⚙️ Abyssal Technology Primer: The Logic of Flesh and Madness
"What we call tools, the Abyss calls limbs."
— Krall the Hornblack, before his mouth split into four
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🩸 Overview:
In the Abyss, technology is not mechanical — it is biological, ritualistic, parasitic, or memetic. Tools are grown, summoned, shaped from flesh, and often sentient. True "machines" do not exist in their pure form unless they were stolen from other worlds or evolved independently.
Abyssal tech is not neutral: it corrupts, feeds, or learns from the user. Even the act of using an abyssal device can change your tier, DNA, or sense of identity.
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🧬 Classifications of Abyssal Technology
1. Flesh Constructs
> "Tools with hearts, mouths, and loyalties."
Examples:
Bone Scythes: Grown from the fused ribcages of Twitchspawn, they drink blood and sharpen themselves.
Living Armor: Fungal skin that burrows into its wearer, granting durability at the cost of identity erosion.
Echo Limbs: Replacement arms grown from Hive-Nerve Seeds, often capable of acting independently when severed.
Tech Behavior: These tools evolve with the user or betray them if underfed or ignored.
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2. Ritual Devices
> "Geometry made pain."
Examples:
Blood Sigils: Carved into flesh or stone, these patterns create zones of gravity collapse or limb inversion.
Totem Hearts: Pulsating glands that channel ambient Abyssal energy; must be kept alive by feeding it memories.
Whispering Lattices: Organic scaffolds used in temples that record every sound within and replay them at random.
Function: Powered by sacrifice, song, or symbols. Each use alters the user's psycho-spiritual resonance — some become partially incorporeal.
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3. Parasitic Tools
> "A blade that uses you."
Examples:
Thought Leeches: Worn inside the skull, these parasites enhance strategy but slowly overwrite personal desires.
Hive-Staves: Carried by high-tier shamans, each staff is home to a larval queen that controls swarms of boneflies.
Memory Cysts: Implanted in the neck or spine; allow the user to borrow another's instincts, often from the dead.
Danger: These tools do not differentiate between tool and master. They consume your purpose.
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4. Totemic Constructs
> "When belief becomes shape."
Examples:
Black Totems: Built from fused skulls and worshiped through nightmares. Grant bursts of Tier advancement during war.
Hollow Altars: Where no god speaks — only reflection. Activating one often grants permanent tier mutations, but causes madness.
Glyphworms: Slither into the body and rewrite one's flesh according to totemic "templates" inherited from Pillars.
Tier Relation: Totemic tech is the only known pathway from Tier 2 to Tier 3 in Season 1–2.
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5. Abyssal Interfaces (Late Season 2+)
> "Talking to the Abyss and having it talk back."
Examples:
Pillar Interfaces: Interfaces of abstract stone and flickering language that respond only to "resonance screams."
Dream-Skins: Cloaks that allow a user to temporarily control parts of the Abyss like limbs of a shared body.
Cognitive Shards: Fragments of logic stolen from other worlds. When installed, they give access to alien concepts like strategy or mercy.
Cost: These devices create a paradox. The more you understand the Abyss, the less real you become.
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🛑 Known Risks of Abyssal Technology
Tier Deformation: Improper usage can break normal tier evolution, causing irreversible "logic tears."
Totemic Corruption: Devices bound to totems can overwrite tribal allegiance and rewrite culture from within.
World Rejection Syndrome: Some tech makes users incompatible with any other reality, trapping them in the Abyss forever.
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📜 Notable Artifact – Sigh of Krall
Type: Thought-Leech + Bone Engine Hybrid
Origin: Krall's brain casing
Effect: Allows simultaneous control of up to 20 creatures.
Downside: Each use removes one memory of your own identity. Krall forgot his own name after the sixth use.