Draft:Woodmere

Omega 0.90.4

Woodmere is a forest-road village north of Rampart, at world coordinate (35, 11). Its Balancestone offers neutrality and world travel at an experience cost, with a different outcome for characters whose alignment is too strong.

Local map

The complete 64 by 16 layout of Woodmere is shown below; @ marks arrival at (39, 15).

These are spoiler maps. Coordinates are (column, row), starting at zero. Letters and highlighted symbols are article keys for sites and initial placements, not a literal game screenshot or a promise that a creature remains there.

0000000000111111111122222222223333333333444444444455555555556666

0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123

00 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""###~~~#"""""""""""""""

01 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""#~~~###"""""""""""""""

02 "".....".."....."..."."..."....."".......###~~~#..............""

03 X..."......".""........."....".."...###.##~~~###.#x#.#x#.#x#..""

04 ""G...."........."..."....."........#G###~~~##...x#x.x#x.x#x..""

05 ""..."......".."......G.G........"".#.############x#.#x#.#x#..""

06 """"""""""....#########S#######"..............................""

07 ""............##h..####.H..####.....#.############x#.#x#.#x#..""

08 ""........."..###..#######.####.""".#G###~~~#....x#x.x#x.x#x..""

09 ""..''1''.."..##h..#fffff#.h###.....###~~~###."".#x#.#x#.#x#..""

10 ""..'1~1'.."..###..###g###..###...###~~~###..................G""

11 ""..1~!~1.."..##h...........h##.###~~~###..."...."..."."..."...X

12 ""..'1~1'.."..###.#.#.#.#.#~#####~~~###........"........."....""

13 ""..''1''.."..##h.#h#h#h#h#~~~#~~~###...G..."...."..".."....".""

14 """"""""""""""################~~~##"""".""""""""""""""""""""""""

15 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""~~~"""""""@""""""""""""""""""""""""

Map key

Key	Meaning
!	Balancestone
"	Hedge
#	Wall
'	Trifid hedge
.	Floor or open ground
1	Statue
@	Arrival point, not the current player position
G	Initial guard post
H	Village merchant
S	Stables
X	Return to countryside
f	Horse grain: ten portions per bin
g	Granary entrance
h	Initial horse placement
x	Shuffled service or residence entrance
~	Ordinary water

Service identities at x are shuffled; identify the actual shop in your game. Population and supplies can change on re-entry. The stone position and terrain layout are fixed.

Arrival and village

Arrival is at (39, 15). That southern doorway and exits at (0, 3) and (63, 11) return to the countryside. All five shared services occur among its 24 shuffled doorways.

Feature	Initial position or count
Balancestone	(6, 11)
Merchant	(24, 7)
Horses / grain sites	Ten / five
Guardsmen	Seven
Concealed trifid hedge sites	Twelve

The hedges are not all equivalent: twelve map sites invoke the trifid interaction, while ordinary hedges and water occupy much of the village.

Balancestone

Touching the granite slab compares the magnitude of alignment with a random number from 0 through 49. If alignment's magnitude exceeds that number, the stone immediately sends you to a random countryside cell that is not currently shown as the Sea of Chaos. This does not guarantee an otherwise safe destination.

Otherwise you may step back without paying. Declining to step back removes one quarter of current experience, rounded down, sets alignment to zero and invokes controlled world teleportation. For exactly neutral characters this offer is guaranteed; at alignment +25 or -25 it is offered half the time, and at magnitude 50 or more it is never offered.

The travel menu offers Rampart, the six villages, six main temples and HellWell Volcano. It places you outside the selected destination. Avoiding every portal does not refund the experience or undo neutrality: those changes occur before the destination choice.

Strategy

The stone is most predictable near neutrality. Do not approach it as a cheap alignment reset when deeply lawful or chaotic: that guarantees the uncontrolled branch. Even a successful offer spends accumulated experience, so compare it with ordinary travel before agreeing.

Woodmere has abundant fixed horses, but riding requires grain and a peaceful, fed horse. Stay on known routes through the hedges. Returning from the countryside reconstructs the settlement; its fixed population is not permanent storage or evidence that a previous visit's hazards remain cleared.