The Four Edges
Four zones ring the Dead Forest, one per edge. Same world, four different moods.
The Ashfell (south)
A dead city. Cracked asphalt, a long avenue of ruined buildings, abandoned cars rusting where they stopped. Some neon signs still flicker at night, nobody knows who pays that bill. A survivor camp squats right on the avenue. The city runs its own sun cycle, pale days and darker nights.
The Hollow (north)
A forest that is very much alive. Oaks, birches, willows and pines packed close, ferns and berry glades, a stream that widens into a pond, and clearings you find by getting lost. Somewhere in the deep there is a hidden glade and one beehive. Good luck.
The Shore (east)
The coast. A full waterline down the eastern edge, wet sand, dunes with wind bent pines. A broken pier, a beached rowboat and nets drying between posts mark an old fishing spot. Tide pools in the south hold their own small worlds.
The Mire (west)
A swamp that wants you gone. Still black water, sunken logs, moss draped trees. Mushrooms glow a sickly teal where the light gives up, and rune stones hum by the path forks. An old frog idol sits on an islet, watching you cross. It was here before you. It will be here after.
What each land gives
Once you are bonded and reach these lands from the Crossroads, each one is the home of a material and an animal:
- The Hollow is where the sap flows, among the stags.
- The Shore keeps its badgers and its water.
- The Ashfell is picked for scrap, between the wolves.
- The Mire is boar country, and its hide feeds half the workshop.
The Mire used to be where the horse shit piled up. Its taps were retired on 15 August 2026 along with every other shit node in the world: that material is made, not gathered now.
The shipwreck chests
Three shipwrecks sit on the Shore's waterline, and each holds a chest. Open one and every line below rolls on its own, so a good chest pays several at once:
| Roll | Chance |
|---|---|
| 1 iron fitting | 50% |
| 1 hide | 35% |
| 1 bone | 25% |
| a cosmetic look | 10% |
| a party flashlight or portable terminal | 0.008% each |
An opened chest respawns at its wreck after ten to fifteen minutes. Chest loot mints against the Shore's own pools, so a dry pool drops that line rather than printing new supply.
The gates keep going
The wilds are also the road to everything harder. The Hollow's north edge opens on the elite Dead Forest. The Mire's north road climbs Knacker's Pass. The far corners of the Shore and the Ashfell drop into the Arena, and the Ashfell and the Mire both gate onto the Black Market strip.
What each material is for lives in Gathering.