#black bile

[mrghosts]

My red flag is that there is a large part of me that believes in humors. I can feel the excess of yellow bile within me and it’s not just because I ate one million mini eggs.

[evolutionsvoid]

Tasked with preserving knowledge, the Scholars of the Black are always on the search for new and improved ways to keep centuries worth of information safe and accessible. While Black Bile crystals seem like the perfect solution, there is more to it than simply dumping in the data and moving on. How much information they can store and how long they can last all depends on their purity and structure. Despite what some may believe, not all humors are created equal, and some types of Black Bile are better suited for this job than others. While the Towering Archives have done well in creating new crystalline shards and slabs that can contain a vast array of knowledge, it is still far from perfect. In search for the theoretical "Microcosmic Star," the Scholars need just the right Black Bile to make it work, or perhaps even a combination of different types. Thus, teams of Scholars were sent out into the world in search of Black Bile sources or new ways to store information. Such expeditions occurred before the war broke out, but they still continue to this day, because now the task of preservation is needed more than ever before. Thus, Scholar teams search far in wide for the answer to this problem, but unfortunately, sometimes such searching reveals things best left hidden...

From what folks can piece together, a research team of Scholars from Akavedah were on the hunt for pure veins of Black Bile, and had come across a hidden cave system out in the wilds. Seeing little evidence of other people around, they had hopes that perhaps the resources within these deep cavities were still undisturbed. They plunged into these dark tunnels and arteries, daring to go as far down as they could in search of promising Black Bile. What can be seen from environmental clues, it looks like they faced many obstacles and sealed tunnels, but used their equipment to break through these barriers. It appeared that they entered a previously isolated area, which was quite promising to them. And deep within these subterranean cavities, they found their prize. Wondrous crystals of Black Bile! In such sizes and quantities! From found notes, this strain of Black Bile crystal was entirely new to them, and thus had unknown potential within. The Scholars were quick to set up camp and begin experiments and excavation of this incredible prize. However, these plans would never come to fruition and neither the crystals or Scholars themselves would ever make it to the surface.

When no word was heard back from this team, scouts were sent to where they were last sighted, hoping to find clues to their disappearance. Their search of the area would lead them down the same path, eventually discovering the camp deep below. However, the place was an utter mess, as if they had been attacked. Their notes torn and scattered, their equipment knocked over and smashed, and their tents reduced to rags. No sign of the Scholars were found, but the scouts wondered if more evidence could be dug up closer to the crystal chamber. Before they could continue their search, sounds in the darkness were heard. At first they thought it some cave beast, but the strange noises had a strange pattern and familiarity to them. Like crazed hooting and aggressive grunts, something that felt more fitting to man than beast.

Before they knew it, the source of the noise was upon them, and the team was attacked. With little light down below and the chaos born from the battle, they only caught mere glimpses of their attackers and their weapons. Of the survivors who made it back to the surface, they spoke of strange humanoids of a short stature. Like half the size of the average man, but skin gray as stone and bizarre crystals jutting from it. Their faces were obscured by chunks of crystal, be it a helmet or perhaps even replacing their entire head. The weapons that were flung at them were carved from crystal but incredibly crude. Clubs and spears made from this prized Black Bile and wielded in a savage manner. Magic was thrown their way as well, with shards of Black Bile flying through the air. Yet, this sort of magic was sloppy and amateur, only slightly better than chucking crystal pieces with your bare hands. Despite their size and simple tools, the scouts were hopelessly outnumbered and out of their element. Quite a few fell to these strange entities, with only a handful making it to the surface alive. Though they themselves could hardly describe what had happened, the abandoned notes they had found in the camp had survived as well, and from these pages they began to understand what was down there.

At first, the idea was that this was some nest of troglodytes that the Scholars had the misfortune of disturbing. Perhaps they lived off these crystals and saw these researchers as a threat to their home and resources. Yet, when the notes were organized in the proper order and pieced back together, a different picture started to appear. Despite the team seemingly spending weeks down below, they never made mention of other creatures or possible threats. No strange noises or unexplained phenomenon. They were going about their research undisturbed, trying to learn more about these crystals. Though the Scholars themselves made no note of anything amiss, those reading these remaining notes noticed something odd. As the days went by, the penmanship of these writings slowly began to degrade. It wasn't anything major at first, some sloppy letters and sloped lines, but then misspellings and poor grammar started to emerge. For Scholars who pride themselves in logic and research, such crude writing was quite strange. As they got to the last few pages, the writing turned to scrawls and smears, like a baby given ink and paper to play with. The phenomenon was baffling. Some suspected gas being present in the cavity that slowly poisoned them, others thought that these messy pages were written by their primitive attackers. The evidence and notes were gone through again and again, looking for any clues to answer this mystery. And that is when they figured it out.

As the research was going down, and the Scholars were writing updates of their progress, one writer made note of how well the Black Bile crystals took in knowledge. They were excited at this, as it showed promise for a strain that could hold even more information than current types, but as others followed this thread, the realization became disturbingly clear. Many mentions of how "eager" the crystals were to absorb data, and how the Scholars were becoming more and more obsessed with this find. It was through these notes the team realized the truth of it all: the strange Black Bile crystals weren't just storing knowledge, but stealing it as well. For whatever reason, their structure and strain was capable of drawing in information from all around them, and it seemed they could even pull it straight from the mind. The degrading writing wasn't because of gas, but because the intellect of these men and women was being sucked right out of them. As long as they were in close proximity to these bizarre crystals, their minds would be drained by its thieving absorption. And with this in mind, they looked back on the tale of the attack on the scouts and what they saw, and the grim truth was at last revealed. The strange shrunken creatures that besieged the scouts were what remained of the once proud Scholars who had made camp there.

From what can be deduced from the information at hand, it would seem that the Black Bile crystals down there had fed upon their minds and slowly reduced them to a primitive state. All higher thought and memory was sucked away, leaving them more akin to beast than modern man. The hooting and hollering of them, born from tongues that were robbed of their words. Their diminutive forms coming to be as the parasitic crystals stole more and more, reverting both mental and physical states. What remained of these victims was primitive and malleable, coming to worship the crystals that they no longer could understand. And so a small crude cult was born in the darkness, of those who have been consumed by the crystals. They wear it, wield it, worship it. And now they remain forever in the darkness, dancing and praying to the very parasites that stole their minds from them. They serve it and protect it, thus their aggression towards the scouts. Or perhaps they are unable to conceive of anything else that isn't them, and thus see all creatures as alien and hostile.

With this knowledge of their fate, some have demanded that a team be sent town to destroy these crystals and free these lost scholars. However, such wants were quickly squashed once the war broke out and resources were diverted elsewhere. What use is there to fighting a buried clan of mindless creatures, who have no intention of leaving their home? Why bother when greater threats bang upon our gates? However, some say that there is a dash of fear to these excuses, as many are terrified of losing themselves to these very same crystals. That, and the mentions from the survivors who claimed to have heard something else within those tunnels. Something far larger than those shrunken Scholars...

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"The Lost Scholars"

[bob-the-seagull-king]

The bile, it's pure melancholy...

[ladiablotine]

my beautiful girl............

[brambeag]

i care abt them a lot

[crxwes]

Once burned....🐍💔 [ @brambeag oc]

[gothicseverance]

On the one hand, [melancholy] was regarded as a medical condition, marked by black and heavy moods; on the other, melancholy was the birthplace of creativity.

—Black Mood for Black Bile?

[dennydreadful]

Yellow Bile ❤ Black Bile