A Semi-Complete Guide To The Realms Of Lorln

Void & Corruption

Servers, as I have explained in the past few chapters, are wonderful worlds, serving as outlets for millions of imaginations. However, they have a secret dark side. I'll be talking about two things in this chapter, both similar but needing different explanations.

As I briefly mentioned in the chapter about Players, banning someone means permanently blocking all access to the Server. However, there is sometimes an issue with that. The Code can 'glitch', as Players call it. Glitches are issues in the Code, from issues in world generation (the Badlands, which can be seen in various pictures) all the way to suffocating a Player in a wall. They appear as small poison green wisps in the air.

When banning, the Code attempts to get rid of the Player's ability to come to the Server. However, sometimes, the Code messes up, and a Glitch is generated, latching onto the Player. Instead of landing in the Lobby safely, the Player appears in the Void, also known as Limbo.

The Void is, as its name indicates, a dark space, infinite in size, at least in the beginning. It's the space between Servers, the fabric holding it all together. And it's forbidden to go there. It's a place where the deity Mojang places the Players and Entities who have done unforgivable things: Herobrine is most notorious.

The Void is a torture to be in. It goes through your mind, and picks out the worst torture possible for you and makes it real. That's when it turns into the Limbo. Some of the most notorious examples of this are the various records written by the Player by the name of Philza Watson of the events in the Dream SMP, in a book named "Records of the Dream SMP".

His son provides a very detailed description of his own experience with the Limbo: a never-ending train station, where the dot matrix shows his friends whenever they think of him. A few more tales of other Limbos are found in the book, which I will not spoil. If you wish to read these, you must get your hands on the book. It's a terrifically enjoyable read, despite the less than stellar origins.

The only reason I am even able to talk about the Void is Philza, granting him with my sincerest gratitudes. He is the sole person who allowed this chapter to come into fruition, even recording the next half of this chapter, meaning I cannot thank him enough for the part he played in this book.

Corruption is a term that is thrown around quite a lot, although nowhere near as much as Player, and half as much hostility. Few people actually understand what it is, making it an easy target for cults and religions to use to spread fear.

In the 1880's, when fear of the Players was at its peak, an example of this was born in the form of an essay written by Paul Riogon, a known leader of a cult branching off of Arnism. The essay was titled "A Definitive Study Of Players And Their Effects On Lorln". It was, of course, propaganda. In that time period, many actively searched for an excuse to outlaw Players. This stemmed from profoundly rooted jealousy of some people being allowed to travel through worlds.

That essay was published alongside other similar anti-Player propaganda from that very cult: the book was titled "A Modern Look At Players", despite it being anything but modern. Anyways, despite how much I wish to talk about how obviously discriminatory that book is, I do not think anyone would be interested in a grumpy young man talking about said subject.

If you have the time to waste and do not mind reading something so obviously stupid and jealousy-motivated, I suggest reading the original essay, which you can find in the Arnism Archives (a library containing most known historic pieces surrounding the religion).

In that essay, it is stated that Corruption is a highly dangerous form of Peculier, one tainted by the Players, and that the more they are allowed to fester, the more the Corruption takes over Lorln. It is, and obviously so, false.

However, and as sad as it is for me to say this, the essay holds some truth, in that the Corruption is highly dangerous.

In truth, the Corruption is real, but only affects Servers. It is a sort of illness of the land, and happens when the Code attempts to generate the world but glitches. In this case, the world slowly fades, becoming cold black material as it approaches the original point where the Server started. It essentially takes everything apart, Peculier by Peculier.

If it reaches a Player, it begins to take them apart, exactly as it does with the world. It is an agonising experience, and leaves large, black scars across a Player's skin. When the Player eventually dies, they are not able to go back to the Server, and are instead sent to the Lobby.

Another example of the absolute genius Philza is is another book written by him, titled "Hardcore Worlds: What Are They?". It makes for a much more savoury read than the previous literary piece. For those unaware of what a Hardcore world is, I'll add a little bonus definition into this chapter, without spoiling the absolute masterpiece of literary skill that the book is, as it is best-read without any knowledge of it.

A Hardcore world is just like other Servers, except for one thing: Players only have one life, instead of an infinite number of them. When the Player dies, the Server closes itself, only allowing Players in as phantoms.

Again, I must thank Philza Watson for the amazing amount of information he gave, allowing me to write this chapter.