Eaters

When the Eaters lived and skirred the stars, they visited the worlds of a thousand thousand different beings, and those beings likewise visited our own world. — The Black Glass

The Eaters (or Eaters of Earth) were the inhabitants of Qud prior to the fall of the Sultanate. They may have been a singular society, or the term may be a modern one applied to all prior civilizations. Their legacy persists through the ruins and artifacts they left behind, as well as memorials such as the Tomb of the Eaters, statues of implanted Eaters, statues of Eaters, and holograms of Eaters. True Kin are often considered to be the direct, unmutated descendants of the Eaters.

Society

The Eaters were extraordinarily technologically advanced, capable of interstellar travel and able to create marvels such as the relics of the sultans and the sultan masks. They built the ruins which appear throughout Qud, as well as the Palladium Reef. They engaged in extensive genetic manipulation and usage of cybernetics. Their capabilities seem to have declined over the Sultanate period, with remnants of the earlier sultans being more powerful than those of the later sultans. In particular, "late period" sultan relics (from the fourth historic sultan or later) often have descriptions referencing scavenging lost technology from remnants of the earlier Sultanate.

Their society was apparently highly stratified, with the Tomb of the Eaters separating graves into several tiers based on social class and becoming nooks refusing to apply cybernetics to anyone other than aristocrats. "Saad" was a title for those of high rank, such as Saad Amus, the Sky-Bear.

The term "Eaters of Earth" may refer to destructive, extractive tendencies of the civilization. Mayor Haddas mentions in conversation that they "ate Earth and belched freight at the stars", and Ezra "was their stomach."

They were part of a coven of interstellar societies, and imprisoned Ptoh on the coven's behalf. However, they apparently fell at odds with the coven at some point, as Resheph discovered that "the misdeeds of the elder saads and sultans" had convinced the coven to curse the earth with plagues.

Becoming Nooks

This section is an excerpt from Becoming nook#Lore.

Becoming nooks are, like much of the advanced technology left in Qud, relics of the ancient Eater civilization which once ruled over the planet.

They allowed the notably trans-humanist civilization to install cybernetic implants and will still do so for True Kin due to their close genetic connection to the Eaters. Mutant players attempting to use a becoming nook will be turned away, as they are “no aristocrat”.

Literature and Lore

• The recall story of the amaranthine prism has numerous references to the Eaters, and describes them as beings who "skirred the stars" and "visited the worlds of a thousand thousand different beings".

• The recall story of Stopsvalinn includes the following reference to an Eater warden:
  Borne by Harem, who claimed descendancy from the Eater Yish, Warden of the Cross and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Cone, who patrolled the rows of ancient Qud with his fellow Knights Conical, and on whose arm Stopsvalinn is told to have evoked such dread that riders drew their chariots to a halt at the mere vision of it.

• The conversation with Mayor Haddas includes references to "Eater-ancient" carved reliefs, and Haddas claims to have lived during the reign of the fourth sultan. The player can suggest that their age means Haddas themself is an Eater, to which Haddas replies "HA HA HA. I suppose so."

• Svenlainard, Trophy Hunter refers to himself in conversation as the "Eater of Game", which may be a reference to the Eaters.

Items and Descriptions

• Statues of implanted Eaters are described as "a monument to the coupling of machine and folk."
• The Eaters' nectar injector is a rare item that enhances the body, and appears to be sought-after by the Putus Templar, who often carry them.
• The flesh of the elcatl mushroom is referred to as Eater's flesh
• The world map tile description for the Tomb of the Eaters refers to the Eaters as "Eaters of the Earth"
• The reliquary description refers to a "slump-shouldered Eater"
• The recoming reliquary is described as a container "to house the earthly gear of a High Eater returned"

Additional Speculations

• Some of the items that can be commonly found in the reliquaries of the Tomb of the Eaters, such as brain brine, seem to gesture toward the habits and tendencies of the Eaters.
• Saad Amus, the Sky-Bear has a striking resemblance to one variant of the Eater statues and holograms that can be found throughout Qud.