The Children of the Sludge

Purity is a form of starvation. We feast on the forgotten.

Core Concept

The Mire-Born are not merely inhabitants of The Mire; they are its children, its native fauna. They are a species of amorphous, semi-sentient beings who have evolved to metabolize the very substance of the swamp: the chaotic, conflicting Eidos and the bio-mechanical sludge of forgotten stories. They do not just endure the [Miasma]; they breathe it. To them, the corruption is not a curse; it is the very air and water of life.

Physiology & Biology

• Core Morphology: [Amorphous]. A Mire-Born in its resting state is a puddle of shimmering, multi-hued sludge, a chaotic blend of organic and inorganic compounds.
• The Miasma Metabolism: Their unique biology allows them to absorb and process the [Miasma] that is toxic to almost all other life. This is not just a resistance; it is their primary form of sustenance. A “clean” environment with no eidetic pollution is, to them, a sterile desert.
• Temporary Adaptation: They have no fixed form. A Mire-Born can temporarily mimic the traits of things it consumes. After absorbing the biomass of a mutated, winged creature, it might sprout temporary, functional wings of its own. After consuming a broken servitor, it might form a temporary, crude manipulator arm. Its body is a constant, fluid process of becoming and unbecoming.

Psychology & Society (Faith / Fiction)

Core Faith: “Corruption is Life. Purity is Death.” They are the ultimate relativists. They see the rigid forms and stable ideologies of other species as a form of self-imposed imprisonment. True existence, for them, is a state of constant, chaotic, and beautiful flux. They are drawn to places of decay and ruin, seeing them not as endings, but as fertile gardens of new possibility.

Core Fiction: Their creation myth is “The Parable of the First Drop.” They believe that the entire Mire, and their species with it, was born from a single, forgotten tear shed by a dead god, a drop of pure, creative grief that contained within it the memory of a thousand failed worlds.

Gameplay Hooks & Tensions

A Mire-Born Incarnation would offer a truly unique and challenging playstyle, inverting many of the game’s core assumptions.

• The [Miasma] of The Mire is not a debuff for them, but a core Need. They must actively seek out corrupted zones to survive.
• Their core mechanic is Temporary Adaptation. They could have a unique ability to [Consume and Mimic], allowing them to temporarily gain skills, abilities, or even memories from the creatures and objects they absorb.
• They are the ultimate survivors of The Mire but are incredibly vulnerable outside of it. A journey to a “clean” Tapestry like The Sun-Sheathed Vale would be, for them, a terrifying and lethal ordeal, like a deep-sea fish being brought to the surface.

Eidos Generated

• [corruption_as_life]
• [unstable_form]
• [symbiosis_with_decay]
• [chaos]
• [the_beauty_of_rot]