The Hive¶
Hostile
Giant ants rule the plains. Smell like one of them, or keep your distance.
| Kind of world | Hostile |
|---|---|
| Serum in the arrival Box | 2 ampoules |
| Native Serum stand-in |  Royal Jelly |
| Quests | None |
the-hive-arrivalWhat happens when you arrive¶
A hot, dry savanna of yellow grass and flat-topped trees, and a clicking in the grass everywhere at once. The clicking is ants: soldier ants as big as horses, and they own everything between the mounds, orange humps of hardened wax and earth dotted across the plains. Out in the open they let you be. Walk too close to a mound, or hurt one of them, and you'll find out how many there are.
The rule: the colony knows you by smell¶
| Danger | What it does | How to deal with it |
|---|---|---|
| Getting close to a mound | Come within 6 blocks of any Hive Resin without the colony's scent and you are an intruder: every ant within 24 blocks turns on you. | Keep your distance, or wear the scent. |
| Hurting an ant | Raises the alarm. Every ant within 24 blocks hunts you for one minute, and no scent fools them while it lasts. It also strips any scent you were wearing. | Don't start fights near the colony. If you do, run and wait out the minute. |
| Soldier ants | As long as a horse and armoured like one: 24 health, 4 armour, a 5-damage bite. They come in groups of 2 to 4. | Fight them one at a time, away from the mounds. |
Out in the open, away from the mounds, the ants ignore you completely. No other monsters spawn here, day or night. A few bees buzz about too.
the-hive-swarmThe Pheromone Sac¶
Kill a soldier ant and it drops a 
Pheromone Sac, its scent gland. Use it (crush it over yourself) and you smell
like the colony for 3 minutes. The ants take you for one of their own: they walk right past you, and any that
were chasing you let you go at once.
- It does nothing while the colony is already alarmed at you, and in that case it is kept, not wasted.
- Hurting an ant breaks the disguise instantly and raises the alarm.
Use the sac before you go in
A colony that is already hunting you can't be fooled. Use the sac out in the open, then walk in calmly.
Inside a mound¶
Every mound has a tunnel on its south side. Follow it down to the brood chamber, where a chest keeps the colony's treasure:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royal Jelly |
2 to 4, always |
| Honey Bottles, Honeycomb and Pheromone Sacs |
2 or 3 rolls among these (1 to 3 honey bottles, 2 to 5 honeycomb, 1 or 2 sacs) |
The spare sacs are for the way out.
the-hive-broodWhat to bring home¶
| Find | Where | Why it's worth it |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Jelly |
The brood-chamber chest in every mound. | The Serum stand-in (below). |
 Hive Resin |
The mounds. Slow to dig through, needs a pickaxe. | A honey-orange building block. Digging into a mound without the scent makes you an intruder, though. |
| Pheromone Sac |
Soldier ants, and the brood chests. | Your way past the colony on the next visit. |
Serum and getting home¶
- The arrival Box's cache holds 2 Serum Ampoules.
- Native stand-in: Royal Jelly. It replaces Somnium Powder in the Synthesizer. Every mound's brood chamber
holds at least two.
Tips¶
- Your first sac is the hard part: lure a single ant away from the mounds and fight it there.
- Watch the clock: 3 minutes of scent is enough for one mound, not three. Keep a second sac ready.
- Never swing at an ant while disguised. One blow and the whole colony knows.
- Bring a bow and some armour: a minute of being hunted by a whole colony is a long time in open grass.
Birds¶
Birds you can photograph for your bird log here. Open one to turn it round, watch it move and hear its call.
- Alarm Drongo: common
- Royal Honeyguide: rare
Everything this world adds¶
2 blocks and items (click to open)
Hive ResinRoyal JellyThe 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)
The ants here are as big as horses, and they own everything between the mounds. Out in the open they let me be, but walk near a mound and they come for you, and hurt one and every ant within earshot hunts you for a minute. A dead soldier carries a pheromone sac; crushed over yourself, it makes you smell like the colony for three minutes, and then they walk right past you. Inside every mound, past the tunnel on its south side, the brood chamber keeps a chest of royal jelly, and the jelly goes into the Synthesizer in place of Somnium Powder. Use the sac before you go in, not after they have seen you: a colony that is already hunting you cannot be fooled.