Hello, survivors!

The plague-ridden land of Norovellir hides many mysteries, and it will be your task to uncover them all. We’ve drastically changed the flow of the game, and today we are shedding some light on how your journey will progress in the full version of Nested Lands.

The main story will be split into three chapters, covering the entire starting island and some other nearby locations. We can’t share much info about the map just yet, but yes, Nested Lands will have more than one island for you to explore. But we’ll talk about it in our later posts. 

The first part of your journey will revolve around settling your village in the North Plains, covering the basics of survival, combat, and Village management. It will be a more interesting and interactive tutorial than before, with greater freedom between quests. You will be free to explore the island as you see fit and advance the questline at any pace. 

We're also introducing side quests, typically offered by villagers. These quests will appear on your Quest Board, and completing them will boost villager happiness — a new mechanic designed to strengthen your community. Some of these changes you can already see in the demo version of Nested Lands, but of course there will be more in the final release. 

The second part of the story unfolds in a new location, the Silent Forest. That’s where things will take a drastic turn: you will encounter Corrupted Priests and Rogue Soldiers, powerful forces with their own goals. While the Priests are looking for a cure to the plague, the soldiers enforce the will of the church through any means necessary, serving the priests as violent retainers

“But wait, why are the Priests looking for a cure? Aren’t they corrupted and evil?” you might wonder. The thing is, in the world of Nested Lands, nothing is truly black and white. While it’s true that the Priests do want to find a cure, the real question is: for what purpose? And their methods are… questionable, at best. Evil permeates their past, and the Death Plague can corrupt more than just flesh. Unraveling this twisted path is just one of the secrets waiting for you in the Silent Forest… 

As you unravel the web of Norovellir’s mysteries, you will eventually arrive at Dark Waters: It's a grim place, once considered sacred to the native religion of Norovellir, but now home to the plague-worshiping Mad Occultists. The plague in this area is more potent than ever before. We’re keeping the details light on this part to avoid any potential spoilers. But trust us, you will need to make expert use of your abilities and resources to survive these lands and finally get close to the solution of the mystery of Nested Lands. 

That’s everything we can share about the new and drastically improved story and quest system in Nested Lands for now. If you have any comments, please ask us in the comments and we will tell you more!

Wishlist the game and follow the page to not miss new updates for the demo and other interesting development updates. And if you want to partake in the community discussions and theorycrafting, we are inviting you to join our Discord[discord.com].
Stay vigilant, survivors. 

Plague as a Psychological & Biological Threat

We’ve completely changed how you get infected with the Plague. Now it will progress in stages, and you will have different ways of playing around it. When you first get infected, a progress bar will appear. It will serve as an indicator of your current level of infection. As it fills up, new symptoms will start to emerge: from minor cough to vomiting and a new special effect — Madness. If you get afflicted with Madness, strange things will start to happen: hallucinations, voices inside your head, and even ominous laughter, coming from seemingly nowhere… And we didn’t even mention the various side effects that might happen to you because of the potent Plague disease.

The world will start to notice it too. One uncontrolled cough could alert nearby enemies while you are trying to sneak past them, vomiting will cause Plague spores to appear nearby as the bacteria grows more and more potent inside of you. And of course, your physical condition will start to deteriorate as well. But where there's danger, there’s also a thing or two to counteract it. That is where our new Counterplay system comes in. 

Plague Counterplay

So far, we have only covered the scary and grim aspects of the Plague. But humanity is a powerful force, and for ages it has learned to fight the harsh conditions of its surroundings. Just as you counter cold with warm clothes, you can also use clothes to reduce the Plague's effects on you. Many of you were asking about it, and yes, Nested Lands will have a full-on Plague Mask and Clothing costume. Think of the classic Plague doctors with strange masks and big hooded robes. 

Remember the Plague sites with Mycelium? You can contain them by building torches and campfires around them to prevent the Plague from spreading further. After all, fire is a potent cleansing power, especially in harsh Plague times. And powerful trinkets will also provide you with additional protection from the world’s dangers. Some say that you can even perform mysterious Rituals from yore, meant to lighten the Plague's decaying touch. Still, nothing is achieved without a price, so what will it be? This part, for now, will remain a mystery.

And of course, medicine. The medicinal prowess of your village will play a crucial part in the Plague counterplay. After you discover its recipe, you will be able to craft medicine yourself or with the help of your Apothecary. Or you could find it in the world through exploration, or even buy some from the mysterious trader that will visit your village from time to time. So worry not, while the threat is high, there are always ways to fight back and contain it. Humanity will prevail. Or will it? That is up to you to decide. 

All of these changes combined will make for a new, much more developed and deep Plague system. It will interact with your journey on all levels of the game and become not only an obstacle, but also a source of power that you can harness and use for your own sake. We are very curious to see how you will approach the Plague and what decisions you will make. 

Join our Discord[discord.com] to participate in the community talks and discussions with the team. Don’t forget to wishlist and follow the game on Steam to stay in touch with our updates.

Stay safe, survivors.