Hollow Knight thrives on chance encounters that turn into fixtures of your journey, and Hollow Knight: Silksong leans even harder into that design. Pharloom’s non‑player characters don’t just chat at benches — they sell maps and tools, seed side quests via public “Wishwalls,” and quietly alter the state of towns, routes, and even boss runbacks. If you talk to everyone and circle back often, you’ll see the world reorganize itself around your choices.

How NPCs work in Silksong

Silksong groups NPCs into a few clear roles you’ll recognize quickly:

  • Merchants trade for Rosary Beads or items and often move as the story advances.
  • Wanderers turn up in multiple regions, evolving their dialogue and sometimes joining fights.
  • Quest givers post requests (“Wishes”) you can track on Wishwalls in settlements.
  • Lore and support characters fill out towns, unlock conveniences, or point to secrets.

Currency matters. Many services, from smithing to navigation, hinge on Rosary Beads, so regular returns to shops and quest boards are as important as boss routing.

Wishwalls and quest types

You’ll find Wishwalls in hubs like Bone Bottom, Bellhart, and Songclave. Talk to NPCs, then check the board: their requests appear as pinned notes you can track across the map. These typically fall into:

  • Delivery: ferry supplies between settlements.
  • Donate: pour Shell Shards into infrastructure (benches, bridges, repairs).
  • Gather: collect specific materials (berries, spines, flint, and more).
  • Hunt and Grand Hunt: defeat target enemy types or named beasts.
  • Wayfarer: locate missing travelers or caravans.
  • Learn: complete bestiary-style documentation tasks.

Tip: whenever an NPC moves on or a region opens, revisit the local Wishwall. New notes tend to appear in step with story beats and ability unlocks.

Merchant NPCs: what they sell and where to look

  • Shakra (The Marrow → multiple regions): the cartographer for Pharloom. Expect maps, navigation pins, and other wayfinding gear — and for her to relocate as you push boundaries.
  • Grindle (The Marrow): a freed snitchbug who starts as an information broker and later sells hard goods. Prices trend steep, but his inventory covers coveted utility items.
  • Forge Daughter (Deep Docks): a bell-armored smith who crafts tools and traps in exchange for Rosary Beads and materials. Check back after major area clears to refresh her options.
  • Jubilana (Citadel → Songclave): a traveling trader who eventually puts down roots in Songclave with a rotating stock of wares and upgrades.
  • Pebb (Bone Bottom): an early shopkeeper exchanging Rosaries for tools. She’ll move on after you clear out her inventory.
  • Creige (Greymoor): runs the Halfway Home inn near Bellhart’s approach, offering restorative nectar and a side path with a few strings attached.
  • Mort (Far Fields): proprietor of Pilgrim’s Rest. Expect a steep entry fee and premium pricing — useful in a pinch, not a long-term crutch.
  • Mottled Skarr (Hunter’s March): an ant trader who barters despite the language barrier. Bring patience — and spare Rosaries.
  • Frey (Bellhart): the settlement’s primary shop after the “Haunting,” stocking household and player-facing items; purchases can visibly change your bellhome setup.
  • Kratt (Greymoor): a rescued flea who operates the Caravan’s spa. He’s as much a systems unlock as a vendor once you fold him back into the group.

Why it matters: merchants don’t just sell — they gate information, map clarity, and key tool paths that open shortcuts or soften resource pressure before big fights.

Wanderers you’ll bump into more than once

  • Sherma: a young pilgrim who threads through multiple regions. He asks for small favors, lends flavor to the pilgrim trail, and becomes a barometer for how dire things have become.
  • Garmond & Zaza: an old warrior and his steed who occasionally show up as guest allies. Tough enough to stand beside Hornet, but not invincible to the forces overtaking Pharloom.
  • Green Prince: encountered in Sinner’s Road, fixated on penance. Freeing him changes how and where you meet him later.
  • Shrine Guardian Seth: a shield-bearing defender near the Citadel’s base; an encounter that foreshadows Pharloom’s deeper guard lore.
  • Trobbio: a flamboyant performer encountered en route to higher reaches; more guidepost than vendor, and loud about it.

Quest givers and what their chains unlock

  • Flick the Fixer (Bone Bottom): the builder behind the town’s Wishwall. Donation quests here rebuild key camp features (including safer benches and routes).
  • Moss Druid (Mosshome): a gather-chain for ingredients like Mossberries. Bring what’s asked and you’ll walk away with practical exploration tools.
  • Fleamaster Mooshka & the Flea Caravan (The Marrow → across Pharloom): a Wayfarer thread to locate missing fleas. Rescue enough and the Caravan offers amenities and an expanded cast.
  • Sherma (The Marrow → onward): peppered favors that reflect the state of the pilgrimage and nudge you toward nearby problems.
  • Seamstress (Far Fields): a materials request that culminates in the Drifter’s Cloak, a crucial mobility upgrade. Expect follow-up work once you’ve proven yourself.
  • Green Prince (Sinner’s Road): a character choice with aftershocks; freeing him opens later content tied to his past.
  • Nuu (Greymoor): a “Learn” questline that asks you to document Pharloom’s wildlife. Completion nets a reward and richer enemy notes.
  • Yarnaby (Greymoor/Bellhart): an exiled doctor whose experimental gear becomes essential when curses and infections start to spread.
  • Zylotol (Wormways): an alchemist obsessed with a blue “Plasmium.” His tasks intersect with the hazardous growths you’ll see throughout the tunnels.
  • Crull & Benjin (Sinner’s Road): roachwranglers with simple tastes; a tidy gather-and-deliver set that puts you deeper into hostile territory.

Tip: hunt quests and caravan rescues stack well with exploration. Pin the note, route a loop through the target biome, and cash in multiple Wishes on your way back to town.

Characters who change towns and travel

  • Chapel Maid (near the Ruined Chapel): one of the first friendly voices after the opening. Sets your sights on the Citadel’s influence and reappears as you return.
  • Caretaker (Choral Chambers): maintains the First Shrine and inadvertently becomes a civic leader once the bells start ringing again.
  • Pavo (Bellhart): the de facto mayor who grants a bellhome and recognizes your contributions to the settlement’s safety.
  • Relic Seeker Scrounge (Bellhart): a long-bodied collector paying out for found artifacts — essentially Pharloom’s Lemm analogue.
  • Pinmaster Plinney (Bellhart): upgrades Hornet’s needle with Pale Oil; prickly at first, invaluable once work begins.
  • Bell Hermit (bellveins): a cloistered cynic tied to the bellways’ history — and not shy about his disdain for the surface crowd.
  • Loam (Underworks): keeps creaking machinery alive the old-fashioned way. Don’t overlook the route he powers.
  • Eva (Citadel environs): a half‑Weaver who strengthens crests when your build hits certain thresholds.
  • Pinstress (Blasted Steps): an elder warrior who teaches charged techniques and, later, challenges your mastery.
  • Lumble the Lucky (Blasted Steps): runs a dice game and leaves behind a charm when fate catches up with him.

Regional highlights: where NPC clusters live

  • Bone Bottom: Chapel Maid, Pebb, Little Pilgrim, Flick, Wishwall. A compact starter loop of shop, lore, and donations.
  • The Marrow: Shakra and Grindle early; the Flea Caravan begins here.
  • Deep Docks: Forge Daughter’s forge, with Ballow assisting.
  • Greymoor: Creige’s inn, Kratt (once rescued), and Nuu’s study.
  • Far Fields: Mort’s inn, Seamstress across lava, Sprintmaster Swift’s race note at the fringes.
  • Wormways: Zylotol’s hidden lab; track his experiment sites from here.
  • Sinner’s Road: Green Prince’s cell, Styx tucked away, and Crull & Benjin in their hut.
  • Bellhart: Pavo, Frey, Scrounge, Pinmaster Plinney — plus your bellhome.
  • Putrid Ducts: the Huntress, whose requests put you face-to-face with ferocious young.
  • Shellwood: Greyroot, a witch whose “favor” carries heavy consequences if you accept it blindly.
  • Choral Chambers/Citadel: the Caretaker and a Second Sentinel that can be reawakened.

Note: a fast-travel network does exist, but you earn it — the Bell Beast goes from encounter to ally after a sequence of events rather than a simple discovery.

Styx and Silkeaters: insurance for risky routes

Deep in Sinner’s Road, the massive Styx emerges after you clear his harassers. Return later and he’ll have produced Silkeaters — consumables that let you recover your silk cocoon remotely when returning to a death spot is impractical. They’re a safety net for long boss runbacks and gauntlet-style climbs, and Styx continues producing more as the game progresses.

Routing tips

  • Talk twice. Many NPCs update their dialogue or inventory after a nearby boss, ability unlock, or Wish turn‑in.
  • Shop before bosses. Map pins, tool charges, and small quality-of-life items often pay for themselves on the first attempt.
  • Front‑load donations that unlock benches or bridges. They shorten every run you’ll make through that area afterward.
  • Pair hunt notes with traversal upgrades. Double jumps, grapples, and glides convert “inconvenient” hunts into quick sweeps.
  • Recheck Songclave and Bellhart after major story beats. Merchants migrate, and new services appear as the population stabilizes.

Why NPCs matter in Silksong

Silksong’s cast isn’t window dressing — they’re the connective tissue between movement tech, exploration payoffs, and narrative pivots. Merchants control your macro (maps, tools, upgrades). Wanderers and lore keep the climb human, grounding a harsh world. Wishwalls turn errands into infrastructure that endures: a repaired bench today means three fewer minutes between you and a second phase tomorrow. And a character like Styx quietly changes the stakes of failure, making experimentation less punishing and new routes more tempting.

If you’re the type who sped past Hallownest’s towns, Silksong rewards a different approach. Slow down in Bone Bottom. Check the board. Say yes to the odd fetch request. In Pharloom, the right NPC at the right moment isn’t optional — it’s how the world lets you keep going.