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Glepi — Description

The Lost Scholars who were consumed by the crystals forgot of their lives up above, and forever bound themselves to the underground world. In their madness, the crystals that robbed them of their minds became objects of worship, and thus the great chamber became their home. But as they built their crude tribe in the darkness, their primal insanity drove away all other cave life. These tunnels were theirs now, and the creatures who scurried below before were forced out. Not only that, but the bone-bile prosthetics of the Scholars abandoned their mindless masters and began to parasitize whatever suitable flesh they could find. The stagnant peace of the underground was gone, and so were the homes of the likes of Glepi.
In the caverns below, Glepi wanders about lost and confused. She is an Olm, a simple race of amphibians that have stuck to the deep dark world of the caves and cavities. There is not much to these creatures, more beast than man, leading rather mundane lives. The likes of speaking and writing is far beyond them, and their communications is more croaks and gurgles than anything else. The name "Glepi" doesn't even appear to be her real name, if she even has any. It is more so the sound she makes most often. But before all this madness, she enjoyed a simple life, scurrying through the tunnels in search of critters and fungi to eat. There wasn't much to it, just finding tasty bugs, hanging in the cave pools and retreating to her burrow for rest. Due to their simple minds, the Olms down here appear to be immune to the effects of the Black Bile crystals. But when the Scholars broke into their isolated world and devolved, everything was upturned.
The grunting crystal-wielding madmen took over Glepi and her kind's habitat, and forced them from their homes. Those who did not flee fast enough were killed, and the rest were scattered to the corners of the cave system. Glepi herself escaped, but this was not the end of her woes. In time, the bone-bile limbs of the Scholars found her and took her as an involuntary host. They latched themselves onto her back, granting her new long limbs to wield. However, she didn't want such things on her, but they proved too strong for her to remove herself. Confused, she tried to flee, but found that these unwanted appendages made her too big to fit into the burrows and tunnels her kind used. Now she was stuck with no means of escape, and strange limbs that obeyed her commands but refused to leave.
With nowhere else to go, Glepi has been forced to wander the veins and cavities, getting used to this miserable new life. She eventually learned to command the limbs on her body, allowing her to stand much taller and have many more hands at her disposal. While some would think this is a great addition, Glepi hates it, because she can't catch bugs or fit in her burrow, which is all she really cares about. She doesn't want much, just to be let back into her home and have the simple joys back. But as long as the limbs hold fast and the Lost Scholars continue their madness, this cannot happen. Thus, it would seem she is trying to find a way to make it so. Though she despises these limbs, it does give her better fighting capabilities. Tools and weapons much too big for her little self can now be wielded, and many grasping limbs means greater maneuverability. It appears she understands the advantage she now has, and that there is now a possibility of fighting back against the primitive crystal lovers that stole her home. She has collected a few armaments that were discarded by the mindless monsters and learned to use them. Perhaps with these new tools and terrible new form she can actually do something about these horrid hooting things. But this crazed tribe isn't the only threat now, as the minds they lost have fed and awoken something ancient within that crystalline chamber...
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Is Glepi. Pretty much this whole scenario with the Lost Scholars and Glepi was made with the idea that this would be like an optional side quest if FOI was a game. Learn about a hidden cave system and explore it to find this cave biome in chaos and the Lost Scholars running rampant. Glepi would be an NPC that could be found and teamed up with, all to destroy the big boss of the area and bring the crystalline menace to an end. Once all was done, the player could aid Glepi in removing these unwanted prosthesis (probably cobbling them together into a weird living arm weapon) and allow her to return to her simple life. Though she herself can't talk or provide obvious reward for completing the quest, I figured her going back to her burrow would have upgrade materials come tumbling out as she dug away. Not much really else here, just thought it would be a fun little thing. Perhaps in the future I may tinker with the Olms, be it their design and/or story in this world. But who knows?