Carapace Cross

"The Carapace Cross is gone, extinct as the dodo or the dragon. Only humans remain. But still my wings unfurl, and still my skin has hardened to scales, and still the facets of my eyes are shining anthracite."

- Things With Wings ending

The Carapace Cross was a collective that preceded the dawn of human civilization, and was presumably composed of intelligent, non-human beings that were implied to be insect-like and who later became extinct; however, the Thing With Wings ending instead suggests they transformed themselves into humans with the potential to return to their former selves. The Carapace Cross worshipped the six Hours known as the Gods-from-Stone: The Egg Unhatching, The Flint, The Horned-Axe, The Seven-Coils, The Tide, The Wheel. In The Songs of the Carapace Cross, Micah Xi relates the rites practiced by the Carapace Cross, which he claims were taught to him by its final surviving member. Since The Lithomachy, most of these rites have become obsolete and produce no effect, but there is one particular invocation associated with the principle that is so powerful and dangerous that it is feared using it might allow the five dead Gods-from-Stone to find their way back from Nowhere.

The Carapace Origin
According to The Manner in which the Alchemist was Spared, the Carapace Cross and humanity may have both been extant at the same time, though this was before humanity ever learned the art of remaking that Flint provided them with, and humans were likely more akin to neanderthals or upright apes than modern humans. Alternatively, this text may have been alluding that early humanity was the Carapace Cross since the text states that "humanity lived in the dark and [...] could enter the Mansus like vermin." This would likely mean that the final surviving member is The Unwise Mortal, a Long or Name who served The Egg Unhatching.

Contradicting the Carapace Origin is the Five Creations text where the scholar, Shohei, claims that humanity did not come from The Carapace, The Glory, The Wood, the children of apes, or from Nowhere. Instead, it indirectly asserts that humanity had consumed it's "parents," that humans evolved from and usurped their ancestors. It might suggest that humanity was of the same cloth as The Moth who had usurped/hunted The Wheel, its progenitor. The Wheel is described much like an amoeba/single cell organism in The Colours That Turn, which would indeed be the precursor to all species. According to In Memory of Gods, "the Moth 'usurped the Wheel from within', stealing its skin." As humanity is a multicellular organism, this is an apt metaphor.

Also notable is that The Wood was not always dark, as described in the Moth Aspect's Palest Painting. It was darkened after the usurpation of The Wheel by The Moth / humanity who had lived in the dark, meaning that they had likely brought the darkness with them. As a God-From-Blood, the Moth is very likely a manifestation of humanity's overthrowing of The Wheel and the other Gods-From-Stone as suggested by Juceh's A Second Glory. The Moth Masterpiece may further support this idea with it's vanilla text, "In the forests of the first continent, our ancestors cursed themselves with their own god."

Books

 * A Second Glory
 * Five Creations
 * In Memory Of Gods
 * The Manner in which the Alchemist was Spared
 * The Songs of the Carapace Cross

Trivia
During the kickstarter for cultist simulator, some names of the supporters have been incorporated into the game. In the case of Carapace Cross, it was taken from someone with the username of "Carapace Xi".