First Visit (from Lighthouse Dock):
It isn't long before you lose track of the Dock behind you.
It disappeared over the apparently small horizon of this bizarre place, leaving you on this narrow wooden pier, destination unseen.
But just as you're about to give up and try to walk back, the sound of rushing water grows and grows, the sea underneath the pier ahead roiling and surging upwards.
A vast wave emerges from the formerly calm waters, engulfing both you and the pier. You hold your arms out to brace yourself, but the water does not touch you.
It merely rushes past, obscuring your vision, though you can vaguely see the wooden planks beneath you twisting under your feet.
The water gradually recedes, and you are met with the glare of suddenly harsh sunlight... and a dizzying view.
Almost a silhouette against the sun, a massive vista of red stone fills your vision. Behind you, the pier is still there, somehow melded with the earth, stretching off into the uniform plane of water from whence you came.
You are now on a treelined cliff, walking towards a winding path leading to some sort of gate.
And that's when you realize what you're looking at: windows, monolithic walls, doors... it's a city. An entire city, hidden beneath the earth.
The wind softly blows, but other than that, the world is deathly quiet. Your footsteps echo as you approach the gate, squinting past the buildings... only to see more.
The gate itself, you find, is clogged with hastily built stone, as if someone had built their home directly in front of the city's entrance.
"Magnificent, isn't it?" A familiar voice from behind you says. You turn to see the hermit from before, sitting in the shade of a tree. Is he following you? "A great city, like rolling hills of stone."
"It is only one of many places here. Forlorn, empty places, crawling with Shades of the past." The shadow creatures from before. You've caught on to their names by now.
"None of these places have names, but some Explorers have seen it fit to christen them with their own titles. Personally, I find it a bit too proud for my tastes, but I can think of no better name for this place than the one given to it..."
"This is the Forsaken Metropolis," He smiles, pointing off to the side of the gate. Following his finger, you spot a gap in the walls. An entrance. "Take care within, won't you? Wait to die, until you have quenched the flames of hatred."
You nod, and head inside. The alley you find yourself in is cramped and smelly, and as it slopes upwards, you soon find that the cobble beneath your feet have been replaced by aged rooftiles...
-HIGHLANDS DISTRICT-
The alley doesn't open up much. And after a time, you realize that there seems to be nothing but streets the size of alleyways.
Your path leads upwards, and through the increasingly mazelike streets, which seem to have been built without any regard for whether it was possible or practical to live in them.
You've seen several buildings without doors or windows. Some seem to be complete homes, but the ceiling is too low to stand in. Or maybe there's just one small room. Or the front door opens to a brick wall.
Did that one just move? But more than anything else, you see stacking buildings.
This senseless act seems to pervade the city, with the lower, older ones being crushed, compressed until they are simply part of the ground, part of the mountainous structure that is the Forsaken Metropolis.
Shades weave in and out of doors, and any that approach you are summarily cut down, but you cannot fight forever. Your body grows weary, but then, you spot light!
You trudge upwards, finding an inactive Beacon! With a touch, its inner light shines bright, rejuvenating your spirit and healing your wounds.
THE BEACON SHINES AGAIN
Light the way for those behind you.
You rest at it a while, gathering your strength. But the worst is yet to come.
You open the door to the building you have found yourself in,
and brace your body against the howling winds. You are in the upper part of the city now, standing on the rickety wooden rafters. The moldy skeleton of the city.
Shades swarm over the planks, mindlessly bashing nails with hammers, building infinitely onto the city. From this height, you see the true horror of the city: its overwhelming size.
In all directions, the Forsaken Metropolis sprawls, blanketing what little of the horizon you can see, rising and falling like waves, or foothills.
You can only wonder what truly lies beneath, in those hollow mountains of stone...
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
AREA OVERVIEW:
The Highlands District is intended to be the first true area of Mortal Souls, but by no means is it simple. The streets of the Forsaken Metropolis are claustrophobic and mazelike, and it is easy to get ambushed out of nowhere.
Explorers must be light on their feet and observant if they intended to pass this first challenge. Its main purpose is to make such awareness second nature to the Explorer, so they can deal with more complex challenges in later areas.
Additionally, in the latter parts of the District, there are many instant-death pits and drop-offs, and many opportunities to be knocked into them by powerful Shades. This teaches Explorers that gravity is their greatest enemy.
(Difficulty Level: [2] Threatening)
APPEARANCE:
The Highlands District leads from the entrance to the heart of the Metropolis, leading Explorers up through winding streets and windswept rafters, to the City's Peak.
The sheer size of the city around is surreal, and the heights to which the Explorers are forced to climb are dizzying. It is this strange place that first shows just how alien the Aeon Ruins are.
BOSS: VAPOR GUARD (The Silent Sentinel)
A bizarre film of opaque mist blocks your path to the city's peak. But as you touch it, you feel a gentle pulling, and you are guided through. But the mist turns solid behind you; it seems the Ruins want you to move forward.
A figure stands alone in the bountiful mist, but as a gale whips past, its form is exposed.
A warrior stands, still as a statue, in an ornate bronze armor, with silver trimmings. He hold a large sword, pointed down, with both hands.
Hesitantly, you move to greet him, only to spy a grim detail: on his sword, and in the chinks in his armor where usually skin would be visible, are clicking pieces of metal: machinery.
As you notice this, the thing twitches to life, moving with a stilted gait as it brandishes its clockwork blade.
Its visor, bereft of eyeholes, flips open on its own, revealing an empty helmet.
And with a loud, droning noise that seems to go on forever, fog gushes out of the hollow, flooding the precarious arena you have become trapped in...
Zdzislaw Beksinski
BOSS OVERVIEW:
The Vapor Guard is the first mandatory boss of Mortal Souls. It is alright if you die against Penumbra, but against the Guard, you must attain victory to continue.
Compared to the bizarre, yet still organically moving Shades, the Vapor Guard is an odd foe, attacking with weird timing. It forces the Explorer to learn the specific patterns of its attacks, and strike back in between them.
Additionally, halfway through the fight, it becomes stronger, lengthening its blade and holding it with both hands, giving its hits more oomph. This is a duel to the finish.
DROPS:
Misting Core Soul
A Soul that constantly exudes mist, ticking occasionally.
An early Explorer walked the Highlands District, but fell off the scaffolding to his doom. Unfortunately for him, his corpse, and his Soul were found by the ever industrious Shades. He was made into a clockwork guard of the city he once explored, fighting his fellows against his will.
Use this poor Soul to gain a large amount of Souls, or else create a unique treasure with its essence.
Connections:
Lighthouse Dock [HUB]
Mansion of Dusk
Hill of the Skylights [THE WILDS](LOCKED!)
-MANSION OF DUSK-
SHADE DISPERSED
The shadow lessens.
But the light that borne it will never fade.
After a long and painful battle, the Vapor Guard falls at your feet.
You breathe heavily, still on edge from your brush with death. Did you die? You swear you might have... once or twice.
You look down, and find that you can see through your fingers. Yeah, you died. But no matter.
Death is hardly a hindrance in this place, as long as you have the will to move on. You descend from the peak, retreating from between the stone buildings to a sudden outcropping of trees.
Some sort of grove?
A Beacon waits for you in a small clearing. Your hand reaches into your pack, and you withdraw a Phantasmic Eye, a small stone that pulses with the strength of the Phantasm.
You hold it before the Beacon, and as the light sweeps over it, its disintegrates, and its power flows into you. You watch as your skeleton grows back beneath your ghostly skin.
Flesh regrows, sinews sew themselves back together, and you take your first breath in your newly reformed body. You rise, and soldier on.
YOU HAVE BEEN REBORN
The Body gives the Mind identity.
The Mind binds the Soul.
And the Soul sustains the Body.
The trees open up to massive plot of land, with shattered stairs leading up to an overgrown, abandoned mansion.
Underneath the dying grass, you see the remains of old buildings, and the city rises up like a bowl around the palace.
It is approaching evening now, and the half-light casts a drab pallor over everything.
Whether you charge into the manor or explore the grounds, you must move forward...
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
AREA OVERVIEW:
Just as Explorers have conquered the Highlands District, they are presented with a difficulty spike in the form of the Mansion of Dusk.
A far cry from the previous area, the Mansion proper is dark and difficult, with many floors, multiple layers, and countless rooms.
It also forces the Explorer to bring a light source or scramble around in the dark... unless of course, they decide to avoid the mansion entirely and take the alternate route through the Hedge Maze.
It is a massive labyrinth, and a Minotaur waits within, relentlessly hunting the Explorer down. It is a multi-form area, with multi-form challenges.
Additionally, the Skeleton Key is found here, necessary to access Monument, and the Killing Fields.
(Difficulty Level: [3] Dangerous)
APPEARANCE:
An old noble bought a large plot of land, and cleared away the houses that once stood there, leaving thousands homeless in his greed.
A great Mansion was built there, but now it has been abandoned and overgrown, a hive of vermin and a hovel for brigands.
The huge grey manor seems to cast a pallor to the world around it, turning even its verdant gardens and hedgemazes withered and grey.
BOSS: MIDAS DEVIL (The Spark of Avarice)
Your journey through the mansion grounds leads you outside once again, to an garden courtyard full of grey plants that struggle to survive... and a myriad of solid gold statues, frozen into poses of anguish.
From between the hedges, long gangly legs step out, tipped with sickly yellow talons.
An unbelievably tall creature walks into view with a casual gait, face blank save for its permanent fanged smile, horns adorning its bald head.
It is dressed as a parody of a nobleman, demonic wings and tail sprouting out from a ruffled vest.
It reaches down, plucking a rose from the ground, and in its grasp, it turns to solid gold. The imp puts it into its front pocket and wheezes with what might be laughter.
It gives you an exaggerated bow, with a mocking flourish of its arms. You scoff and ready your blade. You've had enough of it already.
Retrieving a twisted cane from thin air, it twirls it in the air as it saunters toward you...
Art by AnotherSpecter
BOSS OVERVIEW:
The Midas Devil is fast and wild, compared to the slow and methodical Vapor Guard, but is relatively fragile. His attacks have deceptive range, so Explorers must always be on guard.
His attacks can also manipulate the golden statues around the arena, obstructing movement.
DROPS:
Tarnished Gold Soul
A Soul that exudes a sickly yellow glow.
The Midas Devil was not a true demon, but rather a mischievous imp that gained great power through repeated Soul contracts with mortals. It had the power to create gold, and the human hunger for money is insatiable.
Use this greedy Soul to gain a large amount of Souls, or else create a unique treasure with its essence.
Connections:
Highlands District
Sanguine Court
Unending Woods [THE WILDS] (Unlocks from this side)(LOCKED!)
-SANGUINE COURT-
SHADE DISPERSED
The shadow lessens.
But the light that borne it will never fade.
Its grin twisting into a pitiful frown, the Midas Devil falls to its grotesquely thin knees, and hardens into solid gold.
You idly push over its body for your own amusement as you continue on your way.
Beyond the courtyard lies a misshapen tunnel, carved through the stone and wood of the buildings, as if torn by huge claws.
The ambient temperature rises as you proceed, leaving you sweltering in your armor. The tunnel opens up, leaving you in a hellish landscape.
Harsh contrasts of black and red burn into your eyes, the roaring fire engulfing the city around a massive castle.
A citadel of smoke-stained stone rises in front of a winding bridge, almost a silhouette with the sun resting just above its pinnacle.
Alone, the castle stands, stark against the inferno. Only the charred frame of the city can be seen within the flames...
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
AREA OVERVIEW:
The Sanguine Court is meant to be the first major stumbling block for Explorers. As the first area in Mortal Souls with a Soullight Demon, it is large, complex, and contains powerful Shades to fight.
It is meant to encourage Explorers to visit other areas in the Aeon Ruins, whose paths they may have opened up on the way to the Sanguine Court. After completing other areas, the Explorer may be strong enough to face the Court.
But it can also be a lesson in elemental resistances, as many enemies and hazards within use fire as a weapon.
If an Explorer uses fire-resistant armor, or is simply skilled or powerful enough to push through, they are rewarded with a plethora of options after defeating the Living Furnace.
The arrival at the Sanguine Court provides both an epic location for the first major battle, and signals the growth of the player as an Explorer.
Past this point, the game no longer pulls any punches, leaving Explorers to either master the intricacies of the Aeon Ruins... or perish.
(Difficulty Level: [4] Terrifying)
APPEARANCE:
An ancient, ruined castle, standing alone in a bowl of flame that clings to the black skeletons of the buildings around.
Embers continually rise from the inferno, casting the court in a crimson glow.
Charred flags still wave from the ramparts, tossing and turning in the howling, hot wind.
The inside is ruined, but untouched by flame, leaving a faded image of the home the knights that used to rule the city.
Tapestries are torn, great tables and bedrooms and shattered and left to dust...
SOULLIGHT DEMON: LIVING FURNACE (Eternal Hate)
You climb your way to the top of the castle, where its upper throne room seems to have been torn apart.
And as you walk through the mist, you feel a great shadow wash over you, pulling you forward, pressing against your skin like a receding tide.
The world is black for a moment, before all that blackness converges on a stone perch and vanishes, where a glistening mass basks in the heat of the twin flames above and below.
The mass shifts. It rises, and two cold blue flames burst into existence, roiling in steel eye sockets. Glaring.
With a roar like crashing metal, the thing leaps onto the broken throne, crushing it further. It's a dragon, or something fashioned to look like one.
Instead of scales, it has skin of steel, and in place of wings or spines, weapons litter its back. Shattered, embedded trophies of its kills. Fellow Explorers, most likely.
It rears up, and between its fangs and between slats in its bulbous belly like the door of a furnace, tongues of flame whip and flare. You grip your blade tightly.
This thing, this abomination whose flames of hatred ignite your blood... This all-consuming shadow, blocking out the light of hope... You are here to end its twisted life. And you'll die as many times as it takes...
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
BOSS OVERVIEW:
The Living Furnace is likely the first Soullight Demon Explorers will face, and as such, it is on an entirely different level than what they have faced in the Forsaken Metropolis thus far.
It is gigantic, meaning even its more mundane attacks have a wide range, and with metal flesh, it will take many blows before it finally falls. Using the flames of the surrounding city, it can even make itself stronger, and its fire hotter.
Its main weakness is its size, which means that Explorers can easily try to flank it from a blind spot, but near the Living Furnace, nowhere is safe. This is a battle they may need help on, from fellow Explorers.
DROPS:
Coal Demon's Soul
The shadow-casting Soul of the Living Furnace. It is unbearably hot to touch, but does not burn.
The Living Furnace is not native to the Aeon Ruins, but to Wuuheim. It was created in the latter days of the war, and when no more use was found for Demons, banished to the Badlands, where no harm could come to anyone. Somehow, it found its way here, to this crucible of soothing flame.
Use this smoldering Soul to gain a large amount of Souls, or else create a unique treasure with its essence.
DEMON BANISHED
The Shadow's power has weakened...
But the Phantasm still approaches.
With a final strike, the great metal dragon writhes in pain, its body collapsing in on itself. Its inner fire erupts outward, blinding you and throwing you backwards.
When you can finally see again, all that is left of the demon is a mound of black ash, that is quickly scattered by the wind.
For miles around, the flames still burn, and yet they do not consume their fuel.
Like the Shades of the city, it seems the city itself is doomed to repeat the events of the past. But why? How? The questions swim through your mind, but you cannot give them much attention.
A three pronged path has opened to you, as the shadowy mist fades: one leads off the edge of the castle, with an array of Aqueducts far below. But would you survive the fall?
Another is a staircase leading up to what you thought was the sun. But then again, you haven't seen it move... But the third path is one with a disturbing magnetism.
A narrow bridge leads to a lonely tower, apart from the rest of the Sanguine Court. A simple wooden door stands in your path, with a burning red glow behind it.
You open it, and are captivated by the light beyond. Resting on the wall of the rather mundane bedroom of the tower is a glowing red glyph of faded shape, but grave importance.
The limbs and faces of Shades ooze out of the wall around it, clutching at it, and at the strange luminous gel that surrounds it.
You plunge your hand into the gel, finding it reminiscent of the Light Gels.
And closing your eyes, you touch the glyph. The Ruins shudder, and the glyph burns hot.
Its glow becomes blinding, and the limbs of the Shades melt away.
The redness converts into a pure white light, which flies out of the tower and into the subterranean sky... towards the Lighthouse Dock.
THE SOULLIGHT SHINES AGAIN
From the depths of mortal folly, the memories of rebirth emerge.
Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski
