Delving Encounters, Hidden Depth and Ruin Naming

4 August 2026

A ruin no longer tells you how deep it goes until somebody has been there, and at depths 3, 5, 7 and 9 your envoy now meets a written scene and has to choose how to proceed. The first player to clear a ruin gets to name it, permanently and publicly.

Delving previously offered one decision, repeated: go deeper, or leave. It was made against information you already held in full, so the only variable was nerve. There is now a route to plan and a style to express.

Fifteen skills that had been listed as coming soon are also live.

improvedreducednewreworkedremoved

A ruin's depth is unknown until someone reaches it

reworked
Ruin depth labels
WasEvery ruin stated its true floor before anyone had entered it.
NowA ruin nobody has delved reads "? levels". Once a player has reached depth 4 it reads "4+ levels". It reads "8 levels" only once someone has stood on the floor.
The in-run header follows the same rule: "Depth 5 of 7+" until the floor is known.
improved
You find the floor by trying to go further
The moment you learn a ruin has no more levels is the moment you attempt the next one. That is unchanged, and it is now the only way to learn it.

Encounters at depths 3, 5, 7 and 9

A library of 32 encounter families and 107 written scenes, keyed to what kind of structure the ruin is. Which scene you meet is seeded per ruin and per run, so two players at depth 5 of the same ruin are not reading from the same script.

new
NEW:Every encounter is a choice with stated consequences
The consequences are shown before you choose, derived from the effects the choice actually applies rather than written separately and left to drift. A choice can change the rewards on the floor, shift your odds, charge a toll, or apply a modifier that lasts several levels.
new
NEW:Terminal choices end the run where you stand
Some choices end the delve at that depth. Because an envoy gets one journey per ruin, taking one means that envoy never learns how deep the ruin went. The choice says so before you take it.
new
NEW:Run modifiers carry across levels
A modifier picked up at depth 3 counts down over the following levels rather than applying once.
reworked
Preparation moves to depths 6, 8 and 10
WasPreparation was offered at depths 6, 8, 9 and 10, so depth 9 asked for a preparation purchase and an encounter choice at once.
Now6, 8 and 10. Every depth now asks at most one question, which is what makes the screen work at 320px.
new
NEW:A focused encounter screen
The scene gets the screen to itself, and the consequences of the option you are hovering are revealed as you choose.

The first player to clear a ruin names it

new
NEW:Naming rights
Clearing means completing the deepest floor, which is stricter than merely reaching it. The first player to do so picks one prefix and one suffix from pools keyed to the kind of structure the ruin is, and the ruin panel credits them by name from then on.
improved
The right is held until it is used
A ruin keeps its terrain-and-structure label until the player who earned the naming exercises it. Clearing a ruin and closing the tab forfeits nothing.
new
NEW:Names come from pre-approved pools
There is no free text, so there is nothing here for the name filter to catch and nothing to report.

Fifteen skills come off "coming soon"

These were selectable, described, and did nothing. Each is now implemented as written. Skills that are still unimplemented now refuse to be trained rather than taking your points.

new
NEW SKILL:PathmakerExploration · Tier 5
UNLOCKS: Tiles this envoy explores become roads. You travel 40% faster along them, and your routes prefer them. Roads belong to the envoy that made them, so your other envoys do not share them.
new
NEW SKILL:RunnerExploration · Tier 3
UNLOCKS: While delving, send a runner to carry everything you have collected so far back to your home city. It takes about as long as descending a floor, and can be done once per delve. Anything the runner takes is safe, even if the delve ends badly.
new
NEW SKILL:Emergency RecallExploration · Tier 2
UNLOCKS: Bring your envoy home instantly from wherever it stands, once every 48 hours, at no cost. It cannot be called while your envoy is training, delving, investigating a wonder or serving a residency.
new
NEW SKILL:Cartographer's LegacyExploration · Tier 4
UNLOCKS: When you are the first player in the world to explore a tile and find something significant there, a Rare or better lore fragment, a ruin or a wonder, write a short entry to leave behind. Once it passes moderation, every player who explores that tile later reads it, credited to your envoy by name. One entry per tile.
The card states the threshold, so "significant" is not left to guesswork.
reworked
Ruin SenseExploration · Tier 4
Ruin markers turn up far more often in your scouting observations, and an undiscovered ruin within 5 tiles of where your envoy arrives can be marked even on a tile you never travelled.
WasA passive that claimed to reveal nearby ruins and had no path to doing so.
NowFolded into scouting observations, so it produces something you can see on the map. The proximity pass runs on every journey.
new
NEW SKILL:Expedition EfficiencyCommerce · Tier 4
+1 range past any tile this envoy has explored, and a single hop onto a tile adjacent to an explored tile is 50% faster (that hop only).
The extra tile of range is drawn on the map.
new
NEW SKILL:EndowmentScholarship · Tier 3
Your home city's School costs 20% less to upgrade, so it reaches the levels that unlock higher skill tiers sooner.
The discount is shown in the upgrade cost preview, not just applied at the till.
new
NEW SKILL:Guild LedgersScholarship · Tier 3
Collecting from an extractor in your home city has an 8% chance to turn up a lore fragment related to the resource you collected or to your city's biome.
new
NEW SKILL:Deep FoundationsScholarship · Tier 4
Completing a building upgrade in your home city has a 15% chance to unearth a lore fragment matching your city's terrain.
new
NEW SKILL:MarginaliaScholarship · Tier 2 · 2 ranks
When your envoy finds a lore fragment, there is a 30% / 50% chance a lore trace is left on a nearby unexplored tile. Exploring that tile is more likely to turn up lore, though not lore related to the fragment that placed it.
The trace is drawn on the map, so it is a lead you can follow rather than a hidden roll.
new
NEW SKILL:Hold a FestivalDiplomacy · Tier 3
UNLOCKS: Spend resources at your home city to declare a Festival lasting 24 hours, on a 7 day cooldown. Every envoy arriving during the Festival earns 50% more arrival Cultural Influence, and you earn 25% of each arrival on top of your usual host share.
new
NEW SKILL:Grand FestivalDiplomacy · Tier 4
UNLOCKS: Your Festivals last 72 hours, arriving envoys earn 100% more Cultural Influence, and you earn 40% of each arrival. The cooldown stays at 7 days. A Grand Festival is announced to every player within travel range.
new
NEW SKILL:Cultural LandmarkDiplomacy · Tier 5
Your home city is permanently marked on the world map, visible to all players, showing guest count and host bonuses. Festivals you hold cost 25% less to declare and last 50% longer.
reworked
Quick SurveyExploration · Tier 2 · 3 ranks
Your envoy explores and delves faster, both by the same amount: -5% / -10% / -15% time.
WasIt sped up exploration only, and the card did not say so.
NowIt speeds up delving by the same amount.
reworked
Master ExplorerExploration · Tier 3
Your envoy explores and delves 25% faster, replacing Quick Survey.
WasExploration only.
NowExploration and delving.

Travel

reworked
A journey costs the sum of its tiles
WasDuration was worked out from the distance between the two ends.
NowIt is the sum of each tile the envoy actually walks. Crossing three swamp tiles and one plain now costs what those four tiles cost.
This is what makes Pathmaker's roads and Expedition Efficiency's discounted hop possible to price at all.

Fixes

Browsing the skill tree no longer locks every skill.
Opening a skill to read it was treated as the beginning of a choice, which greyed out the rest of the tree.
A skill listed as coming soon refuses to be trained.
It could previously be trained, taking the points and the time for nothing.
A toll states its share rather than showing its arithmetic.
Every injury has its own doctor cost.
A delve descends through a floor that is still being banked instead of refusing.
"Trade Skimming" credits are clamped to your storage capacity.
It could credit resources you had no room for, which then vanished.
Lore fragments always show a rarity, never a bare tier number.
The skill points badge fits at 320px, and every skill point count is pluralised correctly.
Skill training is reachable from both screens that show skills.