Pilgrims
Entity Classification
| Aggressiveness | 0/5 | Pilgrims are seemingly incapable of any form of retaliation. |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency | 4/5 | Pilgrims can be found anywhere in the Backrooms, but not frequently. |
| Intelligence | 5/5 | While often passive or ignorant of their environment, Pilgrims have displayed an intelligence beyond most humans. |
| Pritoria Index | 3/5 | While intriguing, Pilgrims are of no major interest to Wanderers beyond a curiosity to encounter, or an object to salvage, but the latter is considered taboo. |
Photograph of a passive Pilgrim instance. Location unknown.
Description
Pilgrims are man-sized mechanical objects found throughout the Backrooms. While complex in form and design, far beyond human capabilities, Pilgrims are limited to moving forward in a single direction indefinitely, often found roaming the many halls of the Backrooms.
Pilgrims are also capable of speech, but most refuse to speak. Those who communicate do so through a speaker fitted along their neck, and all Pilgrims have the same voice.
Behaviors
When encountering an obstacle Pilgrims will attempt to move around or over it until they are able to continue moving forward. If Pilgrims are incapable of finding a way around an obstacle they simply stop. Pilgrims can often be found within pits where they have fallen, and regardless of its depth, they will not make any movements unless they are removed from it.
Composition
Pilgrims themselves are man-sized humanoid machines, hunched over and leaning on a pilgrim's staff, covered by a shell resembling that of a segmented marble or bronze statue, but the material itself is unknown. The statue itself usually is a depiction of a notable historical figure- Pilgrims resembling Abraham Lincoln, Socrates, Mehmed the Conquerer, and Franz Kafka have all been encountered and documented.
Pilgrims are composed of exceptionally durable and sturdy material, and even when destroyed continue to function. Pilgrims reduced to their barest parts are able to move in some capacity and appear to retain sapience.
The durability and the continued animation of these components make reusing and reshaping the parts of Pilgrims difficult. Salvage of Pilgrims is rare, difficult, tedious, and taboo, therefore most Wanderers do not believe it is worth the trouble. Further still, few groups can actually make use of the parts obtained, if any, given their complexity.
Encounter Log
Preface: In 2011, a Wanderer equipped with a video recorder provided the following log, wherein they located a Pilgrim that was willing to communicate. This log was attached due to its significance.
Reportedly, the Wanderer was exploring The Office alone when they encountered the Pilgrim, despite the fact that The Office is usually devoid of entities.
Wanderer activates the camera, pointed towards an active Pilgrim walking down a hall away from the individual, who slowly approaches from behind.
Pilgrim: …and I was rendered apart, reduced to barest components, bones exposed to the wind and rain. I wept for that city below, whose populace was unaware of my punishment for them.
Wanderer is now directly behind the Pilgrim, who appears to be unaware.
Pilgrim: What flesh is this, that man had elected to ignore it, leaving myself to rot in the air and the waves of the ocean, seafoam crackling against my skin?
The individual moves around the Pilgrim, allowing for a view of their face, which is that of Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States.
Pilgrim: My eyes turned towards Babylon above, diseased as it were, for forgiveness, and found nothing but apathy descend from the heavens.
Wanderer: What does that mean?
The Pilgrim continues walking but appears somewhat shocked for a moment.
Pilgrim: It means nothing, nothing at all. It is nonsense, it is rabble, they are empty words, lacking purpose.
Wanderer: Why do you say them, then?
Pilgrim: There is nothing else to say. Should I provide advice to you, a traveller of this wretched thing? No, for I have no wisdom to offer.
Wanderer: Aren't you a traveller too? A Wanderer?
The Pilgrim shakes their head.
Pilgrim: Travelling implies this journey is something I chose to do. Wandering implies I endure this punishment aimlessly. Both are false in their own ways.
Wanderer: So you're being punished? Punished for what?
Pilgrim: You all will know, in time. You, like me, are doomed to live, and you, like me, suffer for our respective fates.
Wanderer: So you're like a copy of the man you resemble?
Pilgrim: No, Cleveland has nothing to do with anything at all. He is dead, and the dead have nothing to say to us beyond their silent demand that we, on the contrary, live fully, to live a life they could not have mustered, dead as they are, and dead perhaps too soon or taken in a way unfitting.
Wanderer: I don't understand.
Pilgrim: Now do you see why my descendants and ancestors often refuse to speak? So much confusion from such little flesh.
Wanderer: But what does any of that mean?
Pilgrim: Nothing at all. We are exiles, you and I, locked in a maze without meaning, enduring, for we are both machines with no purpose.
The Pilgrim ceased to respond to any further questions. The Wanderer continues to follow the instance until it walks off the ledge of a destroyed room, falling into The Office's depths.
Discovery
Pilgrims have always been a part of history in the Backrooms, with records of their existence dating back hundreds of years. It is unknown where they come from, who or what constructs them, or why they act the way they do.
It is believed that Pilgrims serve no purpose whatsoever.