Towns & Factions

Introduction

Towns are where you rest, trade, repair your gear and find work. Each belongs to one of the three human factions, and how they treat you depends on your reputation with that faction.

This guide covers settlements, shops and inns, the job board, the people you'll meet, reputation, prosperity, and the wars between factions.

Settlements

Right-click a settlement on the map, or step onto it, to see its size, its faction, your reputation there, and its prosperity.

Your first town is Nerton, a short walk from Ineo Temple.

Settlements are safe ground. Time spent in a friendly one also lowers your travel weariness (see Exploration). To leave, press B.

Shops & Inns

Which shops a settlement has is random, but every region has what you need somewhere. Some shops sell a bit of everything; others specialise.

Leafborn villages have shops of their own, including a Staffsmith for staffs and an Enchanter.

• Prices are fixed, but your reputation with the town's faction adds or takes off a percentage.
• Selling: shops pay about half the buying price, only buy the kinds of items they sell, and won't take damaged, cursed or poisoned goods.
• Restocking: shops restock every few days. A more prosperous town's shops have more gold to buy your goods with.
• Services: smiths repair gear, and apothecaries identify potions.

The Inn

Every town and city has an inn. Rent a room for 10 gold a day or 50 gold a week to get a bed and a storage chest. The innkeeper also sells food and drink, including Elderberry Wine for travel weariness, and can share rumors about rare items.

The Job Board

Towns and cities have a job board in the town square, listing work from their people. The board only lists the jobs: to take one, find the person named on it and talk to them.

• Each job shows its time limit and reward. Jobs also give wisdom and reputation with the town's faction.
• Jobs marked with a blue star are unique: they can't be repeated, and they pay more.
• Missing a deadline costs reputation. New jobs appear every few days.

Townsfolk

Click anyone to talk to them. The people worth knowing:

• Governor: sells houses, reports on the town's prosperity, and accepts donations.
• Guard Captain: sells armor, and hands out jobs repairing the garrison.
• Innkeeper: rents rooms and sells food and drink.
• Smiths and other shopkeepers: trade, and repair gear of their kind.

Your Own House

Once you are Favored by a faction, the governor of one of its towns or cities will sell you a house: 1,200 gold in a town, 5,000 in a city. It comes with a bed, a chest and two cupboards for storage, and you can buy furniture in shops to fill it. Buying a house also raises the town's prosperity.

Reputation

Your reputation is tracked per faction, from 0 to 100, and applies in every town that faction owns. You start at 30, a Stranger to all three. Press U to open the Reputation pane.

Raise it by doing jobs, fighting on the faction's side in battles, and donating to the governor. Lose it by attacking its people, being seen stealing, failing jobs, or fleeing a battle you joined.

Prosperity

Every settlement has a prosperity from 0 to 100, shown with an arrow for which way it is heading.

A poor town closes shops and has fewer guards, and its shops have less gold to buy your goods. Prosperity falls when other factions control the land around a town, and when it is attacked. You can raise it by clearing nearby monster dungeons, which frees the land around it, by donating to the governor, or by buying a house there.

Factions at War

The human factions each rule a region: the Verdant Guard in Greenhaven, where you start, the Stonewardens in the Highcrown Peaks, and Aridax in the Sunscorched Wastes. The monster factions, like the Gremlins, bandits and Blackwood Marauders, hold dungeons and camps across the land.

Press F on the overworld, or click the flag button, to tint every tile by the faction that controls it. Factions grow stronger from the land they hold, and send armies to attack each other's settlements.

When armies meet, a battle appears on the map. Right-click it to see both sides and how long until it ends. Walk into it to join the battle.

Winning earns reputation with the side you helped. Fleeing a battle you joined costs reputation.

A town that loses a siege is left ruined and Destitute. It keeps its faction, and slowly recovers.

You shift the balance too: every monster dungeon you defeat stops its faction's hold on the land around it.

Travelling Merchants

Merchants set up stalls in towns and cities for a few days at a time, then move on. A new one arrives a few days later. There are six kinds: