Lore Journal
What it is
The lore journal is your own record of Wildercord’s people and places. It writes itself as you explore: ruins you found, residents, duelists and Sword Masters you met, what you learned, and what people said to you. It also gives you leads: short discovery quests that point you to the next thing worth finding.
The journal only watches. It never changes a fight, and nothing in it can be lost. It is kept when you die.
How to get it
You always have it. Press H to open it (you can change the key under Wildercord: Lore in Options > Controls > Key Binds). It only opens when no other screen is open.
When something new is written, you see Journal updated (H) above your hotbar and hear a page turn.
The tabs
| Tab | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Leads | The discovery quests you have found, open or done, with their goals and rewards |
| Places | Ruins and sites you found |
| People | Residents, duelists and Sword Masters you met, duels you won and Master trials you passed |
| Learned | Your breathing method, Aura stages, field forms and Grimoire milestones |
| Talk | What residents, duelists and Masters said to you, so you can read it again |
Scroll with the mouse wheel. Home and End jump to the top and bottom.
What gets written
Places
- A Marchkeeper memorial, a Sword Tomb, a village tournament board or a Sleeping Blade, when you use it or make its Grimoire discovery.
- The Crossroads of the Ways, and the training grounds where you breathe in stance.
- Every roadside place and every mine you walk into.
- The Luminous Reedlands and all ten water sites, including the Last Crossing, Reedkeeper Landings, coastal boathouses and lighthouses. Walk into their grounds to record them.
- The Windscar Highlands, Highland Cairn Lodges and the Highland Survey Ring.
- The Belowkeeper Hollows, Belowkeeper Listening Stations and the Belowkeeper Bell Sanctum.
- The Emberwood Reach, Emberwood Charcoal Yards and the Emberwood Kiln Court.
People
- Each kind of duelist you meet, and each duelist you beat.
- Each Sword Master who greets you. A Master greets you once, the first time you come within about 20 blocks.
- Each Master trial you win.
- Tideward Reedkeepers you speak with at their Reedlands survey houses, Highland Cairn Keepers at their Windscar cairn lodges, Belowkeeper Listeners at their subterranean listening stations, and Emberwood Kiln Keepers at their charcoal yards.
Learned
- Your breathing method.
- Each Aura stage you reach, from Glow to Sovereign.
- Field forms you learn, such as Wall Turn, Stone Hinge, Cinder Lunge and Reed Slip.
- Grimoire milestones: choosing a Way, joining a lineage, your first perfect guard, your own technique, your first element reaction and your first field guide entry.
Talk
Greetings, hints and victory lines from duelists and Masters. Each of the sixteen breathing methods has its own voice. Use a duelist you already know again and it gives you a hint, or, every other time, a nudge toward your open lead.
Leads
Each lead starts when you find something, and finishes when you do what it asks. Rewards are given straight away.
| Lead | Starts when you | Then | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Scout’s Wall | find a Marchkeeper memorial | speak with a Gale duelist | 30 XP, 2 Aura Shards, 40 Aura XP |
| Hessa’s Gate | meet an Ember duelist | breathe in stance at a training ground (a waterfall or mountain summit) | 30 XP, 2 Aura Shards, 60 Aura XP |
| The Keeper’s Openings | find a Sword Tomb | land a perfect Aura guard | 40 XP, 3 Aura Shards, 60 Aura XP |
| The Warden’s Threshold | start a field guide entry | set off any element reaction | 30 XP, 2 Blank Runes |
| Different Hands | see a village tournament board | win a duel against any duelist | 30 XP, 2 Aura Shards, 1 Blank Rune, 40 Aura XP |
| The Masters’ Ledger | meet a Stone duelist | meet a Sword Master | 50 XP, 3 Aura Shards, 1 Blank Rune, 80 Aura XP |
| The Scout’s Last Cairn | finish The Scout’s Wall | enter a road watchtower | 30 XP, 1 Aura Shard, 1 Blank Rune |
| The Road Before Roads | finish The Scout’s Last Cairn | enter a ring of standing stones | 30 XP, 2 Blank Runes |
| An Oath at Rest | finish The Road Before Roads | use an authentic Sleeping Blade stone | 40 XP, 2 Aura Shards, 1 Blank Rune |
| The Drowned Road | speak with a Tideward Reedkeeper | hear the Ferryman story | 20 XP, 1 Blank Rune |
| The Second Count | finish The Drowned Road | enter a coastal pier boathouse | 30 XP, 2 Blank Runes |
| A Light for the Last Boat | finish The Second Count | stand beside a working lighthouse lamp | 40 XP, 1 Aura Shard, 2 Blank Runes |
| The Paired Cairns | speak with a Highland Cairn Keeper | hear the survey ring story | 20 XP, 1 Blank Rune |
| The Ridge Watch | finish The Paired Cairns | visit a road watchtower or ring of standing stones | 30 XP, 2 Blank Runes |
| A Lamp on the Ridge | finish The Ridge Watch | stand beside a lit cairn lamp at a Highland Cairn Lodge | 40 XP, 1 Aura Shard, 2 Blank Runes |
| What the Empty Bell Kept | speak with a Belowkeeper Listener | hear the Bell Sanctum story | 20 XP, 1 Blank Rune |
| The Pressure Records | finish What the Empty Bell Kept | visit a Collapsed Delve or Deepslate Vault | 30 XP, 2 Blank Runes |
| The Resonance Shutter | finish The Pressure Records | stand beside a lit resonance shutter at a Belowkeeper Listening Station | 40 XP, 1 Aura Shard, 2 Blank Runes |
| Eleven Winters at the Gate | speak with an Emberwood Kiln Keeper | hear the Kiln Widow story | 20 XP, 1 Blank Rune |
| The Forge Records | finish Eleven Winters at the Gate | visit an Iron Gatehouse or Forge Dojo | 30 XP, 2 Blank Runes |
| The Kiln Draft Lamp | finish The Forge Records | stand beside a lit kiln draft lamp at an Emberwood Charcoal Yard | 40 XP, 1 Aura Shard, 2 Blank Runes |
The three chapters after The Scout’s Wall continue the Marchkeeper scout’s story. Watchtowers on hills, meadows and plains keep a copy of the watch orders; standing stones in plains, meadows and taiga keep The First Roads. Their new pages connect the scout’s cairns to the older roads. The final chapter leads to a Sleeping Blade in plains, meadows or windswept hills.
You can read the Last Oath without drawing the sword or learning Aura. Use a real Sleeping Blade stone to receive its history once. Drawing the blade still requires its usual preparation, and reading never claims it. Earlier visits count toward later chapters, but each chapter appears only after the previous one is finished. Older towers and stone rings retain the books they already contain; their journal discoveries still count.
The Drowned Road begins with a Tideward Reedkeeper. Sneak-use the keeper and leave a short pause between stories; the Ferryman’s account follows the garden and crossing accounts. Coastal boathouses on beaches and stony shores hold The Second Count, a three-page passenger ledger beside the boat slip. Its final page asks the lighthouse to wait for the last boat.
Find a lighthouse on a beach or stony shore, climb the ladder and use the lever beside its redstone lamp. Stand within six blocks of that lamp while it is lit. A lamp another traveller already tended counts too; entering a dark tower does not. This final discovery appears under Learned. The route pays 90 XP, five Blank Runes and one Aura Shard in total, once per player. It needs no Aura rank or combat victory. Return to the keeper during the investigation for a clue about your next stop. After the lighthouse chapter, the keeper thanks you and describes the optional Last Crossing, where you can seek the Ferryman separately.
The Paired Cairns begins with a Highland Cairn Keeper at a Highland Cairn Lodge. Sneak-use the keeper through their fourth story about the high meridian survey ring, then visit a road watchtower or a ring of standing stones to complete The Ridge Watch. Finally, flip the lever on a Highland Cairn Lodge’s eastern cairn lamp and stand beside the lit beacon to complete A Lamp on the Ridge. Like the coastal route, these three chapters pay 90 XP, five Blank Runes and one Aura Shard in total, once per player, and require no combat or Aura rank.
What the Empty Bell Kept begins with a Belowkeeper Listener at a Belowkeeper Listening Station. Sneak-use the listener through their fourth story about the unclappered bell in the deep sanctum, then visit a Collapsed Delve or a Deepslate Vault to complete The Pressure Records. Finally, flip the lever on a Listening Station’s western resonance frame and stand beside the lit shutter lamp to complete The Resonance Shutter. These three chapters also pay 90 XP, five Blank Runes and one Aura Shard in total, once per player, without requiring combat or Aura rank.
Eleven Winters at the Gate begins with an Emberwood Kiln Keeper at an Emberwood Charcoal Yard. Sneak-use the keeper through their fourth story about the Kiln Widow in the firing court, then visit an Iron Gatehouse or a Forge Dojo to complete The Forge Records. Finally, flip the lever on a Charcoal Yard’s eastern kiln draft stack and stand beside the lit draft lamp to complete The Kiln Draft Lamp. These three chapters pay 90 XP, five Blank Runes and one Aura Shard in total, once per player, without requiring combat or Aura rank.
Older boathouses retain their existing furnishings and lighthouse books retain their existing pages. Their structure discoveries and working lamps still count toward the route, so an older building does not block progress. Earlier visits and lamp discoveries are remembered until their chapter opens.
Leads you have not found yet show as hidden, with the hint “Explore ruins, talk to duelists, read your field guide.”
A lead can never get stuck. If you already did what it asks before you found it, it completes as soon as it starts.
Tips
- Lost for what to do next? Open the Leads tab, or talk to a duelist you already know.
- The Talk tab keeps Master hints. Read them again before a Master trial.
- The journal and the Grimoire are different. The Grimoire tracks feats and discoveries across all of Wildercord; the journal keeps the stories of your travels and the people you meet.