Caves - Fractured Swamp biome

[Satop]

Fractured Swamp

The fractured swamp is a biome inhabited by the Abyssals, evolved merms from a lifetime of being cut off and without light or any resources, perhaps influenced by nightmare fuel. - It's a seperate island that's inaccessible until you beat the Fuelweaver at the gateway. This causes an earthquake and the Fractured Swamp opens. It then functions as the Tentapillar hub, and opens up a new civilisation for our survivors to interact with, one long forgotten by time.

The idea is to expand on merms and their lore - Most notably their language.

Changes:

Spoiler

Wurt can no longer place Craftsmerm Houses, Flortifications or Royal Tapestries in the Caves.

Wurt is buffed by the Abyssal King after appeasing the Abyssal King once. After that she will always be buffed in the Caves.

Star-sky no longer spawns in the main caves.

 

You do not lose sanity on this island when in light.

Contains these things:

Fractured Turf:

Spoiler

A blue variant on Swamp Turf - Wurt is not able to place her structures on it, it's unique. Structures of the Fractured can be placed on this, but I'm unsure if they should really be accessible by any characters, including Wurt.

Abyssal King:

Spoiler

The Abyssal King is apprehensive of the survivors, and as such his guards will be hostile if a player hangs around too long without making an offering.

He will accept Vegetables and Fish as offerings - rewarding you with blueprints such as:

Spiral Staircase - 3 Boards to build the DIY station. 12 Cut Stone, 6 Boards and 6 Light Bulbs to finish. Takes 20 hits of a hammer to deconstruct. Has the appearance of a stone staircase with a wooden entrance, with foliage around the base. Blocked with dirt if no Spooky Sinkhole exists.

Spooky Sinkhole - 3 Boards to build the DIY station. 3 Rope, a Shovel and 4 Boards to finish. Takes 20 hits of a hammer to deconstruct. Looks similar to a normal sinkhole, but has a rope fence around it to distinguish it. Blocked with dirt if no Spiral Staircase exists.

Merm Torch - 4 Logs, 3 Charcoal, Torch - Lasts 2x as long as a firepit, does not give off nearly as much heat. Same amount of light.

The first of each to be built connect. You receive the blueprints at the same time.

Star-sky - The Abyssal King rewards you with his pet fish, and Hutch, should you be able to reward him enough.

Florptionary - Allows Wurt to learn the full merm language, consuming the book. Allows other characters to gain basic proficiency, which Wurt has as a baseline.

 

He has a large permanent glow around him - appearance similar to the Merm King and Abyssal Merm mixed up - with a large light on his head. He does not wield a trident or weapon, and has Star-sky at his base similarly to Pugna's helmet.

He can't be killed. He will call for guards if you are around him for too long. Speaks in Merm language.

 

He will tell stories of the merms in merm language when appeased - expanding their lore and explaining the wars with pigs, the gnaw, etc. Wurt can't understand most of what he says - Enough to get the gist, but not grasp the story without the florptionary. Normal characters can't understand any of it.

Abyssal Merms/Guards:

Spoiler

 

Abyssal Merms are entirely based off this Wurt skin - I believe it's canon and represents an existing Merm race, so why not give them a home?

 

Abyssals are anti-social compared to normal Merms, but not hostile. They can be recruited by any player that gives them Fish, vegetables are not accepted. Their quotes will be similar to Wildbores - Asking the player to leave, or stay away from them.

They have a permanent glow because of the light on their head - And will work in Darkness happily because of this. If given a closed top hat (such as a Top Hat, or Football Helmet) the light goes out. This is not the case with open top hats (such as Rabbit Earmuffs or a Garland)

 

Guards become aggressive if you are near them or the king for too long. They do not have horns, but do have warpaint. They can't be recruited.

 

All Abyssal merms speak in merm language.

Abyssal Farmers

Spoiler

There will also be Farmers, who wear Straw Hats and as such do not give off light. The farm plots have infinite Merm Torches, similar in appearance to Pig Torches, in the center. Each farmer tends to 4 farm plots, planting, harvesting, and delivering to the King.

They are more purple in colour, similar to Hutch, as opposed to the Blue tint of a normal Abyssal

If you steal from them, Guards will be called on you. If you attack them, Guards will be called on you. Etc.

 

They speak in merm language.

Tentapillars

Spoiler

The island is considered the tentapillar hub. As such, it will be full of them - and each of them will connect to one OUTSIDE the island. This makes the fractured swamp the best way to get around the caves, as the Abyssals could be recruited to fight the Tentapillars, effectively making it a wormhole hub.

The Atrium tentapillar will be at the center of the island, with the town built around it.

 

The idea is to have an easy "hub" for the Caves, reward you for beating the Fuelweaver, and expand the lore a lot. Merm King's blueprints allow you to make an exit and entrance to the island from the Surface.

It needs more to it to give you a reason to stay, especially as Wurt.

[Dynamix_Roxx]

I have a swamp in my caves. I’ve been there only once in 3600 days and that was just to complete the map.