The Swamp

Past the bandit-guarded bridge south of the Forest lies the Swamp. At its core, the Heart of the Swamp, a ruined church shelters the statue of the Goddess of Nature, sister of the Old God. The fairy you summoned serves her. The story explains here what broke the world and points you toward the portal and the Old God, and the swamp is also a free supply of the blue crystals that go into every zombie collar.

Getting there

Hans and Sven, the bandits, allow nobody across their bridge without a Royal Pardon, and finding your way through the swamp requires the Fairy’s Swamp Map from your fairy summoning at home. The bandits keep both; details on the Forest page.

The Goddess of Nature

The fairy greets you in the swamp by complaining you took too long. She refuses to let Larry near her mistress, since he’s betrayed them twice. She guides you to the statue, and the Goddess awakens.

To her you’re “the man from another world”, the latest in a cycle her brother has wearied of. The world is dying, she explains. It was held together by her brother, the Man with the Red Eye, and by the magic portal; your other half, Keeper One, used the portal and all but wrecked both. Find her brother and repair the portal. Press her and she offers three pieces of information:

Topic	What she says
Her brother	He’s trapped somewhere, almost without power, and she’s too weak to locate him unless a worshipper holds a ritual for her. You know one: Jully, the man in the wooden mask. Back to the village (Januarius).
The portal	Someone’s soul is bound to it, someone strange, “obsessed with the symbols of the days”. Ask Larry.
Blue crystals	They’re her tears, shed every Envy day in mourning for the world.

Blue crystals

Once you’ve met her, a pile of tears forms beside the statue at the start of each Envy day, provided the previous pile has been taken. Break it by hand for 4 Blue Crystals. Every zombie collar needs one crystal and Gunter is the only seller, so this is your free route to more zombies.

Jully’s ritual

With the village election over, Jully honours his promise. In Goddess in the Swamp you bring him 100 Faith and walk him to the statue. It’s his first ritual ever (“Hear me. How dare you!”), yet it succeeds. While the fairy takes him aside, the Goddess, stronger than she’s been in years, searches for her brother. He’s somewhere underground, beneath buildings and zombies, with rivers on three sides, “like a cell, but not meant for humans”, and the smell is awful. That leads you to the sewers and Davy the Dagger. You can’t leave the swamp until she’s finished, and you receive a Story.