---

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐦 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐡. 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰. 𝐘𝐞𝐭, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐰—𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

𝐘𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥, 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝?

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬—𝐜𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐀𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.

Bᵤₜ ₜₕₑₙ “yₒᵤ” ₐₚₚₑₐᵣₑd.

〢〣〢

ⱣȺsŧ Ⱥnđ Fᵾŧᵾɍɇ [+]

^{Vmxxcr iekw bsr'r lergl.}

---

Memories of your past drift through your mind like a dense fog—faceless silhouettes and muffled voices just beyond reach. Each time you bury your face in your hands, grasping for clarity, searing pain surges through you. Who you are, who you might have been—none of it matters now. The life you once knew has slipped away, fading into obscurity. All that remains is the present, a new beginning forged from the ashes of the past.

But with that ending comes an even greater question—what has been forged in its place? Stripped of the past, of identity itself, who are you now?



Nameless specters from worlds long lost, adrift in a realm unfamiliar. No family to remember you, no friends to anchor you only beheld by something deep and essential to your soul, branded into it regardless of the realm you stride across. Though your memories remain elusive, the scars woven into the very fabric of your being speak in their absence. They tell of struggles endured, of pain that lingers even without context. You cannot recall the moments that shaped you, but the weight of their echoes is undeniable. Whatever fate led you to ruin once before, you refuse to let it claim you again. This time, you will carve a new path, one not dictated by the ghosts of your past.

---

I do not normally like Isekai rps, but this one for some reason I am interested in. So I will figure out a char idea and make a cs soon.

Throwing in an example character sheet while I continue cleaning stuff out.

@Theyra

Skinny Geralt looks good, you can throw him in characters and I’ll be reaching out to ask some questions about him.

@Festive

Pretty character sheet, and I’m very curious as to what sort of fucked up life this guy lived before he died. Same goes for you, move him over at your leisure and I’ll be poking you about him.

Hmm, former angel or hybrid experiment? I guess either way I might be leaning towards someone who's exploring the concepts of humanity and life.

Hmm, former angel or hybrid experiment? I guess either way I might be leaning towards someone who's exploring the concepts of humanity and life.

Both pitches are interesting. The angel would probably be pissed when their memories start coming back.

cs will be in within a day or so \o/

@OwO

Goth mommy blood witch is good to go, throw them over in characters whenever you wish to.

I’m also adjusting the slots from 5 to 6 to accommodate the people who expressed interest early.

@bugmeat

Matrix OC is good to go, throw them into the bin.

Can't help but want to write fundamentally inhuman perspectives whenever I get the chance and since you said any race or species was potentially on the table I felt compelled to go for the weirder end of the spectrum. Hopefully, this isn’t too out there. Tell me if I need to change something or start over.


On an unrelated note, I cannot for the life of me figure out one of your cyphers and I swear to god I’m going to solve that thing if it’s the last thing I do.

Can't help but want to write fundamentally inhuman perspectives whenever I get the chance and since you said any race or species was potentially on the table I felt compelled to go for the weirder end of the spectrum. Hopefully, this isn’t too out there. Tell me if I need to change something or start over.

The Liberated Maw [+]

Age of Death: — It’s complicated.
Gender: — N/A
Race: — ██████████; Amorphous Maw
Psychology: — A blank canvas only now starting to be filled. The maw’s nature is to hunger, and yet somehow only now does it think to question whether one can hunger for more than just food.

⑇⑉What You Remember⑉⑈

To Feed an Army [+]

The battle was already all but over when the maw descended upon the field of war. Countless eyes formed upon and were subsumed upon the surface of its flesh, their gazes impassively sliding over what small pockets of fighting remained, each a microcosm of the larger battle that had raged just hours before. Even as the elves continued to fight it was already clear they would not be the victors here, and yet the maw ignored all this; its purpose was not to observe nor even to participate in this battle and its will did not permit it to question that purpose.

The maw’s eyes scanned for a valid target for its purpose, quickly locking onto the remains of what once might have been a person, mangled limps inextricably entangled within the remains of one of the stranger amorphous forms encompassed by the maw’s will. Whatever battle had occurred between the two creatures, neither had survived it, but to this observation the maw was indifferent. To it the only thing that mattered was that both were food.

Glistening black flesh contorted as tendrils rooting the maw in place morphed into long writhing appendages such that it might drag itself to its quarry. The maw's purpose was to feed and all that it knew was intended to facilitate this function, so when its tentacles failed to find purchase upon, it was neither legs nor stranger limbs that it formed but teeth, countless fangs sprouting like hairs to provide the maw the traction it needed atop the loose soil.

Slowly but inexorably the maw dragged itself towards the corpses whereupon it began to feast; mangled flesh funnelled into a single mouth at first, then two, then three.

By the time the maw was done with its first meal it had already consumed several times its mass, yet never once did it occur to the maw that it might stop to consider where the food had gone, simply moving on to the next meal and the next. After all, its will had given it a purpose and it had an entire army to feed for.

• What is life if not patterns building upon patterns? And what is its purpose if not to feed? The maw is well versed in the patterns of its role, effortlessly shaping its flesh into the tools needed to find and feed upon the carrion of the battlefield.
• All that is eaten must go somewhere, and as readily as another might walk or breathe, the maw folds all that it eats into a stomach existing in a space between spaces. As for where the other end of this vast digestive tract leads? That much is still a mystery.

⑇⑉What You Don’t ⑉⑈

The First Question [+]

The maw lay feebly upon the sand, its body starting to sag and droop like some half-melted thing. Food lay not two meters from its body, and yet for all the maw’s pitiful attempts to reach it, the limbs it formed came out malformed and cancerous, unable to achieve anything more than to slough off from its body and collapse into writhing giblets.

Just minutes earlier the maw had attempted to feed upon a man who had not quite been dead yet, and in turn the man had attempted to stab the maw. Barely able to lift his sword, the dying man had gotten his arm eaten for his efforts, soon followed by the rest of his body, but not before managing to pierce the soft flesh of the maw and lethally perforating its core.

As the maw died, perhaps sensing its usefulness was over or perhaps simply a side effect of the escalating damage to its core, the maw’s will slowly faded from its mind, and for the first time it was able to think freely. To the maw, which had never once known freedom and held little understanding of the world outside of its given purpose, its death was viewed not with fear but confusion, and more so with each passing moment, a growing sense of curiosity.

In its final moments, guided by this simple childlike wonder, the maw thought to consider its first-ever question, directed towards anything and everything it could see but not understand, “Why?”

On an unrelated note, I cannot for the life of me figure out one of your cyphers and I swear to god I’m going to solve that thing if it’s the last thing I do.

As much as I love hungering mouth holes that transcend mortal comprehension, he’s a little too close to what would be profiled as the primary enemies throughout the story. So this will be the first, and apologetic no.

I’m cool with monsters! But it would need to be grounded to a degree that you’re able to interact with NPCS.

As for the cyphers, I have no idea what you’re talking about ༼ಠ ل ಠ༽

<Snipped quote by TheMushroomLord>

As much as I love hungering mouth holes that transcend mortal comprehension, he’s a little too close to what would be profiled as the primary enemies throughout the story. So this will be the first, and apologetic no.

I’m cool with monsters! But it would need to be grounded to a degree that you’re able to interact with NPCS.

As for the cyphers, I have no idea what you’re talking about ༼ಠ ل ಠ༽

Damn, one day I'll actually manage to get that particular character concept through for something. Oh well, back to the drawing board I suppose.

For my reference, what would you ballpark as the cutoff for how weird a character can get while still meaningfully being able to interact with NPCs?

@TheMushroomLord

Other than not being a Lovecraftian Outer Entity, I’m not going to be that strict. The ballpark is anything with arms, legs, and a mouth, with the caveat of the more monstrous you are the less likely you’ll have positive interactions with the world.

There are a few monstrous races in Rogus that aren’t inherently evil; there’s a tribe of people that are highly developed insects that have been around long enough that they’re able trade and exist alongside the other races.

My advice would be, you can be as ugly as you like but just make sure you are able to walk around humans without being chased with torches and pitchforks.

Other than not being a Lovecraftian Outer Entity, I’m not going to be that strict. The ballpark is anything with arms, legs, and a mouth, with the caveat of the more monstrous you are the less likely you’ll have positive interactions with the world.

There are a few monstrous races in Rogus that aren’t inherently evil; there’s a tribe of people that are highly developed insects that have been around long enough that they’re able trade and exist alongside the other races.

My advice would be, you can be as ugly as you like but just make sure you are able to walk around humans without being chased with torches and pitchforks.

Writing my sheet atm and hmm, she's also-- well, not at all human (or even humanoid), but if they're used to insect people, a big feline probably wouldn't cause that much concern unless she was actively trying to eat someone, I'd assume? Probably people giving her a wide berth and such, but not chasing her with pitchforks on sight.

Lmk if that's a mistaken assumption though!

@Vertigo

Giant cat is perfectly fine.

Hypothetically, a swarm of bugs that uses illusions to pretend to be human?