The Mast

The Mast is a new region consisting of a large transmission spire in the western area of the world. It adds over 250 new screens and includes creature spawns for all gamemodes, arena unlocks, threat music, and some secrets to discover.

Connections

 * Sky Islands: To the east, in the outside 2x2 hub room


 * Subterranean: To the west, near the subway sinkhole


 * Badlands: To the west, on the surface

Subregions

 * The Mast: The majority of the above-ground region, both above and below the cloud layer
 * Primary Transmission Node: The very peak of the Mast
 * Marsh Flats: A warm, swampy zone that surrounds the base of the Mast
 * Scavenger Den: A small underground scavenger settlement within the Marsh Flats

Wind
The upper regions of The Mast are affected by wind, a unique mechanic to the region that increases in intensity the higher you get. The wind pushes slugcat, creatures, and objects to the east.

Pearl chains
Pearl chains are a unique object that can be found in and around the Scavenger Den, a subregion at the base of the region. They are usually found hanging from the ceiling of a room, and consist of 1-4 white pearls connected by a black string. Pearl chains can be grabbed by the player, and when stretched enough they will detach from the ceiling. They can be carried and thrown as a normal item, and can be traded with scavengers for a small increase in reputation. However, nearby scavengers will become aggressive if you break a pearl chain, causing you to lose a significant amount of reputation.

Dark purple pearl (Primary Transmission Node)
This pearl is weathered, and the data it contains appears to be somewhat corrupted. I will try as best I can to decipher it.

...

This message was intended for me. Much of the text is corrupted beyond retrieval, but it seems to be a formal authorization or declaration document of some description. I'll read what I can.

"1692.112 - HIGH PRIORITY - Looks to the Moon ... twenty-sixth assemblage of the Superior Operatives of the High Ordinance Collective, of those who seek the uncovering and resolution to the matter ... a conflicting development, which we as the Collective deem to be substantially ... groundwater intake poses a high risk of structural and/or equipment malfunction, degradation, or otherwise critical failure ... grant priority of action, overriding the ... of temporal extraction stasis. The following ..." The rest is just meaningless strings of glyphs and repeating errors.

It's an emergency access authorization for Five Pebbles' aquifer extraction pumps. Those are usually illegal.

The message appears to have been sent via the primary transmission network. Usually, that network is only used for longer-range broadcasts or other exceptions, but this message's trace IDs indicate it originated from within the local group. Why it was sent in this way rather than through the standard sub-stratospheric comms array, I couldn't say.

The faults in this pearl's data seem to suggest that this message was forcefully rerouted, sending it through various parallel channels in the process. This may have been the result of the node suffering from some critical processing error, or it may have been intentional.

Regardless, the message never reached its destination. Until now, I suppose, though it's not like I can use it.

Lime pearl (Rail Bridge)
This one is part of a stock list for a shipment of various goods, from a western growing plant. It's written to be read by a sorting automaton, so most of it won't make much sense to you.

This pearl specifically documents an order of various ferns and palm leaves, which were to be ground up and distributed amongst the "Benevolent Communion of Ceaseless Virtuosity and Splendor" for some kind of spiritual practice.

Underneath that, rather haphazardly slotted in, there's a passage from an old religious plate. It describes how the ferns were once hand-picked on the eve of moonrise from sacred grounds, coated in some sort of paste, and left out on a carved board to dry before use.

Many of the spiritual methodologies described in the old texts involved gathering materials in this way. The act of foraging for resources was a method of abstraction of the self. They said that by drawing oneself closer to the animalistic natures that bind us to this plane, one could more effectively transcend beyond.

As industry advanced and void fluid became a commodity, though, these methods were all but abandoned by most. Some still kept to the traditions, but by the time the iterator projects began, it was near impossible for them to do so - the vast majority of harvesting grounds had either been replaced with automated growing plots for increased efficiency, or were contaminated beyond repair.

These ferns were artificially grown and harvested, of course. I suppose the inclusion of this text was intended to make up for that.

Pearl chains
Some data pearls with holes burned through their centers, tied together with some sort of twined plant fiber. I can't read the pearls, they're far too damaged.

Did you get this from the scavengers? I'd advise that you don't take pearls from them, little creature - they value them quite highly and can be dangerous if provoked.

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