Dolls Nest Lore [WIP]

The Dolls Nest Lore Guide
A guide to gather as much information about the crater Hod and its Nymph inhabitants

!! THIS GUIDE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION !!

Introduction

Welcome to the Dolls Nest Lore Guide

This guide will not contain any gameplay or mechanic explanations
If you are after a quest guide take a look at my other guide here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3471915819

Visit the Discord to discuss all things Dolls Nest related here:

https://discord.gg/dollsnest

Visit the Dolls Nest Wiki page here:
https://dollsnest.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page

Feel free to post your favourite pieces of lore or theories in the comments.
If you have any questions please comment and I will try my best to answer them!

!! HEAVY SPOILER WARNING THIS GUIDE CONTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT THE SETTING AND PLOT OF DOLLS NEST. IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE STORY SPOILED TURN BACK NOW. !!

Timeline of events

May not be 100% accurate

Start of history
│
> First Nymphs / Last of Hod's Human population die out.
│
> Formation of Arvud
> The Great Proliferation (Creation of the first Combat Frames)
│
> Ascending Hod's levels
│
> Formation of Gypro-Verde
│
> Formation of Gardina
│
> Formation of Alqand
│
> Formation of smaller colonies like Herros, Bau-Khan, Porroko & Favlar
│
> Eden founds the Primary Church
> "Assassination" of Nehma, Shara becomes a Queen
> Creation of the Fabricated Entry Key
│
> Fall of Arvud / Formation of Nagara
│
│
> Variant hordes appear
│
> Middle Level Wars (Gypro-Verde vs. Gardina)
> Destruction of Falvar by Gardina
> Destruction of Nagara & Porokka
> Gardina destroys Falvar
│
> Gypro-Verde's Queen assassinated
> Fall of Gypro-Verde + Rise of Gardina
│
Last Seedling was born

Hod

It's not specified whether the planet Dolls Nest takes place on is Earth, but the crater is called Hod.
Hod a crater houses a megastructure likely designed by Megametria Megacorp for unknown purposes. Hod features multiple large floor levels which house water treatment facilities, residential areas and factories.

Nehma, one of the oldest nymphs has stated that even she doesn't know what lies at the bottom of the crater.

Hod is currently inhabited by synthetic lifeforms known as Nymphs that appeared as Humanity was declining. These Nymphs began to use the human's tools and eventually started to look like them.

We don't know much if anything at all about the world outside of Hod. Did Nymphs ever escape the crater? Does humanity still exist outside of Hod?

Metametria seems to have built the buildings throughout the Hod megastructure, though some of these builds may not have been intentional and could have been build by out of control construction Automata.

Map of Hod

Thanks to the release of the Doll's Nest Orphans manga we now have a map of Hod

Current State of Hod

The Current State of Hod's active factions

Upper Levels [Upturned Forest, Fault, Water Treatment levels]
Currently occupied by: The Republic of Alqand, The Prime Church and it's allies

Middle Levels [The Great Forest, Arboreal Nest, The Bridge]
Currently occupied by: Gardina and its allies

Lower Levels [The Accumulation Zone, The Forbidden Domain, The Tomb of Divine Knowledge]
Occupied exclusively by the Variants

Deep Levels [Central Cavern, Decayed Broodchamber, The Depths ,The Ark]
Central Cavern Currently occupied by: unaffiliated Automata
Broodchamber is Currently occupied by: Nehma, Seedling and her Allies
The Depths is Currently occupied by: Shara and her Guardian, Aria (UnID'd Nymph)
The Ark is Currently occupied by: Nehma's Defense Type Nymphs

Carbon-based lifeforms

Carbon-based lifeforms or simply put 'humanity' were still present during the appearance of Nymphs, though we couldn't be sure that there were very many of them left.
According to Nehma: Nymphs began to mimic humanity by learning to use their tools and learning to look like them. Further more the Republic of Alqand are the closest faction to humanity, by how they have created a government and a religion.

Most notable Metametria was a Construction and Engineering corporation that had a large influence in Hod most likely being the corporation who build all of Hod's facilities and factories throughout the megastructure.
Metametria also happened to be a large scale weapons manufacturer, Nymphs still use their weaponry to this day.

The Circum-Pacific Treaty Organization likely formed by humans operating outside Hod, they seem to be scouting hod via automata, whether they are being deployed from outside of hod or remotely taking over existing automata is not clear at this point in time.

Nymphs

Nymphs are a synthetic lifeform made from Hod's CELL resource, created in the image of humanity, unlike machines these synthetic lifeforms can be born and can grow.

Nehma has also stated that Nymphs are actually a different type of Variant.

It's to be believed that the first Nymphs were appearing while humanity was on a steady decline in Hod. This is shown in Nehma's dialogue about Nymphs stating "The first Machines learned how to use their tools. Then, they started looking like them."

Nerve samples are an organ what had been lost during evolution, but will sometimes reappear in combat Nymphs who have lived long enough. It's been speculated that these nerve cells play a part in a Nymph's evolution to become a queen.

There are 6 Main types, Queen-Types, Combat-Types, Defense-Types, Mechsmiths, Standard-Types, and Seedlings.

• Queen-types
  Queens are crucial for nests as they are the only Nymph that can produce other Nymphs. True Queens are Nymphs with a special organ that have evolved to ascend them to Queens that can produce other Nymphs.
  
  There are such things as "False Queens" like Shara who are incapable of producing new Nymphs, only being able to bare incomplete or parts of Nymphs (Hence why she gives the player Bionic Parts.) These False Queens are Nymphs who have been Parasitized by the Divine Flower which mimics node trees and true Queens. Most if not all Nymphs are absolutely loyal to their Queens some of which would rather die than abandon their Queen and Nest.
  
  For a Queen to produce new Nymphs Pearls are needed, these pearls aren't actually gems but condensed super nutrients so potent that normal Nymphs would actually die from consuming them. I would assume these pearls contain the exact amount of nutrients to produce a Nymph seed.
  
  
• Combat-Types
  As the name implies, Nymphs born for combat with enhanced bodies and nervous systems. Combat Nymphs are stated to be competent born leaders and can handle any combat related tasks with ease.
  
  
  
  
• Mechsmiths
  Mechsmiths are a small type of Nymph who are adept at manufacturing, and born with 4 arms. Though they may be small, once they reach maturity they grow exponentially (about the size of Elp). These Mechsmiths are responsible for a lot of weaponry and frame designs.
  
  
• Standard-Types
  The default configuration for Nymphs after they are born. Standard-Types are the most verstile Nymph as they hold the potential to become anything from Combat-Types to Queens.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Seedlings
  Seedlings are Nymphs born without a Queen or nest. These seedlings often lead other Nymphs astray, those lead astray could even become a Queen if they betrayed their Mother. A wildcard Nymph.
  
  
• Defensive-Types
  Heavily armed Nymphs born only for defense, these Nymphs lack the ability to think, they struggle to move and are overall difficult for a Queen to raise. Due to the difficulties with raising defensive-types their numbers are dwindling.

---

Notable Nymphs their Type & Factions:

The Player / Doll / Nanakino (Seedling) [Progenitor]
A seedling doll created by Nehma in a attempt to regain her body. Not the first but certainly the last.

Nehma, the Progenitor (Queen-type?) [Progenitor]
The progenitor nymph whose body has been pillaged. Guides the Doll on their mission.

Yoyo, the Collector (Standard-Type) [No nest / Progenitor]
A "runt" of sorts too small to be a combat-type, lacked the extra arms of a mechsmith. Yoyo spends her time collecting parts and trash to sell to Nanakino. According to the manga, Yoyo quite literally fell out of her nest.

Elp, the Crafter (Mechsmith) [Progenitor, Herros?]
A fully grown mechsmith Nymph likely hailing from Herros, not much is known about her.

Yashica & Mushica, the Mechsmith Twins (Mechsmith) [Formally Nagara, Progenitor]
Renown mechsmith twins hailing from Nagara their work is known on all levels of Hod.

Hati, the Pilgrim (Combat-Type) [Formally Alqand/Prime Church, Progenitor]
A Pilgrim deemed a heretic by Alqand's Prime Church on a pilgrimage to find the truth about Hod.

Gilli-Vell, the Wanderer (Combat-Type) [Gypro-Verde]
One of the few surviving Gypro-Verde nymphs on a quest to avenge the destruction of her nest.

Aja, the Travelling Merchant (Standard-Type) [Interloper / Alqand?]
A travelling Merchant from the Upper Levels who met an unfortunate end by the Mist.

Yodo, the Investigator / Blade of the Mist (Combat-Type) [Gardina]
A blind special operations nymph from Gardina.

Vorg, the Fallen Soldier (Combat-Type) [Formally Gardina]
An old Nymph who defected from Gypro-Verde to Gardina before the conflict between the two nests.

Calrod, the Coward (Combat-Type) [Gardina deserter]
A cowardly Gardina soldier who also met an unfortunate end by the Mist.

Silas, the Believer (Standard-Type) [Alqand, Prime Church]
A devout priestess of the Prime Church.

Eden, the Godslayer / Head of the Prime Church (Mechsmith) [Alqand, Prime Church]
One of the nymphs who killed Nehma, head of the Prime Church of Alqand.

Sheol, the Divine Child (Standard-Type) [Alqand, Prime Church]
One of the puppets of the Prime Church, revered as a deity by the Church.

Leki, the Fallen Soldier (Combat-Type / BOSS) [Nagara]
One of the few remaining Nagara nymphs guarding the entrance to the Tomb of Divine Knowledge.

Commando Luz (Combat-Type / BOSS) [Gardina]
One of the nymphs protecting Gardina's vault.

Commando Orka (Combat-Type / BOSS) [Gardina]
One of the nymphs protecting Gardina's vault.

Goshka, the Vault Captain (Combat-Type / BOSS) [Gardina]
The nymph in charge of guarding Gardina's vault, commands a small squad of guards.

Unidentified Combat Frame, Aria (Combat-Type / BOSS) [Shara? / Unknown Colony]
A mysterious nymph who guards the entrance of the Ark in the Deep Levels.

Shara (Queen-Type) [Arvud]
A "queen" type nymph who knew Nehma. Despite being a queen she cannot birth new nymphs.

<<Below this line are not seen in-game only mentioned in text>>

Nagara (Queen-Type, formally Combat-Type) [Nagara]

Gardinian Queen (Queen-Type) [Gardina]

Herros' Queen (Queen-Type) [Herros]

Porokkian Queen (Queen-Type) [Porokka]

Bau-Khan's Queen (Queen-Type) [Alqland]

The Progenitor Nehma

The progenitor, Nehma is a deity-like Nymph that the player will meet in the Decayed Broodchamber.
The player, was born for a single purpose; Retrieve Nehma's pillaged body.

The Doll (the player) is not the first "doll" Nehma has birthed as shown in the manga adaptation.

Eden killed Nehma to prevent her from ending the world.

Before the start of the game, Nehma was Attacked and Eden. Nehma body was separated into 6 parts: Her left and right eyes, Her main body and the Choral, Motile and Ethereal vestiges. Each of the 3 vestiges was supposedly entrusted with one of these vestiges for safe keeping.

Experimentation
Unsure if this was before, or after Nehma was "killed" by Eden. Nehma's body was experimented on.
I believe Eden's goal was to attempted to make a God in her image to better control the Republic of Aqland.

Nehma's body was separated into 6 parts, her left and right eyes, her 3 vestiges and her main body which was impaled on a spear.

In the Alv413 G2 Varches - MB mentions a progenitor, unsure if this refers to Nehma or possibly Sheol, the Divine Child.

Her left eye

A spherical object. Its purpose is unknown.
It resembles the optical organs of carbon-based lifeforms, as well as Nymphs.

Her Right eye

A right eye with an iridescent gleam.
It has fused with it's current owner and cannot be separated.
Only by possessing it are you considered a disciple of the Progenitor, and granted access to the forbidden domain.

Her Choral Vestige

An object of unknown purpose.
An archetype cell, the progenitor of all cells.
A supercondesned data medium. That which records all information within the world is itself a world of its own. Perhaps this world, too.

Her Ethereal Vestige

An object of unknown purpose.
An archetype cell, the progenitor of all cells.
You can feel it, and yet it has no weight. Is it an illusion? Perhaps, something else. Something that doesn't exist. At least, not in the way you do.

Her Motile Vestige

An object of unknown purpose.
An archetype cell, the progenitor of all cells.
A formless object, continuously shifting and changing.
It changes forever so as to suspend forever.
Occasionally, it vanishes, leaving only the void.

Fabricated Entry Key

An object abandoned during its testing phase. It resembles some sort of eye.
To the queen who feared a godless world, the Godslayer said: "If God be needed, she shall be made."
Before you lies their failed attempt. Or perhaps, the ability to replicate but one of God's functions should be celebrated as a monumental leap forward.
Having realized that the creation of a Goddess was a foolhardy endeavor, the Godslayer chose to start with something else: A Queen.

Nehma's About dialogue

Reference Page

 this page is here to document Nehma's dialogue most likely will remain once this guide is done

---

About Upper Levels:
"The upper Levels... They're governed by Alqand. It's not a single colony but a collective of smaller colonies. Republics, goddesses... they seem to enjoy acting like carbon-based lifeforms. They're cunning people, you should be careful."

About Middle levels:
"The Middle Levels are Gardina territory. They've always been at war, and Gardina has always been at the front lines. They're Nymphs after all. The strong win battles. They Take all. And strength is decided by firepower. The Middle Levels are that simple. But simplicity is their strong suit."

About Lower Levels:
"The Lower Levels... Nowadays it's a nest for Variants. They use all kinds of tricks to weaken their prey, and devour them while they're vulnerable. Without countermeasure, you'll be eaten before you know it."

About this place:
"The Nymphs call it "Hod". You should too. A massive, endless cavity where machines wander aimlessly. Masterless. At this point, we don't even know how far it goes."

About Nehma:
"Can't you see? I'm a corpse who had everything stolen from them. Even a proper death... …Aren't I a pity? That's why you should take back my body."

About me:
"Pointless. Don't think about that. You are my puppet, my doll. Born only to take my body. That's all you are."

About Cells:
"A resource, discovered by those carbon-based life forms, long ago. Its properties can be molded. it can be transformed. It even self-replicates. Most things in hod are made of cells, Even Hod itself. Some use it as a form of currency, too."

About Automatons:
"Tools. Originally made by those carbon=based lifeforms. Some are still left over. Others multiplied automatically. Some were even built by Nymphs. Now its hard to tell which is which."

About Nymphs:
"Bipedal children, just like you. Kind of like those carbon-based lifeforms, too. The first machines learned how to use their tools. Then they started to look like them. That's pretty much it."

About Node Trees and Transferring:
"Your data gets transferred through a network via a Node Tree, Then, you're reconstructed on the other side. …The "You" who gets broken down into data, and the other "you" who gets put back together... Are they really the same "you"?"

About Queens:
"For a Nymph to spawn new Nymphs, they must first become a Queen. The tree of the Queen Mother bears fruit. And together, they build their nest."

About Seedlings:
"They're Nymphs but also not. Seedlings are Nymphs who are not born from a Queen. They have no Queen nor nest to protect. They wander about, leading other Nymphs astray. Those led astray can even become Queens themselves, betraying their own mother. Without them, things would stagnate. Boring. It is important to stir the pot, now and then. Good luck with that."

About Standard-types:
"As you'd expect, they're standard, normal Nymphs. Most Nymphs are standard. They aren't specialized in anything, but it also means that they can do practically everything. …Which means they do everything. There's always more to take their place."

About Combat-types:
"These Nymphs have enhanced body functions, and quick nervous systems to match. Not only are they skilled in combat they're also born competent leaders. Be it combat or warfare, when it comes to fighting, they can handle anything."

About Frames:
"That's what you're wearing right now. Equipment built for combat Nymphs, to draw out their maximum fighting potential. A second body if you will. Only after they've donned their frame, can a combat Nymph prove their merit. That goes for you, too."

About Mechsmiths:
"Those are Nymphs that are particularly adept in manufacturing, crafting... They aren't small in number, but they don't come out much. I doubt you'll see them often. They use their four arms for servicing when they're smaller. Once they're large enough, they manufacture. As you can guess, they can build any machine Aside from Nymphs of course."

About Defensive-types:
"They're Nymphs that are tasked with defense. That's really the only reason why they're born. They can't think. They can hardly move. They're difficult to raise, so there aren't even that many. But they have absurd firepower and durability. If you see one, you should run. If you keep your distance, they wont attack. …Or rather they can't attack."

About Alqand:
"A handful of colonies that own most of the Upper Levels. A group of nests, calling themselves a "Republic". Nests are supposed to be created around the Queen mother. And Nymphs are to carry out her will. But Alqand doesn't serve a Queen. They serve an imaginary being."

About the Prime Church:
"They're the de-facto governing body of Alqand. …It's all a farce. A fabrication, and their the architects. It all started when they replaced their Queen. They made a discovery. A useful one at that... Instead of destroying other nests, they could turn Queens into puppets. Spread their gospel. Annex them. That's how Alqand and the Prime Church came to be."

About Gypro-Verde:
"It's an old nest, but apparently it was destroyed by Gardina. Probably stabbed in the back while while they were fighting Variants from the Lower Levels. The Queen of Gardina was born from Gypro-Verde, too. Textbook matricide, really. You'll see it a lot in Hod. Consider it... a healthy metabolism."

About Gardina:
"Currently the largest power in the Middle Levels. Nothing special about it, really. They slaughter outsiders, and take what they need. Warriors are the highest caste. The rest are just slaves. You know. Just your average Nymph nest."

About Variants:
"Being that were born in Hod, by Hod, entirely untouched by those carbon-based lifeforms. They weren't born with blueprints. so as the name suggests, there's quite a lot of variance to their appearance. Nymphs talk as though they're above them, but Nymphs are variants too. Just another kind."

About Colonies in the Lower Levels:
"Nest in the lower levels? There used to be many in the past. Nagara, for example. That was in the lower levels, I think. When was... Variants began to appear in hordes. Most, if not all of the Colonies in the lower levels were swallowed up in the outbreak."

About Arvud:
"Arvud? Ah yes... We're standing there right now."

About Shara:
"So she hasn't died yet? She's the Nymph who became a Queen. Though, I'm not sure if I'd call her a Queen, per-se... If you're ever in the mood, you should give her a hand."

List of Colonies & Factions

Upper Levels

The Republic of Alqand - Current governing body of the Upper Levels. The Republic is not a single colony but a collective of small colonies, which do not serve a Queen, but a deity/god or as Nehma puts it an "Imaginary being".

The Prime Church - The Prime Church was created by Eden, likely just after she slew Nehma and experimented on her body. The Church is used to control and annex smaller colonies located in the Upper Levels. The Church's figure head is Sheol, the Divine Child who is found at the highest level of the Water Treatment Levels guarded by Eden and her Royal Corps.

Bau-Khan - One of the Republic's smaller manufacturing colonies. Bau-Khan manufactures various firearms and combat frames. The Republic generally only kept Bau-Khan around because of their unique and novel design concepts.

Middle Levels

Gardina - Current sovereign of the Middle Levels. Gardina crushed the weakened Gypro-Verde nest while they were fending off the Variants from the Lower Levels after the fall of Nagara.

Herros - A trading colony allied with Gardina. Herros produces many weapons to sell to neighboring colonies. Herros mainly survives off of trading with other nests without it, it would not have survived for as long as hit has.

Gypro-Verde (Extinct) - Former sovereign of the Middle Levels that was wiped out during the Middle Levels war between Gardina and Gypro-Verde. Gypro-Verde was famous for the quality of their armour created for their combat-type Nymphs.

Lower Levels

Nagara (Extinct) - The former governing body of the Lower Levels. Nagara was wiped out during the outbreak of the Variants. Nagara has a Japanese-like culture which can be seen in the names and designs of their weapons, frames and clothing.

Arvud (Extinct) - The primordial Nymph nest located in the Lower Levels. Once it's Queen dies

Favlar (Extinct) - An extinct colony from the lower levels that produced most of the firearms found in the Lower Levels, SMGs in particular.

Porokka (Extinct) - A colony that would create either really intricate or really crude weapon and frame designs. Porokka seems to have specialized in aerial combat which is seen in some of their lightweight designs.

Metametria Megacorp (Defunct) - A previous age corporation that predates Nymphs (Human?) who produced very early designs of both kinetic & energy based weapons. The corporation's logo can be spotted all throughout Hod, it is likely that Metametria is responsible for building the facilities and buildings in Hod.

Deep Levels

Unknown Colony (Presumably extinct)
The Unknown Coloy posseses highly advanced materials and technology that has never been observed in the other colonies to date.

> Upper Levels

The Republic of Aqland

The Republic of Alqand is the largest governing body in the Upper levels of Hod, though they're not a large colony, they're made up much smaller nests.

The denizens of the Republic do not follow a Queen, but instead they follow a Deity, Aurum. The Primary Church is built around Aurum. Nehma refers to Aurum as an "imaginary being".

In the Republic those who do not abide by the Church are branded as heretics and are executed. Such an example is Hati the Pilgrim who talks about the progenitor, once Hati had made it to the Primary Church in Alqand, she was immediatly branded a heretic and was ordered to be executed.

Eden had some issue with the deity Nehma and slew her, with Nehma's body Eden had begun experimenting on it to try and recreat the powers Nehma had. Nehma's right eye seemed to have the power to dispel the red barriers found throughout Hod, and presumably create them.
One of these experiments resulted in the creation of an item called Fabricated Entry Key which looks very similar to Nehma's eyes.

Curiously, the sky and sun that can be seen from the water treatment facilities is false.

Production facilities Lazarus and Cysus:
The Lazarus production facilities is often producing high-output energy based firearms capable of circumventing a targets armour for Alqand's forces.
Not much information is available about the Cysus production facilities besides that its as old as the Lazarus facilities. If Lazarus could not deliver the Prime Church will look to Cysus for a solution.

Notable Alqandian Nymphs

Eden, the Head of the Prime Church / Godslayer

Sheol, the Divine Child

Silas, the believer

Hati, the Pilgrim

Bau-Khan

A small manufacturing colony of the Republic of Alqand located in the Upper Levels, known for it's unusual inventions and exceptional firearms.

Bau-Khan Primarily manufactures kinetic weapons, but does not shy away from energy weaponry. Which is oddly different compared to other Upper Level colonies who primarily use energy based weaponry. Though different Bau-Khan consistently produces weapons that are versatile and effective.

This colony developed a shotgun with a suppressor that caught the attention of Gardina, who would then ask Herros to produce replicas.

After the fall of Nagara due to the Variant Hordes, the mechsmith twins Yushica and Mushica travelled around and passed on their knowledge. Bau-Khan received the prototype thermal greatsword. Bau-Khan would complete the sword and designed it to be a mult-function weapon that could draw energy from the users combat frame.

Although Bau-Khan mainly dealt in arms that did not stop them from trying their hand at Frames. Bau-Khan successfully developed the MMC036 and CMC041 quadruped mobility modules. Some speculate that the development of the heavy-grade MMC036 was a response to Alqand's newly adopted MB, however due to its features and weight Bau-Khan didn't have any other choice but to add more limbs.

With the Development of the MMC036, the CMC041 was a unarmored version of it designed to be spare parts for the original, though the high production costs of multipedal units outweighed the advantages of producing light-grade frames.

Eventually Bau-Khan found favor with Alqand because of their creative and novel designs of their weaponry and frames, this likely found them a spot inside of their Republic.

> Middle Levels

Gardina

The Middle levels are currently ruled by the largest Nymph colony; Gardina.

Gardina was formed from a dissenter who originally was from Gypro-Verde. This dissenter would become the Queen of Gardina.

Gardina is a hostile colony that rules over of the Middle Levels. Gardina has a symbiotic relationship with the Herros Nest, Gardina will commission weapons and frames from Herros.

Gardina has a caste system in place, the colour of one's clothing determines your caste. Currently Gardina's military holds the highest caste. If a Nymph is not in Gardina's military they are most likely a slave.

The Mist

Gardina poses their frontline tactics as breaking through defenses with overwhelming firepower. However it is all a diversion for Gardina's special operations unit "Mist" who infiltrate and disrupt enemy lines.

The operatives of the Mist are actually blind, using their other senses to find their targets. Notably these operatives also do not have a scent, Seedlings on the other hand, have a distinguishing smell. Yodo states that the Seedling smells like the underground caverns.

The Mist's standard issue combat frame Savcan, was developed by Herros at Gardina's request. The Savcan combat frame has been tuned by Herros technicians to be Lightweight, fuel efficient, but most importantly silent. Originally the Savcan frame was designed for sniper units and is fitted with a high powered scope built into the hanger module and a short-term optical camouflage unit based off of leaked data from Alqand.

Though the Savcan combat frame wasn't originally designed for present day Mist operatives, it still more than enough for these operatives to complete their assigned objectives.

Gypro-Verde Conflict

Gardina was a originally a small colony that was formed after a dissenter had split from Gypro-Verde and became a Queen, steadily Gardina would grow its numbers and start designing and producing it's own Frames and weaponry.

One of Gardina's first combat frames to be deployed against Gypro-Verde at it's peak, the HNF T05A2 DRAG was a heavy-grade with high driving power and durability but suffered from a lack of mobility. The lack of mobility presented in these frames were its biggest detriment as they were out-maneuvered by Gypro-Verde's forces, the DRAG frame would be discontinued.

Following the failure of the DRAG frame Gardina would continue revising the designs, this resulted in the MRF T05A6 WALV, a mid-grade wheeled frame based on existing Gypro-Verde designs. After failed skirmishes with Gypro-Verde examined one of the WALV frames, Gypro-Verde would deem Gardina as a non-threat and refocus it's attention on combating the approaching Variants. Though the WALV did not succeed in combat it did succeed in diverting Gypro-Verde's attention to other matters.

Gardina specialized in overwhelming numbers and firepower, but also had to adapt to how they were fighting their enemies during the Middle Level wars. Gypro-Verde was known for how their armour was nigh impenetrable leading Gardina to pivot on what kind of weapons were used,
Gardina started producing and commissioning flame based weaponry to circumvent Gypro-Verde's strong armour by incinerating the armoured Nymphs.

Gardina had taken advantage of Gypro-Verde's weaken state from defending themselves from the Variant hordes from the Lower Levels. While weakened, A Nymph named Vorg was able to infiltrate Gypro-Verde and assassinate the Queen with a Gardinian sniper cannon.

During Gardina's campaign against Gypro-Verde it is suspected that Alqand was supplying both Gardina and Gypro-Verde technology to balance out both of the powers in the Middle Level.

Post Gypro-Verde Conflict

Even after the fall of Gypro-Verde Gardina continued with production of armour-piercing weapons much like Gypro-Verde's obsession with producing larger caliber weapons, ironically making these two enemy colonies similar.

It is most likely that after Nehma was killed and scattered into parts the vestige that Gypro-Verde was entrusted with was claimed by Gardina when Gypro-Verde fell. Nehma's vestige would be stored in Gardina's vault, which is guarded by 3 Nymphs; Commandos Luz, Orka and Goshka, the Vault Captain.

Notable Gardinian Nymphs

Vorg, the Fallen Soldier / Old Defector

Vorg is a former Gypro-Verdian Nymph who Gardina's elder sister, Vorg became Gardinian when she joined Gardina's colony. During the Gypro-Verde conflict Vorg was deployed with the HNF T05A2 DRAG combat frame and a Herros made sniper rifle that was customized so much that it barely resembled the original rifle.

Vorg herself states that she raised the Nymphs of the Mist, she is likely the original Mist Nymph who instructed Yodo and any potential other Mist members. It's currently unknown if Vorg had the same qualities of members like Yodo, such as being blind or having no scent.

It's possible that Vorg had a say in some of the the Mist's Savcan combat frame designs, as the Savcan hanger module was equipped with a power scope. A scope that current Mist members don't use, due to these Nymphs being blind.

Towards the end of the Gypro-Verde conflict Vorg would infiltrate the Gypro-Verde colony and assassinate the Gypro-Verdian Queen with a Gardinian made sniper cannon. This feat would earn Vorg the Queen slayer title among her fellow Gardinians.

Being born before, and surviving the Gypro-Verde conflict Vorg is an old Nymph, when the Seedling finds her hiding in the Great Forest, she is unable to move due to the age and damage of her parts. Having already accepted her own death at the hands of her protégé, Vorg would tell the Seedling to leave her be, however this would not happen. The Seedling would deliver new parts to Vorg, allowing her to move and fight once again.

Vorg would eventually kill her protégé Yodo, exploiting the fact that Members of the Mist are not instructed on how to fight the Mist. Yodo would not survive her final encounter with Vorg.
Vorg would pay her respects to Yodo by giving her a grave and marking it with her own sniper rifle.

Yodo, the Investigator / Blade of the Mist

Yodo is a blind Gardinian combat-type Nymph in Gardina's special operations unit the "Mist". During and after the conflict with Gypro-Verde, Yodo was deployed with the Herros-made Savcan combat frame and the AR T19A1 DRANGRA, a suppressed Gardinian assault rifle.

Yodo was raised among the other Mist Nymphs by Vorg who could be considered the Original Mist Nymph. Like with most if not all Mist Nymphs Yodo is blind and relies on her other senses, in particular, her sense of smell.

After the fall of Gypro-Verde Yodo would have the task of eliminating interlopers, deserters, and defectors, however Yodo's main task was finding Vorg to kill her, attempting to take advantage Vorg's weakened state. Though Yodo would never be able to find Vorg until she wanted to be found. Ultimately Yodo would die whether she found Vorg or not, either being killed by her, or being killed by the Seedling.

Gypro-Verde

The former ruling colony of the Middle Levels, which was betrayed by one of their own, resulting in Gardina's rise to power.

Before Gypro-Verde's conflict with Gardina, Gypro was fully focused on holding back the Variants on the Lower Levels, as well as facing small scale skirmishes from Alqand. Gardina had begun developing their own frames after seeing a report on one of their models, Gypro-Verde would declare Gardina, a "non-threat". This would be one of Gypro-Verde's defining decisions that would lead towards it's destruction.

During the war between Gypro-Verde and Gardina, Gypro-Verde would suffer a betrayal by one of its own, now crippled Gypro-Verde would be crushed by Gardina's forces. Gardina had learned that despite Gypro-Verde's impenetrable frames and armour their forces were suseptable to fire. Many of Gypro-Verde's Nymphs were burned to ash.

Gypro-Verde's sole survivor would Gilli-Vell who fled to the Lower Levels in search of a relic weapon to avenge her Queen and nest.

Mentioned in the SSC T08A3 GAR, a Nymph used this sniper cannon and assassinated the Queen.

Notable Gypro-Verdian Nymphs

Gilli-Vell, the Wanderer

Gilli-Vell is a heavily-armoured Gypro-Verdian scout Nymph deployed with the HamzMund2 wheeled combat frame.

During the siege of Gypro-Verde Gilli-Vell was supposed to take part in the charge against the Gardinian forces to protect the Mother Tree. however, Gilli-Vell was instead sent after a 'traitor' mechsmith who possessed a weapon capable of destroying Gardina. Gilli-Vell would single-handedly break though one of Gardina's offensive lines surrounding Gypro-Verde in pursuit of the Mechsmith and weapon, Gardina would soon break through Gypro-Verde's defences and destroy the Mother Tree.

While searching for the aforementioned weapon Gilli-Vell would travel down from to Middle Levels to the Lower Levels. After meeting the Seedling, Gilli-Vell request the Help of the Seedling in finding the weapon she was sent to look for. The Seedling would find a message addressed to Gilli-Vell. The message was a long winded apology for being selfish and sending Gilli-Vell away so she would survive Gypro-Verde's destruction.

Depending on the Seedlings actions regarding the message, Gilli-Vell will end her life by jumping into the pit below hod in the Central Cavern if not given the message. If the Seedling gives Gilli-Vell the message and she learns the truth, she will move the Decayed Broodchamber to sell the Seedling the items she has collected so far.

Herros

Herros is a trading colony located in the Middle Levels of Hod that mainly produces weapons and frames for trade.

Many of the weapons produced in Herros are usually traded to the Larger Gardina colony also located in the Middle Levels. Herros may primarily a trading colony but it is capable of defending itself from other colonies, Herros' transporters are adept enough to defend themselves from subjugation from the other colonies that seek to claim its advanced technological prowess, so far no colony has yet to succeed. Even Gardina sought trade over conquest.

Weapons like the Helz are commissioned by other colonies such as Falvar. In the Helz case Falvar couldn't afford to pay for the machine pistols, instead they were sold to Gardina.

Herros would also be commissioned by Gardina to replicate Bau-Khan's suppressed shotguns, likely meant for Gardina's covert operations unit the "Mist".

Herros' designs don't use similar types of model names like other colonies as they don't use part numbers all of Harros' manufactured designs have unique names. ie: Helz, Boldr, Avdra.

Herros not only dealt in arms but also developed Combat Frames. One of which was a custom built Heavy-Grade Beast Combat Frame for a Nymph from a small colony. This Combat Frame was designed more towards melee combat which was reported to decimate waves of Gardina soldiers while defending a base by itself. This frame's armour was centred around the user's rear and was fitted with an autonomous counterstrike system that attacked enemies that stuck the rear armour, which made it difficult to tell which way the Nymph was facing. It is currently unknown who piloted this frame or which colony they're from.

Herros' Ferde frame was primarily designed wheeled with speed in mind mainly for the colony's couriers, it was fast enough to escape from any pursuers that would attempt to harm the couriers. If the couriers do get into combat standard practice is to use themselves as shields to protect their cargo.

> Lower Levels

Nagara

Nagara used to be a colony found in the lower levels which is now extinct.
Nagara had a Japanese-esque culture as seen from their Nymph clothing.
Nagara also specialized in close combat, this was reflected in their design philosophy when creating weapons.

Queen Nagara was once a combat-type Nymph belonging to the primordial nest Arvud, she made a name for herself by proving that melee weapons were still viable in combat. When Arvud's queen had fallen Nagara became a Queen and formed the Nagaran colony, currently unsure if Arvud split after Nagara evolved into a queen.

Did Nagara form from the Arvud or did it split off like the case with Gypro-Verde and Alqand?

With Queen Nagara's keen interest in melee weapons, Nagara's forces rarely used firearms which were usually frowned apon. Although before Nagara's rule while she was still serving under Arvud, she was gifted a handgun and would later go on to develop a series of techniques involving using a handgun and short sword in tandem. This handgun from Arvud was faithfully repoduced in Nagara until the destruction of the Nest.

Notable Nagaran Nymphs

Leki, the Fallen Soldier

Leki, the Fallen Soldier is a Combat-type Nymph Guarding the only remaining entrance to the Tomb of Divine Knowledge. It is currently unknown if she is Guarding to keep us out or the Variants in. She also could be a defensive vanguard to keep the Ethereal Vestige safe.

Leki's frame loadout wouldn't stand out much among the Nagaran Nymphs. She used the Kashima heavy-grade frame, a large hammer with thrusters mounted on one end, and a shotgun-shield. Her gear made her nothing short of a tank.

It's currently unknown how Leki has survived for so long before meeting use considering how hostile the Lower Level environment is since the Variants took over. For whatever reason Leki was entrusted with Code Fragment γ one of the 3 codes to access the Depths.

Yashica & Mushica, the Mechsmith Twins

Yashica & Muschica are a pair of renown Mechsmiths hailing from the former Nagara colony.
After the fall of Nagara the Twin traveled around to the remaining colonies to pass on what remained of Nagara's weapons development and technology.

The twins would visit the Bau-Khan in the Upper Levels and gift them the prototype thermal greatsword. Bau-Khan would finish the prototype as well as adding their own technology, resulting in LBH091 thermal greatsword that could draw energy from the user's frame, amplifying its effectiveness.

After arriving at the Decayed Broodchamber, the Twins would meet Nehma's Seedling Nymph who gave them the Twin Cocoon. The Twins would use the cocoon to forge the Type00 MNK Sabi, the pinnicle of Naragan weapon developement.

It is said "Once unsheathed, it is said to bring about the end of the world. All will become the "Sabi" upon the blade that is its namesake." Perhaps the phrase "All will become the "Sabi" means that the world will fall into beautiful ruin.

Arvud

Arvud is called A Primordial Colony located somewhere between the Deep Levels and the Lower Levels. Arvud was responsible for developing and producing the first generation of Frame technology.

It is still unknown how Arvud developed the technology for Frames some may believe that it is only with the help of an outside influence / extraterrestrial lifeforms was production made possible.

A dissenter broke away from Arvud, became a Queen and founded her own nest in the Middle Levels. This is most likely Gypro-Verde.

After ascending the Central Cavern all the way to the Upper Levels, Arvudian Nymphs settled with a new Queen and Claiming Alqand.

Arvud once possessed the knowledge on how to access the Node Tree Roots and travel to them without being near to a Node Tree. Thought the Root Access Codes are still scattered around, no colony has been able to reproduce the codes.

Nehema says we're standing there right now. (Broodchamber is in Arvud?)
Arvud was the original Nymph nest occupying the Lower Levels, it's Queen was named Arvud. When Queen Arvud died, a Nymph named Nagara rose up to power and became the next Queen and the nest became Nagara.

Nehma could possibly be the first Queen, and original ruler of Arvud. After her "death" Shara would attempt to keep Arvud "alive". Shara was once a Nymph but has transformed into something like a node tree. Most likely the result of using a "Divine Flower" (which is a parasitic Variant) (I believe use of a Divine Flower turns the Nymph into a sort of False Queen as the flower description states that it mimics nodes trees and other Queens. This would explain why Shara cannot produce new Nymphs.)

Porokka [TO DO]

Porokka is a extinct colony located in the Lower Levels, this colony was wiped out by the hordes of Variants.

During the Variant wars Porokka developed a Large Bubble Field Cannon, Porokka funneled all their vital resources to develop a weapon that was ultimately ineffective against the Variants. This left many others confused as to why Porokka spent so many resources on it.

Many of Porokka's first frame designs were wheel based, however with the increase of Variants appearing. To counteract these Variants Porokka turned towards the sky and started developing aerial focused frame technology, and began retro-fitting their existing wheel frames which allowed Porokka that the sky is where their frames truely shined. Unfortunately not even the skies could save Porokka from the Variants.

One theory states that Porokka was attempting to develop a new plasma-based propulsion engine, and the Barcar cannon was a byproduct.
Records report that Porokka purposely detonated the last of their fuel reserves, incinerating themselves and the surrounding Variants.
The surviving Porokkans had planned to use the aformentioned plasma engine to escape to the Middle Levels with their Queen. There are two outcomes of this story:
A) The plasma engine backfired resulting in detonation, incinerating the remaining Porokkans.
B) The remaining Porokkans escaped Hod and became free, this however is highly unlikely.

Had the Porokkans escaped into the Middle Levels it is likely with their dwindling numbers they would have been slaughtered or enslaved by Gardina. (Assuming Gypro-Verde had fallen already.)

Favlar

Extinct Colony: Favlar (Lower Levels)
Favlar was an advanced colony located in the Lower Levels, now long extinct.

In response to the rising number of Variant threats, Favlar began development of the FW323 Clest, a rapid-fire submachine gun tailored for efficiency against unarmored enemies. The Clest proved highly effective in close-quarters engagements. However, despite its performance, it ultimately couldn't keep pace; Variants always outnumbered the bullets.

To adapt further, Favlar engineered the FC101 Bostm Combat Frames, built to endure the increasingly toxic environment caused by the Variant outbreak within the Forbidden Domain. The Bostm design featured reverse-jointed legs to minimize ground contact and integrated masks to reduce corruption buildup.

Favlar also experimented with thruster modules for the Bostm Frame, aiming to keep them aloft above the deadly smog. This approach showed promise, until the Variants adapted. Flying and long-range types emerged, rendering that strategy obsolete.

There are indications that Favlar may have reached out to the Herros Trading Colony to commission a flame-based firearm, leading to the development of the Helz Machine Pistol. However, after the weapon was completed, Favlar refused delivery citing inflated pricing. Reports state: Gardina troops were seen using the Helz machine pistol to topple Falvar while weakened from defending itself from the Variant hordes.

> Other Factions

Unknown Colony

A Nymph Nest rumored to possess technology and materials unlike anything seen before.

Arvud is believed to have designed the first generation of combat Frames. However, the origin of its technology remains a mystery. Some speculate that external forces were involved. As the first known Nymph Nest and one that was eventually destroyed Arvud fits the profile of a now-extinct colony with access to anomalous technologies beyond anything any current colony possesses.

This lost technology is believed to have been used to create one of the most enigmatic Nymph combat Frames ever encountered.

The xxx SSX Frame is likely a product of such advanced technology, possibly remnants from Arvud itself. It incorporates neural link systems though notably, the link appears to have no lasting effects on the pilot. Its thrusters are composed of highly unusual material, distinct from any known tech.

The Unidentified Combat Frame (Aria)

To make this section more readable, I will refer to the unidentified Frame as Aria.

Aria first appeared in the Doll’s Nest PV, where she is seen in the Lower Levels, staring toward the central spire. She is encountered in-game within the Depths of Hod, just outside the Ark. This suggests one of two possibilities: either she originated from Arvud (which was located in the Deep Levels), or she came from beyond the Crater Hod.

She is seen inspecting a damaged Automaton tank similar in design to the first boss of the game. Upon spotting the player, Aria initiates combat. Midway through the fight, she activates her Frame’s utility module, enhancing her capabilities dramatically.

Her Frame, the xxx-SSX type Combat frame form data has never been recorded before using technology and techniques not displayed in any other existing nests, most likely originating from a nest in the Deep Levels no one has ever seen before.
This Unknown Colony is also likely responsible for the development and creation of the xxx RAM and xxx Shilis armaments.

Whether this colony still exists has yet to be determined. Aria's right arm has been lost and replaced with a prosthetic featuring a channel along the elbow and forearm, designed to load a plasma oscillator reminescent of the Type-39 LCS Mitsuha used by Nagara.

Her recorded Frame Form is designated "Black Steel."
Aria does not remember her name, nor the reason she fights.

Speculation/theories

You could theorise that Aria could be remnants of the Arvud colony, due to her loose relation to Shara but neither Shara or Nehma, have anything to say about it.
Same could be said for the Circum-Pacific Treaty Organization, but again theres no evidence to support it
There is also the possibility Aria could be one of Nehma's "dolls" who abandoned Nehma's mission. (This would be pretty cool if it turns out true.)

METAMETRIA MEGACORP

Metametria was the most prominent corporation left over from when Humanity still inhabited Hod.

It is most likely that Metametria is responsible for the numerous factories and facilities found throughout Hod dating back to pre-Nymph history. They're also responsible for producing the oldest working weapons in Hod we've seen so far. Metametria had designs for many different weapon types making several designs in kinetic, beam, explosive, and compress weaponry. Metametria would name their standard weaponry after melee weapons and shields such as, Gladius and Scutum, and their more experimental weapons after weapons of myth like Caladbolg and Balmung.

Metametria started and stopped many projects for whatever reason such as the case with the Caladbolg Armour-piercing Beam Rifle that was discovered in the Lower Levels by Nagara. Unaware to Nagara that the Caladbolg was actually a firearm, they instead used the long form of the rifle as spear shafts.

Metametria also happened to solve the energy crisis affecting humanity by designing and producing high-capacity small-scale batteries. Though this did little to stop any ongoing conflicts.

It is unclear whether Metametria was designing these weapons to fight automata or humans, perhaps both.

It could be speculated that Metametria are the ones who created Nymphs and that the facilities below the Lower Levels were designed to create and study Nymphs.

Circum-Pacific Treaty Organization

The Circum-Pacific Treaty Organization is assumed to be operating outside of Hod. One of the CPTO's current missions is the investigation of the "Self-replicating strategic weapon" code named "Dolls nest".

The first and only mention of the CPTO & S-RSW are from the talking Automaton Head after giving it a body and moving to its 1st location in the Accumulation Zone. This leads me to believe that the CPTO is operating from outside of Hod, hence the Automaton investigating by itself.

The Automaton will continue to investigate the Lower Levels at its own detriment.

Who is the CPTO? Why are they investigating the S-RSW? (Dolls Nest)

Where is the CPTO? Are they operating in or outside of Hod? Is the CPTO Humans? Nymphs who made it out of Hod? or both?

There is no other mention of the CPTO or Dolls Nest in items, weapons and frames.

Variants & Automatons

Variants are insect-like lifeforms seen on the Automata found in the Lower levels they often look similar to tick-like parasites. I believe they attach themselves to Automata or Nymphs to control them like zombies (or something of the like).

When asking Nehma about Variants, she will state that "Nymphs are variants, just a different kind" which could mean that Variants could be a kind of mutation in CELLs causing a "Halo-esque" flood infection.

Variants are responsible for the destruction for the colonies located in the Lower Levels such as Nagara and Porokka. Some time before the events of the game A horde of Variants appeared in the Lower Levels and laid waste to the nests. These nests could not hold out against the sheer numbers of the Variants.

The Variants found in the Forbidden domain make use of the environment polluting it with a gas like poison that causes corruption.

Variants are also collected and store in air-tight containers to be used as medicine to aid in afflictions.

---

Automata
The Automata found throughout Hod come in many shapes sizes and purposes. Many of these Automata are left over remnants from when the carbon-based lifeforms roamed the Earth. Some are built in automatic factories or are designed and built by Nymphs as seen in the Upper and Middle Levels of hod.

The Automata found in the Middle Levels are heavily armoured and are installed with power weaponry. Some Automata are installed with flamethrowers designed to incinerate any opposing Nymphs invading the Middle Levels.

The Automata found in the Upper Levels are designed with range and saturation attacks in mind, this is possible due to the armaments installed by the Republic of Alqand which are mostly energy based weapons. Some of these weapons can cause a overload in a Nymph's targeting module causing a severe decrease in a Nymphs accuracy.

Misc & Notes

The Great Proliferation: Before the Great Proliferation, Nymphs were a weak and feeble race dwelling in the Lower Levels. Arvud the Primordial Nest had started development of "Frame" technology resulted in the production of the first known frame "Tropaion" which catapulted the spread of Nymphs throughout Hod.

Prior to the Great Proliferation, Nymphs were hunted down by roaming Automata and killed. this is likely the main reason for the development of Frame technology as a means of defending themselves and fighting back.

Relationship between Nehma, Shara, and Eden:
I currently believe Eden and Shara are responsible for "killing" Nehma, Eden outright admits it and also posses' part of Nehma's body and this is also backed up by item descriptions refering to her as a god killer or slayer.

Shara was likely involved as she refers to Nehma and usurped her place as Queen of Arvud.
*Reminder to ask community about exact dialogue of Shara (ain't no way my ass is farming more pearls again) whether she willing did this to herself or it was forced upon her is still unknown.

Is the Progenitor mentioned in dialogue refering to Nehma?
Is Nehma the former Queen of Arvud?
How does Nehma know so much about the goings on of Hod despite being having been impaled on the spear in the decayed Broodchamber? Is she omniscient?

Why does Eden want to create a god? Is it just to control more colonies via the Church? Does she have a further goal?

Keep an eye out for any mentions of "Pacific" and "Dolls Nest" ingame these are mentioned by the automaton head.
What is the "Circum-Pacific Treaty Organization" could this be an organization from outside of Hod?

Could the Self-replicating strategic weapon codenamed "Dolls Nest" refer to A Nymph Nest?

Q: Why did I choose the name Aria for the Unknown Combat Frame Boss?
A: A little bit of a reference to the name Vaatividya gave to the painting girl from Dark souls 3's Ashes of Ariandel DLC, and the definition itself being "an elaborate, accompanied solo song within a larger musical work" was kinda thematic since her OST is mostly solo vocals.
A name like Raven referencing Armored Core might've worked better...

Change log

18/05/26

Added Change log
Added Aria to Nymphs tab
Added descriptions to notable nymphs on the Nymph Tab
Changed Yoyo's faction to [No nest / Progenitor]
Added Map of Hod tab
Added a small detail to the Metametria tab regarding weapon naming conventions.
Removed Format testing tab
Removed Brief hiatus tab
Changed Introduction tab
Added minor details to Variants & Automata tab
Added information about Lazarus & Cysus Production facilities in the Aqland Republic Tab
Added the reason I picked Aria as the Unknown Combat Frame's name on the Misc tab

19/05/26

Added some extra info in the Unknown Colony tab
Added link to the Dolls Nest Wiki in the Introduction tab

[avenger94]

Also, from above:
"Eden killed Nehma to prevent her from ending the world."
Actually, based on various interactions, Nehmra was secretly controlling Nymph society, using her seedlings to lead other Nymphs astray and keep alliances from forming or one colony becoming dominant, forcing Hod into a constant state of small scale warfare. Eden discovered this and led a rebellion against Nehmra.
Its only after Nehmra was destroyed that things went south for the Nymphs, without Nehmra no new Queens could be formed (Nehmra was also the one granting access permission for Nymphs to evolve into queens), and without her to control them the variants went wild, destroying all colonies on the lower levels and threatening the mid levels.

[avenger94]

@かわいいアィギッノス
Another theory for the state of Hod's levels could be the prevailing circumstances. The Upper Levels are united by the church and see little actual fighting, hence everything is maintained and largely intact. The mid levels are a warzone and have been for decades, perhaps even centuries, hence the degradation. Notably, once you enter the Arboreal Nest, presumably part of Gardinas inner territory, you can see that the buildings are in a far better condition.
Meanwhile, the lower levels are basically abandoned to the elements after a series of apocalyptic battles against Variants, which saw the majority of the Nymphs there, and all the colonies, wiped out, and the area is generally abandoned save for the odd Nymphs down there for whatever reason.

[avenger94]

Responding to the poster whom mentioned this
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3483984511
based on the manga I believe these might be some form of data interface point, though the one in the manga is a solid tower as opposed to this thing.
Also the manga confirms that Nehmra is also the name of the OS/central control system of Hod. Assuming these are one and the same, it is highly likely that Nehmra evolved from the core programming of Hod itself and later engineered her own body for reasons of her own design. It would also explain why her nymphs are born from none-queen trees, and why seedlings (Nehmra's nymphs) can move between and regenerate at the node trees.

[mie001]

@かわいいアィギッノス Check "Circum-Pacific Treaty Organization"

[かわいいアィギッノス]

Did anything ever specify hod as earth to begin with? does it even matter if it's earth or not?
and why center story around humans again. I think game is about Mech girls go pew pew and this is how coherent they could make it after they are done with the concept art and the cool pew pew tech. Again I need to get to N1 jlpt fast.
I don't agree with the mining part, the buildings don't seem like a mining, seems like human living and lots of pipes everywhere. water treatment? why nymphs still need to treat water?

[かわいいアィギッノス]

Upper levels are built better but maybe it's because the nymphs learning, but idk why middle levels are still sucky. is upper levels hospitable to nymphs, everything seems to want to kill the player and what doesn't seem like fellow seedlings not attached to queens (except nema which apparently you're aligned to somehow?).
the CPTO seems kind of silly, humans exist? so what all this story for, why let this go on. It seems more like aliens. who don't cares about hod. maybe human who escape but knows humans don't live down there anymore? or maybe sending that one to see if there is? but isn't hod earth in a big megastructure? or just crater in earth, idk, the crater in earth is underwhelming for eons of species extinction. I need learn jp more.

[かわいいアィギッノス]

So corp makes buildbots, and also weapons because reasons, buildbots make too much consuming human consumables, then make killbots to kill the buildbots because weapons not enough w/ human, something happens (human?) makes different form that not carbon based to break the vicious cycle, those called "variants", but actually didn't solve thing, make hod more inhospitable to carbon-based, and then several era of mutations later and extinction events. Now things worshiping other older things as god and cycle continues but build bots dead too now (I never see them, the buildings all crumbly). Maybe I might speculate better after exploring upper levels and so on.

[Jinhong91]

Space-faring Humanity would then discover this alien planet with a giant crater and tried to colonize it and subsequently discover Cells, which helped to solve their energy crisis.
Metametria Megacorp then builds the megastructure that we see in-game in order to mine and harness Cells.
Only a space-faring humanity would have the resources to build these giant megastructures.
This megastructure also has facilities that manufactures weapons autonomously, implying that there's some interplanetary conflict that humanity is involved in.
Humanity being extinct on Hod would make more sense this way.
Hod could have just been a mining and factory colony, possibly under attack the enemy at one point in time, and it became less important as the conflict drags on

This would explain why humanity would never visit Hod again.

[Jinhong91]

After some thinking about it, Hod cannot be on Earth, Hod is either the planet or the crater of a alien planet.

The reasoning is this, the game takes place in a giant crater.
If this crater is on Earth, then it means that there was a giant meteor that created this crater.
But such a meteor would definitely wipe out humanity that's mostly bound to Earth.
Since Nehma refers to humans as Carbon-based lifeform, that implies that nymphs and varients are not carbon-based lifeforms, perhaps silicon-based lifeforms instead, making alien to Earth's ecosystem.

Therefore Hod being an alien planet seems more likely.

[Jinhong91]

I don't know if you know this but you can sort of guess the age of the characters based on their form data. The name of the form data is named after the date. Based on this pattern, it sort of matches the characters and the events that happened. It also reveals some surprisingly insight like how Hati is older than we think and the Nymph from the Unidentified Frame Unit boss fight at the bottom of the depths is only slightly younger than Nehma herself.