Heggem is the first region of the story (Chapter 1). The caravan halts among nameless ruins beside a colossus, and the player fights through dogs, Club Fiends and Archer Fiends, and ends the chapter against the Maddened Ascetic. It is also where the game teaches most of its object types: the first ladder kick, the first Heggie and the first black-fog wall.
See Maps#The regions for all regions and Chapters#Heggem (chapter 1) for this chapter's story.
Sub-areas and carriage stops#
The spawn table uses two areas (1 and 2); both Black Sprite stalls stand in area 1. The carriage map lists two stops: Obscure Village South, which is open from the start, and Obscure Village West, which the game only unlocks after the first boss (see below).
Map entry: Heggem (site 100). In-game blurb: a short in-game text about colossi, followers and nameless ruins that finally stop the caravan (summarised).
| Stop | Site id | Opens when (quest) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obscure Village South | 101 | always available | - |
| Obscure Village West | 102 | quest 13010 | journey 1: kill the chapter boss; later journeys: touch the carriage bell |
The scene itself contains 2 carriage point(s): point 1 (area 1, direction 1); point 2 (area 1, direction 2).
Altars#
Altars 3, 4 and 5 of this chapter are special: resting at them completes quest 14001, but only once the Old Woman's storyline is finished (quest 15007) and quest 12013 is done. The other altars of the chapter have no story effect listed in the save table.
| Altar (save id) | Needs quest | Resting completes quest |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 15007;12013 | 14001 |
| 4 | 15007;12013 | 14001 |
| 5 | 15007;12013 | 14001 |
Enemies#
Placement rows of the story table (Maps#hm-content-per-chapter-count-of-placements-in-the). Levels are the range over the rows for each journey (New Game Plus enemy scaling); each type has its own page under Enemies.
| Enemy | Rows | Area(s) | Level journey 1 | Journey 2 | Journey 3 | Journey 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dog | 12 | 1 | 1 | 25-30 | 55-60 | 68-73 |
| Club Fiend | 7 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 60 | 73 |
| Archer Fiend | 5 | 1,2 | 1 | 25 | 55 | 68 |
| Poison Fiend | 2 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 55 | 68 |
| Egg (internal name) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 55 | 68 |
| Axeman | 2 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 60 | 73 |
| Black Sprite | 2 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 55 | 68 |
Bosses#
The chapter boss is the Maddened Ascetic (story monster 1030, the only boss row here). The data flags 91001 and 91101 for its second phase (the Lunatic phase) and 91201 for "boss killed, do not reset".
| Boss | Story monster id | Area | Level (journeys 1-4) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maddened Ascetic | 1030 | 1 | 1/40/65/89 |
NPCs and characters#
Two playable characters appear as placements here, Norwood (monster 1018) and Viola (1041), alongside the Old Woman (model 20009, internal name) whose story must be finished before the special altars work. Two Black Sprite stalls (stock lists 1040 and 1042) sell supplies.
Merchant stock lists defined for this chapter: 1040, 1042 (see Chapter merchants and Merchants; the 19xx lists are the carriage lists in Carriage supplies).
Items lying around#
The story item table has 29 pickup slots in this chapter. The table adds up the amounts per journey; the item or amount of a slot can change with the journey (World mechanics#Scene pickups and the journey).
| Item | Type | Journey 1 | Journey 2 | Journey 3 | Journey 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gore-stained Coat | Key items | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tearstone | Key items | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mutated Claw | Trophies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ore Shell | Trophies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Dominator Crystal | Currencies | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Chipped Immundus | Immundus | 2 | - | - | - |
| Elixir of Sanity | Consumables | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Throwing Knife | Throwables | 4 | - | - | - |
| Huge Fang | Throwables | - | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Mature Spore | Materials | 8 | 8 | 11 | 11 |
| Heggem Mushroom | Materials | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Blackwater Rubble | Materials | - | - | - | 2 |
| Worn Ring | Materials | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Blackwater Debris | Materials | - | 2 | 2 | - |
Documents found here (same in every journey unless shown above): Abandoned Scroll, Caravan's Memorandum, Incomplete Notebook, Note of Ramones, Part One, Note of Ramones, Part Three, Note of Ramones, Part Two, Pages from a Diary, Yellowing Diary. See Documents.
12 of the 29 slots change their item or amount between journeys 1 and 4.
Secrets and scenery#
Heggem has three rebounding black-fog walls. Walking into the first two before the chapter boss is dead pushes you back and shows a refusal message (story dialog 14001; text "Unable to Enter."). Walls 1001 and 1002 lead to the Dark Mist safe room (story 499), wall 1003 leads to Lost Valley - Heggem (story 101); see Deep into the Dark Mist.
| Object | Count | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Walls | 7 | 3 rebounding black-fog wall(s): wall 1001 to the Dark Mist safe room (story 499), wall 1002 to the Dark Mist safe room (story 499), wall 1003 to Lost Valley - Heggem (story 101); by wall type, 5 are quest walls that appear or vanish with story flags (the rebounding walls are among them) and 2 are boss-arena walls |
| Doors | 2 | 1 Wood, 1 Trick; 0 need a quest flag first; 0 are switchable (open and close) |
| Ladder kicks (stair kick) | 1 | 1 Wood; completes quest(s) 12501 |
| Elevators | 1 | elevator 1: 2 floors (Wood) |
| Crates | 5 | each smashed crate completes its own quest flag (e.g. 12101, 12102, 12103) |
| Stairs / ladders | 2 | scene staircases with their own audio reverb tags |
Heggies (frogs)#
Heggem hides five Heggies (model 90008); finishing one makes a Dominator Crystal appear. Rules, costs, rewards and the achievements they count toward are in Heggie offerings#How the game works and Heggie offerings#Rewards.
The five Heggies of this region:
| Frog id | Start mood | Gift that raises mood (+1) | Gift that lowers mood (-1) | Neutral gift | Gifts needed to finish | Cheapest total cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1004 (area 1) | 4 | 5 x Bone Fragment | 1 x Health Potion | 1 x Anthozoan Bones | 1 | 5 x Bone Fragment |
| 1007 (area 1) | 3 | 15 Sanity offered (costs 7.5) | 5 x Bone Fragment | 1 x Anthozoan Bones | 2 | 15 Sanity |
| 1011 (area 1) | 4 | 1 x Health Potion | 1 x Anthozoan Bones | 5 x Bone Fragment | 1 | 1 x Health Potion |
| 1019 (area 1) | 3 | 5 x Bone Fragment | 1 x Health Potion | 1 x Anthozoan Bones | 2 | 10 x Bone Fragment |
| 1022 (area 1) | 4 | 15 Sanity offered (costs 7.5) | 5 x Bone Fragment | 1 x Health Potion | 1 | 7.5 Sanity |
Hidden mechanics#
- Obscure Village West opens differently in each journey. The designers' own note for quest 13010 reads: in journey 1 killing the boss opens the stop, in later journeys visiting the carriage bell is enough. Both events complete the quest (
ES_StoryMonster1030 on the boss's death,ES_StoryDialog12907 at the bell). So in New Game Plus you do not have to kill the Maddened Ascetic again to use the stop (inferred from the quest comment). - Altar quests are story-gated. The three altars that complete quest 14001 do nothing for the plot until the Old Woman scenes are done (quest 15007), so resting early is safe and changes nothing.
- Black-fog walls use the boss flag, not a key. The walls' NotRebound quest is 91201, the same flag that is set when the Maddened Ascetic dies and that unlocks its Boss Challenge, see Obsession Challenge (inferred from StoryChallenge row 601).
- Pickups are re-rolled by journey. Items found only in journey 1: Chipped Immundus, Throwing Knife. Items that only appear from a later journey on: Blackwater Rubble, Huge Fang. Items whose total amount differs between journey 1 and journey 4: Elixir of Sanity (4 to 6), Heggem Mushroom (7 to 10), Mature Spore (8 to 11). The columns that switch are explained in World mechanics#Scene pickups and the journey.
New Game Plus and Arcade#
Enemy level range by journey over all placements, bosses included: journey 1 1, journey 2 25-40, journey 3 55-65, journey 4 68-89. The journey value is capped at 4 (BattleData.GameLoopMax = 4; see Maps#hm-enemy-levels-scale-by-journey-not-by-region).
The Arcade copy of this region is story 1001 (stage 11003). Arcade always uses the journey 1 data. Its table has MonsterCount2 = 28, MonsterCount3 = 35 (kill targets for two score grades, inferred) and StandardTime = 200 (par time, inferred). See Arcade mode and New Game Plus.
Sources#
es_siteinfo.luaSiteId 100, 101, 102 (stop 102 EnableQuestId 13010);es_storyquest.luaids 13010, 14001, 15007, 12013, 91001, 91101, 91201.es_storymonster.lua1030 andes_storydialog.lua12907 (both complete quest 13010);es_storywall.luaWallId 1001-1003 (ToStoryId 499, 499, 101); English textStoryDialog114001.- Heggie rewards:
es_storyitem.luarows whoseShowQuestId_nis a frog'sCompleteQuestId(item 40021, Dominator Crystal); the rules are owned by Heggie offerings. gamedata/structdata/exportdata/es_siteinfo.luarows for SiteId 100-199;es_storydata.luarow for StoryId 1;es_storymonster.lua,es_storyitem.lua(StoryId 1),es_storywall.lua,es_storydoor.lua,es_storygate.lua,es_storystairkick.lua,es_storyelevator.lua,es_storycrate.lua,es_storyfrog.lua,es_storysave.lua,es_storycarriage.luafiltered by StoryId 1.- Code shared by every region page (journey columns and clamp, rebounding walls, altar quests, stop visibility, Heggie rules): see the Sources of World mechanics, Maps and Heggie offerings.