Casket Technology: The Hybrid Horror

What Is a Casket?

Caskets are humanity's most powerful...and most horrifying...technology. These war machines are the only equipment capable of fighting Abominations, controlling territory, and projecting power in the post-Sundering world.

But they are neither autonomous robots nor simple vehicles.

A Casket is a hybrid system:

• Living Pilot (volunteer human, strapped inside the casket core)
• Bound Soul (trapped in Soulstone crystal, provides power)
• Neural Thread Interface (10 strings drilled into pilot's fingertips, puppet control)

Component	Description
Official Name	Soulstone-Powered Neural Combat Chassis (SPNCC)
Common Name	Caskets ("coffins with legs")
Size	12-15 feet tall, 800-2,400 lbs depending on class
Power Source	Soulstone Core (bound soul trapped in crystal battery)
Control System	Living pilot inside, 10 neural threads through fingertips
Pilot Status	Living volunteer (conscious, aware, strapped inside)
Moral Status	Heavily debated (necessary evil vs. abomination)

The Three-Layer Horror

1. The Living Pilot (The Operator)

Who They Are:

• Volunteers who undergo the Flesh Bargain ritual
• Strapped into the casket core with arms crossed (mummy position)
• Kneeling or seated (legs removed in some factions to save space)
• Conscious, awake, aware during all operations

What They Experience:

• Vision: Direct line-of-sight through a narrow viewing slit in the casket lid
  • No cameras, no sensors...just a thin gap inches from their face
  • Damage to the slit = instant blindness
  • Claustrophobic, vulnerable, visceral
• Control: Neural threads pierce through all 10 fingertips (drilled into fingerbeds/bones)
  • Move fingers = casket moves (literal puppet strings)
  • Feel every impact as phantom pain
  • Thread Snap = lost control of that limb
• Restraints: Straps, harnesses, bindings keep them secured inside
  • Cannot move more than a few inches
  • Cannot escape without assistance
  • Some pilots describe it as "being buried alive, but upright"
• Breathing: Normal air circulation (not submerged in fluid)
  • Can speak via radio (voice echoes inside casket)
  • Hear battle sounds directly (no audio dampening)

2. The Bound Soul (The Battery)

What It Is:

• A human soul trapped inside the Soulstone Core (crystal mounted on casket's back)
• One primary consciousness (usually a recently deceased person)
• Bound via resonance chamber at moment of death
• Powers the casket's hydraulics, servos, and systems

Soul Degradation:

• Unlike the living pilot, the Soulstone soul degrades over time
• 20-50 missions before the soul "burns out" (becomes inert)
• As energy depletes, the soul becomes fragmented, incoherent
• Final stages: whispers, pleas, then silence

3. The Neural Thread Interface (The Strings)

Physical Design:

• 10 bio-mechanical threads (5 per hand)
• Drilled/pierced through pilot's fingertips into bone
• Threads route from fingers through casket interior to limb actuators
• Literally puppet strings...pull the right one, casket moves

The Horror:

• Threads cannot be removed without surgery
• Permanent nerve damage if installed incorrectly
• Some pilots describe "feeling the machine's weight" through the strings
• Others say they can "hear the Soulstone screaming through the threads"

The Casket's Anatomy

Component	Function
Soulstone Core	Bound soul (power source). Mounted on back, glows purple/green. Contains distorted screaming face visible in crystal facets.
Pilot Capsule	Interior chamber where living pilot is strapped (chest-height in torso). Open lid design with viewing slit.
Neural Threads (10)	Bio-mechanical strings piercing pilot's fingertips. Puppet control system.
Chassis	Reinforced steel/titanium frame (800-2,400 lbs depending on class: Scout, Assault, Heavy, Support)
Limbs	Modular arms/legs with standardized attachment points (Gunpla-style O-ring/C-clip system). Faction-customizable.
Viewing Slit	Narrow gap in casket lid/face. Pilot's only visual access to battlefield. Vulnerable to damage.
Restraint System	Straps, harnesses, bindings securing pilot inside chamber. Prevents movement during combat impacts.
Deck System	Cards represent casket's structural integrity. 0 cards = casket destroyed, pilot may survive if extracted quickly.

Casket Weight Classes

Caskets are classified by torso size and limb weight. Each class has different core dimensions and attachment point sizes.

Class	Torso Height	Weight	Role	Typical Deck Size (v2.0)
Scout	10-12 feet	800-1,200 lbs	Reconnaissance, speed, hit-and-run	26–32 cards
Assault	12-14 feet	1,200-1,800 lbs	Frontline combat, balanced offense/defense	30–38 cards
Heavy	14-16 feet	1,800-2,400 lbs	Tank, area denial, siege warfare	33–42 cards
Support	11-13 feet	900-1,400 lbs	Buffs, healing, logistics, command	Varies (see Deck Construction)

Pre-Sundering Origins

What Were Caskets Before Year 0?

Industrial Exoskeletons for construction, mining, and disaster response. NOT military equipment...purely civilian/industrial use. Built by Titan Industries, Prometheus Corp, Atlas Engineering.

Why Caskets Survived the EMP

• Shielded fusion cells (radiation protection blocked EMP)
• Analog hydraulics (mechanical backups, not purely electronic)
• Bioelectric interface (neural control used organic signals)
• Result: Most primitive modern tech became most advanced post-Sundering tech

Year 0, Day 6: The First Soul-Binding

Dr. Marcus Karathis's Discovery

The Breakthrough (Day 6, Hour 14)

1. Connected corpse's nervous system to exoskeleton's power interface
2. Used improvised resonance chamber (scavenged lab equipment)
3. "Tuned" corpse's residual bioelectric field to exoskeleton's frequency
4. It worked: Dead colleague's soul began powering the machine

The First Hybrid Casket

• Dr. Thresher (living pilot) inside the exoskeleton
• His wife Dr. Elena Karathis's soul (trapped in improvised Soulstone)
• He piloted, she powered the machine
• Both were suffering, both were trapped
• But they survived

The Pilot Experience

Before Deployment

• Strapped into casket by ground crew (takes 10-15 minutes)
• Neural threads checked for connection integrity
• Soulstone Core inspected (is it glowing? cracked? screaming?)
• Lid sealed shut (viewing slit is your only window)
• First few seconds in darkness before Soulstone activates
• Then: servos hum, hydraulics pressurize, the machine wakes up

During Combat

• Vision: Narrow slit view (tunnel vision, hard to track flanking enemies)
• Sound: Every impact reverberates through the casket (deafening)
• Touch: Phantom pain through neural threads (every hit feels like being stabbed)
• Smell: Your own sweat, metal, ozone from Soulstone discharge
• Taste: Blood (from biting tongue during impacts)
• The Screaming: If you listen carefully, you can hear the Soulstone soul's agony

After Battle

• Lid opened by ground crew (blinding sunlight after hours in dim slit)
• Neural threads disconnected (agonizing nerve pain)
• Restraints released (legs don't work if you've been Shortened)
• Carried out on stretcher (even uninjured pilots can't walk afterward)
• Phantom sensations for hours (feeling 15 feet tall, fingers twitching)

Faction Approaches to Casket Technology

Faction	Philosophy	Casket Customization
Church of Absolution	Penance through service...pilot and soul earn redemption together	Blessed steel, prayer bells, flagellation attachments
Dwarven Forge-Guilds	Engineering perfection...refine both machine and operator	Runic inscriptions, modular components, precision-crafted joints
The Ossuarium	Efficiency obsession...remove all unnecessary flesh/sentiment	Bone plating, skeletal motifs, soul-binding chains
Elven Verdant Covenant	Reluctant symbiosis...merge nature with machine, mourn the necessity	Living wood chassis, vine hydraulics, thorn weapons
The Exchange	Economic asset...caskets are investments, pilots are operators	Vault-plated armor, currency storage, repossession kill-switches
Nomad Collective	Pragmatic survival...patchwork repairs, salvaged parts	Jury-rigged components, scrap armor, lucky charms

The Moral Debate

Arguments For Caskets

• Survival Necessity: Without Caskets, humanity cannot fight Abominations or defend territory
• Voluntary Service: Pilots volunteer, souls are often bound consensually
• Dual Sacrifice: Both pilot and soul are suffering together (shared penance)

Arguments Against Caskets

• Slavery (Twice Over): Living pilot trapped, bound soul imprisoned
• Exploitation: Many pilots/souls are desperate, "voluntary" is debatable
• Moral Corruption: Society becomes desensitized to horror

Explore Further

Topic	Description
Soulstone Power System	Energy mechanics, refinement, Taint corruption, Core burnout
Neural Thread Interface	Puppet control mechanics, Thread Snap, installation procedure
Soul-Binding Mechanics	How souls are captured and bound to Soulstones
Flesh Bargain Rituals	Leg removal, Compact Form, faction variants