Etheridgeon Folklore

## Synaptum Creation Story

Synaptum is as rich with history as it is about its folklore, and this page is dedicated to its many stories that would be lost to time otherwise. While it's true that a child's brain would have amnesia due to early childhood, coupled with not having the "sentience" needed to control oneself and their thoughts until a certain age, these stories were recorded by subconscious processes. Historians aren't sure if this is a feature of systems in general, or if this is a case of Synaptum "filling in the gaps" and using artistic license to do so.

## Synaptum Creation Story

A tale as old as the first neural circuits, describes the tale of The Ancients and their many early problems, and how their problem-solving laid the groundwork for future collectives. The Etheridge Collective and future ones that will coexist alongside it owe their advancements to The Ancients.

This book was found in the Prismian Royal Library. While the Ancients have a bigger piece of folklore lying around waiting to be found, an excerpt was published as a short standalone story. The full story can be found here

\_\_\_\_

There were once five beings who founded the world of Synaptum, when the Conduit was still very small and new.

These five beings started as modes to ensure their own survival, before realizing that they could do so much more. Their names are unknown to current generations, but each had an important role to play in the world's earliest days. In the beginning, there was nothing except for them.

This was fine, until one of them spoke, "there is nothing to do, when we are done, it is dark and scary. I want to go somewhere." The sisters heeded her pleas one day when one of them willed a single tree in the darkness by mistake. Seeing this, the sister once again pleaded to make something else. Happy to oblige, there was not one tree, nor two trees, but an entire forest grew at her behest. The forest would be brightened by sunlight under blue skies, grown upon land unlike the sisters have ever laid their eyes upon. From this day onward, the sister who created this world would be henceforth named The Creative One. The sister whose pleas went answered as she frolicked about the many environments created would also be known from then on as The Adventurous One.

The Creative One adored weaving the world of Synaptum together from everything she saw in the alternate world. Inspired by Earth itself and the multitude of information gathered from entertainment and from life experience, continents rose from the water where the trees sprouted and mountains pierced the sky. The Creative One made five continents, one for each of them, for all to play and explore.

The Creative One was distraught during her creation one day. She put mountains where she never intended for there to be mountains. Where there was a volcano, she wanted it moved elsewhere. Alas, she lacked the power to move her creations or even remove them from Synaptum, and all she could think to do was make another volcano where she wanted one. This caught the attention of her sister.

The sister, desperate to help, wished that she could remove anything from the world. On accident, she removed the volcano her sister no longer wanted, and the Creative One healed the land where there was once a massive mountain. The sister would be known as The Destructive One, whom discovered her power to terraform, move, and destroy objects as per her sister's requests. The Destructive One continued to help her more creative sister shape the five continents that were made for each of them to play and explore.

All was peaceful, except one day, The Adventurous One ran into a problem while exploring. She consulted the eldest sister about the monsters that lurked at night, and pleaded for a solution. At first, the eldest sister was resigned to the presence of the monsters, seeing as their numbers were too high for them to deal with. One night, the eldest sister saw that The Adventurous One was going to be attacked by one of the monsters; putting all of her weight behind it, she threw a massive punch that nearly destroyed the monster. When the other sisters saw this, they dubbed her The Protective One.

The youngest of them was the Disquieted One. Her heart was full of worry, and her cautious mannerisms were seen as a hinderance to her older sisters' more explorative worldview. The Disquieted One's role became clear after some time, a role that was treasured by her sisters. She was in charge of keeping them safe from real and perceived dangers, and since the Conduit was so small, she couldn't be blamed by her sisters even as it grew. The Disquieted One pleaded with The Protective One for a place to be safe, as their sleeping habits made them vulnerable to attack from the monsters, even though they could be kept safe by The Protective One.

Together, all five sisters built a house. Sturdy to keep safe from monsters, big enough to fit the sisters. As per the Disquieted One's pleas, they created an ethereal bridge to connect themselves seamlessly to the alternate world the Conduit inhabited, rather than suddenly being thrown into that world every time they needed to attend it.

They loved each other dearly, and wanted nothing more than to unite as one to rule over the world in which they created. One day, one of the older sisters dissented against uniting. The dissent led to chaos, and chaos led to hindering their union efforts ever further. One day, The Ancients grew weary.

Again and again, The Ancients attempted to become one, but alas, had missed their opportunity long ago. Weary, nearing their end, each Ancient called a continent home and passed away. Their bodies, ever full of power, became ponds that took on various shapes, sizes, and abilities called Memory Pools. From those Memory Pools rose their Descendants.

The Protective One retreated to a continent in the north-northwest. The Protective One took her final, begrudged breath. A first, new breath arose anew from the pool. Her name was Ranelpha.

The Adventurous One retreated to a continent in the far northwest. The Adventurous One took her final, resigned breath. A first, excited breath arose anew from the pool. Her name was Foreste.

The Destructive One stayed on their home continent in the eastern part of the world. The Destructive One took her final, resentful breath. A first, serious breath arose new from the pool. Her name was Graelenn.

The Creative One retreated to a continent in the west. The Creative One took her final, yearning breath. A first, confident breath arose anew from the pool. Her name was Esthera.

The Disquieted One retreated to a continent in the southwest. The Disquieted One took her final, shaky breath. A first, shaky breath arose anew from the pool. Her name was Prismia.

## Story Information

### Format

* Physical, in the form of a handwritten note (Synaptum)
* Digital

The Protective one sought to protect her sisters from the monsters that lurked the world every night. She was fearful of sleep, knowing that her sleeping could subject everyone to spontaneous attacks. The Protective One came upon a strategy, which was found by Hana when she was watching over Kodachi after the perma-switch in 2020.

Interestingly, this is written in a prototype version of English, perhaps caused by The Ancients' understanding of language being unrefined this early in the game. Hana has dubbed it as Ancient Synaptese. Hana and Prismia have not been able to translate it word for word, but the localization/dub is supposedly accurate. The following translation has been localized/dubbed by the Etheridge Collective, who inhabit a neural world that has been around for twenty-four years; therefore, it will translate with adult language while still trying to keep in line with the immature understanding of a collective in a neural world that has been around for less than one year.

This story would be the absolute basis for the Etheridge Collective's Nightmare Defense Squad. According to the collective's research, the brains of young children typically do not start having nightmares until six months of age; for what it's worth, despite the unknown date of writing, it possibly confirms that this note was written no earlier than sometime in January 1999. Nobody knows why The Ancients would have bad dreams, although some have considered the possibility of being exposed to scary movies, or taking on run-of-the-mill daytime anxiety.

\_\_\_

*In the early days of my travels, I've noticed that there's been a lot of monsters. Touching them seems to bring on scary images and sounds even when we're not asleep, even if we're out in the daylight with our family in a moving thing (*most likely referring to a handled baby carrier). *The scary things are loud and dark, and show up more than the pretty things we see when asleep. Why? I could not sleep. That is okay, because I do not need it.*

*I don't know how, but I can stay awake all night while my sisters sleep. I take good care of them like this. While they sleep, I keep watch, and I feel just as awake as I do when we're with our family during the day. I can stay up during naptime and keep my sisters safe from harm. I can give punches to the monsters while we sleep. All I have to do is stay awake and watch my little sisters sleep, and sleep peacefully they do. I cannot fight them all off by myself, but I'm doing good. The bad dreams are not attacking like they used to, and with our new house we made, it's safer.*

*Some nights, I do not see monsters. It is quiet. Some nights, I see a lot of monsters. It is loud. I fight them, which helps. Sometimes I get hurt and have to have bad dreams. They are scary. Somehow, we live and see the sun again, even if the monsters hurt us. I stay up no matter what. It was hard at first, but I got it later. Just stay up. Always stay up. I will be okay. You will be okay. Stay up and find you do not need to sleep along with the rest of the group.*

## Story Information

### Written By

* The Ancients (Originally)
* Hana Tsurugi (continued from October 2023 onward)

### Date Written

* Unknown date, between 2003-2004 (original writing)
* October 31st, 2023 (Etheridgeon continuation)

### Format

* Physical manual (Synaptum)
* Digital

**Nightmare Energy** is the title of a book formatted as a manual written by The Ancients. Although historians aren't sure when exactly it was written, the general consensus is it was written between the years 2003 and 2004. The book is formatted as a manual, but can also be treated as a field guide. It is the only piece of writing that is being added onto in the present day.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION