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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A shot of a player in the darkness

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 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 logically 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:

Distance from Boston	This is most easily measured by thickness of the darkness The drain will be more severe the further from civilization one travels
Max humour levels	A higher cap allows one to travel further before drain sets in. Humours caps must be balanced; one low humour will drain sooner and faster
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] One torch is more powerful than one pile of wood, 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 in what way they do this is not known. We are not sure if the effect 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 hostile mobs. It has also been rumored that advancing server-wide civilization will push back the darkness boundary server wide. This is only speculation.
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.
Clothing bonuses	Clothing will one day "be relevant for offsetting the adverse effects of low civilization ratings".

Bugs

• Being KO'd by darkness drain will not penalize your stats

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.

• Setting your homestead in a humour draining area is a bad idea

When respawning at a lean-to in a humour draining area, you will immediately be KO'd again. You will then be presented with an option to respawn in Boston.

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

• Settlements:
  • Describe your success/failure at settling in this land.
  • Does the inside of a house negate all the drain outside?

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.