The Mines

Physical Description / Layout (Surface)
The mines are a small level and fairly straightforward, at least above the surface. There are two paths, a narrow path to the South surrounded by ridges to the west and steep mountains on the east which leads to the farms and one to the West, surrounded to the South by ridges and the North by mountains which leads to the Factories. These paths converge in the middle before leading to a narrow stretch of land that go into the mines, which are located at the side of a mountain. A path from the south goes up the “central” ridge that borders both roads, at the top of which is located the miner’s colony, which has a small tavern and quite a few homes.

Several mine cars / tracks run across from the mine entrance and towards the factories. Normally the mines would be highly active with a lot of people around – but today things have ground to a halt due to an elevator malfunction within the mines itself that has caused work to halt. However, there is another passage at the top floor that leads to a sealed off area of the mines, which is where the main interest will lie for the player.

Mood, Lighting, Look & Feel
Due to its proximity to the factory, things at the mines are fairly dark and overcast, giving it a largely dirty and hazy look to the entire thing. Its similar to the farms, except far more grey. Things are only a bit clear up in the miner’s colony, where things are somewhat well maintained. In the sealed off mines itself, things are far spookier however, with it essentially being pitch black except for the light that the player carries. A lot of the atmosphere in the mines will come from sound; including that of something deep below that steadily gets louder the closer the player gets to the source.

Important Locations
The Miner’s Colony: Located on top of the western hill, the Miner’s colony is where much of the miners are currently milling about until the elevator can get fixed. The colony itself consists of a few houses, centered around the small Pick & Axe Tavern, which is where many people are currently idling and milling about. The monastery will send you here in a late-game quest to kill a woman that is hiding out in one of the houses – essentially a Society operative that is on the verge of a discovery which will let them get through the wall before the Monastery. Killing her and destroying the device she is building will give the monastery the tiny bit of edge they need, much to your advantage.

The abandoned mine.

It is rumored that the small, sealed off mine at the end of the elevator used to be the main base of operations before being shut down two centuries ago. Stories have it that a commoner named Lyda gave birth to a horrible, deformed monster. However, defiant of the calls to cull the child, Marie fled into the then-newly dug mines to hide from it. Neither her nor the child were ever seen again – at least that is, until active digging was supposed to begin a few years later. It was then that reports came in of miners disappearing and a deep rumbling coming from deep within the mines. Eventually these reports escalated as new, freshly dug tunnels were discovered – created by some unknown force or creature. Repeated searches in force found nothing, but miners continued to disappear until finally they were completely sealed despite the massive vein of magical materials and lodestones that exist at its bottom.

The society is in desperate need a lump of this material and thus tasks you to retrieve it, no matter the cost. As you journey down the creepy and dark mineshaft, you will discover many puzzles that block your route and require creative ways to get around until, finally, you meet the horrible creature that lurks beneath: Xorn. In the Society’s quest you must kill the creature before getting access to the lodestone. However, if you have retrieved Lyda’s bracelet from her house, Xorn will not attack you and instead will try to talk to you, its objective to gain the bracelet. It will tell you that there is something in the Abyss other than the machine which is causing the entire day to repeat constantly. Instead of trying to fix the machine, you should attempt to find it and deal with it – something which it will tell you how to do. After the conversation ends, the Xorn will leave and the Lodestone will become available for collection should the player desire.

Major Events
1.	If the player completes the Society quest and kills or talks to the Xorn, the mines will be sealed off and inaccessible. 2.	During the late game a large number of people will migrate from this area and towards the wall to the west.