Tombstone

*Main articles:* Objects, Ancient Glyphs

**Tombstones** (also called gravestones) are distinctly shaped stone posts scattered around the world of *Journey*. Their appearance as well as in-game hints suggest that they are, indeed, gravestones.

# General information

Memorial stones appear throughout the game and are an integral part of the gameplay, the story, and the Rythulian civilization's culture. They can be recognised by their appearance (tall, oblong stone bars with narrow sides and flat front faces, a hexagonal hole at the top of the front face, and cut edges). They're usually found sticking from the ground. Some of them have engraved symbols or other ornaments.

### Stone designs

There are at least four distinct designs, but it's not entirely clear whether all of them are gravestones; some may be used as memorial marks of different purpose.

#### Regular tombstones

These are the first ones seen in the game. They are plain gray bars with one or more symbols on the front face (sometimes worn off and barely visible). They would appear to be used for "regular" Rythulians such as the Wayfarers.

#### Decorated tombstones

Found around Shrines, these stones have a distinct ornament similar to the front side of an embroidered robe. Their bottom half (below the ornament) is white, and their base extends slightly with one or two steps. Decorated stones have no visible symbols on them until activated, upon which a symbol will appear on the top side, glowing brightly. They are called "Ancestor gravestones" in game files.

#### Temple stones

These are found above the Shrines in the Tower and in the Chapter Select temples. They are similar to regular tombstones but have five symbols carved on them, which are sharp and clearly visible (unlike some of the tombstones). Their placement suggests that rather than being actual headstones, they have a slightly different memorial (or possibly religious) function.

#### Heavy stones

These can only be seen in the Snow level. They are wider, thicker, heavier stones with distinct carved lines giving them snake-like appearance. They are called "Whistling stones" in game files. It was previously thought that they might be War Machine tombstones. A recent (May 2022) comment from the developers revealed that the statues are of a dragon creature that was cut from the game.

### Glowing tombstones

Symbols on tombstones glow in certain conditions:

* On a regular tombstone, the top symbol faintly glows if the camera is close enough.
* Ancient tombstones glow brightly when activated; on most levels those near murals remain lit whilst those near HL spots "turn off" and can be activated again (not in SC).
* Tombstones in the Lantern room (Snow level), which appear to be a variation of the Ancient tombstone, can be activated but will glow faintly unlike other Ancient stones, suggesting that even their power is reduced by the cold.
* Unlike tombstones, memorial stones above murals and at the back of the mini-temples do not glow.

## Gallery

* An Ancient Glyph suggesting the stones are tombstones.
* Regular tombstone
* Memorial stones in the Tower
* Ancient tombstone
* Heavy tombstone (WM?)
* Glowing tombstones in the Lantern room

## Trivia

* The symbols are generally picked at random, so the same gravestone (for example, at the very start of the game) will have different glowing symbols in different play-throughs.
* The glowing symbols on both sides of a given gravestone do not match, although one might assume they should (a specific symbol marking a specific past traveller).

## Quotes

 “
*Very early prototypes featured a "dragon" character that would fly around the desert. These eventually became the stone guardians. However, back at that time, I made a statue of the old dragon design. That statue actually shipped in the game -- in the snowy area where wind pushes you and you hide behind the "whistle stones," those meshes with a hole in them are in fact statues of the old dragon.*
 „
 **— Matt Nava(?) commenting on the Giant Squid server**