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PREFACE BY CORNIFER THE MAPPER:
Throughout my explorations through the forgotten kingdom of Hallownest, I have discovered many different snippets of text and dialogue, and together they beautifully paint the rise and fall of the Kingdom. The first such document is the poem down below, AN ELEGY FOR HALLOWNEST, written by the ancient Monomon the Teacher. Monomon was the royal bookkeeper, but was also a well-versed author, and this is not the last document in the anthology.
I hope that these documents along with my annotations prove enlightening to all who wish to learn of the ancient kingdom's history. With the sick scent and the ugly creatures gone from Hallownest, maybe we can learn from these documents and start a new civilization, or at least live in a civilized manner.
I'll let Monomon start us off now.
Thanks for reading,
- Cornifer the Mapper

AN ELEGY FOR HALLOWNEST, by Monomon the Teacher:
In wilds beyond they speak your name with reverence and regret
For none could tame our savage souls but you the challenge met
Under palest watch you taught, you changed, base instincts were redeemed
A world you gave to bug and beast as they had never dreamed

Praise be Hallownest, with its fast, long stagways and busy, full cities
Praise be the Pale King, for finding the beasts's damned forms and taking pity
Their newfound clarity they have used to worship you through the night
For with the god gone and their minds anew, only you can turn off the light.

Five great knights and one powerful being now rule over all of the Earth
The old, primate society is cast away and the glorious new one takes birth.

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CAPITAL CITY OF HALLOWNEST NOW OPEN!
Newspaper written by Theomut for the Bee’s Buzz
WELL, the efforts of the Pale King to build a safe haven for his loyal warriors and diplomats has finally paid off. The Capital City, now known as Pale Court, is open to those who have saved up enough geo to afford the cost of rent. That might be a tough one, though! It’s well over a thousand geo per moon, so only the noblest (and richest) are allowed to live there! Everyone is welcome to visit, however, with the main entrance to Pale Court in the Fungal Fields. Merchants, you’d be better off taking the stag station, because there are actually two in the city! Just a small portion of it outsizes the Kingdom's Crossroads, or even Greenpath! Now, an interview with none other than the mayor of Pale Court himself, Ogrim!
“Sir Ogrim! Congratulations on the mayorship and the construction of Pale Court!”
I remember Ogrim looking nervous, somehow.
“Y-yes. It’s a great achievement for all the bugs of Hallownest. We put a lot of effort into polishing the city and making it habitable for hundreds, even thousands of bugs.”
I chuckled, and he laughed a bit as well.
“I hear that Pale Court has 2 stag stations! What an accomplishment. How did you manage to do that?”
I remember Ogrim visibly easing at this question, but I did not prod.
“With careful planning and expertise, and of course with the help of our stag friends. Of course, the stag racing court is also opening soon.”
“Well Ogrim, I hear the city is bigger than the Bustling Crossroads and Greenpath combined! That’s a lot of bugs to hold control over…”
“Yes, yes. Of course, the city is bigger than the Busting Crossroads, Greenpath, and the Fungal Fields combined.”
More on the Pale Court and the future of Hallownest on page 8.

Annotations:
I came across 2 other articles by the Bee's Buzz, one about new honey dancing rituals and the other about the infection. Sounds like they weren't an extremely prolific publishing company, but who am I to judge? I'm just a simple mapper.
This interview with Ogrim is strange. I haven't found another source that describes Ogrim as nervous, but it may possibly be due to the anxiety of opening the new city. Still, I can't shake the feeling that it had something to do with the coming infection.
No, I shouldn't be stupid. The infection wouldn't come to Hallownest for at least 3 more rounds.
Theomut, surprisingly enough, was not a bee, and I should know as I got this off of his corpse along with his other works. He was a prolific reporter, and the Bee's Buzz was just a small lapse in his reporting background. He was in the City of Tears when I found him.
In other words, I have made a huge discovery through finding this article! The ancient capital city's name was Pale Court, which was also the name the Pale King gave to his group of royal fighters. Interesting. Also, the Forgotten Crossroads were the Kingdom's Crossroads, Fungal Wastes were Fungal Fields, and Greenpath was... well, Greenpath! I will be updating my maps with these new names as soon as Iselda gets back from her adventuring and I can share this discovery with her!

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8th of Moon 7, Round 2007, Soonday

An excerpt taken from the Journal of Lemm’s Journey Through Hallownest

With the opening of the Capital City of Hallownest in Moon 5, and the 2 new Stag Stations, I made my way from the Webbed Caverns to Pale Court to sell my goods at the local markets store. Truly, what an astonishing feat. Pale Court stretches on for so long, every inch filled with goods, citizens, and visitors. Banners flying the Pale King’s sigil flap down from all the buildings, and it is full of life. I’m sure it is much quieter when it is not Market Day, but even still, it was an astonishing feat. Every building there is made of some brilliant pale rock, thus giving it its name. In the center of it all, there is a fountain that connects every main street.

My goods were transported to my stand when I got in through the Storeroom Stagway. Rumor has it that the other Stag Station is for the most noble of Pale Court to access. In about 2 hours I ran out of ancient relics to sell, and came away with about three thousand geo, marking the expedition a success. If I had brought my higher-quality relics I am certain I could have doubled that amount.

Praise to the Pale King for the successful city of Pale Court. Its beautiful spires and gleaming buildings truly are a sight to behold. I would recommend visiting as a vacation or as a vendor at least once in your life.

- Lemm the Collector

Annotations:
I believe I bought this off of the original author himself! He was holed up in the City of Tears. His existence almost seemed sad, but he didn't look worse for wear.
We chatted about the history of the Kingdom for a bit after I bought this. He is a great relic collector, and an intellectual! When I told him of my quest to comprise an anthology for Hallownest, he shook his head and said he didn't think anyone else still cared about this Kingdom's ancient past.
What a nice man! I will certainly be returning to his shop to see if he has any more texts for me to include in this anthology. We talked for about an hour, and then I left to explore Kingdom's Edge.
Onto the annotations of the text.
There are a few interesting things to note here: the Webbed Caverns in question are undoubtedly Deepnest, the houses in Pale Court were made with some glimmering pale rock, and Market Day. I have never heard of Market Day, not in my extensive journey through the Kingdom, but I have a good guess of what it entails; there are likely many vendors everywhere, which helped to thrive the King's economy.
The Pale King's sigil I have seen, it is a tall, jointed crown that seems to be welded into a head. Paintings of the Pale King I have seen generally resemble this sigil, which I find to be interesting.
I am now off to the City of Tears to investigate the rocks that the buildings are made of!

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The Pale Infection

Curses to the Pale King! He who would attempt to take my throne and steal my children from me with the promises of intellect!

I have to remind my children of who they were-no, who they are. This lowly mortal’s body cannot do the job, I have to spread again. I don’t want to be forgotten…

I shall make my journey to that ugly, blindingly bright city tonight. I will find a susceptible bug and remind them of who they used to be.

I shall bring my glory to Hallownest once again.

ANNOTATIONS:
What a shock it was when I found this writing on a hidden tablet in Kingdom's Edge! It is rather short compared to the other texts included in this anthology, but arguably more important than all of the others.
The Pale King had an enemy... could they have been the cause of the infection? I was not able to accurately date the text as it was quite literally imbued into the wall, but it looked relatively old, and written in an older language as well.
The journey to find this tablet was immense. It was hidden behind not one, not two, but three unassuming breakable walls. I quite literally tumbled through them after taking an unfortunate fall trying to jump from platform to platform. I suppose it was lucky, however.
The figure refers to the subjects of the Pale King as their "children". I do not quite understand what this means, but the "gift of intellect" causes me to assume that the Pale King somehow brought sentience to the bugs of Hallownest.
In other news, I found the corpse of a Wyrm! Wyrms are mythical creatures, so I almost didn't recognize it as one at first - I've never seen one in my life. It looked somewhat similar to the Pale King's head. The entrance to the body was barricaded by rocks, however, so I don't know if any ancient knowledge is hidden inside. I suppose I'll have to return at a later date.

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The Story of the Sixth Royal Guard

In the dark Webbed Caverns, a small centipede hatched from her egg. The centipede was very small, and only had 8 legs, unlike her siblings who all had many legs. The centipede lost all of the races, brought back the least food when gathering, and could not easily survive in the Webbed Caverns. However, her primal instincts were removed when the Pale King visited the Webbed Caverns and spread his gift of soul to the centipede family.

At first, the Pale King did not notice the centipede as different from the rest of her siblings, and instead asked the family to work for Geo in the great capital city. The Pale King’s gift of knowledge led them to Pale Court, the shining city, where the parents worked as merchants to make a living. The Pale King’s gift allowed their family to prosper, and they lived a life of high intelligence that they could never have dreamed.

Then, the Mantis Tribe attacked.

Sir Ogrim, Sir Hegemol, and Lady Isma frontline the defensive front and though they did their best and fought nobly, it was simply not enough. The Mantis Tribe was fast, strong, and had a thirst for blood. The 4 leaders of the tribe were overpowering, and Pale Court was seemingly about to fall to the dirty mantises.

Then, the centipede took a nail sticking from a bug’s body, and with it, the name Bryllion. Lady Bryllion took down at least 15 mantises before her head was chopped off brutally, but her great efforts turned the war effort around, and the mantises retreated. After the death of Lady Bryllion, her family told the story to our great and mighty Pale King, and she was ceremoniously knighted as one of the Royal Guard. Her monument shines in the center of the queens’ new gardens, a memory of a bug who gave everything to protect her family and the great Kingdom. A reminder that the loyalest and most noble warriors of Hallownest are willing to sacrifice everything to keep our eternal kingdom shining for eternity.

Glory to Hallownest and the Pale King.

- Lurien the Royal Observer

ANNOTATIONS:
This may not completely pertain to the lore of Hallownest, but I will say that I quite enjoy this story! Unfortunately, I was not able to find the monument in Queen's Gardens spoken of in the document. Perhaps it was eroded, or stolen, or destroyed.

Stories of the Mantis Tribe attacking Pale Court are few, but I have found 2 other cases that exist. One was during the construction of Pale Court and the other was during the rise of the sickness in Hallownest. These will be documented later on in this anthology.

I have found some official documents in the past that mention a Lady Bryllion, but I have unfortunately found no official documents from the Pale King himself that mention her other than the documents of the ritual of knighting. This proves she did exist, and this story is likely true.

Lurien the Royal Observer I have not heard of before, but some areas of Hallownest I have been rejected. Some examples include the Watcher's Spire, the mysterious area past a door in the Abyss, and about half of Kingdom's Edge. Try as I might, I have found no way to forbode these walls. Perhaps my little friend could help... no, I have not seen the mysterious knight for many moons. They were likely the catalyst that ended the horrid infection of Hallownest.

I am just now realizing I have not discussed much of the result of Hallownest! I am unfortunately running out of space on this page, so I will use the next one, I think.

- Cornifer the Mapper

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A POOR BUG’S LABOR: WORKER STRIKE IN PALE COURT!
Stagway Stationary
Bugs in the city of Pale Court have begun to cease their jobs, demanding from the King and Ogrim better wages, and more importantly, safe working conditions! Reports have come in of bugs being crushed by heavy machinery, being bombed from the sky by strange bats, and vagrant mantises attacking their shipments! What does this mean for the city of Pale Court, and what can we expect in the future?
Bugs working in Pale Court and the rest of Hallownest are also striking for better pay, with some workers stating that they only get a couple of Geo a moon! Sounds like some of these bugs better drop their hammers and pick up nails, or else they might not get paid at all soon!
On page 7, we will discuss the strange noises heard from under Pale Court and the silent black figures that have begun to be spotted from the windows.

ANNOTATIONS:
I found this particular scrap of paper off the corpse of a bug while practicing combat with my beautiful wife Iselda! She seemed rather confused at my excitement when I found the paper, and I realized I forgot to tell her about my anthology! After a quick shock, she shrugged and we continued to adventure. I suppose she isn't very interested...
All depictions of the Pale King, whether in artwork or in literature, are of a holy figure who was good to the Kingdom. Our wonderful author here poses a different opinion from everything else I have found, which is very interesting. I should consult my new friend, Lemm, on this. Perhaps he would have an opinion on poverty in Pale Court.
If the King was not as perfect as everyone claims to be, that may be the factor that caused his downfall.
One last quick annotation: I am not certain as to what these silent black figures are! I had a friend who matched that description, but I haven't seen them in moons. Bummer, too, as they were the only one keeping our business afloat... I suppose we do not pay rent anyways.

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A Walk Through The Gardens
Josephine the Stargazer to her Mother
On the 5th of the sixth moon, I did meet the Queen in her hanging courts…
Pale Court is a quite wondrous city indeed. However, nothing I have seen quite compares to Her Majesty’s gardens. A large variety of beautiful, colorful flowers dot the landscape. You really must come with me next time to see it. The tea was nigh irreplicable… She really is the most intriguing individual.
She did ask me of my journeys to the Abovelands in completing my gaze into our system. What an amable lady. Her Majesty took great interest in my journeys…
I did see her court. There, I met Noblest Dryya. She held the utmost respect for my journeys, as did I hers. Then, I did abscond when I heard of potential negotiations with the Mantis Lord…
And yes, I did find that which you were asking of. Dare I not mention it here. I shan't have unwished gaze fall upon our incomplete ideals…

Annotations:
This came from my friend Lemm. He agreed to explore the City of Tears with me, and mentioned the Stargazer... I simply had to see what he was talking about!
This is a very interesting entry. I must say, I have never heard of any Abovelands. Unless they are possibly speaking of Dirtmouth? I haven't seen any stars, though...
So, the Royal Gardens were akin to courtrooms for the White Lady. Dryya is also mentioned here. I found her corpse in the Royal Gardens-it was very difficult! I nearly lost my leg to the jumping spiders. The smell of rotting flesh emanated from her, and the room behind her, so I decided not to proceed lest I break my nose.
It seems she was conspiring with her birthgiver. Strange. She seems to be some sort of covert spy... I will attempt to uncover more about this potential plot as I continue searching.
The Mantis Lord's corpse was quite a shock to see... More shocking was the visage of one of my friends on his horn. Both were dead. It must have been a great fight.
Onto the next article.
- Cornifer the Mapper

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I believe I will use this page space to discuss the current state of the fallen Kingdom!
Before my good friend left us, they seem to have left open a door to some dark, abyssal area. I am not currently able to explore there, though... My rope is not nearly long enough to reach the bottom. I would be a squished bug!
The creatures are much more docile. A few of them have regained their sanity. Some make good conversation, but they hold little memory of what happened before they went hostile. It is now safer to travel around, but civilization has not fully reformed... We have new neighbors here in Dirtmouth, though!
Most areas of Hallownest are being recaptured. The areas that had retained sanity, such as the domain of the Mantis Lords, lead the restoration movements. The Mantises are very... combat-focused... but one of the Lords enjoys Entomological Studies, so they have allowed me mobility around Hallownest. I was able to date back some documents, and I have decided that we are currently in Moon 5. I believe Moons occur around every 30 days, but I wasn't able to decide what a Round was. It could be 12 Moons, but it could also be 365 days, which means there's a 5 day disparity.
The City of Tears is one of the most prolific goals of the restoration movements. Some areas have opened. The orange goo has practically disappeared.
Some relics and memories from the ancient kingdom of Hallownest retain. For example, there is a rather complicated board game that two people can play. Most people who regained sanity seemed to remember the rules to this game. Lemm also knew how to play.
The game focuses on two sides; the Shells and the Mantises, who combat each other. Each team has 5 special classes of character, as well as a melee normal unit and a ranged normal movement. The 5 special classes are:
Researcher
Healer
Barbarian
Knight
Assassin
I have not fully grasped the game. The win condition seems to be based on a point value.
Dirtmouth, again, is much more lively. I have shown some of my works to the newly awakened bugs, and they hold no memory of any of it. Lemm may be the only person left who remembers the Kingdom of Hallownest. Luckily, he is keen to keep recounting stories to me, and he has many years ahead of him.

Ah yes, the Princess and the Knight.
Immediately after the orange goo dissipated, the two of them appeared out of nowhere. I had seen the Princess before, I believe her name is Hornet. She was rather fast. She stated that she did not wish to speak with me, and I have not seen her since.
The Knight was nigh unresponsive. They barely turned their head at anything I said.

The Stag is getting rather tired of all of the new people who necesitate his use, and it seems that we may need to invest in a new form of transport soon.

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Dear,
It is currently Moon 4 when I am writing you. Our continued military campaign against the Mantises has resulted in a success today. After defeating a couple dozen mantis warriors, we entered the chamber of the Lords, who held combat with us. They were great fighters, and we lost half of our men. With my nail, I charged the middle one, stabbing her in her back, knocking her off guard. She screeched in pain and lunged at me; I nearly lost my eye! I got her two more times before she retreated. She called off her sisters and bowed to me!
I sustained many damages; I believe I've broken my arm. I should heal within the Moon, though. With this victory against the Mantises, the King has authorized the construction of a trading port in the village. We have also laid claim to a passage within the Fungal Fields, which the King has used to create a bridge connecting the Mantis Kingdom to Pale Court.

Annotations:
This is a small passage from a much longer letter. I didn't have the heart to analyze the entire thing, especially since a good half of it was the soldier flirting with his wife. I found it in a small home inside the City. The soldier's wife gave it to me, actually. She survived and remembered her husband. She didn't hold any recollections of the City of Tears, however, and this was the only passage I could find with historical context. Her name was Luma, I believe.
I was aware of the Mantis Lords' tensions with the Pale King, but I never knew about a full-blown war. I believe I will ask the Lords if they can show me to this mentioned trading port. I also found the "bridge", if you can call it that, since it was lowered and I had to do a decent amount of dangerous climbing to get across it.
A regular soldier beating a Lord sounds impossible to me. I doubt the validity of this story, and I think this soldier is somewhat stretching the truth to sound "cool" to his wife. I will refrain from mentioning this to her.

-Cornifer the Anthologist

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Ilda’s Tales from Royalty

I was walking down the corridors, and I did hear the following dialogue between His Majesty and the Professor…

The subject is not responding to our speech. Exhibited some response to light. Their form is that of a small, floating shadow.

They were violent upon seeing you. Two guards had to subdue the subject. Perhaps this was a mistake…

No. This cannot be a mistake. Everything here; all that I’ve worked for; could this possibly be a mistake? I have brought greatness to this kingdom. I’d hope you could understand that. What we are doing here is beyond important. For the sacredness of this kingdom and for all the people of Hallownest.

Apologies, your majesty. I did not mean to doubt you. I simply worry for your well being in direct testing with the subjects. I could easily have my servants perform the testing necessary.

…

Know that I do not embellish, for if I did, my skull would be on the shadow’s collarbones! No, no… I shall not.

Annotations:

I decided I would stretch my legs this morning and journey down to that door I can never seem to open, and I'm glad I did! Rustling through the rubble there revealed what looks like a mass published novel, by an author named Ilda. I won't include every passage from the novel, but Tales from Royalty is a very enlightening, very long work! I'll probably use more from it soon.

This one is stranger than usual. Of course, there's some embellishment in this text, even if Ilda swears they would never. It's a retelling of a conversation between His Majesty, the Pale King, and a professor. I do not know that I am aware of who this is! Hopefully through my journeys of this Kingdom I will be able to learn more about this enigmatic character.

Experimenting on... Shadow creatures? Strange... very strange. I am not quite sure what to make of this revelation! I knew a shadow creature once, the Knight, but I haven't seen them in...

That's all for now.

-Cornifer the Anthologist.

Chapter Text

Hello everybody!
Though it may not seem it, this anthology has taken me a year so far. The reason there aren't more entries is because, though my journeys through Hallownest are vast, it's hidden texts are not. Every voyage I make deeper into the Kingdom has around a 20% chance of yielding anything useful.
From the deepest part of my dorsal vessel, thank you all for reading as I continue to collect these ancient texts! Be prepared to read more soon...
- Cornifer the Anthologist

Chapter Text

I see, so you found a way to record my words…?

Ha… to think someone today would want to know what the old kingdom was like, instead of leaping down that well to find out for themselves.

When I saw you go down that well, I thought you like the rest of them, you know… chasing glory, or wealth. You… you are like the rest of them, but…

Well… the kingdom. Never was a big fan of it. Never lived in it either… I always stayed up here. Of course, this was once an offshoot of the kingdom.

*He pauses for a moment.*

I had a brother, you know. He was… younger. Saw a lot in people… and the kingdom. I can remember the last day I saw him. We had… gathered around as a family, for a meal. Well, it was just me and him, anyway. But we liked to think we were family.

He told me then that he had been enlisted to become a Knight. I don’t think I responded to that… he always did have a fighting spirit, you see. I had just… picked at my food. Tried to ignore all of the orange mist that had been coughing up the well. Never agreed with my lungs.

He sighed then, and pushed away his plate. It was wooden; we were very poor, nothing like the tales I’ve heard of the Pale Court. He grabbed a nail that was covered in cloth, one I hadn’t seen before, but I now know was gifted to him by our father. You see, he never came back from the well, but the nail did. I still have it…

*He then disappeared. I didn’t follow him at this point. He came back after a minute.*

Here it is… dull thing now. But there’s my fathers name, right there on the hilt… you can still almost make it out.

*He pointed at some sort of language I couldn’t grasp but that I have seen before written on the hilt of the blade.*

Well anyway, he hopped down that well… I never got to tell him how angry I was. That he was leaving me, like the rest of them did. Down that cursed well. The whole town did…

*He went into a series of angry mumbles that I couldn’t quite make out on my second listen.*

That little bug… the one who came through here a few moons ago. They reminded me of my brother, in a way. Some kind of… determination, to do things right down there. I have no idea if they succeeded or where they are. I haven’t been down there.

*He paused for a minute.*

I’m too much of a coward. Scared I’ll go down there and… see…

Well, anyway, thank you for listening.