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There are three types of Slugcats
The beef started here
Day 29: The Watcher
LETSHAVEAWATCH...
Hide and seek
I know that this is not possible, but i just want them to be happy kids... And playing children games... Am i asking too much?
My design for spinning top, as an ancient
I love them so much, they a cute
I was planning to exit this room pipe... and, well.
Prince my beloved,, my freak of nature,,, my eldritch horrors beyond comprehension,,,, im so normal about him i promise guys (lying so much)
so
this moment huh
im so normal about Unfortunate Evolution you dont even know. what even fucking is it. how in the balls did a void worm get rotted. absolutely insane region /pos
after doing nothing but play rain world: the watcher for 4 days (bar monday i had to go to college sadge) and i have now completed the whole dlc as it currently stands. i have many thoughts
alright. starting with the generic spoilers
first up, the beginning. HOLY FUCK I ADORED THE BEGINNING OF THE CAMPAIGN. i wish my clipping software wasnt broken so that i couldve clipped my reaction to That One Chimney Canopy Room. literally as i was climbing i was speculating on when in the timeline Watcher was (my thought was around hunter/gourm) and then Boom. rot jumpscare. i am The Rot Enjoyer so i was genuinely ecstatic. also the jumpscare of Hydroponics being in Industrial was rather funny
(also idk where else to mention it but all the drawn art for watcher is so gorgeous. the colour theory used is geneuinely breathtaking. the last frame of the intro cutscene is beautiful)
secondly, the world (or, what of one there is). being able to get lost in the world is something i havent been able to truly experience up until now (i didnt play any of base game or downpour blind) so it was delightful getting lost in these gorgeous and unique regions.
and aether ridge i suppose
i really dont think aether ridge was a good choice for a modded inclusion. i mean just off the top of my head i can think of several Better regions with better maps that they couldve used. but like. thats also a handful of regions amongst TWENTY THREE. THAT IS MORE THAN THE REST OF THE FUCKING GAME. INSANE. so many regions that i straight up didnt see two of them in my first playthrough
i do wish the world has at least some interconnectivity like in base and downpour. i miss the cohesive and grounded world but also that is just Not what watcher is about so its alright. its still cool regardless. also the implications of some regions being timeline variants of others??? hell yeah
thirdly, the new creatures. fuck barnacles all my homies hate barnacles
in all seriousness though, most of the creatures are cool additions (sea slugs my beloveds <3) i just wish there was some more interspecies interactions besides the moths throwing lizards around. itd make the world feel more alive. the barnacles also need a massive tweak they are just actually bullshit sometimes.
i ADORE the rotzards though. ough the pained noises they make,,,, i love them sm theyre so cool. i wish more creatures got rotted. i wouldve KILLED to see a rotted whale or loach. that one rotted void worm took me OUT
fourthly, the gameplay loop. the weakest part of the game. the total lack of any direction or assistance is upsetting. in base rain world you have the overseers to guide you, and in downpour you have your anchor points in FP and LttM. but here?? nothing. i didnt even know i needed to be finding the echoes until 8ish hours into my first run. i needed my friend to read me a guide for my second. the game needs to at least give the player hints or clues. i found a workshop mod that implements saint's echo ping and both me and my friend had such a better time playing after that. that should be a default setting
its even worse for the second ending. as i mentioned, my friend had a guide pulled up and walked me through it as spoiler-free as she could. and i would have NEVER gotten it blind. this combined with the sheer number of regions (as mentioned previously, twenty three!!!) honestly ruins the game. my friend almost gave up on the whole DLC because of it. i know they plan to start patching things in, and their first action should be implementing better guidance
also i didnt even know you could go through ripples at top karma?? or that you could warp without a karma flower (with consequences)??? the game just. didnt tell me. which i feel like it should because those are both Pretty Big Things
i do think that the gameplay loop could be genuinely fun with actual assistance. because i actually had fun finding the echoes after i got that mod.
and now, onto the ending specific spoilers, starting with the echo ending
WE GET TO ACTUALLY FUCKING SEE ANCIENTS????? LIKE WALKNG AROUND AND SHIT????? IM SO INSANE ABOUT THAT
the storyline of helping an echo detach themself from their wordly desires and move on is so sweet. but i did NOT know that was the story until the last region. it almost made the ending feel unearned. it felt a little shoehorned in tbh. but also like. i dont care WE SAW ANCIENTS WAHHHHH
also hey we watch an echo ascend. neat. i do have a theory that an echo can ascend (or at least move on) if their attachment to whatever desire binds them is destroyed (Four Needles disappearing after their body no longer exists at all) and can move around space and time in accordance to their desires (Rhinestones choosing to come to Undergrowth to appreciate the life thriving there) so. hell yeah more echo lore i LOVE echo lore
but you know what i love more than echoes. the rot
the second ending. is peak i fear. not only is the campaign progression significantly better and more impactful than the echo story, but the ENDING. OH LORD THE ENDING. again, i am The Rot Enjoyer so i was going INSANE at the whole world getting fucky. and dont even get me STARTED on the rotted base game regions. i could go on for hours about how genuinely fucking cool the rotted regions are.
and everything surrounding The Throne and the roterator (The Prince??) (me and my friends nicknamed them "Yapper") is insane. the rot gaining sentience???? and having a pure and genuine trust in their beliefs???????? holy moly. fun fact if you hit them with a spear they get happy that youre playing with them <3
i cant even put my thoughts of this ending into words because its just So Insane (also i experienced it like. an hour before writing this so my brain is still reeling) but my theory currently is that every single strand of the cycle will eventually fall to rot (as the echo says that "it all ends up like this" if you wrongwarp to a rotted region) and that we simply witnessed and assisted in the end of one of these strands. theres. more to that theory but i just Cannot words it yet. ill probably make a seperate post about it soon
overall, The Watcher is an inherintly flawed product that i hope gets fixed up and improved soon, because i did genuinely enjoy it and want more people to. outside of the region bloat and lack of any direction, the game is genuinely peak, but those two things really do just kill it unfortunately. it is deserving of its mixed reviews on steam, but i do hope to see that shift more positively as the rest of the planned content is added and QOL changes are made.
also fix those damn barnacles PLEASE
Finished watcher's campaign yesterday, that was fun
[ending spoilers]
Having fun + playing with toys + don't care
past and present, looped together
WATCHER SPOILERS
so I recently realised there is an ancient mask inside spinning tops room!! \/
I assume this spinning top's mask so I drew a doodle of them with it!!
ignore their terrible clothing design though I don't have a full design for spinning top yet
funky little guy
BONUS COMIC \/
there MIGHT be an infestation about to happen you poor, poor, ancient,, ( although not actually I doubt prince can actually infect ancient urban for whatever reason )
ignore the spelling mistake, I know English trust
RIPPLES. THE CYCLE. LORE ( I'm theorising, there is watcher spoilers so everything is under the cut )
throughout both the game and even trailers, you are constantly told and reminded about ripples and how you should view cycles as them
so that's what I did!! here's the diagram I made
here you have two cycles, cycles are a bump in a ripple ( forgot the proper name lol) anyway I've yet to figure out how exactly you get moved to the previous cycle, but it probably has something to do with the void spawn, either way, as time moves on and the ripples expand and go forwards new material is pushed into the plane of consciousness, dust falling from the sky, but as this happens, material is pushed down into where the cycle came from as well 'dissolving' it, you see this as the void sea ( note the void sea you see ingame is still in the plane of consciousness, because obviously you can perceive it, you 'leave' once you enter the egg, which is the edge of the cycle )
also ripplespace, it's just the space outside the ripples, although like in the diagram the watcher only sees the area that mixes with the cycle otherwise, they would cease to exist
anyway I came up with this randomly during math class so sorry about inconsistencies in the diagram,
I'll also probably have to think about this more, to fit in pieces like void worms, void spawn and ripple spawn ( already have like paragraphs of theories on them but it doesn't entirely work with this ) and all that stuff
TW: the Watcher spoilers I'm digging through the game files and noticed a couple of interesting things in the names of the scene art. Nothing really important but just small things I guess everyone accepted the scags from the intro for Watcher's family? But we didn't know for sure, and they were all different colors… Well, they actually ARE his family. The parts with them are called "sibling" and "mom". Also, the red scag is called "enemy".
The other (and more interesting to me) thing I found is those echo's golden diamond things being called "chains". Good to know I guess
.... No, I didn't find anything interesting for Prince Except maybe his string is being called "stem", but idk feels obvious
Aaand ye. Thats it for scenes. Nothing much
But I also went in illustrations Remember falling green stars in Outer Rim? There also was these buildings in the background. They're starcatchers. For storing those fallen stars. Why? Fuck if I know
There also were those pink pyramids from Signal spires... But I think most people already know they are an older version of iterators's structures. They called "structure" in files btw
Thats it, returning to my state of waiting for the next Watcher update
Lyrics are from "Windmills of your mind"
That song hit HARD in the context of Rain World and its messed up cycles and ripples, Watcher content be upon ye (also I recommend checking out its lyrics in full, they're insane)
If you're interested in my anthro AU check out this post here
Ancient Urban
(high quality stills below the cut)
ur distorting the map with ur aura!! back off!!!! no wonder we lost!!!
I have done it, I have figured out The Watcher’s theme, and how it it fits with the rest of rain world (I will try to make this short sorry if I ramble)
ALSO SPOILERS (kind of)
Basegame
To me rain world is one of those games that can only truly be understood by playing it yourself, sure, you can read the wiki and watch the very good video essays about it, you can know the story, but you won’t Get It, because playing rain world? Dying over and over again? Exploring the world until you know it like the back of your hand? Dying in stupid ways? Some that aren’t even your fault? Getting so frustrated you don’t touch the game for weeks? That’s the Cycle, that’s why The Ancients decided to dip out, they weren’t just arrogant monks obsessed with death, they were tired, and frustrated, and just done with it, and as a player you experience that, the only out, the only rest, is to ascend, nothing else really matters.
Downpour
Downpour really means a lot to me because it takes what the basegame says, and goes against it, downpour is about how insignificant, small, sentimental things hold incredible meaning, eight slugcats, walking the same abandoned dying word, only separated by a literally incomprehensible time between them, the only ones who share a time period can’t meet again until their journeys have completely transformed them, Survivor and Monk go from pups, to a parent and a capable and independent adventurer respectably.
The slugcats are small, irrelevant, insignificant creatures, Five Pebbles says as much, and yet they shape and change the world around then in small but significant ways, for better or worse, Spearmaster, delivering the pearl that causes 5P complete isolation from his family, as well as allowing Moon to say a final goodbye, (also there is the shelter sign he draws in underhag (I think) and it just warms my heart), Artificer completely destroying the scavenger civilisation beyond repair, I even believe scavengers are so immediately hostile to Hunter, another red slugcat, Gourmand, that opens the gate to allow every lost slugcat a way back home, Rivulet, The Timeline Fixer.
I could go on but I’m really trying not to, where the rain world basegame is about how life is all about our path towards death, and how this is a mercy, peace, downpour is about how life, for as messy and small, has meaning, value, people who care.
The Watcher (finally, really sorry for the ramble)
Also warning, watcher is the only one of these I haven’t played, downpour is destroying me :,)
Anyways.
While basegame is about the peacefulness of death, and downpour is about how all life has inherited value, watcher is about how life is just plain old beautiful.
The world is wide, amazing, mysterious, and when you think you just began ti underhand it, something new comes (and kills you, taking away hours of progress, but ANYWAY-)
For all the complains I have heard about the new dlc, one thing that is a constant is just how stoning the new maps are, the new music is.
Watcher as a slugcat with just has one goal in mind, survive, and to do that, they are just chilling warping around the world with their new bestie.
The Best Echo Ever and Watcher are parallels, they both reject ascension in favour of exploring the world, accepting a Cycle of never ending death and resurrection, in favour of the unknown Void, not understanding why others see that as the better option, and for thought they were left behind.
So now, alone together, they just sit back and watch it all pass by, with jokes and introspection, acceptance of life as it is, with all that it has to offer, both good and bad.
There is also a bit about how the rejection of death is equally as damaging as the search for self destruction, points at the whole rot mess that’s going on, BUT again, I do not have the dlc, so I haven’t have the time to see all that’s going on over there.
That will be all, hope I made sense I didn’t ramble too much, I can’t help myself when it is about my favourite game about depression and existentialism :)
(SPOILERS FOR THE WATCHER ENDING) Its insane that you wrote all of that in just one ask to a random tumblr user because this is some banger thoughts and interpretations I really, really like your take on Downpour and it helped me come to the conclusion why I like that DLC so much and put it into words. Funnily enough, I am a player that lowkey personally disagrees with what the base game had to say about ascension. As much as I understand the motive of peacefulness of death 100%, there is something beautiful in the struggle and our own personal cycles. Basically I value the way more than the ending, and I think Downpour and how the decisions of such small scugs, haha, echo through the entire world with time is an amazing thing to think about. Though my thoughts on the Watcher were a tad different, mostly because the ending I got (SPOILERS) was the toys one - where the child Echo, the OAOA comes to a conclusion of what was binding them to the world - the inability to accept the next step, fearing "walking thorugh the white door" if I remember well. And with that, paired with the Watcher's opening cutscene (in which the OST "Childhood's end" plays) + the toyroom in the ending I started seeing this DLC as one about childhood, from two perspectives. One of an Echo desperately clinging to theirs, a time in their life that they don't want to leave behind, literally playing hide and seek with their slugcat friend in their little make-believesque world and of a slugcat who's childhood got ripped away, forcing them to just stall and observe everything that comes and goes their way in the "adulthood" they were never ready for, one that shouldn't have come so fast. Ironically enough, I think that the DLC really doesn't fit it's name - it puts the Watcher in the role of a protagonist, the most influencial thing in the worlds they traverse through, making them finally have an impact, make decisions that matter and shape the world all around. And not even in a powertrip-like sense, just in a sense of finding joy and peace in something so trivial like adventuring through countless make-believe worlds... or playing with toys. I really like the toys ending, dilly dally and have fun my scug
I liked the feeling of being insignificant in Rain World, this take on the Watcher kinda flips it on its head, but its okay in a way. Just relying this contrast of accepting the next step in life when you're ready for it and regaining the lost feeling of importance, control and the plain, simple ability to have fun.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts!!
I didn't really change my mind too much
I feel like all of the DLC strengths stayed on paper instead of going into practice. Because, on paper, I really like it - dimension hopping slugcat bonding with an Echo of an Ancient's child with the motive of accepting the next steps in life or/and being at peace woth your inner child is an amazing idea. But it was barely there and barely told?
Half of the Echo encounters I had were dialougeless and with how much of a chore finding this guy around the map was, I forgot I was supposed to even bond with them. I always felt like there was something missing, hell, for the whole game I thought that I'm dealing with an echo of an ITERATOR, only for my friend to notice that "oh wait they're talking about their classmates" after finishing.
I really dislike how the rot was handled in this DLC. I love the idea and the visuals of a rotting world but from what I got from the past campagins, the rot was something so closely tied to 5P and the small world around our two iterators that I fear making it a force akin to the Void made it less special. The roterator was a stunningly disgusting idea which I ADORED, I loved the Throne and the dimensions rotting away, but... it ultimately felt out of place.
Most of it felt out of place for me because of one, single change - the scale. I liked the world of Rain World for being a huge place, an overwhelming maze for such a little slugcat, with its own tragedy in the background... That ultimately turned out just to be a small portion of the world filled with thousands of iterators, also small and meaningless in the grand scheme of things. By opening up to other dimensions it lost this charm. And I would be fine with it if it was something COMPLETELY new. But no - we still have rain and cycles even with no iterators in sight. I felt that there was ultimately nothing explore when hopping from Echo to Echo and from rift to rift (maybe except Outer Rim, that area made me geniuenly interested and felt like it was designed with more sense).
Gameplaywise I think that the regions are a bit too big for their own good. I found myself stuck in countless loops or series of rooms leading to a dead end more often than necessary (the loops were especially irritating, looking at you, Turbulent Pump, my god how I hate Turbulent Pump). Not only that, I haven't really felt what the new karma-nonkarma did. I think it unlocked me more regions with time but because there was around, what? 7?? Starting regions it felt like it didn't make a difference at all. It didn't limit my exploration, I didn't bond with any of then, it didn't have that learning curve like Saint did. Storywise I'm also confused what the Ripples represent and its a bold decision to make them replace THE karma. The force that rules the whole world? The force that every iterator, ancient and scug was in constant stuggle with? Gone. Again, I wouldn't be mad at that if the ripples we got instead didn't feel so underwhelming.
Figuring out the powers of this guy was also amazing because me and my friend really thought we got softlocked with the Shattered Terrace echo. I also still don't know if using the power of hiding really unlocked the rippling-unopened portals or I just got lucky at the one that transported me to Ancient Urban. Really for the whole game I thought that oh, maybe those are rifts that will open with more of the new karma levels but they never did??? As far as we checked??? Everything felt like getting lucky, not figuring things out after trial and error.
Ancient Urban was an amazing location though, visually and atmosphere-wise I just wish we had more build-up to that.
I liked the new creatures but they rarely felt as interactive and alive as the basegame ones. No wonder, there was so many of them and there was no way to mix them all up and make it a coherent ecosystem like the first time. The most interesting interaction with the new creatures I saw was the Moth thingy eating a Vulture with it's tongue.
Also the shelters were so scarce? It always felt like loosing so much progress to the point I got irritated and started shamelessly devtooling around through the labirynths because I just couldn't take getting lost again and again, looking for another rift only to find myself at the starting point with no savepoint in sight. And even with that it was still a struggle. And its not even a skill issue on my side, I don't consider myself some pro player at all, but I managed to complete Spearmaster cheatless, it was a pain in the ass but I had so much satisfaction. The Watcher didn't make me feel rewarded for trying and being curious. The only reward I was getting were yet more regions to get lost at with no end in sight. Also it didn't help that the rifts weren't marked on the map, it would be such a minor thing but a great help (considering there is around 20 of regions its impossible to remember where connects to what, really), especially since one of the endings REQUIRES you to come back to the ones you had visited before. I know we have the randomized teleport power, but it would be cool to also be aware of well, where the gates to other locations are because they can be in most random of rooms.
This is just my opinion, I still want to have a run of the Watcher cheatless after some patches, I read somewhere that there are supposed to be arena unlocks or other things to find around the place. I got less mad at it with time but I just feel a bit bitter that its more of a showcase of stunning visuals than a campagin I'd pay 15 dollars for. But that might be because of currency exchange for me. Either way thank you for everyone that took the time to read and I'll glady listen to other opinions as well because I see they are super mixed
I am so disappointed its unreal
I LOVED the beginning and the build-up with the world slowly rotting away??? Seeing locations blocked off, fruit and creatures getting rotten with time , the echo being playful was so, so great and I had the time of my life...
Until the dimension hopping happened.
My god, I am so utterly confused, lost, left with no hints what-so-ever. The new locations are a visual feast (BIG respect to everyone who stood behind the enviromental design and the art itself, its all so gorgeous) but they feel so empty, lifeless and maze-like in a really bad way. Rain World was all about getting lost and feeling small, but those areas don't make me curious to explore them, there's nothing to explore except finding another rift and they just feel overwhelming.
They just don't feel rainworldy at all to me gameplaywise. And don't get me wrong, I'm super fine with making changes to formulas, heck, Downpour DLC is my favourite part of this game because it has so many unique mechanics to offer which were so different from the base game. I personaly don't feel like the world is alive, the new creatures look amazing but I do not see them interact with me or each other in the same way as they did in the past. They feel more like standalone obstacles which was rarely the case before. Most of the rooms are so empty, loop endlessly, I get no hints of where to go or what to look for and stumble upon things either because of blind luck or because my friend (who I was playing with at the same time) went a different path and by pure chance it was the correct one. If I haven't had that outside info, I would be stuck going in circles in a dimension four worlds away from the random one with the correct tower where the echo was waiting for me. I don't know if I'm missing something
I love the new camouflage skill but it was useful only in the beginning, I rarely used it in the dimension hopping part, only in really dire situations which happened rarely. My biggest enemy was parkouring to places only to find out they were dead ends
I'm on level two of the new karma, around 6 hours in and slugchat, help my doomed soul I am not having fun. I'd love to see something that would go further with the idea of the world rotting away but I feel so, so disconnected from whats going on
Super curious about how it could end and what the echo's deal even is, I'm just lowkey scared that it will be as disappointing as the section of the game I'm dealing with right now.
oh princessa what did they do to you /j
I finished the Watcher, my critisism of the DLC from the first rant still stands but visually and atmosphere-wise... Yeah I have no control over my fixation so I might make some fanart of her
Maxed out karma, teleported without the karma flower to some rot hell dimension and the Echo teleported me out - got to Outer Rim (?? I think) and THE THRONE somehow and I feel like I'm progressing by opening rifts in rooms filled with Karma flowers. Managed to do 3 of those and no more appeared?? So I'm kinda stuck again but I guess
Running in circles, still in pain but I can't be dragged away from the screen until I finish this scug
I am so disappointed its unreal
I LOVED the beginning and the build-up with the world slowly rotting away??? Seeing locations blocked off, fruit and creatures getting rotten with time , the echo being playful was so, so great and I had the time of my life...
Until the dimension hopping happened.
My god, I am so utterly confused, lost, left with no hints what-so-ever. The new locations are a visual feast (BIG respect to everyone who stood behind the enviromental design and the art itself, its all so gorgeous) but they feel so empty, lifeless and maze-like in a really bad way. Rain World was all about getting lost and feeling small, but those areas don't make me curious to explore them, there's nothing to explore except finding another rift and they just feel overwhelming.
They just don't feel rainworldy at all to me gameplaywise. And don't get me wrong, I'm super fine with making changes to formulas, heck, Downpour DLC is my favourite part of this game because it has so many unique mechanics to offer which were so different from the base game. I personaly don't feel like the world is alive, the new creatures look amazing but I do not see them interact with me or each other in the same way as they did in the past. They feel more like standalone obstacles which was rarely the case before. Most of the rooms are so empty, loop endlessly, I get no hints of where to go or what to look for and stumble upon things either because of blind luck or because my friend (who I was playing with at the same time) went a different path and by pure chance it was the correct one. If I haven't had that outside info, I would be stuck going in circles in a dimension four worlds away from the random one with the correct tower where the echo was waiting for me. I don't know if I'm missing something
I love the new camouflage skill but it was useful only in the beginning, I rarely used it in the dimension hopping part, only in really dire situations which happened rarely. My biggest enemy was parkouring to places only to find out they were dead ends
I'm on level two of the new karma, around 6 hours in and slugchat, help my doomed soul I am not having fun. I'd love to see something that would go further with the idea of the world rotting away but I feel so, so disconnected from whats going on
Super curious about how it could end and what the echo's deal even is, I'm just lowkey scared that it will be as disappointing as the section of the game I'm dealing with right now.
oh princessa what did they do to you /j
I am so disappointed its unreal
I LOVED the beginning and the build-up with the world slowly rotting away??? Seeing locations blocked off, fruit and creatures getting rotten with time , the echo being playful was so, so great and I had the time of my life...
Until the dimension hopping happened.
My god, I am so utterly confused, lost, left with no hints what-so-ever. The new locations are a visual feast (BIG respect to everyone who stood behind the enviromental design and the art itself, its all so gorgeous) but they feel so empty, lifeless and maze-like in a really bad way. Rain World was all about getting lost and feeling small, but those areas don't make me curious to explore them, there's nothing to explore except finding another rift and they just feel overwhelming.
They just don't feel rainworldy at all to me gameplaywise. And don't get me wrong, I'm super fine with making changes to formulas, heck, Downpour DLC is my favourite part of this game because it has so many unique mechanics to offer which were so different from the base game. I personaly don't feel like the world is alive, the new creatures look amazing but I do not see them interact with me or each other in the same way as they did in the past. They feel more like standalone obstacles which was rarely the case before. Most of the rooms are so empty, loop endlessly, I get no hints of where to go or what to look for and stumble upon things either because of blind luck or because my friend (who I was playing with at the same time) went a different path and by pure chance it was the correct one. If I haven't had that outside info, I would be stuck going in circles in a dimension four worlds away from the random one with the correct tower where the echo was waiting for me. I don't know if I'm missing something
I love the new camouflage skill but it was useful only in the beginning, I rarely used it in the dimension hopping part, only in really dire situations which happened rarely. My biggest enemy was parkouring to places only to find out they were dead ends
I'm on level two of the new karma, around 6 hours in and slugchat, help my doomed soul I am not having fun. I'd love to see something that would go further with the idea of the world rotting away but I feel so, so disconnected from whats going on
Super curious about how it could end and what the echo's deal even is, I'm just lowkey scared that it will be as disappointing as the section of the game I'm dealing with right now.
oh princessa what did they do to you /j
ii have to illustrate this in a way that can be comprehended. also pretend i remembered to draw the crosses on that 1 patch of sentient rot with the tendrils