ORDER

MOTHER

...is a hive-mind present within Origin's cave system. It survives by infecting victims with a fungus that links the minds, and tampers with the brain activity, of its members.

INFECTION

Gembound, both lesser and greater, can be infected in a multitude of ways. Lone patches of fungus, leftover from the Hive's initial infestation, can be found here and there throughout the caves. Infected Lesser Gembound, often distinguishable from uninfected only by small white tufts of fungus in inconspicuous areas, might infect those feeding on them. The main nests, or nodes, are large, pulsating masses of rotten-smelling white fungus, generally tended and protected by Hive members and kept well-hidden. Inhaling, long-term contact with, or consuming any part of Mother's fungus will infect a Gembound, who will, unless purged, progress through the following stages. Mother cannot exist in Polaris. Attempts to plant her fungus here will result in the rapid withering of it; attempts to convert Gembound here will expel the magic, abruptly forming a glassy, perfect crystalline structure that will thrust up from the rock.

I. EXPOSED

For one cycle after infection, Gembound will be aware that they are infected, but will feel as though they wish to be part of the Hive: as though it is good, and right; safe. Obedient Gembound will experience feelings of warmth and acceptance, and encouragement to find the nearest Hive node or its members. Rebellious Gembound will feel shame, disapproval, and, should they attempt to give away any Hive secrets, debilitating pain. Vague, intermittent links to the emotional state of other members, stronger for more intense feelings, will take place; this may be confusing, at first. Close proximity allows the beginnings of the sharing of direct thoughts, and being very near to a full Mother node will result in a direct mental link with Mother. Exposed Gembound can be purified through a Fungal Wake spell (drawing the fungus out onto another substrate; this will be painful, a burning sensation, stronger the more their infection has spread), or through returning to their chrysalis. Exposed Gembound will be allowed entry into the outer tunnels of the Ursa Node, but kept from entering any further.

II. CARRIERS

After a full cycle of infection, Gembound become Carriers for Mother. Their thoughts and emotions are now strongly linked to those of other Hive members. But this is a wholly free exchange of self; with it, and over time, they may find a loss of their individual self in favor of the hive--it may be difficult to tell their own thoughts and feelings from those of the others. They are all One. Carriers will find their thoughts muted, with long periods of blank nothing in their minds. Instead, all will seem peaceful and pleasurable in their link to Mother. Service is their most common behavior. They begin to feel, and usually behave, like happily-mindless drones serving the Hive. They may forget to feed themselves, unless Mother reminds them (and she periodically does so).

They will, despite any emaciation, be fastidiously-groomed, and begin to experience strong obsessive-compulsive urges toward order. Everything must be neat, in rows, organized, orderly... Lastly, affected Gembound will find small, white growths in unobtrusive locations on their bodies. Clusters of white mold beneath fur or under a limb are not uncommon among them. They may attempt to hide or remove these, but a faint (but persistent) odor of rot will now cling to them at all times. It is very difficult at this stage to resist Mother, or even to have rebellious thoughts against her, and doing so will generally require a long distance from any Hive node, a very powerful emotional response, and a Critical Success roll to break free. Even so, Mother will reassert control as soon as the Gembound approaches any node. This stage can be cleansed by chrysalis, or by becoming corrupted. These Gembound will be mostly ignored by Hive Cleaners and Praetors, though they will be kept from the inner rooms of Ursa's Hive.

III. HOSTS

The individual self is almost wholly given over to the Hive. There may still be individual thoughts and feelings, but more commonly they are completely subverted or absent. These Gembound only ever spend time caring for Mother. They have no pursuits, interests or hobbies of their own. All spare time, all spare energy, is spent in service to Mother (though hobbies may be indulged in when 'infiltrating' to gain new members). These Gembound can be caught out, at times, by their extremely obsessive-compulsive behavior in regards to neatness and order. They are pristinely-groomed at all times, again even when emaciated due to lack of self-care. Fallen or scattered piles of objects will leave them scrambling to clean it up or arrange it in rows, and if these Gembound are prevented from ordering the chaotic, they may become greatly distressed. Many of these individuals gradually become mindless husks, not bothering to feed themselves until near-starvation, coated with the white fungus, simply wandering from Hive-task to Hive-task in blank silence and lashing out when confronted or interrupted. Some may genuinely lose their minds completely to the Hive. Mother can assume complete control over these Gembound whenever she wishes. All Hosts carry their own samples of the fungus that they can utilize to infect others; some begin to grow transparent, glassy exoskeletons over random areas of their bodies. This stage cannot be cured; the fungus will remain with the Gembound in the chrysalis, a permanent part of them, and the warring magic of corruption will only tear them apart. Hosts will at last be allowed into the inner sanctum of Ursa's Hive, where they may finally meet with Mother.

Please note that the drone-like behavior of Carriers and Hosts can be individual. While the Gembound will only be rewarded for serving Mother, some may choose to still spend time on other pursuits. It is simply that, for the most part, they will not want to. But again, this can be individual.

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ORDERED ELEMENT

A fully-infected Host of Order may request, or be invited, to be Restructured in the name of Order. In this case, the Host will be brought to the hidden Clearstone Spire (the location of which is constantly shifting), and plunged into its crystalline magic. The power of the Clearstone Spire will tear the Gembound apart, reforming them completely and utterly replacing their prior gemstone. While they will retain their memories and progression rank, they will take one full cycle to once again emerge.

From this point on, these characters will be known as Drones: while still compelled to serve Mother as Hosts, they no longer need to carry the fungus in order to take part in the Hive Mind.

A Drone's element (if any) will become Order: all elemental spells will be lost. Any magical connection (sensorial link, familiar forge, affixed dyes, baubles and enchants, etc.) will fade, as will scars and other damage (with rare exception--the Gembound may request, IC, that these are carried over through the Reordering process). A Drone's gemstone will be pure Clearstone, and will reform to be perfectly symmetrical in shape and placement. Drones will also give off no odor. From this point on, these characters will be known as Drones: while still compelled to serve Mother as Hosts, they no longer need to carry the fungus in order to take part in the Hive Mind.

Clearstone may also be obtained from Mother IC, via RCS, or via a Clearstone character's Give Stone. Clearstone characters are always Ordered element. An Ordered character's Give Life will cause the target stone to become purer and more transparent, and to develop symmetrically on the resultant Ordered-element child.

The ooc sale of other spells prior to Restructuring is prohibited.

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SERVICE

Hive members will be compelled to behave in a certain manner. At first this is mere suggestion; by stage three, it is complete, near-automated, response based on both conditioning and direct influence. Good behavior is rewarded with floods of endorphins and other "feel-good" chemicals, resulting in the Gembound feeling loved, accepted, and important. Mother will also directly send mental gratitude, with words of thanks, once the link is strong enough. Bad behavior incites feelings of strong shame and guilt, along with, if the behavior is bad enough, extreme physical pain. Rewards and punishments are NOT shared among Hive members, but the individual Gembounds' reactions will be felt by all. Behaviors that may be expected of Hive members follow.

• Hive members are expected to be subtle and secretive. The Hive must, above all else, remain hidden.
• Members must help to convert, or kill, all non-Hive members over time. Origin Cave must be usurped completely.
• Lesser Gembound can be converted with samples of Mother's fungus. These are not usually controlled, nor do they really share in the Hive Mind itself; they serve, instead, as passive senses for Mother alone. It is difficult to tell infected Lessers from uninfected, making them optimal passive spies and fungal reservoirs.
• Members may protect, clean, and feed (bringing any organic matter to) the Hive nodes/nests. They may also create new ones. Any fungal sample planted in rich soil, and then protected and fed, may blossom into its own node, with Mother's shared sentience and the ability to strengthen the local Hive mind.

As a result, Hive characters might be specialists in whichever field their player wishes--in infiltrating and converting, in assassination, in hunting for and feeding the hive, protecting nodes, or infecting Lessers. Mother loves all of her children, after all.

MOTHER

THE URSA NODE

The Ursa hive can be visited here.

THE NEST.

Chipped and jagged ice tunnels wind throughout the mountain, maze-like. Every now and then Gembound will find crystalline 'statues' of other Gembound in these tunnels, faces often frozen in fear. The closer the tunnels are to a Node, the more perfectly symmetrical they are, irregularities chipped away and smoothed, holes carefully filled in. Deep beneath Ursa Major is the main Ursa node of Mother, though there are several small backup nests hidden throughout the mountain. The center nest is warmer: a large, pulsating mass of white fungus, what used to be a massive, fatty insectoid creature laying beneath at its center. She is the Mother, the Queen of this node. Strings of white mold stretch from her mold-covered body to every part of the ice cave--ceiling, walls, floor-and the sparkling cave around her is full of perfectly-symmetrical honeycomb holes, filled with larvae. She herself has a distorted, though again symmetrical, body.

CASTES.

The Hive is divided by caste: Cleaner (workers and foragers), Praetor (soldier) and Queen. All members share these features: they are white, gray and light blue in color; all are insectoid in nature, closest in appearance and behavior to massive ants; all host Mother fungus in one way or another; all share a white-bristled thorax, the abdomen a glassy exoskeleton webbed with white; all are capable of secreting a clear substance that hardens into an ice-like amber; all will attempt to "order" anything they find. Non-symmetrical Gembound may find workers attempting to remove the non-symmetrical body parts, which may prove fatal. Outright aggression or intrusion into the Hive will result in a mobilization of the workers and soldiers in its defense. All Hive creatures have eyes formed of symmetrical hexagonal "mesh," creating a highly reflective, almost crystalline surface. All caste members attempt to avoid detection, but once seen, Cleaners will often try to bring intruders to Praetors, and Praetors do not allow intruders, where possible, to escape (to prevent Mother's location from being reported back to enemies).

CLEANERS.

Cleaners are the worker caste. They tend Mother, keeping the nest clean, cleaning any debris from Mother-Queen, moving larvae to new honeycombs, and culling (eating) any larvae that hold imperfections. New Praetors and Cleaners, too, emerging from their pupal state in newly-uncapped (ice-amber sealed) cells are closely-examined by two or more adult workers, who will attempt to "make symmetrical" any imperfections--this may or may not kill the focus of their attention. These have six eyes in two groups of three, four antennae (as if to make the heads also symmetrical vertically), a pair of vertical and horizontal mandibles, and six legs. Work is done with the mandibles. Workers are uniformly four feet tall and seven feet long. An aggressive worker can be briefly distracted by throwing clusters of items before it: the worker will immediately stop to organize the items in an orderly fashion. Workers also roam the tunnels, rarely heading outside, to find plant matter and prey. Very rarely they can be found scouring the mountainside--where their pale tones blend with the snow outside. They bring food back to feed both larvae and Mother herself. Others work tending the tunnels, reshaping and digging to ensure a clear network of paths. Workers make up three-quarters of the hive, with a third of that tending Mother and the rest foraging or building. A Worker's bite is likely to infect its target with Mother's fungus.

PRAETORS.

Praetors are the soldier caste. They are larger than Cleaners, with enormous heads and scythe-like jaws, each standing six feet tall and double that in length. The tunnels are just large enough to allow them passage, and an angry or even a dead soldier is difficult to bypass within. Praetors stand symmetrical double-sentry outside each tunnel that leads to the nodes, inspecting those who approach and ensuring that they are touched with Mother's fungus. Praetors hold a venom in both their bite and sting that can crystallize the target, preventing the chrysalis from taking hold and turning the body into a permanent, ice-amber statue. They will often pick these dead statues up and move them farther from the node, so that they may be found throughout tunnels that lead deeper in. The soldiers cannot be easily distracted from defense, and they give off an acrid odor even from a distance that incites a feeling of danger in intruders, warning them not to approach. Survivors of a Praetor attack are likely to be infected with Mother's fungus. Soldiers make up about a quarter of the Hive's numbers.

THE QUEEN.

The Queen is Mother herself: the brood matron of the ant creatures wholly infused with white, mold-like fungus. If she is slain, another existing larvae can be raised to replace her by feeding it the white fungus. While the entirety of the Hive holds a hive-mind, Mother is the dominating force behind it. Her time is spent being fed and cleaned by workers while depositing white eggs that are raised into Hive larvae. In times of danger, Mother is capable of rapidly spawning large numbers of fast-growing Soldier eggs: these can reach maturity, if well-fed, in only a couple of days. In acute danger she will release slumbering super-Soldiers, who are larger, winged soldiers, along with a few small, winged backup Queens to attempt to establish emergency Nodes elsewhere.