The City

* Miasma
* Cleared

## Connects To

Ancient Swamp

(The miasma cleared city is only viewable during the post game cutscene sequences.)

## Connects To

Ancient Swamp

The City is the fourth and final location in Homestead Arcana. Unlike other areas, it remains shrouded in Miasma due to story until the player completes the game by healing the Dust-eater Scar at the lower level of the City ruins.

It is not known when the City was built or who inhabited it, only that it preceded the founding of the Academy in time.

## History

The player learns from letters that the City was inhabited by an advanced civilization that relied on machinery to automate routine tasks. Pops writes that Abraham's flying machine was built out of parts scavenged in the City. He also notes that Ma believes that they summoned the Miasma (*Ma and Pops: On The People Before Us*).

Father Benjamin writes that the City's citizens did not worship the Sun the way the Church and people of today do, instead believing they had the power to determine humanity's destiny. Father Benjamin believes that their actions resulted "in the unleashing of the Miasma" (*Father Benjamin: On The Before Us*).

It is possible that the City's inhabitants spoke a now-extinct language or used a cipher to encrypt certain messages. While in the City, the player finds an *Ancient Recipe* journal near the *Vision of Flame* hint tablet that is written in an unknown language that seems to share similarities with English. Parts of the journal entry can be partially deciphered by deducing its rules of grammar.

> *"The final Hour is here. Mother is now gone, and the, the rest* [others?], *are not what they once were* [?]. *But I cannot leave my Familiar* [yet/here?]*, not when she is in this condition.*
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> *I* [he?] *invented this FLARE* [recipe/potion?]*, to keep out all* [stay away from?] *the Ghosts. She has* [?] *to stay safe* [rest some?]. *Now, it is my turn to protect her." —* Author Unknown (*Ancient Recipe* journal)
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> *Contributor's note:* If I deciphered it correctly, the journal entry seems to suggest that Miasma affects humans in similar ways as animals after prolonged exposure. Like wild animals encountered in the Miasma turn hostile and subsist on the Miasma, it is possible that Ghosts are City citizens who were consumed by the fog and turned on their own kind. ~Muffinigans
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A Hint Tablet found shortly before the journal, *Vision of Mobs*, may have been written by the same author (who seems to be a child or adolescent), and it addresses the mother (presumably the same one who was gone by the time *Ancient Recipe* was written).

> *"Mother, where are you? Your potions aren't working. The ghosts, they can't be slowed down. I tried hiding with shadow, and that kind of works, but if just one of them sees me, they all chase me... I don't know what to do. Please come back."* — Author Unknown (*Vision of Mobs* hint tablet)
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## Exploration

Because it is covered in Miasma the entire time, the City is notoriously difficult to traverse, with many dead ends and hidden nooks, making it easy for the player to be trapped by enemies in pursuit if detected. It is a multilevel structure, with the next area beneath the previous one, requiring the player to traverse almost the entire Ghost-infested route back, save for one shortcut on the (earliest) upper level that is unblocked as the story progresses.

This also renders the game map unusable due to Miasma limiting the City's visibility and the City's multilevel structure making it difficult to distinguish on which the level a collectible item can be found.

The city is the endgame area. Once the player fertilizes the third Miasma scar and reaches the lowest level, a tooltip appears that cautions the player of the approaching endgame and their inability to go back once the final main quest, healing the Dust-eater, is triggered. The player is given the opportunity to save the game and can return after finishing the game to complete any outstanding side quests; however, this is done in the final save file before the player enters the City for the last time. There are no new quests or discoveries post-endgame.

### Seedlings

***Note:*** Items found in the City appear as if next to each other when viewing the interactive map; however, the City has at least 5 levels so in reality the items are spread out and 'stacked' on top of each other across levels. It is recommended to orient oneself using in-game location pictures rather than map views.

* Eggplant
* Rhubarb
* Gardenia
* Watermelon

### Enemies

**Ghosts**: Range of sight can be seen with Ripple. Avoid alerting any; if one sees you and makes chase, any nearby Ghosts will as well. If you are hit by the light traps, they will alert nearby Ghosts to your location and cause instant detection and aggravation (icon above enemy's head turns red).

Ghosts can be briefly scared away with the Flare spell to pick up nearby items, but the spell only lasts 15 seconds and drains Mana quickly. They take a moment to start chasing, so if you can quickly run past and get out of range, they’ll quickly lose interest. Ghosts can also be avoided while passing through with liberal use of Gray to slow time or Shadow to avoid full aggravation (red icon above enemy's head). (4 damage)

**Spikes**: Timed floor spikes as in previous areas. Can be avoided with use of Gray. (2 damage)

**Light traps** (AKA magic lamps): If you are hit by the light traps, they'll mark you as a target, deal light damage, and alert nearby Ghosts. (0.6 pts of damage)

### Notable Items

#### Enchantment Recipes

Flare Spell Recipe + Bottle

Channeler Tonic

Flare Charm + Recipe

#### Food Recipes

Eggplant Stew and Hash Recipes

Walnut Pie + Rhubarb Cobbler Recipes

Philosopher Stew

### Additional Notes

* Tinctures of Resolve and Resilience located near the first Miasma scar behind the rubble wall. Reaching them requires use of the Ice Step spell to cross the water to the nook around the corner. From there, there is a one-way shortcut back to the scar.
* Another Tincture of Resolve is located down the ramp next to the first Eggplant seedling. Just run past the Ghost guarding the left ‘balcony’ - Ice Step with Ice Step Charm in inventory makes the player quick enough to get out of range before trouble can occur; alternatively, Shadow spell helps to remain undetected while sneaking through the Ghost's range of vision.
* Third Tincture of Resilience to the right of the nook with Scar #3, before heading down to the lowest area.
* If you're lucky, a Treasure Chest will spawn in the second 'balcony' where the Flare Hint Tablet is located, and it will contain a Philosopher Stew.