Rot

**Rot** is the main antagonist of Louse. It is a giant mass of putrid flesh that has always existed. It spread underground for an unknown amount of time before breaking through the surface, in an attempt to turn the surface into its skin. It exists as a pseudo-hivemind, with several connected entities growing out of it. It has an adversarial relationship with the Blot.

## History

Rot claims to have always existed. It has multiple parts that it uses to control itself and regulate its spread, which include The Face of Rot, which greets the pilgrims that come visit it; The Brain of Rot, which dictates the rate at which Rot spreads; The Bones of Rot, which resides in the pit of bones that all who die to Rot are sent to while also protecting the Heart; and The Heart of Rot, which is responsible for Rot's spread. Turmoil was created as The Seed of Rot, and was rejected by Rot so that they would eventually escape it and begin the process of creating new growth; however, they were trapped in its tunnels as it spread, unable to escape and not knowing their purpose.

At some point in the past, Pilgrim Mite traveled to the mountain and visited the depths of Rot, before coming back up to the surface. They announced to the world that The Creator had abandoned them, and that they must forever toil upon the single gift he would bestow their ungrateful existence, as the voices of Rot below demanded.

After this announcement, pilgrims began to travel towards Rot as it grew steadily for years. Among these pilgrims were the Old Friend, who traveled to the mountain Rot resided within; however, he encountered the blot on the mountain, and chose to instead stay up on the mountain. After 10 years, a group of Pilgrims traveled with Null to reach the mountain. However, Null had stolen an extra vial, which was their society's most valued material; as a result, the other pilgrims confronted Null, resulting in Null slaughtering all three of them. They then continued on to Rot to meet with the Old Friend.

The night Null met the Old Friend on the mountain was the night before Rot would break on the surface. The Old Friend transferred the blot to Null and let them rest at their house. When they awoke, they bid farewell to the Old Friend and saw the opening of Rot on the surface, and entered the main mass as it began to take the Old Friend and his house. Knowing that Null wished to end it, The Face of Rot gave Null a gift, in an attempt to convert them over to its side; however, it failed after an intervention from the blot.

Multiple attempts were made to stop Null as they traveled through Rot, using The Love of Rot, The Eye of Rot, and The Sound of Rot in a desperate bid to stop them, before they ended up nullifying The Face and Eventually The Brain. After The Brain was nullified, Rot no longer had any central intelligence to control its spread, which caused it to begin to spread out of control; in order to combat this, Turmoil stepped into The Brain's old shell, and took control of Rot, so that Null could end The Heart and end Rot as a whole. Before The Brain was fully nullified, however, it said something to Turmoil; the Blot was able to hear that something was said, but was unable to hear what, exactly, was said. Null asked Turmoil what The Brain said, and they said that The Brain confirmed Turmoil's role within Rot as the Seed of Rot; however, they rejected this name, claiming that they are Turmoil, while asking Null to hurry and end the Heart.

As Null traversed the tunnels to reach The Heart, they heard The Spread of Rot behind them. Rather than choose to fight, they ran and fell into the pit of bones, which appeared to hold all of the bones from those Rot had killed. Inside was The Bones of Rot, who threatened to take their bones; it then removed Null's arm, requiring the blot to use itself as its arm. Null then eviscerated The Bones, and collapsed against the wall in exhaustion, where they saw The Skull of the Old Friend. It whispered to them to attempt to get them to pick it off of the wall. They did so, but The Skull retaliated by biting them, before revealing itself to have been controlled by Rot; as a result of the bite, rot began to spread up Null's arm. Turmoil chose to intervene at this point, telling Null that they could form a connection to their arm, which would allow them to control it. Null accepted.

After the connection was formed, Turmoil fully succumbed to the desire to spread, informing Null that they would continue to do so; Null let them, and Turmoil spread to take control of The Skull, killing it. At that point, Turmoil expressed that they wished to spread the new growth to replace the old flesh, and dug through the remains of The Bones to reveal The Heart of Rot. The Heart told Null that the life cycle begins once again, meaning they changed nothing; Null then stabbed The Heart, killing it, and beginning the decay of the old flesh. Turmoil then began to finish killing the old flesh as they revealed that Null was the new Seed of Rot, before opening a hole in the wall to let Null escape and plant themself elsewhere to spread new growth.

Null, however, chose not to, and instead ran back inside of rot to Turmoil. They slashed through the wall to The Brain's chamber despite Turmoil's wishes, where Turmoil realized they were going to nullify them. They then gave a sad smile as they explained that they fed on the remains of the pilgrims that Rot fed from, and explained that they finally understood their desire to escape as them wishing to spread Rot elsewhere. They then explained that they spread it to Null, and that no matter if they nullified Turmoil or not, they'd eventually give in to the call to restart Rot. Null chose to use the Blot arm to nullify Turmoil at that point, letting the Blot leap from them as it ended Turmoil.

As the Blot ended Turmoil, it awoke once more, and spread until it covered all of Rot. It informed Null that it would stay there until all of Rot dissolved, before looking at the new growth still present on Null's arm. It told them that although it had reached up to their head, it had not yet entered their brain, and that there was still a vial left. The Blot let Null know that it could nullify them itself, but that it would instead give them a choice, as they had proven themself to be its ally.

Null had proven their fury for Rot, and as such they could end Rot permanently by nullifying themself with their vial. Alternatively, they could leave the mountain, where they could attempt to survive; however, they would forever hear the call of Rot. The blot warned Null that if they ever succumbed, it would intervene. Given these two choices, Null chose to instead end Rot by nullifying themself, crushing the vial in their hand. The blot watched as it and Null's purpose was fulfilled with this final action, as the dormant Rot in Null crumbled to dust with them.

Rot has ended.