*MAJOR SPOILERS* Scrumptious Lore and Where to Find It

Overview

A guide that focuses on STORY and LORE, and where to find it., with in-game images and dialogue used as a point of reference to back up statements wherever possible.

A brief synopsis of the game

It is the 1980s, a plague originating from an unknown source deep from within the heart of the Polish forest Darkwood is infecting its inhabitants. To protect the outside world, the government has contained the plague by isolating the inhabitants and sending in teams to investigate its source. You were on one such team, but things went wrong after an attack on your camp, and you are now alone. Now you must find your way home, or be consumed by the woods.

The history of the plague

One night in August 1975 [1], a bright object of unknown origin was seen falling from the sky over the heart of the forest Darkwood [2], as witnessed by the inhabitants of a nearby village that was located in would be later referred to as Sector 3C [3]. The infection began to spread fairly rapidly, symptoms appearing within the next three years [4, 5], the trees began to grow impossibly fast and thickly, animals and people began to develop symptoms of unknown and incurable diseases [6]. The Sector 3C village, being the closest village in the vicinity was the first to be effected, and attempts were made by the government to contain the disease, such as having infected livestock [7] and houses burnt to the ground [8]. Roads that allowed access to the heart of Darkwood (Sector 0) were closed [9], but these barriers were then consumed by the growing forest. At least a second row of road barriers were established further away by 1979 [10], but these in turn were consumed by the forest. The forest began to form its own barriers, having encompassed much of the surrounding landscape (many hundreds of square kilometres), when seen from above it became clear the forest was taking on a honeycomb like structure, with thick walls of trees forming barriers, and slowly dividing up the forest interior into smaller cells [11]. Within these cells the inhabitants of the wood, were unable to leave [5, 6], and they became completely isolated. In order to continue to monitoring the situation from ground level, the government built a series of tunnels (e.g. tunnel 21, 22 etc) beneath the ground to travel safely between the cells.
By 1983 [12], the village of Sector 3C had been on their own for a long time, their fields had flooded and they were all beginning to slowly starve to death [5, 12]. After years of not seeing anyone from the outside world, they noticed groups of strange people appear in the forest carrying guns [13, 14]. These secret groups were sent in by the government to continue their research on the source and nature of the infection [15]. The surviving villagers were not helped, and those that tried to use the tunnels to escape were shot [16], likely to contain the infection or because of the risk posed to the outsiders by the increasing mental instability of the local inhabitants. As the infection grew worse, so did the situation, the ever growing roots of the forest, increasingly replacing the earth in which they grew, began to cause small local earthquakes [17] and for many of the tunnels to collapse [18]. Attempts to study the forest had limited success, but knowledge was gathered on electrical activity within the root system, on the shape-shifting properties of the “fluid” and patterns of forest growth [19], but the absolute cause and means to control the woods remained out of reach. In 1987, the infection would at last came to an end when Darkwood, and much of the surrounding woodland, caught fire, and the mysterious infection ceased [20].

Sources and where to find them:

• [1] Granny’s painting, “Light, 08.1975.” (Chapter 2; Sector 3C village; Granny’s home, must first obtain the soft key from the Mushroom Granny’s house in the Mushroom Glade to open the door. The year 1975 for this painting also opens the chest in the Mushroom Granny’s own safe).
• [2] Fallen sign found on the “Road Home”. (Chapter 2; Road Home).
• [3] Note (Chapter 2; Hideout 4; skeletal corpse lying between the buildings).
• [4] Granny’s paintings, “Flowers, 06.1978.” and “04.1979” (Chapter 2; Sector 3C village; Granny’s home).
• [5] Cripple remarks “First, the woods changed… The trees started sprouting up everywhere. We were cut off. Then the water flooded our fields. People went crazy out of hunger.” (Chapter 2; Sector 3C village; in his room)
• [6] Doctor will remark on this “…And then came the diseases I’ve never even heard of. I was the only doctor in the area. You cut us off from the outside world.” (Chapter 2; Sector 3C village; beside the shrine). Other evidence for these incurable diseases elsewhere also come in the form of the state of the Musician, the Pretty Lady and the people in the Church basement, as well as the Doctor’s dialogue in the Train Wreck dream sequence.
• [7] Cripple will mention his pigs were burnt, “…Then those wankers burned my house and me pigs. But it was years after the war. They said it was to fight the disease.” (Chapter 2; Sector 3C village)
• [8] Chapter 2 burnt cottages secret location and photographs of helicopters burning the village (Chapter 2; burnt cottages location. It is also possible the burnt houses seen in Chapter 1 may have been intentionally burnt in this way too. The gateway to Old Woods from the Dry Meadow features two statue-like replicas of two individuals in hazard suits and possibly carrying flame throwers.
• [9] Mushroom Granny’s remark on seeing the photograph of the “Road Home”. “I remember cares driving along this road. And then they closed it. They set up a fence and a gate, but both the fence and the gate got devoured by the eventually.”
• [10] Empty jar found in a crate on the road and barriers found in Old Woods. Jar says it expired by 1979, indicating that the barrier likely went up even before then. “…its “best before” date expired in 1979”
• [11] Wall of trees note (Chapter 2; Road Home via the Radio Tower; Camp)
• [12] Date on food inventory (August 1983) coupled with dialogue from the “villagers” outside of Mushroom Granny’s front door, indicating that the “thieves locking themselves in the basement” event co-occurred alongside a spotting of outsiders in the region (See section of replicas for further explanation on “villagers”). This dialogue has to be pieced together as it is said out of order, here is the fixed version:
• Conversation 1: (Spotting of outsiders on the same night)

Villager 1 = In the night I saw them!
Villager 2 = With guns?
Villager 1 = That’s what I said!
Villager 3 = You didn’t see ♥♥♥♥, no one from the village goes there.
Villager 1 = They were not from the village.
Villager 2 = Since the relocation, no one from the outside was here.
Villager 3 = Where were they from?

• Conversation 2: (“Thief event”)

Villager 2 = What is happening?
Villager 1 = They locked themselves in the basement.
Villager 2 = To get food?
Villager 1 = Yes! F-kers, it’s our common good!

• [13] Dialogue from “villagers” outside of Mushroom Granny’s front door (Conversation 2, above).
• [14] While not necessarily at the same time, the man the “Snail’s House”, also noted seeing such people in his diary “I’ve seen some strange men between the trees. They are not locals, they do not hide. They were dressed in strange clothes,”. (Chapter 2; house near the junkyard).
• [15] Numerous sources. Doctor continuously refers to the Protagonist as an outsider. The campsite past the radio tower is one of their camps. Notes on research, observations, specimens and equipment are also found at the camp. Etc.
• [16] Man in the tunnel with the soft cross in his head was trying to use the tunnels to escape (Chapter 1; tunnel 21)
• [17] Night-event. But also observe “Giant Hole” location in the Silent Forest, where the ground beneath can be seen to be made almost entirely of roots, and dig sites at the outsider camp.
• [18] Tunnel 21 already has partially collapsed (Chapter 1), the instability of which the Protagonist will remark on, and Tunnel 22 (Chapter 2; past the Radio-tower) had completely collapsed.
• [19] Notes found in the outsider camp (Chapter 2; Radio-tower exit to campsite). Fun fact: Doctor theorises on the electrical properties of the trees the second time you meet him in Chapter 2 “Deep underground, there’s a current of electricity. And it flows, underground! From tree to tree!”, a theory which is seemingly confirmed by the electrodes visibly planted in the roots at the dig sites at the camp past the Radio-tower.
• [20] True ending, “Burn them all”.

Story ingame.

In early September 1987, a group of outsiders were located at one of their camps close to Sector 0 [1] (the deepest part of Darkwood). Studies appeared to be ongoing, to the west of the camp they dug pits (dig sites) to access the tree roots and attach electrodes [2]. The camp was attacked by savages and overwhelmed [3]. Three individuals, wearing hazard suits were tied to trees by the savages, a strange ritual they often performed, a lone boot found by itself nearby suggests a struggle.
At least one of the individuals tied to the tree was alive at the time, the Protagonist. It’s unclear how long they were trapped there, but during this time, the wood sensed the Protagonist and one its unusual properties came into play, the shape-shifting abilities of the fluid substance that flows between the trees [1]. Incapable of differentiating between different objects the woods began to duplicate the trapped Protagonist (see “Replica” section for further explanation), and this imperfect replica, with a hazard suit helmet grown as part of its body, the “Trader”.
Somehow, the Protagonist was able to break free from his biding, possibly badly wounding himself in the process as indicated by the bloodied rope and shreds of his hazard suit that were left behind, and his viewfinder was smashed in. Badly wounded, from perhaps both his beating at the hands of the savages and his escape, for unknown reasons, the Protagonist discarded his hazard suit and swapped out his clothes for those of scarecrow on the field beside the camp [4]. He then fled, badly injured, trying to escape the Swamp. He managed to reach as far as the Old Woods, before collapsing.

The Doctor found him and brought him back to his home, where he injected him with an unknown substance (strongly implied to be essence). The Protagonist undergoes a dramatic deterioration in the mental health, but when he next comes to, after being beaten by the Doctor for information, he had lost all memory of how he had gotten where he was from his camp. And after he breaks free he immediately begins to hallucinate, first imagining a radio becoming a man with dials for eyes, then imagining a dead man is taunting him, and finally witnessing a mob of black chompers breaking into and storming the house.

(Speculation) The mob of black chompers that the Protagonist saw were actually the villagers come seeking revenge for the Doctor failing to be able to save them. This is suggested by the presence of the Doctor’s burnt bag begin found in a village fire (beside the village well) and the vengeful dialogue by the villager sitting beside the fire and the Doctor’s own dialogue when spoken to within the train carriage; furthermore if the Protagonist returns to the Doctor’s house later they will find that it was ransacked. On at least one other occasion, the Protagonist definitely hallucinates a human as a black chomper [6].

During the ransacking of the Doctor’s house, the Protagonist somehow managed to end up outside. Lying in the forest, weak and confused, the Trader finally caught up with him, helping him to his feet and escorting him to the first hideout of Chapter 1.

The Protagonist is now infected by the plague, and is unknowingly under the wood’s control [6]. He begins to backtrack the way he had come, believing this is the way home, not knowing that the “road home” is actually the last road to the heart of the woods where the Being lives [7]. Eventually, the Protagonist gets through the tunnel 21 and returns to the Swamp, and then eventually to Sector 0, to where the Being resides. Here, he begins to hallucinate once more, believing himself to at last have escaped woods and is home once more. Depending on how hard the player themselves has fallen to the illusion, the Protagonist there either falls victim to the Being and goes to sleep, eventually to die, OR he realises the horrific truth and breaks free of the mind control.
Breaking free of the hallucination, the Protagonist finds that he has crawled through an organic tunnel which has sealed itself behind him, and he has stripped off his clothes (in the dream, you cannot leave the front room until you have hung up your coat). He is trapped within a deep valley, completely made up of roots and dead trees, trapping him within and offering no chance of escape. The Protagonist may then confront and question the Being, but it offers no answers. During his investigation of the surroundings, the Protagonist will then stumble upon another outsider, one he recognises, Maciek, a sleeping soldier carrying nothing but a flamethrower wrapped in prayer beads. Taking this flamethrower, after fighting Maciek for it, the Protagonist will then proceed to burn down the Being, killing it and everyone trapped in the valley with it, including himself. The fire spreads, burning much of the surrounding forest over the next few days. At last the delusions, voices and whispers stop, and anyone surviving can now at long last walk free, as the first helicopters appear overhead.

Sources and where to find them:

• [1] Note on bundles of roots. (Chapter 2; campsite past radio-tower; in locker immediately outside the trapdoor beside the wall).
• [2] Partially inferred because of the use of electrodes, but also suggested by the Doctor the second time you meet him in Chapter 2 (“Deep underground, there’s a current of electricity. And it flows, underground! From tree to tree”).
• [3] Protagonist mentions an attack on his camp in his journal. The campsite beyond the Radio Tower in Chapter 2 also bears evidence of an abrupt and brutal attack that the outsiders were not prepared for; for example, there is a half-eaten sandwich on the table in the hideout there, and the jar of protective substance has been knocked over and destroyed; the corpses of both savages and soldiers can be found around the immediate area, two outsiders had been bound to a tree with rope by the savages (while a third escaped; the Protagonist) and left to die.
• [4] The scarecrow (Chapter 2; campsite past radio-tower; on the field). This is certainly the Protagonist’s hazard suit; if the player chooses to go on a genocide route then you will get the post-game ending: (Bliss) “The inhabitants of the woods believed these symbols protected them from a scarecrow lurking between the trees…”, (Burn them all) “and the vagabond from outside the woods, the monster in a scarecrow’s disguise, who – due to reasons known only to himself – killed everyone who crossed him.” Bliss ending for the Doctor (if the Train sequence dream is failed), “The Doctor, fearing the revenge of the man dressed in a scarecrow costume, disappeared deep into the wilderness.”
• [5] The black chomper in the church dream, if killed then a dead man will appear in his place with the exact same injuries when the Protagonist visits the church outside of the dream [Chapter 1].
• [6] For example, addiction to mushrooms and essence, muteness, difficulty writing, hallucinations, heightened aggression, no need for food or sleep, unhindered by horrific injuries (or deformations?) to his face, dedicated belief that the “Road Home” is the actual road home (see [7]), and responding to the Being when it speaks to him via the radio in Hideout 4 (E.g. “Come back to us!” To which he responds: “Soon.”). And the images in the eerie clearings with the shiny stones and symbols, where if you stand still in the Dry Meadow’s one you will see visions of the key and door to tunnel 21, and then later in the Swamp in a similar clearing you will see vision of the radio tower; this is the Being attempting to guide the Protagonist back to it.
• [7] End credits for “Burn them all” ending. “…The fire consumed the last road leading to the heart of the woods.”

The varying effects of the plague.

The plague is the influence of the Being, capable of infecting all living organisms. The symptoms tend to generally manifest in two main forms, mental (e.g. savages, the Doctor, the Protagonist) and physical (e.g. the Musician, Chompers), but sometimes there may be a combination of symptoms (e.g. the Pretty Lady). Corpses can become infected, and will begin to take on a deformed appearance, and may explode when touched.

Physical deterioration form of the plague leads to the transformation of humans into Chompers, and dogs into Huge Dogs. Primary symptoms being:
• Asymmetrical and unnatural body growth, resulting in deformities [1].
• Hair loss [2].
• Splitting headaches [3].
• Literal splitting headaches – a scar appearing on the sagittal plane of the skull that gradually increases in size and length until it reaches the hip, with internal growth of large teeth.
• Eventually the host will become immobilised (whether through pain or deformities [4]) and will go into a dormant state where they sleep until awoken, upon which time they undergo the full transformation.
• Heightened aggression (following transformation).
The transformation for dogs is less violent, with an increase in size and muscle mass, but sharing the similar symptoms of hair loss and increased aggression. This form of the plague does not appear to as greatly impact on the host’s mind as the mental deterioration form of the plague does, at least not in the initial stages, for example of the Musician, and madmen remain perfectly capable of clear speech, which is one of the first things to go for those suffering the other main form of the plague.

Mental deterioration form of the plague leads to the transformation of humans into savages, with the primary symptoms being:
• Obsessive-compulsive behaviour (such as drawing symbols, or covering their faces with mud and sticks).
• Auditory and visual hallucinations [5].
• Insomnia and loss of appetite [6].
• Loss of the ability to speak [7], but not necessarily vocalise.
• Heightened aggression [8].
• Obsession with travelling “home” [9].
• Loss of ability to write [10].
• Loss of a sense of self-preservation [11].
• Drive to consume mushrooms, as well wood and bark [12].
• Ritualistic behaviour (creation of ritual sites and tying humans to trees).

Savages appear to seek the companionship of other savages while isolating themselves from non-savages. They also appear to be under the direct control of the Being, due to their ritualistic behaviour such as the careful creation of ritual sites consisting of circles and lines drawn in often repetitive patterns [13], as well as tying people to trees and leaving them to be absorbed by the trees [14]. One of their more curious rituals is the creation of “replication sites”, these sites are similar to ritual sites but are specifically designed to help facilitate the Being’s ability to create new creatures through its shape-shifting fluid. These sites will feature at least one human being, in addition to a number of other organisms, such as lizards, mushrooms, crows, centipedes or even other corpses. (See replica section for further explanation).

The exact method of inoculation is unclear, whether it is a completely supernatural phenomenon or spread by spores or some form of gas in the air is unknown. The outsiders certainly appear to believe that the infection is airborne, as they wear hazard suits when outside of their hideouts and use oxygen tanks [15]. With notes from their research showing that the woods increases its volumetric output of some unknown substance by nearly four-fold at night [16]. The woods is also said to be most active at night [17].

[1] The Musician (from Chapter 1 through to Chapter 2), Hanuska’s child.
[2] The Musician, all chompers, and madmen (with visible head scars).
[3] Madman, with splitting head (Chapter 1; Old Woods; Doctor’s house, “patient ward”).
[4] Musician (Chapter 2). Madmen always appear to be sitting.
[5] The Doctor hearing the voice of his daughter, the Protagonist hearing footsteps in the empty house, the Protagonist seeing himself in the bed in Hideout 1, many of the infected villagers in the Silent Forest.
[6] The Protagonist (journal). The Doctor (Chapter 2; the 2nd time you meet him).
[7] Doctor’s transformation in Chapter 2 is marked a steady decrease in his ability to communicate and an increase in obsessive behaviour. See also Journal note #2 from the Radio Tower (Chapter 2), “…they can barely talk”.
[8] The Protagonist (was like a mild-mannered individual originally, if the Trader’s behaviour is anything to go by), general behaviour of the savages, the Doctor fighting the urge to strangle the Protagonist (3rd meeting, Chapter 2).
[9] The Protagonist’s, the Doctor’s and the Cripple’s reaction to the “Photo of a Road”.
[10] The Protagonist’s first entry in his journal; and to some extent, the Doctor’s notes (Chapter 2; if the Train dream sequence is failed).
[11] The Doctor in Chapter 2, showing signs of self-scarification, and consuming mud and bark.
[12] The Protagonist (Chapter 1; oven), the Doctor consuming bark (Chapter 2; 3rd encounter), numerous trees and wooden shrines showing signs of having been chewed on.
[13] “A Note With a Photo of Signs” (Chapter 2; hideout 4).
[14] Direct evidence for this is seen at the outsider camp, where three outsiders were tied to trees, and nearby a dead savage can be found carrying rope (Chapter 2).
[15] Oxygen canisters at hideout 4 and note on the corpse indicating he was running low on oxygen (Chapter 2); hazard suits present in the outsider camp (Chapter 2), mention of Maciek’s hazard suit in Note of Desertion (Chapter 1; hideout 3).
[16] “Rotting book with clumped together pages” (Chapter 2; old shed).
[17] Journal entry, “Nights.”: “I need to get back to my hideout before nightfall. Wandering here at night is too risky. The forest exhibits increased activity after dark. Only the protective gas in my hideout can provide me with relative safety.”

Replicas and the substance

One of the properties of the Being is a clear substance, which it can control, and runs as a stream primarily through network of roots. This fluid has shape-shifting capabilities [1], and can grow new organisms by using dead or immobilised organisms as a template, the original often being overgrown with rootlets [2]. The new organisms, the “replicas” are often noted to be imperfect imitations of the original, with solid inanimate objects often appearing to have pitted/bubbled surfaces as well as being softer and more bendable than would be expected [3]; while moving living entities tend to become merged with other objects around them, both organic (most commonly) and inorganic [4]. Quite often, replicas are paler in appearance [5] and sometimes retain the mind and memories of their original counterpart [6], and are capable of acting independently of the Being, and even appear to be unaffected by its call (notable exception of the Snail). Replicas are not always mobile, and may be incomplete, forming snapshots of particular times, this seems to occur when the fluid does not have sufficient time to form a template from the host [7] (notable exception with the Mushroom Granny).
Examples of replicas in-game.
• Wolfman
• Trader
• Mushroom Granny
• Snail
• Talking Tree
• Man in the tunnel with the soft bullet and weird cross.
• Entire house of the Mushroom Granny, and the surrounding glade (including villagers and the shrine in front of her house).
• Partial hideout 1 replica in Old Woods
• Centipedes, Swampers, Human Spiders, and Banshees.
• Tunnelling man.
• Numerous occasions in the Swamps you can see replicas that are in the process of forming, they appear as white, clouded and partial forms, often surrounded by mushrooms.
• The savages and villagers upon the “Road Home”; and man in the Village Sector 3C.
• ~85% of the trees [10].

The Wolfman is a replica of a huntsman whose lodge was in Old Woods, merged with a trophy of either a wolf or dog. Evidence for this comes in the form of the wedding ring upon his hand (commented to be a poor imitation by the Protagonist), and the man found encased in rootlets in the Hunter’s Lodge. The other evidence is that he is clearly a fusion of two creatures; a man and a canid. The plague distorts and deforms what is already there in living creatures (see varying effects of the plague), it does not cause them to become more like another creature in such a symmetrical and natural fashion. The Wolfman also clearly shares memories with that of the hunter, such as a love of collecting trophies, firearms and for the “Pretty Lady” who wears an identical ring to the man the Hunter’s Lodge.

The Trader is a replica of the Protagonist, formed during the time he was tied up to the tree in his hazard suit before the prologue, the hazard suit helmet is literally part of him as the substance did not differentiate between a living and inorganic tissue. Evidence for the Trader being a replica of the Protagonist is strong, from his familiar appearance, similar height, to the most definite clues being the key to tunnel 21 and his journal (“weird book”), which are both clearly imperfect replicas when looked compared side by side with the Protagonist’s own items. The Doctor also remarks in the prologue, on first finding the Protagonist, that he is carrying on him only a key and a journal. Like the Mushroom Granny he is observed to smell strongly of mushrooms and have paper white skin.

The Mushroom Granny’s counterpart’s entire house can be still be still found within the village. These replicas can be inferred to have occurred on the night the father of the Three attempted to raid the basement, as can be determined from the conversations the replica villagers [8] outside. The Mushroom Granny’s own reactions also indicate that she believes she is living at this time, as when presented with a picture of the Three as children she remarks that all they have left is their father, as well as not recognising Marcinek (who would have been much younger at the time), and when shown a picture of Elephant mother she will say that she would have gone looking for her but her legs prevent her from leaving the house – whereas in the Village the cripple will remark that the original Granny did indeed leave the village. Like the Trader she is remarked to have paper-white skin and gums, and if eaten by the Protagonist she is found to have no bones. Post-credit endings where she survives clearly state she is not human [9].

The Snail(s) are a replica of a man who lived within the cottage (which the Snail repeatedly refers to as his house), whose corpse can be found entwined in roots within, and whose diary states he had taken to eating snails shortly before his death by starvation. A strange clearly replica key can be found on him, growing out of the palm of his hand.

The Talking Tree is a replica of the starving village, and from its dialogue it can be gaged to be a conglomerate consisting of both individuals who managed to lock themselves in the basement (including a cow) and those who were locked out. Its connection to the substance being made particularly clear when the Protagonist accidentally breaks an arm of one of the conglomerate, only for it to reform before his eyes, a property it retains as it remains connected to the “stream” [1].

The man in the tunnel with the soft bullet and weird cross is a replica of a man who died much closer to the entrance to the Swamp, and his original body (complete with regular bullet and cross) can be found there. He is noted to be attached to the floor, and have an inhuman voice that doesn’t sound quite right. He is also lying in a stream of the substance, and his bones are soft (compared to egg shell), and instead of blood he bleeds substance.

And lastly, but most importantly of all, are the “trees” themselves, with only 15% of the “woods” being actual trees [10].

Apart from replicating organisms, another property of the substance is that it seemingly has electrical properties [11], and as an actively controlled part of the Being it can be used to control radiowaves, as is suggested by the radio tower’s interior being completely overgrown with roots, and the numerous occasions where the Being is seen to communicate through this means [12].

[1] Note on a bundle of roots
[2] Ritual sites (Chapter 2), the Hunter (Chapter 1; Old Woods), the man in the Cottage by the Junkyard (Chapter 2), man in the tunnel (Chapter 1), the Granny’s house and much of the village (Chapter 2; Village Sector 3C).
[3] Mushroom Granny, her key and house (Chapter 2; Mushroom Glade); the Wolf’s wedding ring; the Snail’s key; the man in the tunnel, his cross and bullet.
[4] The Trader.
[5] Mushroom Granny, Trader, Snail, man in the tunnel.
[6] Mushroom Granny, Wolfman, Trader, Snail.
[7] Hideout 1 replica in Old Woods; Mushroom Granny’s house; people on the “Road Home”; people outside the entrance to Old Woods from Dry Meadows; etc.
[8] Conversation: (“Thief event”)
Villager 2 = What is happening?
Villager 1 = They locked themselves in the basement.
[9] “The old lady who owned the place finally remembered her previous incarnation… For a short moment she even felt like a human being…” (Bliss ending; boy left with the Mushroom Granny).
[10] Note on the wall of trees (Chapter 2; outsider camp).
[11] Electrodes planted in the roots in the dig site at the outsider camp (Chapter 2), and the doctor mentions electricity in the trees the second time you meet him (Chapter 2).
[12] First night in hideout 4 and if Talking Tree is burnt; the Snail’s house. Doctor hearing voices in the static.

Dreams.

There is a lot of room for interpretation and speculation regarding the “dreams”, which are seemingly/mainly brought on the consumption of essence. A “dreamer” may “sleep-walk” during these hallucinations and will often become violent. Speculatively, “dreams” may function as a gateway to the “mind network” of the Being (implied, by the association of the Being in most dreams), allowing the protagonist to see things of the past that he couldn’t have possibly known on his own.

The Prologue as seen by the Protagonist: while not generally thought of as a dream, from the perspective of the protagonist waking up after having been injected with essence and all the strange things he sees (such as the man with dials for eyes and the villagers breaking into the house appearing as black chompers), he is almost certainly “dreaming”. This is an early “preview” of what is to come with further doses of essence.

The Forest: you walking through the forest, pursuing a voice and trail of shiny stones. This is the Being, calling you to return to it. At one point you will interact with a lamp which will become a sleeping, glowing child surrounded by slumbering bodies. This is highly implied to be the Being, as it mirrors the valley the Being slumbers in the true ending. A trail of shiny stones then leads you to sleep in a bed afterwards, completing the cycle.

The Church: Outside the church is a smiling corpse who will inform you that you have “no voice or will, but not to worry as you are in good hands”. A subtle clue to the protagonist already being under the control of the Being. There there is line of people queuing down the aisle for the basement, with others resting on the benches. These are locals, some with young children, waiting in line for some unknown evaluation by the Doctor (implied by the children’s drawings in the Strange Box). The basement of the church was meant to be a sanctuary for the locals, with beds, electricity and other supplies provided. But whatever its purpose, perhaps a sanctuary for those who were still not displaying symptoms of the plague, or perhaps as a makeshift hospital, those who descended, lay down and never came up again. On opening the door to the small sideroom, you will trigger a both real-life and in-dream event. A black chomper will appear as you search through the wardrobe and attack, repeating about how everything they do is for their two girls. In reality, this is a local man who lived in the Dry Meadows (see Minor Characters section for more). His two daughers were amongst those chosen to go into the Basement, and now all he has left of them is a box of their drawings. Now he finds you, a stranger, taking away that box and so he attacks you. Depending on you actions there are now two possible outcomes, you either escape him or kill him. If he survives, he will call you a thief and a coward on your return, but will not bother you any further.

The Grave: Taking a walk in the woods you find an open grave which a smiling corpse lies beside. Similar to the Forest dream, you will be encouraged to lie down, to die. This is once again equating to the protagonist being under the influence of the Being. The corpse is likely a twisted reflection of the protagonist themselves rather than the Being, as it talks to him like an old friend, both here and in the Church dream.

The Apartment: A glimpse of the protagonist’s home life. You awaken in your old apartment, it is very early in the morning, you decide to run yourself a bath, when all your lights suddenly go out and a knock will be heard at the door. It is your current self. If you refuse to look at him, you can head southwards down the corridor until you encounter a door on your left, as you continue to walk you will begin to see more and more shiny stones, eventually you will come upon a TV that will exclaim: “Teddy Bear! You should not be here.” After which point the dream will end. This is a very ambiguous dream and could be interpreted in many ways, but I think it’s clear the TV in this situation is the Being, the large collection of shiny stones and it directly speaking to the player in the way it does indicates so. While still in the apartment, if you turn on the TV (early enough for the entire thing to play), another bear is also mentioned. Two characters on a children’s show, one named “Floppy Bear” exclaims to the other how there are stars falling from the sky (perhaps eluding to the arrival of the Being, which is depicted similarly in 1975 painting by the Granny in Chapter 2). The second character tells him it is just snow, but Floppy Bear disagrees with this. With what the Being says as the TV, and the suggestion that it is a child based on the Forest dream, it’s possible that Floppy Bear (a teddy bear) represents the player, just a toy to the Being. Or it might be completely unrelated.

Dev’s Apartment: nothing much lore based here, but some cool concept art drawings.

The Train Wreck: You awaken as the Doctor at the start of the plague, and witnessthe physical and mental deterioration of the Pretty Lady, at her side are her sister and brother praying and pleading for her recovery. The Doctor cannot cure her. And as he walks onwards his many other failed patients begin to call him out for his failure to stop the plague.

The Basement: This covers the events between when the 3C Village group of thieves first broke into the basement, barricaded the entrance and ate through all of the supplies, before attempting to dig their way out, and dying in the process (approximately 4 years before; implied by the date on the food inventory list). When you first arrive in the dream, you will see the see the 3C Village basement as it originally was, full of crates of food and a sleeping cow. Time passes, someone bashes against the door begging to be let in (this is the villagers that have been locked out trying to break down the barricade made by the thieves; scratch marks can be seen on the other side if inspected from the surface). Slowly the crates will begin to be emptied and the cow dies. In the last of the “basements”, you will see that the thieves have begun to dig a tunnel. Walk beyond this and you will find the barricade blocking the villagers outside from getting in, if you attempt to break this down one of the thieves will appear and demand that you stop and go back to digging. (at this time it is impossible to get through the basement door even if the barricade is broken down). Returning to the tunnel will reveal it is much deeper now, and you can follow it. You will soon begin to come across the corpses of the thieves, having died while they were still digging. At this point you will awaken, and find that same tunnel, now collapsed and full of roots.

Final Dream Sequence: Essentially the protagonist follows a trail of shiny stones and the call of the Being until he reaches a room that causes him to relive the first dream of all. He must escape the black chompers and travel onwards until he reaches a Huge Mouth in front of a praying figure, the Mouth will beckon him and he will pass through. The Mouth, praying figure, shiny stones and voice are all the hallmark of the Being, talking to the protagonist. There are also hints about the protagonist’s own past here, you will come across a lone tree with a piece of bloodied rope with bits of hazard suit still stuck to it. Tying in with what you will later see at the campsite if you survive the dream, that the protagonist themselves first escaped being tied up to a tree shortly before the game started.

Main Characters (A)

The Protagonist:
Despite being the main character of the story, very little is actually known about the protagonist, not even his name. He was a soldier (as the Torn Page From a Journal and outsider camp reveal) who was likely a very skilled handyman. He had already been into the woods surrounding Darkwood five times before, and was seemingly eager to return, bored of home life (Torn Page From a Journal) who enjoyed sports, and was embittered by the news and would sometimes watch children’s TV to distract himself (Apartment Dream and Plastusiowy Pamiętnik). He lived in a small flat in a large rundown apartment block, which he shared with his significant other (girlfriend or wife) and his dog Szurek. He seemed to be a friendly and good natured man, who was on good terms with most people in his apartment block (this is also suggested by the kind demeanour of the Trader; his replica). In-game, he displays heightened aggression and violence, typical of the effects of the plague, with which he is undoubtedly infected without his hazard suit. He appears callous, uncaring and impatient with even others and even himself, often insulting or speaking cruelly of the locals in his journal, full of desperation to just get to the “Road Home”. On his last mission into the woods his group were assigned to an urgent mission much deeper in the woods than he had ever been before. It is unknown what the purpose of the mission was, but it appeared to involve the collection of samples and the measuring the electrical output of the root network in the region. It is also possible he might have been part of the 7 strong team sent to retrieve Maciek. Whatever the purpose of the mission, his camp was attacked and overcome by savages. He amongst three others were bound to trees to die, but he managed to escape, discarding his torn hazard suit for the clothes of a scarecrow, and fleeing, eventually he collapsed due to his injuries. After escaping the Doctor, the protagonist, now infected, begins to follow the call of the Being, backtracking the way he had fled.

The Trader:
A replica of the protagonist made by the clear substance (likely while he was bound to the tree, as the Trader is literally merged with his hazard suit helmet but which the Protagonist had taken off after he escaped), the Trader is compassionate and rational individual, likely displaying the protagonist’s true personality prior to infection. He obviously cares deeply for the protagonist’s wellbeing, helping him when he can, greeting him warmly – gestures which the protagonist does not return. He also shows relief on seeing the protagonist having survived the first night, and increasing concern as he moves deeper into the woods, even following him through to the Swamp. He does not really appear to do anything outside of following the protagonist, his main desire being to keep the protagonist alive; it is likely he recognises what has happened and what he is. The circumstances surrounding his death are mysterious, but it happened no sooner than he had emerged from the underground entrance. His assailants were likely either the Three (mainly implied by coincidental appearance and that they appear to have stolen his sack of trinkets) or the protagonist himself (as the Three have no reason to call the Trader a “liar”; whereas the delusional protagonist does, and at this point has a history of violent behaviour; a history which the Three lack, besides which they appear to be unarmed).

The Wolfman:
The Wolf is a replica of a Hunter and one of his trophies. A sadistic and vengeful individual, the Wolf desires only two things, to see the villagers suffer and the Pretty Lady. It is not clear if he is fully aware that he is a replica, only that he knows his appearance disturbs others and has caused the Village to shun him. He has a deep enmity with the Chicken Lady, whom he believes is all that is stopping him from reaching the Pretty Lady. The Pretty Lady has been inferred to be the wife of the Hunter, both of whom wore silver weddings rings (and of which the Wolfman has his own replica of); but interestingly, the ring of the Pretty Lady’s is actually found in a pile of blankets on which the Chicken Lady herself was sleeping on, making it a possibility the Chicken Lady herself might have been the Hunter’s wife, and the Wolf’s deep hatred of the Chicken Lady and desire for the Pretty Lady might even stem out of the Hunter’s desire for an extramarital affair prior to the Hunter’s death. It is ambiguous whether the Wolf is truly part wolf, as trophies of both dogs and wolves are found within the Hunter’s Lodge. There is also a possible link to Burek (a dog that consumed mushrooms and attacked a man; children’s drawings in the Strange Box) and the photo of a wolf-like creature standing over a man found in the lodge. The Wolf has a playful side to him, hidden under several layers of sadism, rage, self-pity, and vengefulness, and will play the wolf videogame if interacted with correctly. He is generous to those who help him, and appears to hold a genuine sense of comradery with the protagonist if he chooses to side with him, potentially offering him multiple gifts (a pistol, a hunting rifle and a hotbar upgrade) and is eager to help him reach the Doctor’s if played right. He is extremely vengeful if betrayed however, pursuing the player through to the Swamp even if it doesn’t serve his own interests and challenging him to an intentionally difficult fight, just to punish him. He seems to have an animosity towards the Doctor, yet at the same time must have interacted with him on at least neutral grounds, as he knows that the Doctor took the key off the protagonist when he first met him (and it’s supposed use). He also appears to hate Piotrek, for unknown reasons, but as Piotrek mentions he once owned a small plastic chick, it’s possible he is somehow associated with the Chicken Lady.

The Musician:
A polite, downtrodden and well-meaning child who lived with his parents in the Old Woods. His mother was a violinist and also used to work in the fields (dialogue in Chapter 2), and with whom he shared a strong bond, following in her footsteps to be a musician and taking delight in the idea that he might one day help her work in the fields. It is unknown what his father did, but it is known he used to beat the Musician (ending transcript if the Musician returned to his parents: “…He tried to cover himself using the violin, but to no avail. This time the father did not use the belt, but his new rows of teeth.”) but the Musician still loved him. At some point, the small family began to succumb to the physical deterioration form of the plague, his parents became immobilised and almost unable to speak, but the Musician didn’t. Believing his parents to be angry with him as they would “no longer hear how sad he was”, the Musician ran away from home. Possibly prior to this (the children’s drawings in the Strange Box seem to indicate he was with his parents and possible baby sibling), the Musician hoped to be admitted into the Church Basement, but was denied entry. Due to his physical deterioration the Musician had been to the Doctor at some point, who had taken pity on him and provided him a small wooden mask knowing that it was the only thing he could do. The Village themselves shun the Musician for his deformities. One day he saw the Pretty Lady, a woman deformed by the plague just like him, and he saw her as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, someone he saw as suffering. In an attempt to comfort her, he would play his violin for her.

Main Characters (B)

Piotrek:
A clever, eccentric young man who lives alone in a rusted old workshop, obsessed with space travel. He appears to be quite naïve and childish in his ideas and his way of speaking, and suffers insomnia over his obsession with space travel. His relation to the other inhabitants is unclear, he mentions his father but not who he was. Curiously his workshop is said to smell strongly of rosin, a substance often used to treat string instruments like violins. He is also says at one point he owned a plastic chick (which he melted into a moon), thereby also possibly associating himself with the Chicken Lady (who is known to have given these out to close family, like her brother). And even more confusing, a toy rocket ship can be found in the Doctor’s house. If he was related to the Chicken Lady in some form it might explain why the Wolfman hates him. Piotrek himself doesn’t appear to be enemies with anyone, his only wish is to go to space. It is possible this obsession might be brought on by the Being, as if his ship is completed it will be found crashed now much closer to the heart of the woods; differently to the others though, he never mentions wanting to go home, merely he wants to reach the stars.

The Doctor:
Once well-meaning and good-hearted man now turned alcoholic, desperate and violent by the plague. He lived in the woods with his wife and daughter before the plague (or commuted? But this seems less likely), working to keep the local village healthy, and sometimes driving to the Sector 3C village to help them too. When the plague began to appear, his daughter and wife were likely sent away for their own safety, but the Doctor stayed behind to try to help. Eventually the Sector 3C village (by ~1982; the Doctor says he had last visited around 5 years before in Chapter 2) the woods became so overgrown that he could no longer reach Sector 3C. None of his remedies would stop the physical and mental deterioration of his patients however. And at one point, he attempted to build a sanctuary for the locals by isolating certain individuals below the ground (on what grounds they were chosen is unknown; but speculatively, ones who were not yet showing symptoms), this in turn failed. Operating out of his own house, the Doctor had to take to tying down his more violent patients to prevent them from harming him or others. The child of one of these patients (the Doctor’s neighbour; a savage who has since broken free from his restraints) can still be found in the trailer outside, in the process of becoming a chomper and in huge pain. The Doctor’s house is surrounded by graves of dead patients. He is a scientific individual who uses deductive reasoning, documenting everything he can, with a camera and notes. His knowledge of the outsiders is limited, he doesn’t know about the purpose of the “oven gas” for example. But the Doctor is aware of the outsider presence in the woods, he knows they can come and go as freely as they please, while he is stuck surrounded by the dead, dying and sick, unable to return home to his family and unable to help anyone at all where he is, and for this reason he loathes the protagonist when he first meets him. Sadly for the Doctor, it is very possible there was an attempted rescue mission to retrieve him (half a torn photograph of him can be found on one corpse inside the wreck), but the helicopter crashed on route for unknown reasons.

The Chicken Lady:
A bossy, feisty but well-meaning old lady who lives in the Village in the Silent Forest, in a house with a large flock of chickens and tending to her ill sister. She is at least 60 years old, more or less, given that her brother Janek is a similar age and knowing that he fought in the Second World War (dog tags). She cares deeply for both of her siblings, and is distraught at the idea of losing either of them. Prior to the start of the game, she had attempted to dissuade her brother from going to seek out the Doctor (for an unknown cause) but he had gone regardless. Due to the cannibalistic drive that the plague has instilled in her sister, she cannot untie her, and as a result is very frustrated when she catches the Musician trying to free her. Despite the irritation she shows towards the boy, in the Bliss Ending (if the Chicken Lady lives and the Pretty Lady dies), she will adopt the Musician and care for him as family.

The Cripple:
A talkative old ex-World War 2 veteran, who lost both legs from the knees downwards. He had a home and a pig farm in Sector 3C until the late 1970s (~1978) at which point the plague had spread and his pigs were culled and his home torched to contain the infection. He had a daughter or wife named Zocha, who succumbed to the plague and died. He loved his village dearly and the presence of the Talking Tree, a reminder of those long dead, is torture to him. He is the last surviving inhabitant of his village, kept there only by his inability to walk, but he survives by catching fish in the flooded streets. He unlike most is aware that the call of the Being is trick, and that the Road Home is not that at all (“The road to madness is what it is.”), as he is already home where he is, even so, he is still unable to resist the call if the path is cleared.

The Snail:
is a replica of a man who once lived in a cottage by the junkyard. The man had presumably been living alone for some time (as his diary shows that he believes the ruins to be empty). He had lived in what was once a pretty woody clearing before the flood arrived. He appeared to be quite a clever and innovative individual, compiling a map of where objects of value were stored in the junkyard, completing crosswords at a rapid rate (perhaps out of boredom) as well as attempting to record the sound of Being using tapes he had found to try to figure out what it was and where it was coming from, he theorised the voice had to be coming from the nearby radio tower even though it had been knocked down for some years previously. He had seen (and been seen) by outsiders on at least one of his outings. It’s uncertain when he died, but a good guess would be between 1983-1986 (so 4 to 1 year previously; after the flooding had started). Towards the end he was starving, and had taken to eating snails and grass (according to his diary), and anything he could get his hands on. His death, starving to death in his bed, must have been a painful one. He would eventually be reincarnated multiple times by the forest, as a mix of his last meal and himself, a snail and a man. The largest and most complete of these is the Snail himself, formed atop the roof of the house which then collapsed under his weight when he first tried to move. He appears to be quiet and cowardly (hiding from the protagonist). He’s fully under the Being’s control by the time the protagonist meets him, constantly mentioning a female voice calling him, drawing him towards the heart of the woods, and is completely oblivious to the fact that he is not human.

Major Characters (C)

The Mushroom Granny:
A replica of an old woman who once lived in the Sector 3C village. The Granny was a kindly old lady who loved her daughter and 7 grandchildren all dearly, she had severely arthritic knees and had to increasingly spend more time in a rocking chair. She was a prolific smoker and a talented painter, and her favourite subject was flowers. When her daughter left with 4 of the youngest grandchildren with her, she was saddened but stayed where she was. But it was too much for her when the Three were banished and their father presumably killed, and despite the fact that she could barely walk, she made her way out into the swamps in search of her daughter, and was never seen again. The Mushroom Granny is this same old woman, but from the night of when the thieves first broke into the basement (as indicated by the statuesque villagers outside), her entire house and part of the surrounding village was also replicated in this way. She has no memory of the Three being banished or their father being harmed, but acknowledgers her daughter is gone but her legs are too bad to follow her. She does not recognise Marcinek, as the boy would have been much younger at the time she last saw him.

The Three and the Thief:
The three eldest sons of the Elephants. When the floods first appeared and starvation began to set in, the Three began to become very sickly and ill, their mother left them behind, leaving them with only their father to take care of them. Around 1983, at this time, the eldest boy would have been around 15 years old (as he appears alone in a photograph with his mother and grandmother marked 1970; and looked to be 2 years old at the time), and his two brothers would have been even younger. Increasingly desperate to save his sons, the Thief led and organised a small group of other villagers who were also unsatisfied with how much food they were getting, and together they planned to break into the basement and raid it for food. For unknown reasons however he himself was not able to get into the basement before it was barricaded by the other thieves and he was set upon by the angry villagers. In revenge, the villagers then turned on the three sickly boys who were still at home, and threw them out of the village. How the Three survived from here is unknown, and there are mysteries surrounding them. There is a corpse near the metal door in tunnel 21 in Chapter 1 who is carrying a torch, a rotten mushroom and a rusty cow bell. Up near the radio tower, three graves have been dug, and around them are sacks, one of which contains a cow bell and a mushroom. The only other place cow bells are associated are with the Three, the eldest of whom wears one around his neck, and the noise can always be heard when they are nearby. There is not enough evidence though to suggest what the connections between these might be. The Three took to wandering with the savages, seemingly without consequence. They found their mother, but she didn’t recognise them, and they left the next day. With the village now empty, they visit it regularly to see the Talking Tree, whether because it represents their lost village or there is a copy of their father in there somewhere, is unknown, but they value the Tree more than their lives.

The Talking Tree:
A horrific amalgamate of the villagers from the night the thieves broke into the basement. Some are the thieves, some are those trapped outside, one of them is a cow that was locked in the basement. Connected directly to the stream of clear fluid, it can regenerate any part of itself almost instantaneously. One of the villagers at least is self-aware and can interact with the protagonist, this is presumably the same individual who thanks the protagonist for sparing them if they aren’t burnt down.

The Bike Man:
An alcoholic middle-aged man, very competent at cycling large bags of goods through the woods, but if there was alcohol in those bags then don’t expect there to be any left afterwards.

The Elephants:
A survivalist, paranoid, controlling and extremely religious mother and her four young children. Shortly after the fields first became flooded and starvation began to set in, the Elephant mother left the Sector 3C village and took her four youngest children with her. They moved into a house in the swamp, which they then reinforced with wall of junk and barbed wire. At some point, the oldest son came upon a shed once used by the outsiders nearby and brought back journal on their studies of the woods (which the mother interpreted as evil scripture); for unknown reasons he then died, and his body was left in the shed. The three younger children live under the control of their mother, one of which those (Marcinek) would later run away, seeking out his grandmother (how he knew where to look is unknown). Despite her harsh and controlling behaviour, the Elephant Mother clearly loves her children.

Minor Characters

The Hunter:
A man who owned the Hunter’s Lodge in Old Woods, was presumably married to the Pretty Lady (or maybe the Chicken Lady). He was not present when the Pretty Lady first fell sick (at least not according to the Doctor’s memory of the event) and may have already been dead by this point. The cause of his death is unknown, but he is found stripped naked in his lodge, it is possible that the Wolf might have taken his clothing, and if that is the case then the bullet wound on Wolf’s jacket suggests that the Hunter was shot by someone.

Janek:
The Chicken and Pretty Lady’s brother, was a soldier in World War 2 (has dog tags). He lived alone in a house in the village, and appeared to be on good terms with the Musician’s family, the Musician in particular he shared a paternalistic bond and would often play with him. He is shown to seemingly be short-tempered, angry at the Doctor’s inability to cure his sister (Train Wreck dream), and shortly before the game (for unknown reasons) went to the Doctor’s house to confront him about something (something he wasn’t “brainy” enough to understand, according to Chicken Lady), presumably he became violent and the Doctor was only just able to shove him into a backroom before locking him in there. It’s unknown why he attacks the protagonist in the prologue, perhaps he initially mistakes him for the Doctor. Janek is said to have seemingly had an unusual interest with the village well, which is connected to an underground network of tunnels that breaches his house, and it’s possible he may have known about Hanuska’s child being down there, and in some way might have been trying to care for it – or keep it out of his house, seeing as the door to this room is barricaded with furniture.

Pretty Lady:
Sister of Chicken Lady and Janek. Not much is known about her. She may have once been married to the Hunter who owned the Hunter’s lodge in Old Woods. Her mental and physical deterioration due to the plague was rapid, she became violent and developed cannibalistic desires. As a result, for her own safety and those around her, she had her arms and legs chained. Despite the infection, she still cares for her sister and is self-conscious of her appearance (asking the protagonist to cover her back up again if he removes her blanket).

Jasiek:
A villager from Sector 3C, owned a second basement that had become flooded. A corpse sitting in a chair with an empty pistol looking upon a glare, in the basement, is presumably him.

The Man in the Tunnel:
Presumably a villager from Sector 3C, who attempted to pass through tunnel 21 to find an alternative way around the tree. He was shot in the head by the outsiders, and his corpse has been replicated multiple times by the substance down in the tunnel.

The Tunneler:
A replica creature, the melding of an old man with an earthworm, capable of digging immense tunnels, with which it is obsessed and possessive.

Hanuska:
A woman who gave birth to a plague-ridden infant. The villagers were so horrified that they took the child away and burnt her house, her husband dying in the fire. Holding a deep resentment towards the villagers, Hanuska later exacted her revenge by cutting the power cables used for stunning the Sow, making it impossible for the villagers to feed her.

The Mayor:
Tired, frustrated and despairing individual, who is having to hold back meat rations from the Village due to the sow no longer producing piglets.

The Pig Farmer:
An insane individual obsessed with the Sow, it was his duty to force feed her, and Hanuska’ cutting the cables that resulted in the Sow killing him.

Maciek:
An outsider with a known history of difficult behaviour. For three nights he had began to ramble incomprehensibly about someone named Marek (presumably his brother or son), and had seemingly become infected, as he had also taken to carrying a shiny stone. During the early morning, he fled from his assigned group and ran off into the woods without his hazard suit. Seven men were sent to search for him, but never succeeded. Maciek made his way to the Being, and became a sleeper.

The Man with two daughters and Burek:
A man who lived in the Burnt Houses in the Dry Meadow, with his two young daughters and their dog Burek. One day, Burek consumed mushrooms, presumably containing essence, and became aggressive and attacked the father. Burek was then presumably killed, the circumstances of which are unclear (if the photo of the wolf-like animal standing over a man in the Hunter’s Lodge is Burek, then there is a chance he was shot by the Hunter), and buried in their garden, near the doghouse which the father then took apart. For unknown reasons, their house was burnt down (perhaps by the outsiders in an attempt to control the plague, as they have done with other houses in the Swamp), and the father decided to take his two daughters to the Church Basement with the intention of keeping them safe. The two girls were admitted but presumably he did not go with them as in the children’s drawing they are depicted as being alone surrounded by corpses once the Church Basement plan began to fail. The father began to mentally deteriorate, hearing the laughter of his two girls behind the trees in the woods. He returned to the church but found his two daughters transformed (either into dormant chompers or infected corpses), he took a box of their drawings back up above ground, but found himself unable to leave, and stayed where he was, now living in the church, lamenting their fate.

The Being

Few things can be said definitively regarding the Being, and it is shrouded in mystery and speculation. The Being arrived in August 1975, most likely during the night, as a bright shining object that fell from the sky over the heart of the Darkwood, in Poland. Its arrival was depicted in a painting by the Mushroom Granny’s predecessor, and is further suggested by the locals seemingly beginning to be cut off around this same time (for example the youth magazine in Burnt House is from 1975, as is chicken flyer the Wolf has in chapter 2; and the locker code for the Mushroom Granny’s stash). Supposedly this indicates that the Being is of extra-terrestrial origins, but it’s also possible that whatever fell from the sky could have interacted or caused a change in something that was already present in the Darkwood.

The Being made its home in a valley in the heart of the Darkwood, which it quickly overgrew and began to spread its roots, literally, through the flow of “substance”, which these roots then served to transport further afield. “Substance” is described as a clear or white fluid which the Being uses to grow, similar to the mycelium of a fungus. The Being does not appear to have direct control over the substance as it seemingly acts more autonomously like cells in a body – this is suggested by the paradox of the Being beckoning call being directly opposed by its own growth preventing many inhabitants from reaching it. For example, the presence of the Talking Tree blocking the main route to the Being, seems counterproductive. The Talking Tree is said to have grown extremely rapidly “even by the local standards” like a growth, like a tumour and blocked any further flow of survivors from reaching the Being. We know that the substance is said to flow in a specific direction (protagonist’s own remarks when going down the first tunnel 21 “White goo slowly seeps from teh giant root. it flows down the hallway, as if guided by some unseen force“), and we know that the honeycomb form that “woods” take on is near uniform (Note about Walls of Trees), this perhaps is better explained as a pattern of growth rather than something the Being is directly controlling. The fluid has shape-shifting properties (Note about the Bundle of Roots), and can take on forms after it has been in contact with them, and as long as the replicated object (e.g. a tree) remains in contact with this network it can regrow rapidly, this makes it nearly impossible to break down any part of the Being’s network for long.

The Being is seemingly female, as without exception everyone who hears its call refers to the voice as “she” and “her”, generally under the illusion it is either a female relative or loved one (examples include the Doctor [his daughter], Maciek [unknown; flamethrower], the Musician [his mother], man from the Burnt Houses [his daughters], the Snail and other Snail replicas [unknown], a villager in the Village [their mother]). The Being may also be a child or young infant, as indicated by the Shiny Stone dream, and the infant-like face visible on the Being.

The Being is seemingly incapable of direct speech, and must either communicate through radio signals (over which it is implied to have gained direct control of the radio tower, as its interior and systems are all overgrown with tiny rootlets) or through essence- or infection-induced “dreams/hallucinations”. Its words are simple and repetitive, most are demands to “come to it”. The only exceptions are:
-In the Apartment Dream where it says: “Teddy bear, you should not be here,”
-When the Talking Tree is burnt down: “Why? Why did you do it?”
-When messing with the radio in the false basement: “Sleep,”
-And lastly though intriguingly in the Snail’s house: “Are you her?”.
(pure speculation) could this “her” that the Being refers to be a mother if it is an infant? This association could be purely coincidental and is by no means definite. Banshees are strongly associated with mothers, and further more in the valley induced dream sequence the protagonist will encounter an unseen mother who has a banshee embryo as her baby.

Heavily associated with light, the Being is near incomprehensible to humans, and merely being close to it is proves to nearly overwhelming. It is unknown why it wants people to come to it or how it benefits from them sleeping at its roots as these sleepers do not appear to get consumed by the Being, and merely wizen until they die. But once they are in the valley they are trapped, even if they break free from its psychic control the tunnels out of the valley are kept sealed by the Being so that people may come in but they may never leave.
(speculation) Is it perhaps searching for someone in particular? Or is this a twisted way of it seeking companionship? Or does it somehow feed off people’s dreams and hopes? Or something stranger still?

Unexplained Phenomena

Glare
Appears as a source of bright red light, particularly prevalent closer to the Being in the Swamp. They are capable of warping between different spots but may also be stationary, and can appear both day and night. The Glare only causes harm when looked at directly from a midrange distance, or in any circumstance if standing at close range. The light is accompanied by a deafening ringing noise that gets louder if damage is taken. Jasiek, a man in the Sector 3C Villager appears to have died to one (or perhaps shot himself while sitting directly in front of one). If stood at fairly close range but not taking damage mysteriously birdsong can be heard. Their origin is unknown, and their only association with the Being is their unnatural nature and the association with blinding light.

Black substance
A black “shell” which causes anything coated with it to be untouchable and therefore armoured. Volatile and burns off rapidly with all light sources except sunlight. It’s source is unknown and it’s link to Being unclear.

Poisonous Gas
A cloud of this may sometimes appear at night in the hideout (not Floor Gore), it cannot move once it has appeared and cannot be dispersed. Link to Being unclear.
(speculation) It is possibly linked to the Being as a form of spore dispersal, as the gas only appears at night when the Being is most active, and we know the infection is dispersed in the air hence why all outsiders where hazard suits when transversing the woods.

Snout
A huge strange pig-snout like growth in the centre of a large lake in the Swamp region. It causes the entire lake to be shrouded in darkness and a perpetual electrical storm. Susceptible to physical damage, death causes it shrivel up and the darkness and storm to end. A lot of black substance present around the lake. Link to Being unclear, but can be assumed to be a clear substance induced growth of some sort, and pigs are known to have existed in the area (the Cripple says he used to farm them).

Monoculus
A living growth fixed within the ground, harmless. It resembles a cluster of eyes that continuously look around at its surroundings. When looked at directly at medium to close range, the eyes will shut to protect themselves, and another part of the monoculus a short distant away will uncurl to reveal a bright red light. The light closely resembles a glare but has no harmful effects on the protagonist, it will however burn away black substance. Human spiders appear to be a merging of a pile of corpses and a monoculus, as the eyes can still be seen on the back, and they retain the same characteristic behaviour of being effected when being directly looked at. Link to Being unclear.

Shiny Stones
Lumps of rock containing many glowing shiny fragments. These shiny reflective fragments make the stones glow when exposed to light, and are perhaps metal in nature. With the Being likely being extra-terrestrial in nature, it can be speculated that the shiny stones might actually be fragments of meteor that hailed it’s arrival, as meteors are often largely composed of metals (such as iron and nickel). It’s also possible that the shiny stones might actually be generated by the clear substance. Whatever their origins or purpose, and the infected are drawn to value them (e.g. the letter regarding Maciek’s desertion and his “lucky stone”).

Poltergeist event
Unexplainably during the night, an event may occur where all the furniture begins to move, as if drawn in by a strange gravitational force. The reason for this is unknown, but is likely linked to the Being. Earthquakes are very likely caused by the roots of the Being extending and growing, a Poltergeist event might be something similar.

“Living Trees”
A gloopy vine that that extends as tentacles from where it is wrapped around the base of a tree, it will attach to any nearby organism and begin to poison them. Link to Being unknown.

Worms/Big Bugs
Perhaps some mutation of bugs, similar to that of chompers (humans) and huge dogs (dogs), but of insects. Produce toxic mess. Transformation oddly enough parallels that of the Musician in Chapter 2, with the bug becoming immobilise and then producing toxic slime.