pixieled app (WARNING FOR ACT 3 SILKSONG SPOILERS)

[silksoul]

🦋 OOC Information

Name: Ruka
Contact: rukafais on plurk, or DM this journal
Age: 21+
Other Characters: Vivi Ornitier, V1
Invitation: i'm already here
Permissions: Here

🦋 IC Information

Character Name: Hornet
Age: Implied to be hundreds of years old.
Canon: Hollow Knight Silksong
Canon Point: Act 3 Ending
Character History: Link here
Canon Abilities:

Hornet is an accomplished combatant, survivalist and tracker.

Silk Generation:
Fine thread spun from the soul of its creator. Highly coveted for its remarkable strength and mystical properties. Used to heal wounds, extend life, and weave powerful runes.
Hornet gains Silk through wounding enemies, essentially converting their life force into thread. When enough Silk is gained, she can bind any injuries she has.
The more severe the injury, the more times she must Bind to fully cover it and pull her shell together. She will still be sore and suffer any other side-effects of an injury after binding. She can also Bind the injuries of others, with the same limitations.

Bind:
As well as binding her wounds, Hornet is able to use Silk to bind or restrain entities.

Crests

An expression of the soul and a bug's essential essence.
In game, Hornet's crests allow her to access different movesets and use different tool loadouts. Since this doesn't matter as much in RP, they're more like channeling the essence of different spirits to allow her different ways of moving through and perceiving the world.

She must rest between changing them to allow them to settle (can't quickly sit down and swap between them).

For every Crest except the Hunter's Crest, she needs to commune for several hours in order to mould her soul appropriately to fit. The ones not listed here are not available to her, though she can still 'feel' them in her soul, as they are part of her.

Crests

Hunter Crest (fully evolved)
Stalk prey and attack with lethal strikes. Build focus with successive strikes.
Hornet's defining crest. She gains momentum as she attacks repeatedly, strengthening her strikes the more she attacks without getting hit in return. Sharp, lethal and precise blows, just as she's been trained.

Beast Crest
Tear foes with savage slashes. Bind to enter a wild fury and steal life from prey.
A crest that evokes the essence of bestial creatures. Hornet uses her needle to tear brutal injuries into foes, then uses Silk to enter a temporary frenzy and rip essence from those wounds. She growls when talking and often displays a more aggressive temper under the influence of this crest.

Shaman Crest
Cast the blade forward to empower Silk Skills with powerful runes.
A crest for magical ability. Hornet uses her needle to conduct waves of magical energy that she sends at enemies and her Silk Skills become more powerful, explosive, and damaging.
Has a slight tendency to be more philosophical when under the influence of this crest.

Witch Crest
Whip the needle in sweeping swings. Leech the life of foes through twisted roots.
A long-range crest that turns Hornet's needle into a sharp whip that can leech life from foes. Protective tendrils make her more agile in the air while attacking, allowing her to bend in temporarily impossible ways to avoid danger.
Has a slight tendency to lose track of time when under the influence of this crest.

Silk Skills

Combat powers that use the silk she produces. Any anti-magic/magic resistant effects will make these powers less effective or simply consume the Silk used entirely to no effect depending on their strength relative to hers.

Silkspear - A spear shaped out of pure silk that can pierce through multiple targets. When thrown it goes in a straight line before dispersing.

Thread Storm - A damaging explosion of thread in a large sphere around her.

Cross Stitch - Hornet wraps silk around her needle and adopts a parry stance. When an attack meets the needle, she delivers several Silk-enhanced blows in rapid succession.

Sharpdart - Weaponized dash. Hornet wraps herself in Silk and torpedos forward like a missile, damaging anything in her way.

Rune Rage - Indiscriminate wall of spherical explosions in a medium-sized area around her.

Pale Nails - Creates three projectiles made out of Silk that seek any targets with intent to harm. They hover at her shoulder when summoned and will not disperse until they've been used or until destroyed.

Ancestral Arts

Techniques learned from ancient weavers. Hornet can use sudden bursts of speed to run or dodge, she can cling to solid surfaces, and use her needle as a grappling hook to pull herself to ceilings/walls/targets she hits.

Needolin
Hornet uses a string made from her own power and her needle as a conduit to play simple tunes. She can put power into the song to compel people around her to sing along, revealing some of their current innermost thoughts to her. The Needolin can also reveal left-behind echoes of a person's presence.

She knows two songs currently, with the most relevant one being Elegy of the Deep, which is able to unlock deeper memories within a place or person and allow her to walk within them.

All Needolin interactions that affect the environment or other players will always be an opt-in; I will always ask permission before having her try to use this!

Sylphsong
A passive effect; every time she sits and rests somewhere for an extended period of time, soft singing can be heard and a white halo appears above her. This has a regenerating effect on her power, though it does not heal her or do anything else to her body otherwise.

Inventory:

Red Tools
NOTE: For both the mods' sanity and my own, Hornet retains the recipes of all her traps, but arrives with only the ones stated below. She can remake others with the proper resources. She can pick up/rebundle/repair traps to use them again to take advantage of her limited supply.

Red Tool List

- Sting Shard x12
Lethal trap formed of tightly bound blades.
Once placed, the trap will pierce enemies that come into contact.

- Throwing Ring x20
Hardened throwing weapon of the warrior Shakra.
Blunt force weapon that rebounds between enemies and hard surfaces.

- Silkshot (16 shots loaded)
Ancient weapon of the Weavers, repaired to its original form.
Uses shell canisters and the wielder's own Silk to fire.
Hornet can carve the canisters herself out of shell shards or other appropriately chitinous material.

- Rosary Cannon (unloaded)
Repurposed mechanism from the base of a rosary stringing machine.
Rosaries must be inserted to reload the cannon.
Can use rosaries or any spherical projectiles of equivalent size, though due to the general smoothness of rosaries, additional ammo must be sanded down and polished to stop clogging.

- Delver's Drill
Rotary tool used for boring into bone and rock.
Drives the wielder downwards, while spinning the drill with destructive force.

- Cogwork Wheel x10
Expanding circular blade powered by a cogwork motor.
Propels forward, slicing through foes.

- Cogfly x1
Winged cogwork companion that will seek nearby foes and attack.
Can be tuned by Hornet to designate enemies.

- Flintslate x1
Sharpening slate made from cut and polished Flintgem.
Temporarily super-heats the needle's blade, imbuing each slash with flame and increasing lethality.
Can be used on any bladed weapon that can withstand the heat.

- Plasmium Phial (20 shots)
Spear-phial containing Plasmium.
Injecting the liquid allows one to gain health beyond their natural limits.
Designed for people with exoskeletons. Characters with unconventional body setups/scales/etc can use the phial as intended.
Not recommended for squishy people, as injection will be painful, deep, and likely miss the bloodstream.

Voltvessels x1
Convertible orbs containing electricity.
The vessels can be thrown as a bola for an explosive discharge or staked as a spear to release a column of energy.

Recipes for, but doesn't have on her:

Pimpillo - Fabric pouch filled with volatile material. Explodes on impact with enemies or when ignited by its fuse. A bomb made of sewn fabric to keep its shape.

Conchcutter - Spiral weapon fashioned from a hardened conchspire. Thrown at an angle, it can ricochet and catch prey off-guard. Sharp projectile that launches at an angle and maintains momentum as it bounces off solid surfaces.

Curvesickle - Radial sharpbone used by skilled hunters to take down dangerous prey. A long-range boomerang-like weapon that is balanced to come back to the user.
Longpin - Weighted pin and haft, formed to pierce tough shells. A throwing spear intended to impale targets.

Tacks - Short pins designed to be scattered along the ground. The sharp points will pierce any enemy who steps upon them. Floor spikes, similar in principle to caltrops.

Straight Pin - Light throwing tool, designed for rapid attacks. Sharp throwing knife.

Threefold Pin - Flat, layered weapon, crafted to be thrown in a set. Sets of three knives, bundled together.

Blue and Yellow Tools

Blue and Yellow Tool List

Blue Tools
Pollip Pouch - Pouch containing a fast-acting venom drawn from a flower's heart.
Applies venom to equipped tools.
Venom that slowly oozes from a flower inside the pouch, regenerating the supply over time. To apply venom, an even coating across the entire surface of a weapon or tool's edge must be used.

Sawtooth Circlet - Flexible belt of serrated metal teeth, able to be affixed to the hem of a cloak.
Flaring the cloak will spin the blades, damaging surrounding enemies.
A sharp belt that weaponizes the natural movement of a cloak. Small clips allow it to be firmly affixed to cloth.

Injector Band - Brace of surgical pins from the Whiteward. Used to forcefully insert Silk deep inside a bug's shell.
Increases the speed of binding.
Sharp injectors that Hornet can use to speed up her own healing in a pinch. She can also use them on others who are appropriately durable to insert her own Silk into severe injuries.
The pins are extremely sharp and were designed to insert deeply into an exoskeleton, so care is required when working with the wounds of squishier people.

Reserve Bind - Ornate artefact of the Citadel, able to hold a Bind's worth of Silk. Used when healing is needed and one's natural resources run low.
The Reserve Bind will be restored when resting at a bench.
A device that can be fitted on an arm, leg or held in a holster, so long as it touches the body and can draw power from it. In an emergency, the bind can be consciously drained to provide healing for one severe injury.
It automatically stores the same amount of power when the user is sleeping or resting.

Claw Mirrors - Twin theatrical tools of a vainglorious bug.
When binding, emits a searing blast that damages surrounding enemies.
Feeding power into the twin mirrors causes a damaging explosion of light that does not harm the user (but may still be blinding).

Quick Sling - Taut-drawing mechanism built from reed and bone, intended for mounting on the limb of a bug.
Doubles the number of tools thrown.
An arm-mounted sling that can throw projectiles. No special abilities required to use it.

Wispfire Lantern - Broken iron lantern containing smouldering wispfire.
Wisps will spawn from the lantern and burn foes, at the cost of Silk.
The lantern is normally inactive. Hornet must ignite it with a taper made of silk for it to work correctly; it burns out without a constant supply of silk and goes back to being inert otherwise.

Magma Bell - Forged iron bell, crafted to ward against the intense heat of the Deep Docks.
Reduces the damage taken from flame and magma.
A temporary protection against fire and overwhelming heat. The ward it creates is consumed upon exposure to extreme heat (fireballs, lava, etc), lessening the severity of the damage before shattering. It recharges fairly quickly.

Yellow Tools
Magnetite Dice - Playthings carved from magnetic material.
Used in simple games and believed to bring luck to the bearer.
Ordinary set of dice. The magnetite inside isn't strong enough to attract anything else to it.

Scuttlebrace - Artificial spine that clasps tight around the shell.
Enhances the wearer's innate flexibility, allowing rapid retreat.
Device worn around the torso that lets Hornet drop to all fours and scuttle while upright.

Spider Strings - Sophisticated Weaver device. Resonates with music played to amplify and enhance a performance.
Expands and strengthens the effects of the Needolin.
A device that amplifies the range of Hornet's Needolin playing, allowing her to be heard over further distances.

Ascendant's Grip - Gilded piton that allows one to hold in place while on a wall.
Climbing pitons that stab into solid surfaces, letting Hornet cling in place. Comes in a set of four.

Silkspeed Anklets Experimental anklets of Weaver make.
Draws upon the wearer's own Silk to increase sprinting speed.
Devices worn around the ankles that allow Hornet to go faster by using Silk.

Palesteel Needle
Long sewing tool, uniquely balanced for combat. The Hivesteel blade has been sharpened to its ultimate form.

Faydown Cloak
Protective garb lined with the soft down of a Fayforn and sewn through with flexible spines.
Allows Hornet to use her cloak to catch the wind like an umbrella and slow her fall, as well as protecting her against extreme freezing temperatures.

Rosary necklace x1
Adornmnent strung with a large quantity of rosaries. Can be broken and the rosaries used to trade.

Contains 120 rosaries.

One bundle of shards.
Small bundle of shell shards tied together with string. Can be broken to use the shards for crafting.

Pristine Core (Twelfth Architect's)
Intricate internal mechanism of a cogwork bug. Can be broken into individual shell shards for use in crafting.

Hornet Statuette
Small sculpture, inexpertly but painstakingly crafted as a symbol of enduring friendship.

Horrible Lifeblood Plasmium organ
Pulsating organ grown within the shell of Alchemist Zylotol. The gland replenishes over time, providing a near limitless source of Plasmium.

Completed map of Pharloom + Quill
Map of Pharloom and a quill for recording one's travels. When resting at a bench or elsewhere, the map will be updated with newly discovered areas.

Tool Pouch + Crafting Kit
A pouch for holding traps and tools, and fine crafting implements to increase their lethality.

Hero's Memento
Heirloom of a village lost to Pharloom's Haunting.

🦋 Personality

1. Has your character always believed in magic? Do they have something influencing their perspective on the supernatural/metaphysical/spiritual from their past? How do they feel about magic?

Hornet has no need to believe, as such, when magic is so deeply a part of her identity, her heritage, and the reasons for her birth; belief implies that there is anything to doubt, and Hornet has no doubt that the powers she can wield, and has seen in others, are real for both good and ill use. While she is not the most supernaturally and magically inclined of her family - her half-siblings, the vessels, are even more steeped in magical power than she is - she feels no desire to accumulate more of it, unless it becomes useful to her situation.

To Hornet, magic is a tool that requires much skill, and what comes of it depends on both the power and the nature of its wielder. Having seen the wonders and horrors created by her godly parent, her mother's family, and the god they imprisoned - and more recently, having seen the beautiful and horrifyingly cruel result of a god who strung all her worshippers to serve an empire in perpetuity - she remains wary about both her own potential and the potential of all those who wield significant magical power. To rule it and not be ruled by it, to not succumb to the seductive idea of innate magical power making you 'better' and not simply 'other', that is the ideal Hornet strives to live by and wishes to see in the world.

Though it's often commented that she lowers herself or it's 'against her nature' to help those lower-caste than her, she refuses to take the paths laid out by those connected to either half of her heritage. Instead, she looks for a third path, one where she can be truly herself, and is free to do as she pleases without imposing on the freedom of others.


2. What mythological creature would your character most like to be? Which do they identify with? Which would they dread being? Feel free to use our Bestiary for reference.


Hornet prefers herself the most, but if she had to choose, the idea of being able to be 'fully' a spider appeals to her, though she wouldn't know what to do with a human form, given humans don't exist in her world. Anything that has 'inbuilt weaponry' or wings, especially if they can fly, is also a choice she'd consider deeply; beasts like the raicho, the different varieties of dragon, and afrits would be ideal at least in ability, though she might be hesitant about the form - being big and bulky isn't particularly appealing to her.

She identifies with the beasts the most, as she was raised among beasts herself, with her mother ruling over them. In their myriad natures, she would simply judge them as either a fellow hunter, a simple wanderer, or a creature just striving to live, depending on their sapience, and find quiet contentment in observing them living their lives. Perhaps hunting them and making notes about them, if she felt the need.

Of those she wishes not to be like at all, she detests those sapient fae who are deliberately cruel to their chosen prey like nymphs and nalet, and pities those compelled to serve or chained to one purpose - even if a benevolent one. Domovoi, nagual, valkyries, and all their kindred - to her, all are equally burdened by their role in life, even if they find joy and purpose in it. To be free to choose your own way is the dearest of her desires.


3. If there's one person your character would follow to another realm, who would it be and why? If there's no one, state that and explain why.


Hornet is no stranger to impermanence in bonds, having outlived several undefined romantic relationships in the past due to her lifespan. Guardian of a dead kingdom stuck in stasis, she saw the only home and nearly all her significant parental figures and families pass out of her life; when she forged a bond with one of her half-siblings, that half-sibling, the one she called a ghost, left her as well - seemingly permanently - in freeing her from her duties to that kingdom.

As she explored Pharloom, she also forged new relationships with mortals - each bright and precious to her, something to be cherished and protected and held close for the warmth that she'd almost forgotten. But the unfulfilled thread that haunts her still is also her silent answer to this question; the half-sibling who left her behind, the savior of Hallownest and breaker of her chains. Though she understands now that they are not truly gone forever, she would still wish to follow it in order to make up for having so little time together.

Much of her time with it was spent testing it, deliberately distancing herself or holding herself apart from it, so as to not expose herself to further heartbreak and vulnerability. Their time together was fleeting, though they grew close, and she simply wishes for more of it - more time to spend simply as family, rather than burdened by a necessary and painful duty.


4. What is your character's most outstanding personality trait, and why?

Once Hornet decides on what she must do, she simply goes ahead and does it. She takes time to weigh the potential consequences - this trait is decisiveness, not recklessness - but where others may be bogged down by adherence to duty, law, cowardice or hesitation, Hornet will simply make a choice and commit to it as best she can. While she often says that she doesn't desire to risk her life, she seems to consider it a worthy price to pay, if she must - the idea of death does not cause her resolve to waver.

What makes this outstanding is her resolve and her desire to see things through to the end; her responsibility does not end with the decision, but also its outcome, no matter the cost to herself or what she must do to make things right. If the consequences ripple outwards and affect more than just her, then those problems caused are also hers to fix, and she will not back away from them. Part of this is simply her own sense of fairness, but it is, perhaps, also a desire to not repeat the same mistakes of her father, who was unable to face his mistakes.



🦋 Fae Court


List your top three choices for your characters adoptive court. The mods will choose the one out of those three options that seems the most fitting based on your app.

Autumn Court, Dusk Court, Summer Court (?)

I'm gonna be real Hornet can go wherever to balance the teams and whatnot, as you like, especially since I have two characters in game already.

Ability: Do you want your character to gain the ability of their court? (Delete the other two options.)
1) No, they will retain their canon abilities.



🦋 RP Samples


Toplevel!