Environmental lore

Act 1

Letters of Exile

There are 15 letter of exile located in the Act 1 town Lioneye's Watch. They can be found immediately after you kill Hillock and enter the town. The letters cycle randomly each time you click the lore piece. The easiest way to make sure you've gotten all fifteen letter is to do them all before any other Act 1 lore pieces. Check your achievement progress by pressing "H" and opening the "No Stone Unturned" Achievement tab, you should see 15/24 if you got all of them. Afterwards you can proceed to collect the rest of Act 1's lore as you progress through the act. See Letters of Exile for a comprehensive list.

Weathered Carvings

There are 7 weathered carvings found throughout Act 1. These carvings provide insight into the Karui's attempt to settle in Wraeclast and the mysterious Black Spirit that consumed their king Kaom and eventually drove the Karui out of Wraeclast.

Weathered Carving I

The first carving is located in The Coast.

Kaom's canoe struck this sand with the force of destiny. At his back, the greatest war host in Karui history tamed the wild sea, their canoes coupling with the land, one by one.

Lioneye's Gemlings met us with shining metal and bold words. Hyrri's arrows withered their pride. Kaom's axes silenced their dispair. Marceus Lioneye fought bravely, to the last. Kaom honoured him with a place on his belt.

Kaom has shown Wraeclast our Karui strength. Kaom will teach Wraeclast the Karui Way.

Weathered Carving II

The second carving is located in The Tidal Island.

Kaom has removed the Eternal stain from this coast. The Empire's citizens decorate our meeting houses with their heads. Our warriors build homes for our families. Our families till the earth, wish the waters, fill the air with song.

The Karui Way is yet a seedling here, but it grows, gains in pride and power every day. Kaom has kept his promise. The time of the Karui has come.

Weathered Carving III

The third carving is located in The Mud Flats.

Black storms descend on us from the North. Unnatural tempests of rage and hatred, lashing our backs, tearing at our houses. The rain is shot with shadow. It withers our crops, sickens our livestock.

And the wind... the wind carries with it a restless spirit that breeds melancholy and madness. A spirit that creeps through our dreams, weaves tales of misdeed around our resting minds. We try not to listen. We try to remember ourselves. Some of us forget.

Brothers fight. Brothers die. Kaom punishes those that quarrel, that steal, that murder. Yet still the nightmares goad us into malefaction.

We Karui are banished from sleep.

Weathered Carving IV

The fourth carving is located in The Ledge.

The earth of Wraeclast rejects the dead. The black spirit of storm and dream now reaches into the ground and rises up our slain imperial foes. It leads the fallen from their graves and drives them to fight us beyond the end, rotted tooth and jagged nail.

Our own Remembered have joined their cursed ranks. No longer may we give our beloved to the birds, messengers of spirit to the sky, conveyors of flesh to the earth. Kaom has commanded us to destroy our Remembered with axe and fire. Kaom is the bravest of us, willing to bear the ire of the Ancestors for the survival of his people.

Weathered Carving V

The fifth carving is located in The Climb near Lioneye's Standard.

The black spirit infects living flesh and bone. The animals suffered first. Their bodies changed. Their eyes filled with a hatred of mankind that is beyond instinct.

Now it is we who must bend and bow like saplings before the seaborn gale. The firstborn of the Kingdom of Kaom has greeted us this day. The firstborn of the Kingdom of Kaom was buried this day. Even our children are not spared the black spirit's touch.

What have we done to enrage Wraeclast? We look to Kaom. Our King will lay the spirit of this land at peace.

Weathered Carving VI

The sixth carving is located in The Ship Graveyard next to the waypoint and Captain Fairgraves.

Kaom stands before us and looks out to the raging sea. He sings, calls, screams to our Ancestors to come to our aid. He offers them the Gifts of Old, a feast of heart and mind, muscle and marrow, cooked in the fire and rock of this angry land.

We have not practiced these ways in so many years. Only in the darkest of times, most desperate of times, do we perform these oldest of rituals. Only here and now may we sacrifice and consume our own. Only inour King can we trust this return to our ancient selves.

Weathered Carving VII

The seventh carving is also located in The Ship Graveyard, usually near the ocean. It was previously located in The Coves before The Awakening expansion in which The Coves was removed from the game.

Kaom is gone. Our King has taken our finest five hundred warriors and descended into the depths of Wraeclast. He spoke to us of a vision, a gift from the ancestors. Kaom has been deceived. The vision was a gift from the black spirit. It has conquered Kaom.. The black spirit has conquered the Karui Way.

Hyrri has made ready her canoes. We will take those that are left, five hundred forgotten families, and carry them back to their true homes. Back to Ngamakanui.

Kaom's promises have lead us into nightmare. Hyrii will lead us back to the dawn.

Lioneye's Standard

Lioneye's Standard is located in The Climb on a small rise about halfway through the zone. The fifth weathered carving can usually be found nearby.

There is no Honour without Sacrifice.

Shavronne's Journal

Shavronne's Journal is located in The Upper Prison in The Warden's Quarters. It can be found on the path to Brutus where you first encounter Piety.

...still the Karui barbarians advance from the South. Lioneye is dead, his legion slaughtered. Should the need arise we shall retreat through Prisoner's Gate, raising my barricade behind us. But our Lord Brutus nears readiness. Foul times demand heroism. The Warden will serve as our saviour. May he crush the Karui into the sand with the mighty fists I shall gift to...

Act 2

Etchings on Wood

All four etchings are found in The Crossroads. Etchings on Wood I and II are located in a ruined house next to the path between The Old Fields and the waypoint. Etchings on Wood III is found in a ruined mill next to the path between the waypoint and The Broken Bridge. Etchings on Wood IV is in what appears to be the remains of a church across the road from the mill.

Etchings on Wood I

I haven't slept. No-one has slept. Not for three days, not since the black storm in the northern ranges. Not since the nightmares began.

Violent and twisted night terrors. They whisper to us, tempt us, threaten us, beguile us. They promise terrible things in return for even more terrible acts.

My husband, Denirus, went to Alliston to find a doctor who might help. He should have been back yesterday. I fear for him. I fear for all of us.

-Tani

Etchings on Wood II

It has been a little over a week since the black storm.

My husband has not returned and sickness now sweeps though our village. Many have died and those that lived have... changed.

These were folk we once called neighbour and friend. Now they limp and stagger through the night, their deformities as grotesque as the madness in their eyes.

-Tani

Etchings on Wood III

The moon was full the night of the black storm. It is full again.

They have come for me. They have come for my daughters. Bravalo called out while the others skulked and muttered in the darkness. Corin went to them, arms open, welcoming. The nighmares told her to.

My uncle tried to stop her. Bravalo crushed his skull with his smith's hammer. I barred the doors and windows but they screamed like monkeys and beat themselves bloody trying to get in.

I had no choice. I took my two youngest and fled to the cellar, following the tunnel to the mill.

All we can do is hide and hope. God help us.

-Tani

Etchings on Wood IV

Three lunari gone now, since it all began. Perhaps I am the only one who still looks upon Lunaris, who remembers her name. Soon, I will be gone and the moon will go on, alone.

My husband has returned and he hunts for me. My dead husband hunts me. Corin too, and my uncle. Corpses rise and walk and feed. My girls, they walk now... and feed.

God has forsaken us. Lunaris is my witness. Tonight, I return to my family.

-Tani

Ancient Reverie Device

The Ancient Reverie Device is located in The Chamber of Sins Level 1. It can be found in the center of the zone in what appears to be a ruined map device room. The unique spider Black Death can be found nearby.

Inquisitor,

If you were to attempt to transmogrify a virtue gem without the proper mental preparation, you will be a puppet master working strings made of vipers. Remember, these gems are phantasms in crystalline form, alive, with volitions inscrutable. Master conscious dreaming, as I instructed you. Your death means little to me, Maligaro. It's what your demise will unleash that concens me.

Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate to the Empire

Transmutia Device

The Transmutia Device can be found in the boss room in The Chamber of Sins Level 2 behind Fidelitas and the Strange Device that drops the Baleful Gem.

I bequeath this Transmutia Device to you, Inquisitor Maligaro, in recognition of your devotion to our sublime Art. May it be the chariot that conveys your dreams into reality.

Malachai, Thaumaturge Laureate to the Empire

Proclamation

The Proclamation can be found in The Western Forest surrounded by a circle of stones. The exact location is somewhat random, but it is usually close to the path slightly below the waypoint.

We, the Court of Reckoning find you, Doedre Stamatis, guilty of the following transgressions against God:

Perversion of God's Creation

Promotion of Heretical Beliefs

Unlawful Enslavement of Eternal Citizens

Torture of the Innocent

Murder of the Servants of Purity

For these most severe crimes, I do sentence Doedre Darktongue to burn at the stake till naught is left but ashes on the morrow, 4th Fiero of Verusi, 1334. May her life serve as penance for the lives she has taken, and let Purity sweep away the dust of her deeds from our firmament.

"Only will and truth can prevail over the evil of our own kin."

- Emperor Voll

Arteri's Letter

Arteri's Letter can always be found in The Western Forest at the end of the road on a table next to the Blocked Pass and the unique boss Captain Arteri.

Arteri, my beautiful captain.

I wish it were not you, but I cannot bring myself to trust any other with this most vital of tasks.

This is the only pass between the inner and outer Empire. No further exiles are to enter the inner Empire. We have material enough for our work.

Ensure that the barricade remains in place, and if any exile should somehow pass through, kill them.

I will send for you when my work is complete in Sarn.

Until we share our next night together,

Piety

Plaque

The Plaque is located in The Fellshrine Ruins at the entrance to the ruined church. Following the path from The Crossroads all the way to the end will bring you directly to it.

On this day, the 2nd Sacrato of Verusi, 1334 IC, the Army of Purity remembers its most devout and beloved servant, Archbishop Geofri of Phrecia.

"Only will and truth can prevail over the evil of our own kin."

- Geofri

Act 3

INCOMPLETE

Ancient Graffiti

Ancient Graffiti is found in six different locations in Act 3. It can be inferred that this graffiti was written during The Purity Rebellion.

Ancient Graffiti I

Located in The City of Sarn somewhere along the walls near the water.

Mortality is the mother of life. We have turned our backs on her.

Ancient Graffiti II

Located in The Slums in a seemingly random location.

The Monkey King has built his throne on your back. A throne of gold and gem, polished with blood and tear. Throw off the Monkey King and his shining privy, before your back is broken.

Ancient Graffiti III

Located in The Warehouse District on one of the outside walls of the warehouses.

The gemmed genteel are an infestation. They are the Monkey King's fleas that drink your lifeblood. Crush them in your work-forged hands!

Ancient Graffiti IV

Located in The Catacombs in a random location.

There is nothing 'eternal' in this empire of ours but the names of our day that shall be revered or reviled in the centuries to come.

Ancient Graffiti V

Located in The Battlefront.

The Shadow whispers and simpers at the Monkey King's feet, but when the Monkey King puts his back into the Sun, it's the Shadow that leads the way.

Ancient Graffiti VI

Located on a random wall in The Docks

The Monkey King names you 'slave'. No. You are the gems of Wraeclast, not the treacherous stones you dig and die for. It's time to bend the Monkey King's ear. Tell him your true name.

Act 4

Note

Located in The Aqueduct on the left path near the Highgate entrance.

Captain Vincenti

The Highgate holds the secrets to the true origin of the gems. Cleanse the mountain of those Maraketh parasites and secure the entrance to those mines.

Do not disappoint me, Vincenti. As you well know, my displeasure can change a man.

-Piety

Voll's Confession

Located in The Dried Lake in Voll, Emperor of Purity's camp.

I vowed to "care for this empire with my eyes open". I lied to my people. I lied to myself. Blinded by my lust for 'purity', I placed my faith in the most corrupt of men.

I watch now as my legion dies, their flesh melting from their twisted bones. They fall... and rise. A tide of mortal death and eternal damnation.

I feel it now in my own flesh. The heat. The corruption.

I have failed you, my Empire of Purity. Do not forgive me, but please, I beg of you, survive me.

-Voll

Malachai's Notebook

Located in The Crystal Veins in a corner near the waypoint and The Rapture Device.

The Rapture Device has absorbed its fill of harvested life from Fury and Desire. It is ready.

So am I.

I know now that I was to be the end and the beginning of the Empire. The Beast has made this clear to me. As clear and undeniable as the sacrifice I must now make.

My Lady Dialla, my love, my life's greatest achievement. She must leave me now, for she cannot follow and she will perish if she remains.

And so I will ask of her more than she would ever give. I will betray her. I will break her heart, so that I do not break her soul.