Into the Veil

**Into the Veil** is an unofficial title for the update to the DergunTown website that occurred sometime in mid-October 2021. The site contains various snippets of lore connected to the DergunTown/Mirrorwood universe.

Around late-October 2023, the site received an another update that changed some of its contents.

## **Overview**

### **2021 Version**

The website consists of a dark grey background, with a rounded box of a darker shade in the center. At the top is a logo that reads "INTO THE VEIL", and below that is an image of one of the 7 clan leaders (The leader displayed changes with every refresh). Below those is text that reads "The Dragons must rest in order to see more of their home... once they return their stories will be yours to live/cherish/destroy/love/twist/vanquish/kill/tatter/see/love/mourn/lose/fear/battle/visit/create/explore" (The last word cycles every few seconds). Faded text swaying from side to side will also periodically float upwards until it is off-screen.

If you stay on the page for long enough, parts of the website will begin to change. After a few minutes, the site title, which initially reads "The Dragon Dreams...." will begin to change every few seconds. The site does this 31 times before the title stops changing. Waiting a few more minutes will cause the page's length to expand as a passage is typed out. Nothing else seems to happen once this passage finishes.

### **2022 Version**

   The new version of the site retains the basic structure of the previous one. However, the images of the clan leaders have been replaced with a GIF of Arkon sleeping. An additional line of text reading "Oh? And who is this fine fellow, taking a nap? He seems to be quite happy with whatever he dreams." has been added directly below. The floating text has been replaced with pixel art images of various objects, including clouds, green and purple gemstones, a star, a moon, a rainbow, a rose, a leaf, and a blue heart. A music player that plays a three and a half minutes-long track was added to the top left of the site.

Staying on the website will trigger the same events that occurred in the previous iteration of the site. Both the site title text and the passage have been modified, however.

### **2023 Version**

    On March, 2023, the site was changed again featuring Drefni Naruta. **Into The Veil** (The name that was originally on there, has changed to **DergunTown**, but it's floating upside down. The site's tab will say *a: Maybe not.* If you wait a little bit, the website will generate new sentences which could possibly refer/hint to the game's future (Take this part with a grain of salt). If you click on the upside down **DergunTown** title, or by clicking on Drefni Naruta a few times, it'll lead you to the archived version of the game; which is playable.
However, it won't be recieving any major updates (This means the game is likely to be stuck in the season Winter), data from the game before going on hiatus is gone, and current progress one day might be lost.

>

## **Lore**

### **Floating Text**

* felixs
* drefni
* narucka
* jessa
* auguan
* cella
* aszerath
* rethain
* besir
* oorama
* i've forgotten who i am
* where am i
* something is wrong
* do you feel me? out here?
* i'm so cold
* i just want to go home
* please forgive me for what i must do

Although the 2022 update replaced the floating text with image, they are labeled with ids that appear to be identical to the ones used for the first iteration's floating text. Exceptions include the final 7 images in the source code, which spell out a new message:

* help
* me
* get
* out
* of
* here (Appears twice)

A line of floating text that reads "You are loved and cherished" can be found within the source code, but it doesn't display when viewing the website normally.

### **Site Title Text**

Within the website title is text that changes every few seconds. The text, when compiled all together, reveals a monologue seemingly directed the viewer:

#### **2021 Version**

"The Dragon Dreams....

So why are you here of all places?

You miss a world you have never been to.

Right?

You feel a longing for a past you never had.

It doesn't have to be this.

You could forget it ever happened and move forward.

But something in your SOUL tells you that this is the wrong answer?

That turning around and leaving is the worst option you could take?.

Why do you listen to it?

You know it's fairy tales and sugar and possibly your bad health habits.

Dragging you forward through a short day.

To go to bed and try to tell you to find HIM again.

You are lost.

You will always be lost.

You dream a million dreams and never see their face.

Can't see their face.

You are blinded to HIM.

We cannot help you get back.

Only you know where you are now.

Strange worlds, vile beings, powerless.

Maybe this was your choice.

Maybe it was not.

Are you really -them- if you can't remember.

Dragons aren't real.

But demons are.

They have seen your weaknesses.

Your angst.

-your- wishes for HIM.

They have crafted a nightmare- one so vile that you might leave and never find peace.

Please don't give up.

THE DRAGONS DO NOT DREAM FOR THEY CANNOT SEE"
#### **2022 Version**

"The Dragon Dreams....
Enough sadness has occurred.

THE VEIL no longer functions

Not as it should.

These creations are held dear

Every scale carefully placed

No harm shall come to them.

We will build it again. Once more.

This must work..

We cannot fail them.

I will protect them.

They don't know the world.

So we were never dragons?

Maybe not."
### **Passage**

Shortly after the text in the website title finishes, more text will begin to appear below initial content on the webpage:

"***Just outside of existence and beyond time...***
*there was a being. He had been here for a long time; at least, that is what he could guess. His memories were never solid and it had become impossible to place down when things had passed. Where these thoughts had happened was never a matter of question, thankfully, as he had known only one place- this small plot of land several lengths long as it was wide. He could see clear from end to end and was content with what he possessed, and did not want for more. Many days were spent cultivating a garden, working on his homestead, enjoying life as it was. Night would never arrive; the land bathing in the crisp clean spotlight that radiated from within. Beyond the edges, dark mist swirled and churned with uncertainty and occasionally nipped at the edges of his home, chilling and withering the life he grew. He cared not to venture too far from home as he had learned there was nothing out there for him.*

*There was once, that he had left the safety of his realm. The light followed confidently behind him, but past the firm earth and smooth grass he nurtured- it began to dim. The ground outside of his sphere was cold, smooth, and flat; soaking the warmth and comfort through the heels of his feet with every step. Curiosity drove him further, though, and he secretly wished to know more about the swirling shadows that gnawed at his home. Rarely, he could feel a small pebble or stone underfoot and a rush of excitement filled him- perhaps he was inching closer to someone else's dwelling? Perhaps, even, there were other beings out there? As he wandered further from safety and closer to the unknown, the light darkened. A strong sense of unease filled his gut and wrenched its way up to his tongue, gagging him.*

*There were other beings out here- violent, churning beasts wrought from the darkness itself. He attempted to scream but found no voice; his body frozen in terror at the sight. The beast circled him with some sense of novelty- it, too, had never glimpsed a creature like him- but it could feel the pull of his magic within and lurched slowly closer. He cautiously watched multiple red eyes flash like cracked rubies in a thunderstorm as his light slowly blinked darker and darker. Needle like fangs revealed themselves from sleek ooze and wrapped around its body in twisted adornments; branching and wild antlers slowly materialized from the mist and stole their mass from the fog surrounding them both. The air around them cleared as the beast finally revealed its form; twisting and mutilated, several legs slumped, unable to support the weight of the body. More so, it was hungry.*

*He dug his heels in backwards into the cold, unforgiving ground, and launched himself as far away from it as he could in a single bound as it lunged towards him. He narrowly escaped the full brunt of its strike and felt its cold ooze graze past his ankle. Just as quickly as he had hit the ground, he lurched himself upwards, feeling scrapes on his flesh for the first time. Pebbles lodged themselves into his palms and left painful indents as he clenched his fists, and he ran as fast as he could away from the creature. Home was lost to him, but he knew that wherever he needed to run- it was away from this monster. He could hear lurching and hissing from within the mist around him as he ran- strange noises he was unfamiliar with but knew well- the calls of predators, alerting to a potential meal. He could feel a hopelessness within him as he bounded further from his encounter; he knew now that he was no longer alone and had no means to defend himself, and furthermore, no way to return to safety. His pace slowed as he heard the noises draw further and further away from him. His light was now cold, his existence truly empty and alone.*

*He sat down and pondered the situation he was in, arms wrapped around his knees and his head tucked behind them. Everything from this moment on would need to be calculated, thought out completely, and most importantly- careful. He knew that his garden was somewhere, and that he couldn’t have just forgotten where it was; he had spent eternity there after all! He closed his eyes and focused deeply, trying to remember. He felt a strange pull come from within, a flickering of light flashed between his mind and his eyes, drawing him forward. He stood up, eyes still closed, and focused on the direction the light was pulling him towards. He could still hear noises in the dark and on occasion would break focus to assess the local area, and noticed that as he walked further his light began to regain strength, and that he could see more of the mist around him- not that it revealed much. He could feel himself getting closer to safety, but just as his light cusped close to his domain- a terrifying screech pierced his thoughts and shattered his focus. A tendril wrapped itself solidly around his foot and dragged him to the ground, lurching him back into the dark.*

*But just as quickly as it grasped him, the tendril fell limp against his leg and rolled off to the side, decaying back into dust in the wind. He clambered up and sprinted forward, making a dash for the protection of his home and not daring to spend a second longer in this cursed darkness. Something behind him stirred, but he cared not to find out what it may be. As he crossed the threshold of his sphere, he collapsed onto the grass and sighed deeply, taking in the scent of the area and savoring the safety of his home. He could now relax and feel the full sting of his wounds- a fresh new sensation he was not excited to endure, and he spent countless moments nurturing his injuries as best as he could- with no prior knowledge, he wrapped them in grape leaves and a poultice of herbs to help soothe the sting and cool the wounds. As he recollected himself and regained his strength from the experience, he noticed that the unforgiving mist that surrounded his home now moved in strange shapes, and, occasionally, he could catch a glimpse of something monstrous writhing within. Even stranger, rarely, he would see a pair of emerald green eyes.*

*But that was in the past now, and his days are back to normal- he worries not about going outside of the sphere and certainly not about demons getting inside. Still, as time passes, the world changes- and he has noticed that the fog grows thinner and the monsters grow more substantial. Even more concerning, the green eyes seem to watch him when his back is turned…*

*He couldn’t tell that the eyes were actually watching him, of course- every time he turned around there was no evidence of a creepy stalker in the mist. However, he swore he could feel it- a deep burning sensation that ate right through him, tainting his serenity with acidic anxiety. It felt like pain, hunger, loneliness; flavors of unease that his SOUL was not used to. He was originally concerned that it was something attacking him- some foul writhing thing in the mist, imposing its will upon him to draw him to madness. But the pains never lingered for long; cautious in their encroachment- whenever he felt it too strongly, they would pull back and retreat; a ghostly cold feeling the only lingering evidence they were ever there. He grew mystified by the experiences, longing to know why he was being haunted by such strange spirits. The more answers he craved, and the bolder he grew in trying to catch the creature, the less he knew.*

*Eventually, he learned to notebook. Writing down his experiences to keep track of the not-passing of time, so that memories could become clearer and the past could stay living. He would focus on writing down not just his feelings, but the visuals of the world he cultivated. Cataloging different varieties of plants, their life stages, the best way to encourage their growth and success. He still kept a running notation in the margins of every time he felt like wandering outside of home, or remembered the pain of the cuts and scrapes, or whenever he felt the burning sensation on his SOUL again. He wrote about how the mist grew thinner and how some demons were long, thin beasts with thousands of eyes and twisted limbs that looked like they could fall over any second, while others were fat and squat with nary an eye to see but nostrils so large, they could easily track down whatever prey they desired. He wrote how the monsters often bickered between themselves, forming unlikely alliances that would frequently be broken when one of the groups ended up missing, presumed to be consumed secretly by a traitor.*

*He did not actually \*know\* much about the lives of demons- his only real encounters with them were running away - but he enjoyed making guesses about their species, lives, and relationships. His favorite type was what he called sootlets- little tiny balls of fuzz, that seemed barely differentiated from the mist itself save for their small red eyes. They rolled and tumbled along in the wake of larger fiends and were often squished and consumed by them for energy. Rarely, a sootlet might find itself in a larger ‘collection’ of sootlets, and by chance they form together to make a larger and more formidable fiend. Larger fiends were much more terrifying to him, having sharp jaws and teeth, claws, and misshapen bodies with limbs in wrong places. He still found some interest watching and cataloging them- for example, the beasts often fled the area right before he felt the ghostly pains upon him, and those that did not flee typically do not show up again. There were even a few larger beasts that he knew well enough to give names to- there was a large, squat monster with twisting crystalline structures spiraling from its back that dragged itself along the ground with some struggle that he called ‘Stonespine’, a thing and needly creature that seemed to be blind on one side he called ‘The Seeker’, and a beast he knew well, the one that first attacked him that he now called ‘Fanghorn’.*

*He felt a twinge of true fear go through him whenever he could glimpse Fanghorn, and the beast seemed eager to taunt him whenever it was in the area. It would often linger at the edge of the world and slowly steal away life from the plants too close to the edge, growing slightly stronger as the fruits of his labors feed it. He was powerless to do anything about the vile creature; he had no real way to defend himself and certainly no way to attack such a creature and leave any lasting damage- let alone mortally wound it. He \*was\* comfortably confident that the demon could not enter his home, and that he had no true reasons to worry about it endangering his life - but now, the beast was growing bolder every day, knowing that his home was a captive food bowl for it to eat from. Now, the beast had lingered for over three pages of notes in his book- absolutely unheard of- and he felt the sense of pain and unease around him. But this time, it seemed to not be focused on himself…"*
This passage was expanded on in the October 2022 update to the site:

*The creature screeched loudly, drawing its twisted neck back and aligning its teeth forward into an attack pose. Ooze dripped from between its fangs and dropped onto the ground with a sizzle. It seemed bent on destruction of whatever encroached upon its new territory, and lurched forward in a vicious strike. A flash of green leaped from the shadows around it and latched onto the neck of the beast just as quickly as it lunged forward, pummeling it to the ground with a heave. The demon fell partly into his domain, and the limbs touching the ground sizzled and oozed out into black ichor upon the ground, with a tarry smoke. The creature that attacked it was clearer now, a large quadrupedal creature, with menacing fangs and claws, its skin seemed to glimmer in the sun when light shined upon it, and it bore a large mane. Unlike the demon, it seemed to bear colors upon its hide, but it was hard to make out the true nature. Black spots of ichor dappled it as it sank into Fanghorn and thrashed its head.*
*Fanghorn was not to give up that easily though, and rose from the ground, flesh dripping and spilling over. It lurched over and rolled onto the creature, pinning it down, before taking a swipe at it and throwing it a distance. The beast heaved upon the ground before raising itself slowly, shaking unsteadily before regaining focus on the monster in front of it. It once more jumped towards Fanghorn, latching onto the antlers of the demon and dragging it towards the ground. With a large thud, Fanghorn was brought to his side and once more knocked off of what few feet remained. The creature took this opportunity and swung around, closing its jaws upon the head of the demon and with a disgusting crunch, Fanghorn seemed to melt into dust and evaporate. The creature, covered in ichor and ooze, raised its head slowly and stared right into his eyes, and drew from the carnage a single stone, crushing it within its jaws. He felt terror, turning into fear, to pain, and sadness. The creature turned towards the mist and with a slow limp, wandered away.*
### **Source Code**

Additional lore can be found inside the site's source code in the form of comments:

#### **2021 Version**

* If you make the laws can it really be called justice?
* They can see the monster inside of me can't they?
* What if I can't learn to forgive and forget?
* Will they love me after I let them down?
* Can you give too much of yourself to someone?
* Should you really be letting this one go?
* How did you forget your own death?
* The past keeps playing over in my head... how can I call it the past?
* Do they actually like me or is this all fake?
* Can you trust that you will do the right thing?
* Do you really know what you live for?
* Have you heard the voice calling to you from out there? Maybe it is time to answer.
* We know you are out there.

#### **2022 Version**

With the exception of "Have you heard the voice calling to you from out there? Maybe it is time to answer", all of the previous source code lines were removed.

* So what keeps you here in this realm? Why do you hold on? Do you yearn for something more?
* I hope that the world keeps you in its favor and you keep it. Maybe today as you read this, if you still miss it like home, create something happy with your memories.
* It gets better, one day at a time. Even if you can't tell now, one day you'll look back and see that it turned out fine.
* Welcome home.

## **Developer's Message**

In addition to lore, a message from the site's creator can be found near the top in the source code:

### **2021 Version**

"I PROMISE THIS IS NOT AN "GO OUTSIDE" ARG. IT PROBABLY ISN'T AN ARG AT ALL. ALL CONTENT WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THIS PAGE

If you want to visit mirrorwood.com and give it some attention though feel free to do so- the construct gets lonely and needs interaction with the real world to gain energy, obviously.

Think of this like a multi media mood board. With puzzles. Or secrets, or angst, or yearning. /shrug

alsobynomeansamipromisingyouagamebytheendofthisitsjustloreplanningforapotentialideaonedaymaybe

giveitacoupleyearsistillneedtogotothehospital"

An additional comment is located above the logo:

"Logo and title subject to change\*"

### **2022 Version**

"So another year has passed and you're still here.

Cogs are moving in the background, even if you can't see their function or the machine they drive.

Health wise I'm still doing a bit poorly and life wise I have lots of plans of my own currently ripping through my time.

We'll meet again some day, maybe soon, maybe later. I expect we'll have changed, both you and I. Maybe we'll have grown, maybe we'll have held on to the hopes we once had, maybe it'll feel like nothing changed at all.

Again, if you want to visit mirrorwood.com and give it some attention though feel free to do so- the construct gets lonely and needs interaction with the real world to gain energy, obviously."

## **FAQ**

On October 16, 2021, the moderators of the DergunTown Discord Server posted a FAQ regarding the recent site changes. This post can be found in the Lobby channel's pinned messages.

> **Quick Q&A regarding the current state of derguns.town website**
>
>

> Q: What is going on?
>
> A: No one knows. Not even us mods. We have to wait for things to unfold by themselves. If anything gets to us, we will let you know.
>
>

> Q: Is DT reopening?
>
> A: We don't know. Again, We have to wait. Please don't get your hopes up.
>
>

> Q: What does the source code say?
>
> A: It's just simple coding with several texts that appear on page in the background, clan leader images, etc. ~~Simply the things you clearly can see; otherwise, nothing to look at.~~ Currently, there is some lore/story in the source code if you dig deep enough.
>
>

> Q: What is [thing] on the page?
>
> A: As of right now, I can only tell you that the images are the different clan leaders. The texts floating behind might be some loose lore. The Veil is the world of where they live. That's all.
>
>

> Q: Do you/other mods know anything?!
>
> A: No. ~~Kosmic Kaiser~~ (Kosmic Kaiser has retired) Deer **might** be the one who will receive any information, and as of right now, none has been revealed. You WILL be notified if anything major/important happens.
>
>

> Q: The site name changes!/Text appears at the bottom! What is that?
>
> A: Lore. Be warned that it might not be related to derguns.town at all.
>
>