songerein App

[voidbug]

SUBJECT LINE: CHARACTER | CANON | RESERVED OR NOT

Player: Grif
Age: 33
Contact: Grifstar, Grif#1704, DW PM works too
Current Characters: None atm

Character: The Knight (Sometimes referred to as "Ghost" by Hornet), they have no canonical name
Canon: Hollow Knight, "Dream No More" ending
Age: This is very complicated since the Hollow Knight timeline is extremely vague (with its gaps of time, not as much order of events). It's even weirder because the Knight had siblings born around the same time as them, that actually aged while they somehow remained in baby mode. So the TL;DR is that they're probably still a child? But also kind of not? But it's okay to treat them as one even though they've beaten up bug gods? Age is overrated.


Background Information: Basic game synopsis, Very brief Knight info, and General Vessel info (with spoilers for each)

Personality: The Knight is really meant to be just a blank, silent protagonist with no character (player insert basically). However there is a few things that could be gleaned from general gameplay, subtle animations, how other characters perceive them, and some headcanoning.

Mute. Given the nature of vessels, the Knight is physically unable to speak; but they are capable of reading/writing so it is possible for them to communicate in other ways. In previous DWRPs they've used the text from commutators to 'talk' to other characters, but it takes them time to adapt to brand new technology. (Although in the case of Songerein, a book and quill is 100% at their speed) But sometimes it's not always possible to write down everything they want to say, so sometimes they will be limited to just nods and other gestures.

Simple-minded. Despite being the only vessel that was able to live freely (The Hollow Knight went through a rigorous discipline to remain empty, and it's hard to know if there's more escaped vessels still alive somewhere) the Knight doesn't really have that many complicated feelings or thoughts. No complex moralities or deep philosophical conflicts. They just do what they think is right and try their best, but most of time they're also too focused on not dying to think about much else.

That said, they also enjoy very small and simpler things too; any little bit of levity they can find really. When they're not fighting or running for dear life, they can commonly be found at quiet relaxing places, like hot springs or abandoned wrought iron benches.

Friendly Foe. Despite their small stature, soft movements and vacant stare, they can and absolutely will turn into a tiny killing machine if they need to defend themselves. But it seems to be only if they have to defend themselves. Rarely do they instantly attack bugs that haven't been infected, since those are the ones that still have a sense of self, and generally are reasonable. Although, they aren't against formal challenges or friendly spars either.

Very Curious. What is that thing?? It looks important and interesting. Can I interact with it? Can I hit it?? Can I dream nail it??

Very Curious and Very Stubborn. There's something glowing way up there, I have no idea what it is but I want it. I'm not leaving without it. /Proceeds to fall into spikes 20 times

Strides To Do Good and Helpful Things! Good deeds include rescuing Dirtmouth residents from underground, freeing grubs from jars, help a stag find its old nesting grounds, delivering lots of flowers, volunteering in cult rituals--wait.

TL;DR: Polite Feral Battle Baby, with a knife.

Personality Stuff Regarding To Character Development, Canon Point and Leading Up To songerein ((Also spoiler and headcanon territory))

The Knight does not really have any emotional attachment to Hallownest itself. They like and befriended many of the living bugs still there; but the kingdom itself and the history about it, they don't really care as much. It is impressive to look at though.

Even within the canon itself, there is only two theorized reasons why the Knight came back to Hallownest at all (opposed to continuously wandering the wasteland with amnesia): Either the Radiance called for them to destroy them, or the Hollow Knight called for help as the seals were weakening. In this particular case I am going to say it was the Hollow Knight, since it makes the personal connection with them stronger, and it's the only legitimate family they got left besides Hornet.

They take the whole "You were a breedject tossed in a charnel pit with hundreds of thousands of your other siblings" thing rather well, to be fair. Honestly they still don't really remember it that well. And the one memory they do have now probably isn't enough to really comprehend the sort of trauma it might've been.

Light, though maybe more specifically goldish/orange sunlight like at dusk or dawn makes them really uncomfortable. That's the Radiance's calling card and a pretty good indicator that she's still around. And nothing good can come from that. (Orange eyes, or anything leaking orange juice or having orange growths is extra baaad)

They never want to see another buzzsaw again. Ever.

Upon entering Songerein, the Knight is going to fairly easily assume they are still in a dream but not have a clue which one it is anymore. The fight with Radiance kind of ended rather hazy since they were more or less absorbed by the void too, nor would they have known their physical body disappeared (leaving just a cracked shell behind). Normally they should have woken up after the dream was over, but somehow it feels like something very different happened.

They may spend some time initially trying to find out what happened during that battle, what happened to them and why they can't wake up anymore. But once they accept that they can't go back and can only traverse dreams now, this world is their new home.

Abilities & Inventory:
List of all main abilities. And Charms (Equippable abilities and power ups). The charms most likely didn't come with them, and something reserved for regains. Especially the ones that are even smaller bug friends to come fight with them, like Grimmchild.

Nail. The type of sword used by bugs (made by bugs, for bugs). The Knight's main murdering tool and good for slashing and stabbing. They've learned plenty of sword techniques with it.

Soul. The magic system and MP meter of Hollow Knight, and more or less exactly what it looks like. Soul can be gained through other ways, but most of the time the Knight gets a little bit of Soul back every time they hit an enemy. This will likely change for Songerein. Perhaps instead of a life energy (which had already been nerfed before to just make characters feel weaker), it's another way to gain dreamotion energy instead. Perhaps it doesn't even drain it but just generate more for them. Either way, this ability comes with its own Opt-in/out if by chance they do get into fights with other characters. Or something I'm fine with removing from Songerein all together.

King's Brand. while not an ability, it is a permanent fixture. It's just a cool magical marking (I headcanon on one of their hands, can be turned on or off) that signifies them as the current Hallownest ruler. It was necessary for them to obtain it in order to reopen the Abyss, but only after Hornet considered them worthy.

Void Heart. A charm (or at least that's what the game classifies it as) that lets the Knight use the void to some extent, "unifies" it as the game words it. It's really not clear how or why it works, but it is apparently what was used to call in the void and other siblings' shades to support in the battle against the Radiance.

So it can be guessed that it gives the Knight some (if not limited) way to communicate with the void itself; whether or not it's only their canonical version of the void or it works on any shadowy, dark elemental creatures.

Dream Nail. An ethereal blade given to them that lets them enter inside dreams or hear somebody's thoughts. Both of which are made out of this thing called Essence which it is designed to collect. At the level the Knight has it upgraded, it can also be used for one way teleportations too. By setting up a dreamgate somewhere in the waking world they can portal back to that place later.

Dreams, memories and thoughts are all slightly broader concepts in canon than most in places, given that they're all pretty much made out of the same stuff. Memories or thoughts don't even have to belong to entities but can gather anywhere that had significant importance at one time (A statue, a shrine, etc). The dead could still have dreams, or retain the thoughts they had prior to their death. Sometimes these can manifest into ghosts in the waking world, but not everyone can see them.

Since mind reading and poking around in dreams does have a lot to do with messing with a character's personal life, this does also come with another Opt-in/out thing, or whenever a player requests it.

Dreamotion Powers: Most likely just more void/shadow/darkness powers and such! Like being able to switch to their shade form without repercussions. Growing tendrils when they need extra limbs/appendages. And anything else that comes up. Perhaps eventually developing a telepathy that works something similar to the Void Heart, being only able to get wordless thoughts and feelings out before they can form actual sentences.


Suitability & Plans: Why I chose them over my other character (who I am still thinking about bringing in at a later time); besides just being more active and easier to play at the moment, Hollow Knight's canon already has quite a bit to do with dreams and dream worlds so it makes it a kind of easy fit with the setting. ...Even though the Knight barely knows anything about how dreams actually work, or any of the other logistics behind them. They only know just how to enter them, and how they look like compared to the real world.

The other thing is that the Knight's story is about as over as it's ever going to get unless something surprising happens in Silksong. And given how it ended, they are about as cleanest of slates they will ever be too, as they don't really have much unfinished business either. The Radiance is no more, the infection should have disappeared, etc. They are still technically appointed as the current king which....whoops (Hallownest was already like 75% abandoned, ruined, or overgrown anyway, it's probably fine). As much as they will miss their world, they can move on without it. At any rate where they are now is much better than being lost in the void.

And finally they are just very flexible when it comes to CR and events (filling the roles of either cute small, battle rival or battle partner...or all three), and just go with the flow of things whenever needed. They are a simple bug, who's used to wandering around and doing things by themselves, and don't care what others think. And while it does probably get lonely they aren't that used to having friends, beyond just friendly bugs they met with time to time. ...Most of which are no longer around either.

Which is more or less the sort of things I would like to accomplish. The Knight is finally free to do whatever they want now, without the constant threat of danger or getting lost wandering a dead kingdom. They don't have much of an identity beyond just being alive, but now they got all the time to figure out what sort of bug they want to be (including a name). Whether or not they decide to do adventuring type things or something more mundane, or a little of both. Bug has much to learn about how other worlds and people work and even more about themself.

Test Drive Sample: Here!

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