Exceptional Human host.
An invaded person may retain recognisable anatomy while alien tissue contests control. This is an altered victim, not the baseline Human body.
SEEDFALL / FOUR DISTINCT HOSTILE FACTIONS
THE SOURCE
OF THE INCURSION.
The city-sized prison mothership breached.
Alien flesh is spreading out from its wreck.
A game in development by ByteFoundry
Generated concept art · distinct faction study01 / A CAPTIVE RELEASED ON EARTH
The wreck
is the source.
The city-sized alien prison mothership carried Corruption under Caretaker custody. Its breached hull is the source of Corruption's spread on Earth. Tiny buildings and roads beneath it show the scale; the pictured architecture and geography remain visual proposals.
Corruption was primordial before it was carried aboard. The crash released it, rather than creating it. Gaia is the living Earth and Humans are its embattled inhabitants; Caretakers are separate manufactured Machines. The Lazarus satellite from which the player comes is another, Human craft in orbit.
The transport origin, destination and crash cause remain unknown. Identifying the source establishes no universal tether, fixed spread distance or control network.
A city-sized manufactured prison mothership dwarfs coastal districts while Corruption visibly spreads outward from breached containment. Unaffected terrain remains distinct from the advancing infestation. View full artwork ↗
02 / CORRUPTION
Alien flesh.
An outward front.
Vascular tissue, taut membranes and distinct alien body forms advance from the mothership-sourced incursion into territory held by the other three factions.
Alien vascular flesh, membranes and contractile forms occupy an infestation zone, with spreading organic channels leading back to breached containment in the crashed city-sized mothership. View full artwork ↗
Exceptional native host.
An assimilated animal or plant differs from organic native evolution. Earth fur, feathers and bark do not normally contain Corruption membranes.
Exceptional Machine host.
Tissue can enter a breached manufactured frame. The captured chassis remains distinct from ordinary metal-and-ceramic Caretakers and from native Corruption forms.
These captured-host possibilities are text-only design studies. They imply neither automatic allegiance nor a universal conversion mechanic. Read the exceptional cases ↗
03 / CARETAKERS
Manufactured.
Independent. Hostile.
The Caretakers use geometric metal, ceramic, actuators and fabricated machinery. Their baseline bodies have no organic anatomy. Containment, forced reconstruction and resource seizures serve their own continuation.
Independent Caretaker machines have geometric metal and ceramic bodies, engineered joints and hard-edged infrastructure. No flesh, fur, bark or native anatomy forms their baseline. View full artwork ↗
They fight the escaped flesh, attack Human positions and destroy obstructive Earth habitat. A separate captive inside a reconstruction rig is an exceptional intervention, not living tissue hidden inside every Machine.
04 / GAIA
GAIA.
The living Earth.
Gaia is Earth’s living world. Its organic life changes under pressure from the alien incursion and from the destruction inflicted by Humans and Caretakers. This response can close routes, reclaim structures and make occupied land untenable.
Gaia’s living Earth response takes the form of immense woody roots, bark buttresses and layered canopy advancing across scarred ground. The organic Earth materials remain distinct from alien flesh and manufactured Machines; awareness remains mysterious. View full artwork ↗
05 / HUMANS
Human bodies.
Human-held ground.
Recognisable people defend concrete and steel with conventional equipment, fabric clothing and Human-made weapons. Rival enclaves fight one another as well as every nonhuman faction.
Adult Human defenders and rivals use recognisable clothing, bodies, tools, steel and concrete in an armed Earth district. No alien tissue or machine bodies define their baseline. View full artwork ↗
A convoy at the wall
A rival Human group arrives with stolen supplies and ordinary Human equipment. Letting it approach can open an assault; driving it away leaves armed enemies outside. Their danger does not depend on alien grafts.
A route through the response
Breaking a manufactured Caretaker cordon opens onto a route changed by Gaia’s living growth. Clearing it damages the Earth life that is returning there and exposes the column to other enemies. The response remains separate from the Machines and Corruption.
An exceptional captive frame
One seized Machine resists a Human replacement controller while a local Corruption infestation threatens its damaged housing. This contested altered case must be identified separately; it is not the ordinary appearance or allegiance of any faction.