The story, Old Gods and endings

Game version 1.2.7. Prose checked against 1.2.6.

The main story runs alongside ordinary adventuring. You can play at your own pace; the story waits for you in the dungeon and the Temple. This page keeps names, locations and outcomes inside spoiler disclosures.

How the story starts

Your character wakes with no memory and finds a letter written by a past self. It speaks of seals hidden below the town and warns you to trust no one. From level 3, a stranger may approach you as you enter a place in town, once per character, and the answer you give matters later. As you gain levels, townsfolk such as a Temple priest and a veteran at the Inn give further hints about where to look.

Seals and artifacts

The story has two sets of objects to gather:

Seals. One is in town and the rest are deeper in the dungeon. Examining the ancient stones in the Temple's Old Stones room is the place to begin.
Artifacts. The Old Gods hold most of them, and a final artifact appears once you hold the others.

The Old Gods are ancient bosses deep in the dungeon. Each encounter needs a minimum level and the earlier encounters resolved. An encounter begins with a conversation, and your answers can matter as much as the fight. Some gods can be fought to the end, some can be spared or helped, and a spared god can lead to a later return quest.

The Awakening

The Awakening measures what your character comes to understand. It rises through stages from loss, mercy and wonder: companions, sparing a beaten foe, dreams, visions, discoveries, Wave Fragments and the songs of the Old Gods. Each stage brings a small lasting boon. Read your Ocean Journal from Main Street: Status district, then Progress. The last stage has its own condition, which the journal describes.

Endings

Your choices with the Old Gods, your alignment, the seals and your Awakening decide which ending you reach. After an ending you decide between ascending as an immortal and starting New Game Plus.

Spoiler: seal floors and the Old Gods

One seal is in the Temple. The others lie on dungeon floors 15, 30, 45, 60, 80 and 99.

In order: Maelketh on floor 25, Veloura on floor 40, Thorgrim on floor 55, Noctura on floor 70, Aurelion on floor 85, Terravok on floor 95, and Manwe, the Weary Creator, on floor 100. Each of the first six gives an artifact whether it is killed or spared. Maelketh and Thorgrim cannot be saved. Veloura and Aurelion can be spared and later restored with their artifact. Terravok can be awakened. Noctura offers an alliance during the fight, and an ally may not stay loyal after the end. Manwe is met only after all six are resolved, and the final choice comes when his strength fails.

Spoiler: ending conditions

Destroying most of the gods or a very dark alignment leads to the Usurper ending. Saving several gods or a very good alignment leads to the Savior ending. Anything else is the Defiant ending. The True Ending needs all seven seals, the full Awakening, a lived experience of grief, at least two gods spared and a balanced alignment. A secret ending opens only on a later cycle, after several endings, with the full Awakening, all Wave Fragments and the truth of who you are.

Secret boss definitions are in the boss reference.

Changes by version

1.2.5: The Mysterious Stranger now meets characters from level 3 in town, and the answer you give carries into the Manwe fight; the story is shown in all five languages.
1.2.4: In group combat, an Old God's opening line is shown in each player's own language.