Whisper Woods

Senses

A dusk forest whose trees and statues move only when you are not looking.

At a glance

Kind of world	Senses
Serum in the arrival Box	2 ampoules
Native Serum stand-in	Whisper Resin
Quests	None

Screenshot comingwhisper-woods-arrival

A dark forest at dusk in heavy fog, pale birch trunks between dark oaks, a mossy robed statue with its hands over its face standing a little too close

What happens when you arrive

It is always dusk in these woods. Dark oaks and pale birches crowd close, and the fog closes in at about fifty blocks. Somewhere between the trunks stands a robed statue of mossy stone, its hands over its face like a child counting. Look away, look back, and it is closer than it was. Behind you, the path you came by is gone, and a new trunk stands where it was.

The rule: they move when you don't look

Everything that matters here moves only while nobody is watching it. A creature counts as watched while some player has it in view (roughly the width of your screen), in line of sight, and within 56 blocks. The moment every eye leaves it, it moves again. A blinded player watches nothing.

Danger	What it does	How to deal with it
Whisper Statue	Watched, it is stone: it doesn't move, turn or strike, and your blows mostly glance off (only a quarter of the damage gets through). Unwatched, it comes at a run and hits for 7. It has 40 health. It replaces every other monster here.	Keep it in view. Back away from it, never turn your back.
Whisperwood	A walking tree. It never attacks. While unwatched it drifts toward you and plants itself a few blocks away in the path you were taking, so the woods close in behind you. It's solid: you can't walk through it.	Fell it (any weapon works) or walk round it. Expect your way back to change.
Fog	You see about 8 to 56 blocks, and a statue only freezes for you if you can see it.	Keep to open ground, where trunks do not block your view.

Rabbits live here too, and they're just rabbits.

Screenshot comingwhisper-woods-statue

First-person view walking backwards through the fog, a Whisper Statue frozen mid-stride a few blocks away

How to deal with a statue

• Face it and walk backwards. It can't move while you're looking.
• Fighting it is slow. Hitting a watched statue does a quarter of your damage, and a statue you're not watching is hitting you back. Use a strong weapon and keep your eyes on it.
• Play with a friend. A statue is frozen if any player watches it, so one of you can keep watch while the other works.
• A statue drops 1 to 3 cobblestone and sometimes a moss block.

The signature resource: Whisper Resin

Fell a Whisperwood and it drops 1 or 2 Whisper Resin and 1 to 3 dark oak logs. The resin is the trees' sap, cold enough to frost a flask, and it is this world's Serum ingredient.

What to bring home

Find	Where	Why it's worth it
Whisper Resin	Whisperwoods.	Runs the Cryo Stabilizer without ice.
Dark oak logs	Whisperwoods, and the forest.	Wood.
Ordinary ores	Underground.	The stone is ordinary.

Serum and getting home

• The arrival Box's cache holds 2 Serum Ampoules.
• Native stand-in: Whisper Resin. Right-clicked into the Cryo Stabilizer, it runs it without ice.
• Walk backwards to the Box if you must, and keep your eyes on the woods until the door is shut.

Tips

• Mark your path. The trees move, so the forest won't look the same on the way back.
• Never sprint with your back to the woods. A statue covers ground fast.
• Light helps you spot them, but it doesn't stop them: only your gaze does.
• Blindness here is deadly. Avoid anything that takes your sight.

Birds

Birds you can photograph for your bird log here. Open one to turn it round, watch it move and hear its call.

• Stillsong Thrush: common
• Whisper Heron: rare, dangerous

The traveler's tape

Every arrival Box has a chest by its door holding a cassette: the last traveler reading their journal of this world aloud. This is what they say. It gives a lot away.

Read the journal (spoilers)

It is always dusk in these woods, and the statues are always closer than they were. Look at one and it is stone, hands over its face like a child counting; look away and it comes at a run, and it does not miss. The trees are no better: they never strike, but every time I turn around the path I came by is gone, and a new trunk stands where it was. Their sap is cold enough to frost a flask, and a stabilizer will run on it without any ice at all. Walk backwards to the weathered Box if you must, and keep your eyes on the woods until the door is shut.