The fixation of the Snail Shamans isn't Void
there already was a bias towards thinking snail shamans are related to the void because of misunderstanding the way spells are upgraded in Hollow Knight (and because they're black), so when they crafted a portal to the Abyss many understandably went "hmmmmmmm"
And this line of dialogue probably was the last nail in the coffin for many
Don't play daft. You should well know our family's fixations. Surely you had a hunch?
But here's the thing: Hornet didn't know they would use void, and notice how Caretaker says "a hunch"; this doesn't read like "you should've known we love void" but rather "you should've known we like certain things which could include void"
The line right after doesn't read like "void is our favorite thing" but rather "this is the most efficient solution"
How else could we hope to trap one of your pale kin? Or see her consumed with such insatiable efficiency?
In fact, I'd say this isn't their one and only plan, but rather the latest, most extreme one out of a line of attempts at defiance
But what would be their fixation then? Well, it is not specifically Void, but Power in general
Gathering, cultivation, hoarding of it, with Soul being their main way to go about it
"...Void... Power... Without unity..."
- What a persistent little worm you are. Amuse me then. Why did you cut those poor bugs from their comforting curse?
- Hornet: There was old power in the creature that guided the thread, and a talent of Silk, now taken, that shall prove useful to me.
- Hornet: That the town is freed and its service returned is a benefit too. I may ofttimes feel myself apart from these bugs, but even I recoil to see Silk strung in such sickening service.
- Grnk. To free them was no favour. But the gathering of power… In that goal, we may understand each other some.
It's my family's strength you'll need be seeking, bellringer, us three ol' bugs still alive, spread 'cross this kingdom, and one poor cousin dead and drained in swamps choked rotten.
Each has power. Raw, savage stuff! For you, they'll give it, if for their fascination at the act, or the thrill of defiance… or because they have no choice at all.
Down in the mosslands, still clinging to her failed chapel, my sister'll part with her power, if asked kind enough.
Buried in the warren of bells, at Pharloom's core, seek my sullen uncle. That one has power to spare.
So many souls...
A kingdom lost...
Only a simple bug...
Strength in despair...
Our power...
Hide and wait...
Hide and watch...
O soulful ones...
Spiralling outward...
Glimmering trails...
- Hornet: Will you not provide your aid, bug? This trap he plans requires power, and I suspect you're hoarding more than most.
- Oh no. I'll give it. Not in the hope you'll succeed... Bah! In that, there's slim chance. I give just to see that restless energy unleashed. So much soul, found and formed. Generations of it, all going to waste. Better it's given a chance to blaze.
The snare is set above, our power bound along its thread. To your sight it may seem a crude thing, but there's fair strength to it… enough to quell a god.
- Hornet: I found the well in the hidden chambers beyond. The power that remained at its base I have taken for myself.
- Caretaker: Bound yourself a new nature, aye? And from the shells of our ancestors, no less, all those many who've called these lands their own.
- Caretaker: You make it seem so simple-like. All o'that learning, all o'that strength… sucked up in a whirl of Silk.
Chapel Maid: We'd call you a thief, Old One, and cruel for the taking, but it's all coming down soon if you can't stop it.
Chapel Maid: If there's advantage in your act that might see these caves safe, then it's better you make your claim.
It seems they expect themselves to know about any and every source of power on their kingdom
The Everbloom?… We've heard the tale, but had thought it a myth. If ever it sprouted in our lands we would surely have known?
Pharloom was not born of that monarch, Old One. Power existed in these lands even before she bound them beneath her.
They desire power, and to make use of it, but not to see it be consumed immediately or entirely
This task before you... This is mortal power you would claim, the hearts of bugs. It will cost their last strength to save this land.
Even we have some hesitation in this. Despite our desire to touch their power, we'd never wished to see it expended so utterly.
And if it wasn't clear enough, here's Hornet stating it outright
I have known your kind before, sir. Yours is a tribe that works and trades in power, and I am about to extinguish its prime source. Once this is done, will you truly delight in a land so bereft?
And here we have them outright state their power is fully based upon Soul
- Hornet: Then free me of the affliction. Surely you have the skill?
- Caretaker: Not for this! Our power's all of soul and that thing's all physical. You're gonna need more traditional tools of healing.
So tldr: Snail Shamans are a tribe that fixates in power, trading with it, seeking and forming and hoarding it, in the form of Soul; the usage of Void by Pharloom's family is merely an extension of this search of power, an application of Soul no more crucial to their culture and identity than a spell of flickering flame
