Day 26 - Disaster struck today. We were making good progress up until last night. The Plains of Bone are a desolate place if I've ever seen one but at least we've got to some of the richer ivory piles. No Scortaur in sight as of yet, which is a boon already. As it was getting darker yesterday, we could see something large over the horizon, like a dark hill - something very uncharacteristic of this flat, empty expanse. But due to the worsening dust and wind we could not make out what it was and struck camp before night fell.

Lost Pilgrims had an AMA session over on discord where players asked us questions about the game and the studio alike. We had a great time talking to people and decided to compile the questions and answers into a single AMA article for posterity. We also added some very frequently asked questions to the beginning that players or those looking up information on the game might find informative.

Based on the ton of feedback concerning initial difficulty and learning curve, we have listened to you, our players, and implemented Trade Tasks to make the initial experience smoother in the open-world campaign. While there, and because they are deeply intertwined, we also decided to include the brand-new Factions UI and the faction tier system. We were happy to see that everyone who tried it in the preview build loved it and we are also satisfied with the result. To top it off, we also have a long list of adjustments, fixes, and tweaks (see patch notes at the end of this post).

'You know the saying: Only and idiot looks directly at the sun. Now, just so you know, only the king of the land of the greatest idiots looks directly at the calerus in daylight.'

- Valkhor, local guide of Lumen, to a group of newcomers

Nestled at the border of the South Calerus, the town of Lumen sprung up many decades ago when the Empire decided to try and emulate the successful crystal harvesting operations of the Kalani people of the east. To date, the settlement is indeed the most successful such operation outside of Sargot Kala.

Tor'Zag's Shelter is a vast, dark city in the belly of the Blackblood Mountains, carved out mostly by Imperials after obsidian became scarcer in the region and the fleeing armies of Warleader Tor'Zag, an Orc general, capitulated, leaving the tunnels beneath the mountain at the end of the Orc War. People who lost everything came here to share respite from the scorching sun of the Jagged Waste with traders who were looking to establish a way-station between Deven in the north and the Province in the south. Now, a couple of hundred years later, the Shelter is among the five greatest cities of the continent.

'What draws them to this place, I wonder. Is it the utter sadness that permeates this forsaken expanse? Does it call to them when they begin to feel the chill breath of death? Perhaps there is a wordless language spanning all species that speaks as the realm of Ahskul starts to beckon.'

You will come across many caverns and subterranean tunnels in Vagrus, mostly under cities or sometimes out in the wilderness. Whether these are the lairs of terrifying monsters, the shadowy hideouts of bandits, gateways to ancient, buried ruins, or simply hollow ground is usually difficult to tell at first. There is no specific lore or design insight to be delved into here, so the only thing that remains is to admire this version of the cavern illustration by Attus, one of our artists.

I'd sooner go walking in Maar Gorad.

- A common saying in terra supra, meaning 'not a chance'

Not all regions of the northern part of the continent are deserts or arid wasteland, even though those are the most recognizable features as well as the most numerous. One region stands out with its wet, humid atmosphere and its moors that are almost impossible to navigate: Maar Gorad, the Unforgiving Swamp.

Your chart is one of your most important tools in Vagrus, and we keep adding to and expanding on it with subsequent builds. Milestone 10 unlocked what we referred to as 'chart exploration', which really means that from now on, Rumors, Passengers, and Codex entries you gain of locations also reveal them on your Chart, adding a whole new depth to hunting for information.

The wind was speaking to her, telling her terrible things, singing of her demise, chanting of her worst fears becoming manifest, of her never reaching her destination, never achieving her dreams, never being content, never finding rest or refuge or love. It kept on whining and screaming and whimpering until she herself started screaming in a vain attempt to blot it all out.