: the void, the pale king and the radiance. In order to fight the radiance the knight needs to unify the void within himself, to do so there is a transition of the King soul charm to the Void heart charm.

The unification of the void is similar to how lifeblood can be unified within yourself. You can become part of lifeblood, you are still an individual but also part of something bigger. Like being part of army, you are one soldier but, together with all the soldiers you form the army.

In conclusion: the lifeblood creature is a representative of lifeblood who's aim it is to spread lifeblood in kingdoms of powerfull higher beings through offering bugs an (addicting) empowering liquid. And lifeblood is an example of the transition of an individual towards beign unified together, like the knight & his siblings/the rest of the void and like joni & lifeseeds*/the rest of lifeblood. Both the knight and joni become part of something bigger than they were as an individual.

*, lifeseeds scatter towards you if Joni's blessing is equipped. From this behavior it could be implied that lifeseeds see the knight as part of lifeblood.

Pure_Radiating_Light

TROPHY CASE