The World as They Know it (A lore chapter)

After I finished our conversation about the dryad's home, I approached Jacob and asked him a question.

"I never really asked, but can you tell me about this world?"

"I thought that you would never ask!"

At that moment I thought that I had made a mistake, since Jacob seemed way too enthusiastic about telling me some facts about the world.

And then he began the lesson.

"Terraria is a world and more, since the gods gave her a consciousness to think with. Terraria is able to feel everything that i happening on her 'body', so she is able to tell when the world is threatened by something. Sadly, Terraria is unable to interfere with 'worldly' affairs, so she calls a hero from somewhere else to solve the problem. That is where you come in.

You are meant to be a solution to the problem that is plaguing Terraria."

"Wait, let me rewind a bit. There are GODS of this world. And the world is sentient."

"Correct."

"You can continue now."

"Thank you. As I was saying, this world only summons people to this world if there is a genuine threat to Terraria's survival. The problem is that we have no idea what that threat is."

"Yeah, that is definitely a problem."

"And that is where the order comes in. The Order of The Guide is an organization that focuses on gathering information about this world, hoping to find clues on where the threat lies when a hero is summoned.

The last time a hero was summoned, the corruption had been a threat to the world after infecting a major part of Terraria. The hero had been able to solve it with the help of a person who knew more about gears than almost anyone in the world. it is too bad both their names were lost in the annals of time."

I was stunned at the information that I am receiving, since what I heard meant that I was dealing with a planet destroying threat.

"This is a lot to take in, can I get a minute to contemplate the thought of what is happening?"

"Sure."

And so I took a minute to think over what is happening at the moment, only to realize that this world is extremely dangerous to any sentient being. I decided to listen to more of the info Jacob has to give.

"Can you tell me more?"

"Gladly!"

And so he began again.

"The order has collected information for centuries, after being created due to the idea of being unprepared for a planetary threat. The order was started after there was an attack on the world by a creature by the name of Cthulhu, a being that extremely powerful. The creature had singlehandedly brought the world into chaos. Nobody knows the origins of Cthulhu, and not many even lived long enough to see what the creature looked like.

It is at this point that the dryads intervene. The dryads were a powerful peacekeeping force that did their best to keep the world balanced, since the worlds are beings that desire perfect balance above all else. The dryads had confronted the abomination of a being, and engaged in a battle. It was a battle which would only end if either side was dead.

The dryads had won the battle, but sadly; it was a pyrrhic victory for them, since they had been massacred after defeating Cthulhu. We know that there was only one survivor of the battle, but we do not know if they are still alive to this day, since it has been hundreds of years since that battle.

I can only hope that the last dryad is still alive, since they were the last and final resort of the world in its fight for survival."

"That... is one sad story right there. An entire race driven to near extinction just because some abomination decided that it would destroy the world, it only means that nothing is safe in this world. I only hope that I won't have to fight anything that strong. ever."

"We can both agree that if there is anything that strong on this planet, then we are screwed beyond all repair."

"If I ever had to fight Cthulhu, I could only say that the world would end up FUBAR."

"What does that even mean?"

"F***** Up Beyond All Repair."

"Ah... That abbreviation is surprisingly accurate when describing the world back then."

"I assumed it would be."

I decided to end our side conversation there.

"Can we continue my history lesson?"

"Of course."

"The worlds all have certain defense mechanisms meant for keeping the balance of the world, and we have seen one of them already. The other one is something I hope to never see. Ever."

I contemplated his words, and my eyes widened when I realized what he was talking about.

"Please tell me you are joking..."

"I cannot, sadly. The Corruption is one of the main defense mechanisms that the worlds use to maintain balance. The other is the Crimson, which I believe to be the most disgusting thing I have ever had the pleasure of hearing about.

The corruption is one of the mist common defense mechanisms used by the worlds. It has only one goal to consume all life on the planet. Everything the corruption touches is corroded, leaving behind creatures of hatred that want nothing but pain for those who enjoy unearned pleasures. While it is designed to balance all life in the world, it goes one step further after covering the whole world: It eliminates all life on the planet, leaving an empty abyss where a thriving planet used to be.

The Crimson, in my opinion, is so much worse. It is a living creature, completely different from the corruption. The goal of the Crimson is to infect the world in its entirety. According to the records of the Order, the Crimson has succeeded on many worlds not unlike our own. People have made the mistake of worshiping this abomination by sacrificing people to their 'god' in order to earn the favor of the Crimson. The only thing that comes from giving corpses to the Crimson, though, is creatures that have been transformed into unfeeling abominations and joined the hive mind of the Crimson.

These two biomes are only a defense mechanism, but they are a dangerous threat to any living being on the planet. If I have anything to say about them, I can only say that you should avoid them like the plague that they are."

"Man, I knew that the Corruption was scary, but the Crimson seems to just be straight up nightmarish."

"I would not wish the crimson on even my worst enemies."

"I can see why."

"I guess that ends my impromptu world knowledge lesson. As well as a bit of worldly history, of course. I wouldn't be a guide otherwise."

"This talk was... Enlightening, to say the least. This world is scary."

"Welcome to my world."

"Was- Was that a joke?"

Jacob only gave me a smirk as a response to my question.

'I guess I need a goal for the future, since I am apparently supposed to save the world. This world only gets more fun as time goes by.'

I decided that I would think about it when I wake up tomorrow.