Snail Shamans (Silksong)

You should well know our family's fixations. Surely you had a hunch? How else could we hope to trap one of your pale kin? Or see her consumed with such insatiable efficiency?

– Snail Shamans

From left to right: Chapel Maid, Caretaker, and Bell Hermit

The Snail Shamans are three NPCs in Hollow Knight: Silksong. They are a family of Snail Shamans who help Hornet create the Soul Snare during the Silk and Soul task.

In-game Events

Through the process of the Silk and Soul Wish, the Caretaker directs Hornet to consult the Chapel Maid and Bell Hermit to assemble the trap that ensnares Grand Mother Silk at the end of Act 2. Unbeknownst to Hornet, this trap uses the power of The Abyss, causing the Void to spread along Silk's strands to damage and corrupt the entirety of Pharloom. Hornet later finds and confronts the trio in the Ruined Chapel, who are revealed to be Snail Shamans, holding them partially responsible for the destruction caused by the Void and obtains their assistance in freeing Pharloom.

When Hornet seeks the Everbloom that would let her survive the depths of the Abyss, the Snail Shamans teach her the Elegy of the Deep and send her on a quest to claim the Old Hearts of Pharloom that empower a spell that lets Hornet dive into her own memories to claim the flower. When Hornet returns with the flower in hand, the Snail Shamans have disappeared, only leaving their Soul-filled shells behind.

Dialogue

Awaiting the End First encounter Cowards. Here you hide, even as you cause your own land's demise. Caretaker: You seem displeased, Old One. We only did as you asked, yes? The snare is sprung, the creature consumed. You bound it to that void! Caretaker: Don't play daft. You should well know our family's fixations. Surely you had a hunch? Bell Hermit: How else could we hope to trap one of your pale kin? Or see her consumed with such insatiable efficiency? Then you have miscalculated, gravely. The white knight, she fell with the mother... Chapel Maid: Oh ho... The quakes, yes? We have felt their force, even here. So the mother resists the dark... to save the child? That is my guess. I must descend to the void below, and see clear that truth for myself. Chapel Maid: Ohhhh. How… unfortunate. All of Pharloom will fall to her flailing. So it may, but I will not watch idle while it crumbles. If Hornet has not seen the Diving Bell: Chapel Maid: Those docks, atop the lake of flame, they still possess the means to pass below, though you'd be the first in an age to dare the descent. Then my path is clear. Remain in your sanctuary and await my return. If this land can be saved, you may have a part to play yet. If Hornet has seen the Diving Bell: The groaning docks, beyond the caverns of bone. There I have seen a vessel able to pass below, a heavy bell built for descent. I need only gain access, and an operator to assist. I will investigate the docks, and uncover the means. Chapel Maid: You'd be the first in an age to dive so deep, Old One. That space below remains long unseen, even to our family. For those depths, I am more prepared than most. I will reach the base of this land, and know the truth of the new disaster we together have wrought. Playing the Needolin Strength in despair... So many souls... Only a simple bug... O soulful ones... Spiralling outward... Hide and wait... Hide and watch... Glimmering trails... Our power... A kingdom lost... The Dark Below Speaking after first encounter Chapel Maid: The quakes... This collapse will take Pharloom all. If the void doesn't claim it first. Surely you've seen them, the black threads that wrack your lands? The dark leeches up, possessed upon the fallen monarch's Silk. Pharloom's roads were not safe before. Now they'll prove impassable. Those pilgrims still alive in your lands best huddle and hope. If there can be another end to this, it is up to us to discover it. Speaking again Chapel Maid: Even knowing her motivation, it is a shock the monarch can resist so long. We'd thought none could survive that void. She will have retreated within her protective form, that cocoon of thread. Even as the dark eats its outer, she will spin its Silk anew. The effort would be immense and it will strain her soul thin, but what other choice remains? This is the desperate act of a dying god. A defiance that, left unchallenged, will bring your kingdom's ruin. Exhausted dialogue Chapel Maid: Enough chatting, Old One. Best you get heading below. Whatever action you're planning, time is against you. Shaman Crest After acquiring the Shaman Crest I found the well in the hidden chambers beyond. The power that remained at its base I have taken for myself. Caretaker: Bound yourself a new nature, aye? And from the shells of our ancestors, no less, all those many who've called these lands their own. Caretaker: You make it seem so simple-like. All o'that learning, all o'that strength... sucked up in a whirl of Silk. Chapel Maid: We'd call you a thief, Old One, and cruel for the taking, but it's all coming down soon if you can't stop it. Chapel Maid: If there's advantage in your act that might see these caves safe, then it's better you make your claim. Spell Seeker Speaking after escaping The Abyss Chapel Maid: Oh ho! Back from the depths with nary a scratch! Is it as you feared? It is, and worse. Your snare has sunk the monarch deep, deeper than I can safely descend. To cut Pharloom free, I must plunge below the surface of that lake of liquid nothing. Bell Hermit: No shell survives submersion in that void, Old One, not even yours. Not without aid, certainly. Though aid may exist. The flower that resists the dark. Do you know of it? Chapel Maid: The Everbloom?... We've heard the tale, but had thought it a myth. If ever it sprouted in our lands we would surely have known? I would not seek it in these lands. I need its power full, and it is too fragile to sustain here long. I would seek it in my memory. Caretaker: Oh ho ho! So you'd have us wrench open your soul, to retrieve the fabled bloom? Can such a thing be done? For another bug, no, but I am Weaver enough to attempt it. In the distant past, I knew the flower. My thread still holds its faint memory. If the Everbloom was grasped strongly enough within my Silk, it could be made to manifest. Chapel Maid: Ah! So you're asking another spell of us? To reveal the flower clear?... But to illuminate one of your kind's old memories, so acutely... This is no easy thing, even for us... Chapel Maid: Old One, you must give us a moment to confer... Chapel Maid: We could do it. The spell can be cast, with enough power, enormous power, equal maybe to that monarch... I cannot grant you mine, if it even were enough. My strength is still needed to face her below. Where else do you propose we seek a source? Chapel Maid: From Pharloom! Ho ho ho! Remember, ours is a kingdom of wishes granted. Bell Hermit: Pharloom was not born of that monarch, Old One. Power existed in these lands even before she bound them beneath her. Bell Hermit: Grnk. Seek the old hearts of our kingdom and the last successors to bear their strength. Chapel Maid: They're still out there, hidden away, much faded by the pale one's long dominion. You must make them stir. Chapel Maid: We will teach you how, in the way befitting a Weaver, a sombre song to reach down into their memories and enliven them a final time. Chapel Maid: The hearts you seek, we can share their locations as best we know. Chapel Maid: Three will be needed to construct our spell and draw clear memory of the flower from your Silk. Caretaker: Bring us the hearts, Old One. Make'em beat, fierce and final. See for yourself the forgotten strength of this land of bugs before we burn those memories in its saving. The Old Hearts Speaking after learning Elegy of the Deep Chapel Maid: This task before you... This is mortal power you would claim, the hearts of bugs. It will cost their last strength to save this land. Chapel Maid: Even we have some hesitation in this. Despite our desire to touch their power, we'd never wished to see it expended so utterly. Better to leave your land weak in wonder, if it means your shells, and those of your fellows, stay intact. Speaking again Getting the first hint, for the Hunter's Heart: Chapel Maid: Through their march, at the far border of these lowlands, seek the last queen of the ant hunters. We can sense her still... just. Bell Hermit: In youth, her voice united the wild tribes. Gave them the strength to resist the pale monarch's will... longer than most at least. Getting the second hint, for the Pollen Heart: Chapel Maid: In the heights of the great wood, nestled deep in its roots, vines and branches, find the one who sowed the first seed. Caretaker: They're the very essence of the place, the nub of it all. Ain't really a bug, to be told, but a powerful presence nonetheless. Chapel Maid: We'd heard the Citadel once made grudging accord with that creature, sent their servants in reverence, even built a shrine up there somewhere. Maybe it's worth you searching for it? Getting the third hint, for the Encrusted Heart: Chapel Maid: Up top of those caves lost to wind and sand rests a crusted old ruler, a once great warrior king. Chapel Maid: In their prime, they and their order held half of Pharloom under hardened claw. Some bugs relished that strength. Most lived in fear of it. Speaking after acquiring the Conjoined Heart Chapel Maid: What's this? That's an unexpected heart you're holding, Old One... Chapel Maid: We can guess to its source, though we'd believed it long gone from these lands. The heart of a graceful lord. In its taking I was able to witness his caves and kingdom as once they flourished. A stunning sight. Unique. All gone... Lost to the pale monarch... and the system to keep her caged. Exhausted dialogue before acquiring 3 Old Hearts Caretaker: Bring us the hearts, Old One. Make'em beat, fierce and final. See for yourself the forgotten strength of this land of bugs before we burn those memories in its saving. Red Memory Speaking after acquiring 3 Old Hearts It is time, shamans. I have the hearts, enough as requested. Enough to build your spell, yes? Bell Hermit: Aye. We're ready. Still, it's a sad set you're holding there, strength such as few shall ever know... and all about to burn for Pharloom's saving. Caretaker: I'll warn ya, Old One, this first part might not be pleasant, but we'll get you in there, deep as needed. Chapel Maid: Now you've only to ready yourself for what comes after. Lay up on the dais and we'll begin. Exhausted dialogue Chapel Maid: Our spells're woven, our parts prepared. Whenever you're ready, lay up on the dais and we'll begin. Chapel Maid: Best you don't dawdle now. Pharloom's time is short, and those hearts won't go on beating forever. If Hornet is Cursed Chapel Maid: Hold it, Old One! That intruder writhing within your shell... Caretaker: Our ritual ain't gonna work while that cruel creature's present. We'd be tugging at its memories as much as your own. Then free me of the affliction. Surely you have the skill? Caretaker: Not for this! Our power's all of soul and that thing's all physical. You're gonna need more traditional tools of healing. Bell Hermit: Seek the one exiled from Bellhart, little Yarnaby. She was chased out into those soaked moors, last I heard. Bell Hermit: She'd have the tools for the task, and the cunning to have survived till now. Exhausted dialogue while Cursed Chapel Maid: Hurry, Old One. The ritual can't commence while you remain host to that writhing root. Bell Hermit: Seek the one exiled from Bellhart, little Yarnaby. She was chased out into those soaked moors, last I heard. Bell Hermit: She'd have the tools for the task, and the cunning to have survived till now.

Locations

The Snail Shamans are encountered as a group in the Ruined Chapel in Moss Grotto.

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  Location in Moss Grotto

Gallery

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  Snail Shamans in the Ruined Chapel

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  Snail Shamans waiting beside the dais

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  Starting the Red Memory ritual

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  After the Red Memory

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  Dead Snail Shaman in Bilewater

Achievements

	{S} Snared Silk
	Defeat Grand Mother Silk and entrap her with the Soul Snare 15G

	{S} Remembrance
	Claim the Everbloom from within a distant memory 15G

Trivia

• There is a fourth Snail Shaman in Bilewater: the Caretaker's cousin, who the Caretaker sends Hornet to fetch the Seeker's Soul from. This Snail Shaman is already dead, and his body is found hung up in a Bilehaven hut before disintegrating after Hornet takes the Seeker's Soul.
• The Snail Shamans can be hit with the Needle, which makes them react but take no damage.

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