Warracka and his "Fist"
AhhHHhhahahHAHAHA Y E S
I got my Warracka lore after all. FINALLY, I've been theorizing about these little freaks for 100 years. Im so excited, I could eat a horse!!!
Warracka was formally introduced by name with the Relics of the Old Faith update. "Warracka's Right Fist". But you can see that there's something a little off about that name. This isn't a right hand.
It's a left one. Suggesting that this relic doesn't belong to Warracka, it belongs to his "right fist". A term that implies some level of companionship (see: right hand man) but also, most importantly, that his ""companion"" is the source of his power. His patron, in a sense.
The "right hand of God" is a common metaphor for the power of God. You're in God's good graces, or he is otherwise intervening in your affairs to your benefit. In the parable, "The Sheep and the Goats", the two groups are separated—sheep on the right, goats on the left. That's definitely relevant.
A more literal interpretation of the phrase takes the form of Jesus Christ himself. This circles back around to the phrase meaning "right hand man", someone who is a trusted aide and near-equal. Yadda, yadda. Warracka and his Right Fist. So it could be that they have a shared "being" on some level. The same (or close) entities spiritually, but not physically or mentally.
Whatever the complexities of their relationship, we know the Right Fist is a slave. That is their descriptor. "Gripped in servitude." Trapped in or otherwise heavily compelled into slavery or anything resembling it. It could also be directly related to their faith—their associated cult/higher power is what physically, literally holds them in servitude.
If you come on this post and attempt to argue about the definition of servitude you will be executed via firing squad publicly mocked and shamed. Open a dictionary.
Anywho, the Right Fist has a very notable trait. Well, two. But the more important one is that they have five fingers. This is not a normal thing in this game's setting. Everyone else, be it a God or a Beast, has no more than four fingers. Even the icons for traits and upgrades use hands with four fingers.
Except...
These two. The Belief in Absolution trait and the Zealous trait. (The latter of which also shares an icon with the Inspired by the Mission trait)
And this hand actually is a right hand.
So. The Right Fist is anti-imprisonment. They believe that all people deserve to be free—not shocking considering their circumstances. The symbol for Zealous being literally "no fists" suggests that they are, in some way, against the Great Ones/First Gods. Or they otherwise go against what the Fanatic believes in—aka the user of the Zealous weapons. The Right Fist is the embodiment of dissenting. The people may no longer remember their name (if they ever had one), but what they stood for remains: Questioning if what they're told is really the truth.
Warracka's Right Fist is granted after harvesting the meat of a follower five times (the lucky number, of course). This implies that one or both of them are cannibals, aka predators. Early on, the Sustenance doctrines ask you to choose between eating like Prey (grass) or eating like a Predator (flesh). Technically speaking, going off the actual definition, the Followers already are predators. Because they're equivalent to humans. They eat meat that is caught and killed by the Lamb. So this in-universe distinction is super important.
Predator vs. prey isn't an innate trait based on species. It's a lifestyle decision. One extreme over another. Predators are cannibals. Predators eat people, not just meat. It's an act of Gluttony. Prey eat grass (which even the literal livestock just tolerate) because it's "better than nothing". It's an act of Sloth.
I'm 99% sure this hand having five fingers is an intentional detail. I'm pretty sure the number of fingers and toes on everyone is an intentional detail, but I digress. It's a detail that can be used to identify the Right Fist's presence. Treating it this way has yet to lead me astray.
It's how I correctly guessed that Warracka would even show up in Woolhaven. A five-fingered hand mounted on a mushroom statue.
This was shown in a very early teaser trailer for Woolhaven. And even more recent information leads me to believe that this hand represents Warracka themselves, rather than their Right Fist. Note the lack of sharp claws on their fingers. It's just a normal, 'human' hand. So Warracka connects to Anura and Spore Grotto. They may even literally be the "mushroom the size of lamb" mentioned by Sozo.
I would tentatively call them the Mushroom Lamb. If the voiceover is talking about them, then it's saying they're "very smart" and have their "phd". Making them a doctor in the same way Sozonius is. Not a medical professional, but an advanced academic. Also something about porcini mushrooms. Porcini meaning "relating to pigs".
But wait, there's more! In the sacrifice rooms of Ewefall, you'll find...
A deer creature with five fingers! And more imagery of someone exploding. You can juuuust barely see the top of the thumb on the screen-left side. But also, the fact that this is something clawing at the ground with four fingers. If all four of these digits are fingers, then there's a hidden fifth thumb.
There are a few other references to five-fingered beings in Woolhaven, but I shall end off on what's probably the most important one. The Gauntlets of Legendary Blasphemy.
AND SO, the plot thickens.
Due to the shape and sheer length, these hands are most definitely based off a feline, and not a canine. Despite their scruffy appearance. Dogs and wolves aren't exactly known to favor their claws in the first place... Conceptually, this is even being called out in-universe by the Snout of the Trapper.
And if you compared the designs, that's not actually a charged shard... a similar container, but clearly holding a very different substance. Also that orange wire. Sus.
