It's something we'll obviously see in-game, either the Hunter seeing it on someone else or the choices we make leading them to be collared, but can I ask what your inspirations were behind the collar/collaring? Every time I think of it I think of the mages who were made Tranquil in the Dragon Age videogames, and was wondering if that was a fair comparison.
i'm not sure exactly what the inspiration was, to be completely honest. it does share some similarities with tranquility but i wouldn't compare them 1:1. something it vaguely makes me think of also is intercision from his dark materials. collars are not a permanent procedure though, like intercision and tranquility are - it only works for as long as the hunter has the collar on.
i drew this little diagram before to show how the hunter is connected to/uses the Vel:
the collar essentially does this:
it's extremely painful and unpleasant, literally cutting through the hunter's "tendril", but it keeps the hunter from pulling on the Vel or being drained, particularly if they have the rot and are losing control over their connection. again, it's not permanent, and it functions more like a "containment." they are weaker and their powers are "dampened" by the collar, and they're unable to use the Vel as a power source while the collar is on, but the Vel is still very much present inside the hunter. once it is removed, their tendril will reconnect.
using collars is restricted typically only for hunters with the rot, but can be used on healthy hunters, too. it's considered a "last resort" type of thing, and an extreme punishment by the Order. it's a threat that hangs over all hunters' heads.
and this is what is known by us and the hunter at this point in time.
hey!! i know you said the stuff about vel rot will be explored further along in the game, so feel free to ignore if im just asking for spoilers lol, but i just replayed the demo and im SO curious. from the flashback, and noel mentioning how hunters can be weird about it, i take it it’s not widely/openly talked about even among hunter circles? is that more because its, like, a delicate/sensitive subject what with the dying and all, or is there shame around it bc you had to mess up and leave the vel open to cause it? also, is this a very rare thing to happen, or just Not Talked About? noel knew you were sick immediately — is that because you were really far along, or is it detectable before it actually starts to ‘rot’ you? also, is there no way to cut yourself off completely from the vel as a general failsafe/hard reset, or is the process more of an external ‘i am opening/closing the vel in this specific area but am always left Open in general due to hunter shenanigans’? if you could pinpoint the specific time/location you left it open, would you be able to go back and fix it, or is it just about the length of time youve been open and the specifics don’t matter?
no worries!
so, to start, vel rot is something that can be dormant for years before it suddenly triggers and manifests, or it can be something that happens over a matter of days. it's varied and there's no order to it, it just happens however which way it decides to happen.
for the hunter in the flashback, it was a case of it being dormant for many years; as for the MC, it's not something i have set in stone - i suppose it can be up to you. it could have been Keld, or it could have been another job and it was just that Keld triggered it, and then the fight with the wraith exacerbated it. the Rot is not detectable until it's been "triggered."
and you're right, it's not really talked about, there is a lot of shame around the Rot because of the idea that it is the hunter's fault. it's also a topic that the Order... not necessarily forbids, but definitely doesn't like it being talked about, which leads to more confusion/uncertainty around it all.
for our hunter specifically, the few other hunters at the stronghold between Keld and the start of the game probably DID sense something was wrong. however, there's a kind of unspoken pact that would keep any of them from saying something. most hunters are going to want to go out in a blaze of glory... there are a lot of hunters that had the rot but never let it be known because they got themselves killed first. i imagine the other hunters at the stronghold had the feeling that you were going to take this job, and you were going to let it kill you, before the rot could fully take hold.
so it's not necessarily rare... but it IS rare to see it get to the extent it did for the hunter in the flashback.
and this kind of "pact" mentality is a little different in the north and the south, though it wasn't always - we'll explore the differences in hunter culture later on in the game.
now i'm going to use this little drawing again to show exactly what's happening:
i explained before that magic exists in the living realm and that there are non-hunter mages. sometimes i like to explain it as "the force" and you can see that all humans have a connection to the force/magic in the living realm. i like to imagine it as little invisible tendrils that connect to the person's chest/soul/spirit/heart & are like a muscle that can be exercised and strengthened. the Vel stops the "tendrils" of non-hunters from expanding beyond the living realm, as well as containing the living realm itself.
with hunters, their "tendrils" expand beyond the vel, and even if the vel is closed, they're still connected - think like the roots of a tree. the Vel essentially functions as an anchor.
when a hunter opens the Vel, imagine something like when popeye eats spinach (lol).... the tendrils lighting up and channeling strength and/or magic into the hunter. the Vel works almost like a sieve here, to make sure that whatever is being pulled from the other side doesn't completely overwhelm the hunter.
i'll put this next part under a break (because it's getting long) and also because this is kinda spoiler territory so read at your own risk :-)
Noel's explanation isn't exactly completely correct, but the reality is that hunters don't really understand what the rot is, and the Order itself pushes the idea that the fault is with the hunter. they want you to believe it's the hunter, not the Vel - not the practice itself that is the problem...
the supposed understanding is that when you close the Vel, it "cleanses" the hunter's "tendrils" from whatever they had pulled in from the other side. if you don't do it properly, it's your fault for not cleansing yourself & that's how you get the rot. however, this is simply just. Not True. the reason that hunters' eyes change color like they do is because their "tendrils" and their physical bodies are being affected by the Vel constantly. whenever you pull something from the other side, it doesn't just go away when you close the Vel. there is always Something swirling around within a hunter that shouldn't be there. you are always connected to the Vel, and closing it doesn't actually change that fact. that's why hunters can sense each other and other creatures (like the wraith), because they can sense each other through the Vel.
vel rot happens typically because the Vel itself just sucks - i explained... somewhere... that when the gods made the Vel it was a half-assed effort, mainly because they wanted to ensure their ability to pass through the other realms wouldn't be affected. there are a couple of creatures, alongside the gods, that can pass through - dragons & giants being two main ones that no longer exist, and another one that we will see in game and i don't want to spoil just yet :-)
so it's less to do with the hunter not closing the Vel properly (though this CAN be a part of it) and just that the Vel doesn't function properly and things that shouldn't get through... get through.
think of it like an invasive species, or i guess the easiest comparison would be if you were to suddenly go to a new world where you can still breathe the air, and there's water and life there, so you could survive... but there's always the risk of alien diseases and viruses, which you have no immunity against. imagine every time the hunter opens the Vel they're breathing that air or drinking that water, which is technically safe, but there's also always going to be an incredible risk that you could catch an alien illness.
that's essentially what is happening but... in an abstract way? hahaha. it's not something i've super agonized over or bothered to try and explain completely in a "scientific" way, i guess. i enjoy the vagueness and lack of understanding around the Rot and the Vel in general, and it's something that always bothers me in horror/fantasy/sci-fi media when a concept is over-explained or that the creator feels the need to explain at all. i enjoy open endings and vague explanations and the idea that we just won't ever really understand what happened here.... but it was something awful.
as for some of your suggestions on how to fix it... you're onto something, is all i will say...
