Plot

> "*Beyond the grip of the familiar,
> A threshold demands to be crossed.
> The Mortal Shells yearn for meaning,
> Awaiting a glimpse of their true purpose...*"
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## Known History of the World

Mortal Shell is set in a medieval fantasy world principally within a region known as *Fallgrim*, an ever decaying, destitute region of the planet known by the many kingdoms and realms which inhabit the world for it's horrors, twisted environment, and mysteries. That being said there are other regions in the world like the Empire that Solomon is described as being from or *Muraden* conversely known for industry and craft making but not visited by the player in game implying a larger world exists outside of Fallgrim where the game is almost entirely set. Below we first brooch what is known about the planet at large:

**Vatra** is the goddess of the planet, she is represented by all forms of nature principally worms, fish and water she is revered throughout the world; At times however Vatra would 'birth' beings known as **Unborn** twisted, horrific, and generally unsetting beings in appearance. Each had a heart like organ called a **Gland** that, by it's nature, is considered divine**.** These 'glands' contain True Nektar from which Tar could be extracted and used in various forms like Nascent Tar and Bag of Tar or for rituals all conducted in the hopes of one achieving salvation, becoming closer to divine-status, and therefore **Ascended**. Because of their critical religious purposes Unborn would be called **Revered**; The world uses this Tar as an item of commerce and trade as, even in its dirtiest forms, it remains a potent gateway into the divine granting the user a multitude of effects and abilities with use, It is worth noting that sometime before the game these Unborn would manifest from so called 'Stonebirth' where the Molten Spike would find its purpose and the Hollowed Sword often found its use in the extraction of Unborn by **Servants of Vatra** and thus Glands from unfortunate human, animal, and unborn victims. Vatra did this with the express desire of creating a new god via the consumption of True Nektar but this process only created strife as warriors, like Eredrim comment on in recollection:

*"I do not deserve absolution, yet still I seek it. Our venerable order has slaughtered hundreds... and for what? So, the magistrate could redraw the borders of our realm? Claim victory over an ill-equipped enemy... over children who can barely raise their swords?"*

Fallgrim is then a region where the use of Nektar has been particularly frequent, it is known for being a largely forested region which has never had more than a small kingdom within it that collapsed long ago before the start of the game left unclaimed by surrounding kingdoms simply because of it's danger and strange nature; the unmapped land was either completely untouched by civilization, consumed by mists crawling with Nocteserpers and Grishas inside, or a state of constant anarchy with residents largely being Brigands, and the discarded wretched of the world. As Tiel, one such ruffian described:

*"Within the wilds, we forgot our teachings and fell in with brigands. They mixed droplets of Tar with muddy spirits and made no promises of salvation. We drank heartily, stumbling from one camp to the next. We rutted like joyous animals in the filth."*

At some point in all of this Vatra would decide to create **Seedlings** that contained the fetuses of Unborn rather than manifest them randomly in the mortal world as was the case previously, these Seeds would fall from Vatra's realm and into the Human world from which we can begin to talk about the background of the story and plot that Mortal Shell entails

## Prologue: Hadern's Discovery

Hadern was, before anything, a loyal warrior and Servant of Vatra travelling the lands when he came across such Seedlings; his Shell lore reads as follows:

*"I found the seedlings wriggling in the earth. In my palm, they writhed helplessly. Their hide mottled and dried like dead leaves before falling away. These creatures grew soft and flesh-like, wrinkled like my own hands. They blossomed into something strange yet familiar".*

Hadern was able to see the potential of the creatures(due to his status as a Servant.) He considered them divine beings worthy of protection from the masses, Hadern believed:

"*Surely, such creatures have been sent to us for some greater purpose? Their sacred bodies adapt to our world with startling speed. And somehow, I feel I have changed, too. Yet I see terror in the eyes of my kin. They do not understand this blessed harmony. They only understand subjugation and slavery."*

he therefore set out to Fallgrim in hopes of the Seedlings remaining largely unknown to the world and abandoned his home. Yet in his travels to Fallgrim he would employ three people: Imrod, The Smith, Crucix, The Architect, and Tarsus, The Martyr additionally he would meet two men: Solomon and his Brother who had ambitions of synthesizing True Nektar from Tar thus removing the need to harvest Glands from Unborn altogether; This group would attempt to found a religious enclave in Fallgrim.

Solomon once spoke with his brother outlining their motives at the time: *"Vision is a burden, my dear brother. I do not blame you for leaving this empire of sycophants and charlatans behind. I fear our knowledge is only a privilege afforded by our silence. Each discovery only provides our masters with more chains."*

## The Seedlings Grow

Hadern's group would recruit and befriend many of the Brigand groups in Fallgrim, they would erect several structures in the region like Fallgrim Tower, and more people came from all over to settle and help in this ostensibly religious endeavor guided by Hadern and Solomon but as the Seedlings finally grew past infancy, Hadern found himself deeply disturbed with their existence:

*"They keep growing, these seedlings. These larva--there is no name for such aberrations. I caged them, but these cruel bars only encouraged them to grow hard, cavernous. They broke through their bonds. From their nebulous forms, limbs, even faces emerged, their eyes pleading."*

They grew to be downright horrifying, disgusting, and revulsive creatures that people worshipped regardless in an attempt to grasp their power regardless of the cost. With these new revelations Hadern’s motivations changed; he started viewing the Seedlings and Unborn alike as abominations, aberrations, and he now sought to keep them imprisoned away from humanity altogether.

*"It's gibberish, familiar signs and symbols etched by a human hand, in my own tongue. Yet, they're arranged without any discernible logic. The letters spiral in concentric circles, interspersed with figures that resemble mathematical formulae. It means nothing, I'm certain, but I can't look away." - Accretion of Inheritance (Solomon)*

Meanwhile after much effort and research, Solomon somehow succeeded in creating a method for turning Tar into True Nektar. Solomon's obsession proved his downfall:

*"I stood before you dear brother, watching in horror as your lips parted for that poisoned chalice. I followed a path once tread by those who would become Sesters and Brethers, watching the past and present converge. You did not know I was there. I looked on from another place, waiting to be born."*

There were hints before this incident that Solomon's followers wished to drink Nektar such as Crucix who did so during large gatherings, as were there hints of what abuse of Nektar entailed like Tiel's divine illness or Sester Genessa's fate:

*"We stole from those thieves. There was never enough Tar to go around. It was wasted on them anyways. We knew what it was, it's full potential. Why dilute it? But we were punished all the same. In time, my ruined face peeled away. Her form faded into something like fog, something trapped between realms." - Accretion of Dominance (Tiel)*

Solomon ignored these warnings and spread the method for sythesis, with this choice all his followers began ceaselessly synthesizing True Nektar and obsessively drinking. His brother and the three people who had originally been assisting Hadern (Imrod, Tarsus, and Crucix) all overdosed on True Nektar. They became utterly mad, made and consumed so much True Nektar that it essentially warped Fallgrim into a distorted nightmare, and they ended up mutating into pseudo-unborn, who then became worshiped by their respective servants as **Revered** besides Solomon's brother who was imprisoned before he could gain a following.

## The Enclave Fractures

By that point, Vatra had been pretty much tossed aside. The three factions in Fallgrim now focused on themselves and their transformed leaders, these factions hence referred to as the “False Truths” with followers known as the "Devout". The only people who stayed loyal to the original enclave were Hadern, Solomon, and a small cell of Vatra worshipers (which included Harros, Tiel, and Eredrim) together they agreed to create a contingency plan to make up for the chaos unfolding before them by turning the Devout against each other and attacking them in the midst of the confusion.

*"When the orders came, I felt pride swell in my chest. Despite my longings, I knew we were superior to these wretched creatures. These swine rutted within cramped, filthy temples. None were more misguided than these madmen, decorated with bones and mud" - Recollection of Death (Harros)*

The worshipers were tucked in a little ravine, meanwhile Solomon and Hadern remained in Fallgrim Tower. A giant unborn that the Vatra worshipers had been caring for gave birth. It had twins which Harros extracted: the Twin-Sister, and the Foundling. They were immediately brought to the tower for Hadern and Solomon to inspect. Twin-Sister was deemed malformed, and Hadern declared her a hopeless case. Solomon, however, decided to care for her, having hope. As for the Foundling, they were born but not fully grown, so they slept. Hadern outlined the meeting:

*"It is as I feared. Solomon is lost. His eyes keep straying to her, the malformed one. He gazes upon her with the madness of hope. I can already see his effects on her. These creatures are in their own fashion helpless. Our instincts, our memories, even our very forms--become theirs in time. Yet they shape us, too--in a cycle forever renewed."*

Hadern was much keener on the Foundling, acting like a father, constantly watching over. But a major split was about to happen; whereas Solomon was hopeful, and thought everyone in Fallgrim could be redeemed, Hadern believed it was too late and that Fallgrim was damned. Hadern at this point was also haunted by nightmares:

*"I saw him again. The dreamer--he found me in the murky shallows--but this time... it was different. He tore open my skin. Wore my flesh like a suit of mail. When I awoke, he slept--as he always did--beneath his sister. But I could feel something inside me changed. I can't explain it but... I... I must leave."* - *Recollection of Death (Hadern)*

This disagreement escalated into a heated argument, after which Hadern left the tower for good, taking the Foundling with him (and remaining Seedlings). Soon afterwards Solomon is killed, as is Hadern and most of the remaining followers. The Twin-Sister was left in the tower as was the Old Prisoner, while the Foundling, awakens deep in the earth, below the remains of their mother. We then get to the opening of the actual game.

## The Plot

* MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD \*

"*The divine is not ours to extract and consume. I tried to warn the others, but their bodies and minds had already been twisted by this blasphemous act. Even the Revered reflect their madness, their hate. They are lost. They drink deeply and forget their names, their purpose, replacing their beliefs with falsehoods. There is only you, unborn. Prepare. For I shall test you." - Recollection of Strength (Hadern)*

Hadern mentors the player from within a unique plane of existence (created and ruled by Vatra), they awaken, discover themselves able to inhabit dead bodies when they discover Harros' corpse, meet with the remains of the Vatra Followers(Sester Genessa, Vlas, Thestus), and are tasked by the Old Prisoner to gather the three glands of the Revered. The Foundling does this under the belief they will gain meaning. However when the Foundling stumbles upon the prisoner they're literally a clueless newborn so in reality the prisoner manipulates and tricks them into doing the dirty work of ascending him, which, ironically, is exactly what the Foundling was born to do; kill the three cult leaders, as well as the Dark Father in one fell sweep.

The Dark Father, also known as Old Prisoner and Solomon's Brother grotesquely mutated by deliberate and excessive Nektar use, cannot ascend because regardless of how much True Nektar one consumes they can’t become a god if Vatra doesn’t will it so. In addition, he turned into an artificial Unborn through the consumption of nektar, he wasn’t made that way by Vatra herself as she desired. This is also why the Revered cult leaders, despite all efforts, never managed to ascend either. Instead it is discovered that the Foundling (or their Sister) is Vatra's desired heir for ascension setting the stage for the Foundling's fight against The Dark Father.

So with him and the other Revered dead, Fallgrim is cleaned rid of the unborn besides Foundling and Twin-Sister preventing the spread of their corruption outside of Fallgrim. Following Solomon’s original idea, Foundling gathers the Seedlings that Hadern left and, in the end, makes their ascend, for real.

She, Twin-Sister, can watch over the next Seedlings and unborn to be, Vatra's will realized.