LUCIFER LUCIFER

Hallucinations:

Hallucinations are occurrences that only happen within the Hollow and the Nightmare.
When a hallucination takes place, the human soul experiencing it freezes in place and turns to static.
While their physical form remains out in the open,
their mind is taken to an entirely different “reality”.
In this differing reality, one will be subjected to memories of their prior life.
Often times these memories circle around past traumas, conflicts, fears and more.
However, these memories tend to be far more exaggerated and surreal, rather than being literal memories.
A soul is more likely to experience a hallucination if spend longer periods traversing the Nightmare,
rather than hiding. That isn’t to say, however, that a soul will never experience a hallucination if they
merely hide and do nothing else.

When experiencing a hallucination, souls are capable of finding items that they can use to help themselves find a
”way out” of their own mind and back to consciousness.
And while some items are helpful, some items may actually make
hallucinations worse. So it’s advised to be mindful of what one interacts with
when they’re experiencing a hallucination.
The more time one spends in the darkness of
their hallucination, the harder it is for them to escape.
It’s advised by Nikoli (surveyor) that when one is experiencing
a hallucination, they should always try to find some form of “light” to help them
find a way out, and wake up.

Average human souls cannot interfere with the hallucinations of other human souls.
However, surveyors and anomalies can. Any existing anomaly is capable of entering the active hallucination of a
soul by interacting with their body (merely by touching it) to access it.
When inside, they are capable of interaction and more. And while anomalies are not capable
of waking humans from their hallucinations when interacting with them,
surveyors absolutely can if they need to.
But doing so can cause ones metamorphosis process to worsen in some cases.
And so, the surveyors almost never interfere.

Once a human comes to and wakes from a hallucination, their body is returned to normal and regain total
control of themselves.


Metamorphosis:

Metamorphosis is a process that only happens within the Nightmare.
Once a soul has entered the Nightmare, they immediately begin the process.
The realm automatically assigns their soul an insect which then intertwines with said soul.
Insects tend to be based on the life someone lived, who they were, etc.
It tends to be metaphorical.

At first, the changes are unnoticeable.
One might start off entirely human in appearance with very
little insect features. Sometimes even none.
However, the more time passes, the more these features begin to sprout and appear.
The first week a soul arrives, they might have
zero features, and the next, they might begin to sprout antennae or wings.
Maybe even more. However, the process is quite
slow so the changes take time to notice. They start off small and grow larger over time.

By the time a soul reaches full metamorphosis, their body is almost unrecognizable.
And in most cases, they are in agonizing pain, with their forms being completely
absorbed and eaten alive with amalgamated parts of human and insect.

If a soul goes through the entire process of metamorphosis before
they can be granted a trial, they are automatically sentenced to rot through
their metamorphosis.

The process takes 1000 years (10 years Earth time) to complete.
As one reaches the end of their metamorphosis, they tend to completely lose themselves.
Their minds are wiped clean and they forget everything about themselves entirely.
Their bodies eventually
freeze up and they begin to harden and crack apart,
turning to dust which scatters throughout the Nightmare in a final act of decay.

The Rot:

The rot (also known as “the Final Death”) is a process that takes place when a soul
has gone on too long without being granted a trial
to pass onward from the realm they are trapped within.
This typically only ever happens to dwellers of the Hollow and the Nightmare.
When one succumbs to the rot, their body begins to fall apart.
Their flesh begins to melt, their limbs begin falling off one by one, so on and so forth.
And by the final phase, they dry up and begin to crack like porcelain and turn to dust that lingers once
they have finally passed.

This typically happens after 1000 years of a souls existence in the realms has come to pass.

In the Hollow, a soul that succumbs to rot is left to rot wherever it falls.
In the Nightmare, bodies that begin to rot are taken to a place
known as the Graveyard.
The Graveyard is a guarded section of the Nightmare run by a
being known as “Ankou” the grave keeper.
When bodies in the Nightmare succumb to rot in the graveyard,
the dust and debris of their rot can sometimes form into little “sprites” known
as “rot sprites”, which are rather dangerous for human souls to encounter in the wild.