The Hollows

A Hollows is a ghost of a miner or explorer killed by cave-ins, trapped from the afterlife in the stones that killed it, which now encrust to its ethereal form. Some suggest that this is a punishment for reckless greed in life. Hollows are, as the name suggests, hollow— a hard, stony crust animated by a spirit that, without its shell, is little more than a wind that can occasionally makes spooky noises. They continue to wander the tunnels they did in life, making the noises of rocks grinding together, but nothing relieves them of their torment. They’re not hostile unless disturbed, but are quickly defeated using picks and heavy weapons to smash them apart. They linger around abandoned mineshafts and can often be found guarding valuable ore veins.

Sometimes they accumulate ores or fungi from the caves around them, giving them special abilities that make each unique. Most have Slowness, Mining Fatigue, Resistance, and Strength; some may be golden and have Haste; others with rarer ores may have Regen, Absorption, or Fire Resistance; and a rare few may produce AOE effects like Darkness, Hunger, or Weakness that debuff those fighting it. It all depends on the ores encrusting them, allowing their abilities to be telegraphed to the player.

Killing a Hollows yields Stone, Cobblestone, and other rocks; the Ores that the Hollows carried; and rarely, enchanted tools and armor that the Hollows carried in life. When a player dies below Y-level 0, there is a small chance for their corpse to rise as a Hollows. If so, their angel chest can only be claimed if they defeat it.