Level 82

## Level 82: "Corrupting Heat"

### Description:

**Level 82** appears to be a void, and has been described as a spectrum of greys fused with gradients of darkness. A black archipelago can be seen drifting throughout the black expanse, and are believed to be the only landforms on this Level. These islands have a strong gravitational attraction, though the reason for this remains unknown.

The island you spawn on in **Level 82** is the island you'll be stuck on until you discover an escape, since the gravity is so strong that you won't be able to get off of it. If you're lucky, your spawn place will be on one of the larger islands, where finding an exit will be easy, but if you spawn on a smaller island, reaching an exit will be more difficult.

Three black spheres are said to float in the sky on this level, resembling a cluster of glowing stars. The heat produced by these "stars" will gradually warm the level to the melting point of iron (around 5,000 degrees) over the course of 3 days, but you will most likely die of heat stroke long before it reaches that point. Only a few entities are able to exist on this level, but that doesn't make them any less strange.

#### False Heavens:

The floating islands of the **Level 82**'s archipelago appear to be completely covered in ancient pyramids and labyrinthian temples made of a black stone that reflects back the dark light of **The Black Suns**, eerily illuminating the islands like beacons in the grey expanse.

There are currently 6 islands that have been documented by travelers who managed to escape the level, with a 7th island which has only been mentioned but never been explored. These islands have come to be known as:

* **Vagniterattra**, characterized by vast labyrinthian temples bearing a resemblance to Hindu architecture. These temples make up the entirety of the island, and gravity is known to be reversed for the bottom levels of the temple. Individuals who spawn on this island will spawn deep within the temple, and may not even be initially aware of **The Black Suns** looming across the sky. While these temples have many windows, only 4 doorways are found on the outskirts of this island.
* **Teochihua**, characterized by vast temple complexes interwoven into mountains, which have a distinct Aztec design and architecture, albeit with modern elements sporadically integrated.
* **Xu Kong**, characterized by a barren, mountainous terrain with very few structures placed in isolated, difficult to reach regions of the island. These structures will bear a resemblance to Buddhist shrines and be made completely out of stone, however instead of statues of buddha on a pedestal, there will instead be warped, humanoid shapes made of stones in their place.
* **Babel**, characterized by its vast, slum-like cities of buildings made of metal and wooden scraps that somehow remain stable and are able to rise into the sky like skyscrapers scattered across the surface of the island. Occasionally, these scraps of metal will have some form of Arabic text or writing suggesting that they are of middle eastern origin. Graffiti has also been found on the walls of these makeshift buildings.
* **Steroi**, characterized by its resemblance to an asteroid in shape, except for being completely covered in closed windows of various shapes and sizes, that lead into pitch black space inside. These windows seem to impossible to open, however, very rarely a window will shine with bright, piercing white light. These windows can be opened, and passing through them will transport you to The Whiteout.
* **Xandros**, characterized by a vast megalopolis with buildings bearing a ancient Greek and ancient Egyptian architecture, except scaled up to the size of modern high rising buildings.
* **Unnamed**, characterized by the fact that no one who has ever spawn on the island has survived to tell the tale, leading others to question if anyone has ever spawned on the island in the first place. This island does not seem to reflect the light of **The Black Suns**, and so what lies on its surface remains mostly a mystery.

### Entities:

#### The Eclipser:

This level's one of two entities is **The Eclipser**. **The Eclipser** is an 8'4 in (2.54 m) humanoid monster that tricks wanderers into believing they must listen to it to find an exit. **The Eclipser** will constantly advise wanderers to perform the following tasks:

* Jump off of an island. **The Eclipser** says this will send you to Level 7, but it just teleports you back to the island that you were on.
* Dig in the ground and find rocks. **The Eclipser** says performing this will take you to Level 83, but it actually does nothing.
* Scream at the sky for more than 3 minutes. **The Eclipser** says this will take you to Level 91, but it also does nothing.
* **The Eclipser** tells all travelers it encounters that dying on this level will simply take you to Level 10, but again, nothing happens, and you'll just die.If you ignore or fail to comply with **The Eclipser**'s requests, it will begin to taunt you and challenge you to a brawl; if you win, you will be sent to Level 83, but if you lose, you will die. To date, only two wanderers have managed to defeat **The Eclipser**, and none have been able to befriend or negotiate with it. It is also said that **The Eclipser** devours the corpses of those it defeats, and those who have expired due to the immense heat. **The Eclipser** does not seem to be affected by this heat, and in fact seems to revel in watching others succumb to the smoldering sun. Examples of taunts used by **The Eclipser** include:

* Who are you praying to? Them? (*Motions to Xandros as it floats across the horizon)* 'Man's Defenders'… They used to pray once long ago too you know; and now their ruins are here, with me.
* Why do you keep running from me? (*Follows the frightened traveler, crawling along the wall as they try to get away by climbing a ladder)* Do you think you can climb a ladder high enough that you reach God? (*Looks towards Babel*) Others have tried it, and look where that got them.

#### The Black Sun:

**The Black Sun** is a single entity that can split into numerous black holes masquerading as "black stars." When this occurs, **The Black Suns** have the ability to raise the temperature of the level to above 5000 °C before returning to its baseline temperature of 28 °C. This change in temperature will take place over the course of 3 days and is usually followed by 2 days of stable temperature before resuming the cycle all over again.

Very little if anything is known about these **Black Suns**, however some have told of the level's other entity, **The Eclipser**, making comments that would imply it knows more about this **Black Sun** than it lets on. A few of these comments include:

* I once knew a people who worshipped the sun. (*Gazes off at Teochihua as it passes along the horizon*) They thought their 'sacred' flame could protect them from anything, from me. So I took it from them.
* Who am I? Think of me as **The Eclipser**, the living eclipse that vanquished the Sun.

### Colonies and Outposts:

Due to the intense heat, no colony or outposts have been established. Heat resistant technology must advance significantly before this is possible.

### Entrances and Exits:

#### Entrances:

* Simply finding a mansion on Level 11 entering it will lead to **Level 82**.
* Staring at the sun in Level 91 will slow fade into **Level 82**.

#### Exits:

* Defeating **The Eclipser** will take you to Level 83.
* Eating all of your rations before the level heats up will take you to Level 4.