Darkness

This page is under construction. Only few have explored the darkness and fewer still shared their findings. We will continue to update this page as more is revealed.

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The further one ventures from Boston, the more untamed the wilderness; mountains spring forth, water pools in great lakes and forests sprawl miles wide. Eventually even light itself is quelled by the lack of civilization, and the land becomes gloomy. In this land that man's presence is despised by nature itself, and nature itself moves to snuff him.

The Darkness is also said to be home to unique biomes. Explorers have reported biomes they have "never seen before" whilst exploring the Darkness. Although the thoroughness of their exploration might be called into question, we know for a fact that certain biomes only appear far from Boston, so it follows that certain biomes would only appear farther from Boston.

Humour drain

Far from Boston light levels begin to drop. At a certain distance from Boston[1] humour drain will begin, depending on the character's humour caps. For example, a character with stats of 25/35/34/29 will see the drain in their blood humour first, and closer to Boston. Even the weakest of characters will only see drain in areas with a visible gloominess. The further into the Darkness this character moves, the more extreme the humour drain, and the higher their humour cap will have to be to resist it. The factors that effect this drain are:

• The current distance from Boston

Most easily measured by thickness of the darkness

The drain will grow the further from civilization one travels

• The character's humour caps

A higher cap allows one to travel further before drain sets in.

• Food consumption

If the healing rate of food eaten exceeds the drain of the darkness, the result will be a net gain. As such, food is only viable in lesser darkness or with the aid of:

• Light sources

Although not able to stop drain completely, light will lessen it[2] (this will make healing with food easier)

One torch is more powerful than one wood pile, and can be used to quickly 'spam' wood piles in an emergency. Groups of players each with a torch will have less humour drain together than spread out.

In development

If no source is listed, please consider these merely rumors. Although I recall reading/hearing these from reliable sources you do not have to trust my memory! If anyone can provide a link to confirmation, please add it to the footnotes.

• Advancing 'civilization'

Churches have been said to counteract the Darkness(source), although little is know as to how. We are not sure if this will be only inside churches, or a radius around them, or if they will not affect the drain and will only act as protection against:

• Unique creatures

It has been confirmed(source) that the darkness will be home to unique creatures that new players should not have to deal with. Development diaries (such as the one on witchcraft) often display creeping creatures in dark areas.

• Unique item spawns

It is also confirmed(source) that unique items will spawn in the darkness, though we have no indication of what these might be.

Bugs

Over the Salem IRC channel:

Tael: Also Loftar: I have found that being KO'ed as a result of drain in the darkness does Not cause you to lose any stats. Is this intended, or a bug?

loftar: Hm, that is indeed not intended. I'll have to look into that, Tael.

Further research

Since KO's in the darkness have no real penalty at the moment, now is the perfect time to gather some research. I have compiled a list of things I think this page needs. If you can provide any please find Rushmik on the IRC and we can chat. I try to give as much credit as possible in the footnotes!

• How far can you get, and what was your strategy?
• Screenshots:
  • Various levels of darkness
  • Unique biomes
  • Stat drain points
  • A scared looking pilgrim clutching a torch in deep darkness, or something else worthy of this page's main image.

• Settlements:
  • Describe your success/failure at settling in this land.
  • Does the inside of a house negate all the drain outside?
  • How does respawning at a dark lean-to function? Do you KO again immediately?

Footnotes

1. The distance to the darkness is consistent North and South (confirmed by SkippyDippy) and assumed to also be East and West
2. Research by Tael confirms that light sources cannot completely stop the drain, but will slow it. Tael found the point at which his humours first started to drain, created a large amount of light and still found that his humours were draining, albeit very slowly. He also brought a low-humour friend and found the same to be true.