Shakra

Hornet

You have keen sight for my skill, bug, but my childhood has long since passed. What has happened here? I see signs of battle all around.

Hornet

The time is close, Shakra. The cost was grave, and the challenge steep, but I have claimed a power that can put end to this disaster.

Gendaa... This is good, Hornet Wielding Needle, essential. My own strength has near reached its limit, and the dark husks continue their assault unceasing.

Take your final action, and let us all see the end of this.

Sands of Karak Map

A town built within the thick vein of bells that runs through Pharloom’s core. One wonders who would craft so many, and for what purpose?

Hornet Wielding Needle! With my master’s passing, I have resolved to improve my skills that, in time, I may match her prime.

Much work I must do to achieve that goal. I have found this wide bare stone fine ground on which to train.

Would you spar with me now? Raise that blade and test my rings! You may prove my greatest challenge yet.

Hornet

Your charts and tools show fine skill, Shakra. I’ve met few who’d match your talent.

Cartography! Peh. Bakallo! It is a craft-skill common amongst my tribe. Most important to keep one’s mind sharp when on a journey.

The charting of caverns, the memory of travel, the knowing of one’s place within the kingdom, an engaging task for a warrior’s mind.

An unfortunate thing that my great mentor never learnt the skill. Her talent at getting lost... I should almost be impressed...

Huge caves ascending to Pharloom’s Citadel. The roads are slowly being devoured by sand and howling wind.

Hornet

Shakra, you look well at home in these wilds.

Poshanka! These scorched fields offer many paths and much combat. To leap from vantage upon the red-shells or to meet them face-front with rings ready? These are decisions to live for!

I am much surprised those soft pilgrims ever safely climbed this scorched and savage place.

For sharing this moment I shall have you accept a gift, one I had believed I would never pass.

You would take these rings, and the learnings to make more.

They are built of a clever method devised by my master and will crush hard this kingdom’s toughest shell. Use them, and she is remembered!

Hornet

My thanks, Shakra. To gain a tool so defined by its owner, I am much grateful. They shall prove a great aid on my own journey.

You recover quickly. Already, my ring-marks have faded from your shell. If you are prepared, let us duel again.

Do you see? How crass and frail that Citadel’s machines! This one groans in pain at its very existence.

Hornet

Its mechanism is likely jammed. If the gears were unstuck its clamorous complaints would soon cease, and it could become a useful place to rest.

A place to rest or no, I desire only for the noise to stop!

These root-woven roads show evidence of my master’s passage. A thrice-crushed bug, gouged wood, score-prints of sharp claws passing. Small signs that only I can read.

Though the trail is cold, it eases me to know she is still within this land.

Track your location throughout these winding lands with a bone compass. Each member of our tribe can craft them. I would pass you mine, for a small price.

You can use these to mark places of importance or reminders on your map. These I have fashioned from the husks of old bells. A hard task to make, so the cost reflects the extra effort.

Wormways Map

Best keep your visits brief, Hornet Wielding Needle. Without swift action taken, our world’s ruin seems certain.

If you cannot calm Pharloom’s tortured throes, then certainly no other bug could face the task.

Hornet

As you say, Shakra. I shall do what I must.

For my mapping stock, we have traded all the charts and tools I can provide. While this new threat remains, I shall not make more.

My cartography may be a simple sort, but I hope that my craft shared has made your travels easier.

Poshanka! Edges sharp and senses keen!

Bellhart Map

Un-Daak... well struck. To face the fury of your weapon in a true battle would be an experience indeed. I would gladly duel again, if you have the time for it.

Poshanka! So you found my calling ring, Child Wielding Needle. I recognised the sound of your weapon’s foreign metal against it.

On the hunt for my master, I am often away, but I still use this place as camp. Use the ring to call me whenever you wish to make trade.

Far Fields Map

Hunter’s March Map

Gara Takana! What has happened to you, Child Wielding Needle, to cause you such brutal weakening?

Hornet

You are seeing the effects of a parasite, Shakra, a writhing entity implanted by force. It will not kill me, not quickly at least, but its presence wears greatly on my shell.

It is a horrid state you suffer. Fight yourself free, or find help with haste. I would not wish to see you defeated by such deceitful strength.

Poshanka, Child Wielding Needle. This heart-home is cut free of its curse.

Tell me, was it your blade that brought its saving? My shock would be great if another here managed the feat.

Hornet

I slew a tall creature above the town, a Weaver I suspect, though one twisted in purpose.

Hornet

By voice and claw it aided, perhaps guided, the thread that strung the town.

Weaver? Those vicious old things! To our young we tell the tales, but had thought them long dead, only corpses bound in spires.

Hornet

This one still lived, though if it was a Weaver, it was broken in a savage way.

Hornet

Its own Silk was bound, pinned deep within its shell. A cruel punishment I’ve not before witnessed.

Even broken, my envy remains. A Weaver’s fabled skills... To meet one in combat means great challenge, and great pride in victory.

Hornet

Fair greetings, Shakra. You are a welcome sight amidst the sodden gloom of these caverns.

Child Wielding Needle, your aspect is still sharp. My respect remains. Heed a warning, many fierce bugs roost nearby.

On the lake beyond this cave nest a ragged horde atop an old watermound. Their mastery of flight makes them dangerous. My shell will forever carry the score of their pins.

If you’re seeking a safer path, head back, towards this land’s core.

Vendor Pins

Hornet

Shakra, you pit yourself against the black-threaded bugs? They are dangerous foes, even for a hardened warrior.

I relish such danger, and have little choice besides. These creatures besiege the town within. They are relentless, and empowered.

Hornet

...It is the void, stretched up into this world and its husks. I know it well, this force, its nature. If it senses soul within, it will drive voracious towards it.

As you say! Many bugs now huddle within the bells. Nowhere else is safe with this black threat rising.

Some luck, at least, that I chose to remain, and can offer my rings’ defence.

Hornet

Shakra, I seek to end this new disaster, for in it I share much blame, but know, I shall need time to complete my task.

Hornet

I ask you hold fast till then. This town and its bugs need a guardian, and I can think of none better.

Very well, Hornet Wielding Needle. A pact made strong. If you are working towards the venom’s end, I shall fight with faith renewed.

Hornet

Shakra, what has happened here? For these masses to huddle so amongst such destruction?

The dark-spun bugs, they besiege the town, relentless. I have defended against each wave anew, but they are empowered in foul ways, and I am much fatigued.

Hornet

...It is the void, stretched up into this world and its husks. I know it well, that force, its nature. If it senses soul, it will drive voracious towards it.

As you say! All these bugs, gathered close within the bells... but nowhere else is safe with this black threat rising.

Hornet

Shakra, I seek to end this new disaster, for in it I share much blame, but know, I shall need time to complete my task. I would ask you hold fast till then.

Hornet

This town and its bugs needs a guardian, and I can think of none better.

Very well, Hornet Wielding Needle. A pact made strong. If you are working towards the venom’s end, I shall fight with faith renewed.

Dark Marker

That was a battle well-fought, Child Wielding Needle. Your master would be proud of you.

Hornet

The one who trained me long ago... I never called her master. Whether she would be proud of what has become of me, I cannot say.

Nu-Hakkata! Whether she is dead or alive, have faith! Nothing a pupil does escapes their master’s sight!

Wide, dim hollows, choked by rag and dust. The bugs who once tended these lands have clearly lost their way.

This vein of gilded bells creates an effectively defended settlement. I can see it once gave a long time of peace to its bugs.

And yet, look at their numbers now. Stricken by cursed thread. Only a few have survived.

We must learn from them, Child Wielding Needle. Peace is a slow poison that would wither even the hardiest bug.

Hornet

Your camp here looks comfortably set, Shakra. Are you planning to stay a time?

Perhaps, yes. This heart-home makes a fine base for now and later if needed.

Still! I must take care not to rest overlong. My shell would soften and my senses dull.

You can use these to mark places of importance or reminders on your map. These markers I have modelled after the sheen of my own shell. Perhaps you will think of me when you use them.

There are signs that pilgrims once travelled even these crumbling paths, long ago. Now only the voracious worms nest here.

You have purchased the last of my mapping stock, for now. Stay alive on your journey, and when our paths next cross we may trade again.

If you venture further and higher into these caverns, beware. The sickly air only grows thicker.

Sinner’s Road Map

Hornet

Shakra, if I may, I’d ask a small task of your carving talents.

Hornet

Within the halls of the Citadel, I encountered a means of travel new to me, a network of pipes traversed in vessels propelled by steam and air.

Hornet

That Citadel is a labyrinth, and pins to mark each station would prove useful to me.

What you describe sounds as hideous and unnatural as anything in that place. Still, if it will aid you, I shall craft the pins.

Seek me at a moment not long from now. The pins will be carved, and we may trade.

These overgrown caves offer little challenge to a skilled warrior. A place for reflection, perhaps.

Old roads and passages overrun by roaches and their keepers. The ways are covered thick with filth.

In this moment, I have no more items to trade. Perhaps, if we meet again on the roads ahead, I shall have crafted new goods to sell.

The Marrow Map

You can use these to mark places of importance or reminders on your map. This dark-shell material is cold to the touch, and more resilient than it looks.

Crumbling roads built upon the shells of ancient bugs. All of Pharloom rests upon these fragile foundations.

Crusted heights above those howling steps. Signs suggest great warriors once ruled this winding place, though the sand has eroded much of their mark.

Hornet

To search these lands so thoroughly, Shakra... I wonder, who is it you hope to find?

Okklu-Din... a perceptive question. I travel in search of my mentor, the greatest of my tribe. I have followed her trail throughout this kingdom, but have so far failed to catch her.

She will have travelled much farther by now, but if I keep moving and stay vigilant, we shall reunite.

The stone structures of this place suggest clear waters once ran throughout.

What fantasy that now seems! Even this swamp’s inhabitants seem spawned of its noxious nature.

Shell Marker

Hornet

Another time, Shakra. I am always eager to learn, but for now my tasks call me away.

Bakelo! Answer to your tasks, then. My rings shall await your return.

Poshanka! Edges sharp and senses keen!

In my land, that is the way warriors greet each other. For though you are a child barely hatched, you are also a warrior. Your stance, your weapon, your movements all proclaim it so.

I am a navigator amongst my tribe, and have been making maps of these lands. I can trade them with you, and supplies, if you wish.

Rest below while you can. In the lands beyond these bells, it is rare to see such safety.

Greymoor Map

You hold many charts, Child Wielding Needle. You should consider trading for a quill.

With a quill in claw, your maps can be further extended from your own travels. Record enough and you may, in time, come to know this kingdom all.

Poshanka! Child Wielding Needle. You too have discovered this haven of bells.

For a long time, I avoided this place for sense of something strange. Now arrived, I find it free, and its few remaining residents offering trade and welcome.

Hornet

I slew a tall creature above the town, a Weaver I suspect, though one twisted in purpose.

Hornet

It was her you may have sensed. A formidable force, even aged. By voice and claw she aided, perhaps guided, the haunted thread that grasps these lands.

Weaver? Those vicious things. To our young we tell the tales, but had thought them long dead, only corpses bound in spires.

Hornet

This one still lived, though if it was a Weaver, it was broken in a savage way.

Hornet

Its own Silk was bound, pinned deep within its shell. A cruel punishment I’ve not before witnessed.

Even broken, my envy remains. A Weaver’s fabled skills... To meet one in combat means great challenge, and great pride in victory.

This outpost that the shambling pilgrim-bugs have built for themselves... Dondakku!

Where are the armaments? The watch-poles? Never have I seen such a poorly defended encampment!

Hornet

The pilgrims here seem to have no mind for war, Shakra. I suspect most depart for the Citadel soon after their arrival.

Hmph. If they persist in their carelessness, they will find only death in these harsh lands.

These twisting tunnels hide many worthy opponents, but many traps as well. Watch your footing closely.

As you requested, these pins will mark the travel stations within that hideous structure of steel and steam.

Hornet

Who are you calling for, Shakra? Your voice echoes through the caverns.

I came deeper into Pharloom in search of my mentor, the greatest of my tribe. I could not keep pace though, and her trail grew cold.

She will have travelled much farther by now, but if I keep moving and stay vigilant I will reunite with her.

We must never let our shells soften, or Pharloom’s sharp teeth will sink in quick.

Would you duel with me, Hornet Wielding Needle? Together we shall sharpen one another’s skill.

Poshanka! Child Wielding Needle, have you seen trace of my master nearby? I feel she was here only recently!

Hornet

I cannot say for certain, Shakra, though if she travels seeking skilled opponents, these steps would serve her well. The warriors watching over them are formidable.

True! Impressive guardians they are, fighting defensively and loath to leave their stations. They swing their weapons with a cold brutality that should not be underestimated.

Poshanka, Hornet Wielding Needle. For that is your name, is it not? I have heard it spoken in this land with reverence.

I had hoped you would accept my summons. In these moments one is good, but two is best.

Hornet

I would not deny the wish, Shakra. A sombre ceremony seemed likely at this trail’s end, and I am sadly proved correct. This then is your master?

The fiercest of my tribe, here she lies. I called her master, true, but she was mother just as much, more by far than the bug who bore me.

Hornet

Among the many marvels of this kingdom, she found a fine place to meet her end.

Ended by age... My tribe would call that shame, but I see only strength unbeaten.

Even as her shell betrayed her, she walked this kingdom’s breadth. It was her trail followed that allowed me to share witness to its dignity.

Hornet Wielding Needle, you too have journeyed these many paths, as my master before us. Join me now for her song-sending.

It is time for her soul to walk beyond her shell...

From this safe vantage, I can keep watch for threats while I work. These lowlands are brittle and dangerous. Keep your weapon close.

Charting the heights of this great mount would prove a mighty challenge. For now, I have seen only its base.

Once I have completed the search for my master, I would like to return and attempt the climb in full.

Worm-ridden caverns, shaking and unstable. There remain faint signs that pilgrims once travelled these tight paths.

Mount Fay Map

I will soon leave these crumbling roads, but if you stop by the settlement below we may meet again. I pass there often to trade with the pilgrims.

Hornet

Greetings, Shakra. It was a welcome surprise to hear your call echo through these crumbling tunnels. How goes the search for your master?

Poshanka! It is a difficult task to track anything in these caverns while the worms ceaselessly churn the rock.

Still, I can see that my master has travelled here. Her path within this land winds strangely... I wonder at her intent.

It is no matter though. She can enlighten me when again we meet. Until then, I will continue in her shadow.

Needle Child. Hakk! I encountered a settlement near here, at the core of a vein of old bells. The bugs there were snared silent on a web of Silk.

It seemed the pernicious trap of some unseen predator. I left quickly, making sure to avoid the glimmering threads.

Hornet

I passed the town myself. The thread sickness, I’ve seen its like upon the roads, but there it does not discriminate.

Hornet

The curse that strikes the town, it is driven, focused. A cold use of Silk at a concerning scale.

Hornet

If the path permits, I will investigate its source.

You haven’t enough rosaries for trading? The mad pilgrims in the overgrown village near here always carry some with them.

Will you take what you need from them? Leaving them to wander their path endlessly is a false mercy.

These docks, I thought them small when first I passed. Now I feel the structure’s true bulk hides below the molten lake.

The bellways, gilded veins that run throughout the lands. Supposedly, they were once used for travel? These pins will mark stations on your map.

Hornet

Shakra, you too brave these bogs? The heights of Pharloom offer harsh welcome.

So winds my master’s path, and so I follow. Yet true you speak! This is no place for me.

That Citadel’s shadow falls heavy here. I can sense its horrid bulk besides.

It is no surprise to see it choke these caverns dank and stagnant. That monstrosity of metal and stone cares not for the lands it consumes.

Quill

My master would have found her way to these wilds, I am sure. Her warrior’s sense has no equal. Surely, I must be drawing closer to her!

You can use these to mark places of importance or reminders on your map. The shell of the red-hunters makes for a vivid marker indeed.

The creatures of this wood can disguise themselves amongst the many branches. Watch for unexpected movement and be prepared to strike.

Hornet

Greetings, Shakra. I had a sense I would find you in these winding tunnels, filled as they are with the marks of combat.

Poshanka! You trust your instincts rightly. The red-shelled warriors who carved out these roads make for excellent opponents indeed.

I would gladly spend much time here, testing myself against their blades and cunning traps, but I must keep to my task. As should you!

Child Wielding Needle. What do you make of this huge, groaning structure?

Hornet

The scale of it all impresses me. If this is merely an outpost of the Citadel above, then their capital must be grand beyond measure.

Yokkala... Perhaps so. They must have prized indeed the work done here, to build something so vast in such a dangerous place.

Hunt Marker

Seek swift to calm our crying land, Hornet Wielding Needle. And know that I shall remain here, to stand against these husks gone dark.

The jagged crest looming over all of Pharloom. Its whipping winds and bitter cold would pierce the strongest shell.

Hornet

Gladly, Shakra. Upon this stone, let us test our shells.

With this quill, you can add any new areas you discover to the maps that you own. We pluck these quills from Golpeni hunted by my tribe. Their hollowed shafts make the perfect charting tool.

Child Wielding Needle, how far our wanderings take us! The cold air here bites through our shells as true as any blade. Warm yourself by my lantern while I call.

Hornet

Pharloom is a land of harsh extremes. Perhaps that is, in part, why the pilgrims have a culture of testing themselves against it so fervently.

Perhaps. When I first encountered them, I had little respect for the weak, rag-bundled bugs. Too cowardly to even carry a weapon!

But... Dondakku. Sometimes we judge too quickly. There is a subtle strength to them, though it is difficult for me to truly understand it.

If you choose to rest here, I will watch over you, Child Wielding Needle. These charts require long attention, and my own sleep is far off yet.

Bellway Pins

Bench Pins

Child Wielding Needle. These are stale roads, ill-fitted for warriors such as ourselves.

There is fair combat here against the roach-beasts and their keepers, but the air is sickly and the water writhes with parasites.

Hornet

This environment is harsh indeed, though life seems to adapt itself to many hardships. Do you believe your master travelled these roads?

I had thought not at first, but upon closer search I found the fragments of a trail winding through these fetid ruins.

Perhaps she saw something here that I did not? Her senses are often keen where mine are clouded.

Many of Pharloom’s bugs have useful equipment and items to trade. It would do you well to keep track of their locations with this pin. These pins will mark vendors on your map.

Mosslands Map

Fierce red-shells nest across these wide caverns. Battle with them is most intense. Impressive are the warriors of Pharloom.

Deep Docks Map

Ka, va! Your shell is ridden with those gruesome maggots. It was a foolish choice of yours to swim in their sickly pools.

Hornet

This was by no means desired, Shakra. For now, I think it best you remain at limb’s length.

Hornet

I shall not abide this infestation long. By Silk or by rest I shall soon see myself cleansed.

Blasted Steps Map

Hornet

Fair greetings Shakra, in these drifts consumed by crust and sand.

Hornet

These caverns have returned to nature, but I see evidence of bold structures buried throughout.

The shells of their builders rest in a tower above. A grand tribe they seemed, and strong fighters I’m sure. Alas, they exist now only as hardened husks.

Lament, Child Wielding Needle! We lived too late to match their claws.

Bronze Marker

Shellwood Map

Hornet

Your master has been found, Shakra. Your task in these lands is finished. Will you now return to your tribe?

I shall not return, Hornet Wielding Needle... I cannot. To leave my tribe’s nest-plains, that journey has only one direction.

This has always been our way, our long leaving, for those few who survive till age seeks to claim their shell, and those fewer who choose to send them on.

But these lands, Pharloom... My nest-plains I once saw so grand, now they become small. A place for birth, and growing, but a place too narrow to live a bug’s life full.

When travelling in unfriendly lands, it is important to remember safe places to camp. These pins will mark benches and other rest spots on your map.

If chance allows, visit the tower above. It is an impressive sight, not overgrown by the crust upon these caverns, but rather formed full of the material itself.

If the old tribe of this place were able to guide its growth to such grand degree... then they possessed a power to rival even that Citadel.

These strange, shuffling pilgrims... In the camp below they were docile enough, but up here they seem to have lost their senses. They cry out to the darkness and attack their fellow travellers.

Yakkanesh! Keep your weapon drawn and your bearings true! The way ahead is winding, and to lose one’s way invites only death.

I am a navigator amongst my tribe and have been making maps of these lands. I can trade them with you, and supplies, if you wish.

In my land, that is the way warriors greet each other. For though you are a child barely hatched, you are also a warrior. Your stance, your weapon, your movements all proclaim it so.

Ventrica Pins

Swamps born in the Citadel’s shadow. There is evidence the waters here once ran clear.

Tangled roads choked beneath bramble and root. The flora is often as deadly as the creatures who call this place home.

I see much wasted effort in these docks. There is too much flourish to the form of it all. The ways of others are strange indeed...

You can use these to mark places of importance or reminders on your map. With these I often mark the locations of worthy foes.

In these lands names are given freely, are they not? I am Shakra, Wielding Rings. If our hunts intertwine again, I will have new maps to trade.

Until then, farewell, Child Wielding Needle.

Ring Marker

Burrowed paths of the red-shells. Their stores and shrines are frequent throughout. These tunnels must grant them swift passage about the fields below.

Bilewater Map

In time, even these great steps will be swept away by the sands. Nothing is immovable.

Bakkana! A battle well won! The haunted bugs have been defeated and the way forward is yours. Let us meet again soon, away from this dreadful Citadel.

Poshanka! Here we meet, high atop this twisted steel structure. I can sense fierce enemies ahead.

It seems you too draw closer to your trail’s end. With my own task now resolved, my rings call for combat.

Hornet Wielding Needle, shall we fight forward together?

Shall we fight forward together?

Hornet

Gladly I will accept your aid Shakra. Let us cut closer to this Citadel’s haunted heart.

Garrok! Hornet Wielding Needle. Beside you, I will gladly raise my rings!

The way forward is yours. Let us meet again soon.

Let us charge on. My rings shall sing loud on the shells of our enemies.

If you would fight alone, I will say nothing more.