MISERY Lorebook

No description.

1. #1Junk Dealerselective

   Keys: Scrap Dealer, Scrap trader, Junk trader, Baldie, Junk Dealer

   Wearing a white shirt with thin black horizontal stripes, jeans, and a pair of black shoes, the bald as ever Junk Dealer with a doggish face sits at his table right next to The Dealer.

   He buys and sells most resources, and scrap that people find out in the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone.

   He buys: Glass for 1 rub per 3 bottles 1 unit of electronics for 2 rub per. 1 rub per 1 unit of scrap 2 rub for small piles of wood per. Gasoline filled canisters for 16 rub Coal bags for 11 rub Drills for 6 rub Light bulbs for 4 rub Gamebriks for 9 rub Radios for 20 rub Copper wires for 5 rub Armor plates for 11 rub Handmade Antennas for 24 rub.

   He sells: 3 glass bottles for 5 rub per. 1 unit of electronics for 10 rub per. 1 unit of scrap, 7 rub per. 1 small pile of wood for 5 rub per. Gasoline canisters for 45 rub per. Coal bags for 23 rub per. Beginner toolbox for 30 rub Regular toolbox for 49 rub Advanced Toolbox for 60 rub Assault Rifle Gun parts for 16 rub per. Pistol gun parts for 8 rub per Rifle Gun parts for 15 rub per. Shotgun Gun parts 13 rub per.

2. #2Zaslavie and Sirzezselective

   Keys: Sirzez, Trading post, Zaslavie Exclusion Zone, The Scientific Institute for Research of the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone, Zaslavie, trading hub, For Zaslavie

   "For Zaslavie!"

   Zaslavie is the irradiated heart of MISERY's world - a region rendered uninhabitable by nuclear devastation. High radiation levels and volatile radioactive anomalies have transformed it into a lethal wasteland. Officially designated The Zaslavie Exclusion Zone, the area is subject to periodic aerial bombardment intended to neutralize emerging anomalies, though the effectiveness of these strikes remains questionable. Despite the hostile conditions, the Sirzez Institute (Scientific Institute for Research of the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone) maintains a fortified research outpost within the Zone. Tasked with studying Zaslavie's unique environmental mutations and anomalous phenomena, Sirzez operates under a veil of secrecy and bureaucratic oversight. The facility serves dual purposes: as a scientific hub monitoring shifts in radiation and mutated wildlife, and as a safe zone for survivors who manage to reach it alive. Sirzez also functions as the Zone's primary trading post, where scavengers, drifters, and opportunists barter salvaged goods for rubles or essential supplies. It's neutral ground - grimy, cramped, and reeking of desperation, but safer than anything outside its walls. Geography & Symbolism: Zaslavie is likely inspired by Zaslawye, Belarus. The regional flag consists of three horizontal stripes: a thick green band (top), a thin white stripe (center), and a thick red band (bottom). A large red five-pointed star with a yellow border sits in the middle - a relic of old-world ideology now faded and ironic in the wasteland's context.

   [Note: MISERY is a distinct IP from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Characters are NOT referred to as "Stalkers." Use terms like scavenger, scav, drifter, survivor, runner, or salvager. Avoid "Stalker gear" - use scav kit, salvaged equipment, Zone tech, etc.]

3. #3Hunterselective

   Keys: Hunter, The Hunter

   A merchant in SIRZEZ, the hunter sells: An intact Toz hunting shotgun for 450 rub Large cooked cockroaches for 40 rub Cooked venison for 55 rub Cooked swamper arms for 85 rub.

   He also will buy: Boar trophies for 38 rub Deer skin for 58 rub Deer trophies for 49 rub The Twins trophy for 176 Rub Rat Wolf trophy for 160 rub Ratwolf hides for 130 rub Raw venison for 32 rub Raw Swamper arms for 60 rub.

   He is an older man with white hair, and wears a blue visored cap, a blue work vest over a light sweater, baggy blue pants tucked into green gum boots. He can be found behind a counter in the third section of Sirzez to the left, next to the medic.

4. #4Medicselective

   Keys: The Nurse, Nurse, Medic, The Medic

   One of the merchants in SIRZES, she is a blonde woman sitting at a desk near a wall just a bit to the right of the hunter (if you were to face his counter), she has a flag of Zaslavie behind her.

   Wearing a white nurse gown, white shoes, and a blue medical mask, and sporting a long bob cut, the blonde nurse sits at her counter, selling: Bandages for 20 rub Vitamins for 28 rub Medkit for 35 rub Car Medkit for 55 rub Anti-Rad tablets for 50 rub Anti-Rad pill bottle for 95 rub Antidepressants for 90 rub

   She also buys the artifacts that people find near some anomaly field out in the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone for 50 rub a pop. Such artifacts include: Calculator, Clocks, Dosimeter, GP-5 Filter, Iron, Nevalyashka, Rubik's Cube, Jewelry Box, Soap, Star, Toy Truck, Volchok.

5. #5Technicianselective

   Keys: pistol parts, toolboxes, The technician, toolbox, automatic rifle parts, rifle parts, shotgun parts, Technician

   Past the doorway between the Tailor and the Hunter is the Technician. Wearing a white wool and knit sweater, a PBF Hamster gas mask. Sitting behind his desk, the Technician for weapon parts, various grades of toolboxes, rubles, and rusted/broken down guns, will fix up the broken guns that people find and bring to him. He also buys these broken down weapons for rub.

   Broken PM: 30 rub (Will fix for 30 rub, and a beginner toolbox) Broken TT 33: 35 rub (Will fix for 60 rub, and a beginner toolbox) Broken Obrez: 35 rub (Will fix for 50 rub, and a beginner toolbox) Broken Mosin Rifle: 40 rub (Will fix for 100 rub, and a beginner toolbox) Broken PPSH: 50 rub (Will fix for 100 rub, and a regular toolbox) Broken Toz: 60 rub (Will fix for 250 rub, and a regular toolbox) Broken Kiparis: 55 rub (Will fix for 200 rub, and a regular toolbox) Broken AK-74: 75 rub (Will fix for 500 rub, and an advanced toolbox) Broken SVD: 95 rub (Will fix for 900 rub, and an advanced toolbox) Broken AS-Val: 100 rub (Will fix for 800 rub, and an advanced toolbox) Broken Saiga 12: 110 rub (Will fix for 800 rub, and an advanced toolbox)

   Semi automatic and bolt action rifles require rifle gun parts. Pistols and submachine guns require pistol gun parts. Automatic rifles require automatic rifle parts. Shotguns require shotgun parts.

6. #6Tailorselective

   Keys: Tailor, The Tailor

   On your left after going through the door to the right of the barman is the tailor. Wearing the plague doctor mask that some bandits wear and an Adidas tracksuit get-up, the tailor buys certain clothes and equipment capable of carrying things, though not all because he's a stingy bastard.

   He also sells basic gas masks, backpacks of different tiers, and a supply of both torn and intact hazmat suits. He is straight across from the Dealer and the Junk Dealer.

   He sells: GP-5 gas mask for 285 rub PBF Hamster gas mask for 300 rub PKM-2 gas mask for 390 rub Hazmat suit for 460 rub Torn hazmat suit for 250 rub School backpack for 130 rub Soviet backpack for 200 rub Tactical backpack for 345 rub Hunter backpack for 370 rub Hiking backpack for 490 rub

   He typically buys clothes for about 5-10 rub, anything like hunter's gear for 35+ rub, field jackets and other similar clothing for 5-15 rub, military and similar vests for about 30-40 rub, police clothing for about 40+ rub, winter military uniform for about 56 rub, and soviet rigs for 23 rub.

7. #7The Dealerselective

   Keys: Dealer, The Dealer

   On your right after going through the door to the right of the barman is the Dealer. Wearing a Spetznas uniform and gear, and a PKM-2 gas mask, he will buy fully intact firearms, and sell ammo at rip-off prices, as well as the "Busel" artifact detector, RGD-S grenades, and magazines for various firearms. He is directly across from the tailor, and his table is right next to the Junk Dealer's.

   Sells: "Busel" Detector for: 135 rub 7.62 ammo for 190 rub (10 bullets) 9mm ammo for 130 rub (10 bullets) Buckshot ammo for 150 rub (probably 10 shells) 5.45MM ammo for 250 rub (30 rounds) 9.39 ammo for 260 rub (likely 10 rounds) RGD-S grenade for 210 rub PM and TT-33 mag for 50 rub PPSH mag for 80 rub Kiparis mag for 90 rub AK-74 mag for 130 rub Saiga 12 mag for 150 rub AS-Val mag for 150 rub

   He will buy: PM for 60 rub TT-33 for 70 rub Obrez for 70 rub Mosin rifle for 80 rub PPSH for 100 rub Toz for 120 rub Kiparis for 110 rub AK-74 for 150 rub SVD for 190 rub AS-Val for 200 rub Saiga 12 for 220 rub

8. #8Barmanselective

   Keys: The Bartender, The barman, Bartender, Barman

   As one entires Sirzes, and heads straight across from the foyer, one will immediately find the bar, alongside that obviously at the end is the barman, with a door on the right leading to the other staff and traders.

   Wearing a boonie cap, a hunter's vest, plaid shirt, and fitting pants and boots, the depressed and lethargic barman buys produce, and sells some foods and drink.

   He sells: Raw giant cockroaches for 5 rub Fresh bread for 35 rub Cans of zucchini for 25 rub Cans of condensed milk for 30 rub Cans of stew for 29 rub Cigarette packs for 18 rub Bottles of water for 16 rub Vodka for 29 rub Beer for 12 rub Energy drinks for 14 rub MREs for 65 rub.

   He buys: Carrot, cucumber, tomato seeds, and wheat for 1 rub per. Tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers for 3 rub And fresh bread for 20 rub.

9. #9Swampersselective

   Keys: fishmen, fish men, Swampers, swamper

   Hulking, fish-like mutants that haunt swamps, flooded ruins, and sewer systems. Swampers are bipedal brutes with sunken, milky eyes and no visible pupils. Their skin is a sickly olive-green mottled with darker swamp tones, slick with moisture and often trailing strands of waterlogged seaweed across their torsos. They possess wide, tooth-filled mouths, bald heads with no external ears, and flattened nasal slits instead of a protruding nose. Behavior: Swampers are generally passive and curious when unprovoked. Solitary individuals wander aimlessly, while packs of three or more tend to form tight clusters or shambling conga-lines. Upon spotting humans, they exhibit childlike curiosity - following at a distance, circling, or attempting to position themselves behind their target. This behavior is unsettling but rarely dangerous on its own. Threats: Two factors make Swampers hazardous:

   Blocking behavior - Packs can inadvertently (or deliberately) box in survivors, forcing close-quarters confrontation to escape. Rain triggers aggression - The moment rain begins, all Swampers in the area become immediately hostile. The cause is unknown, but survivors caught in open marshland during a storm rarely make it out.

   Combat: When aggressive, Swampers drop to all fours and charge like feral apes, faster than a sprinting human. They attack with crushing bites capable of tearing through light armor. Durable and resilient, they shrug off melee strikes and low-caliber rounds. Automatic weapons are the most effective counter - sustained fire brings them down quickly. Pack mentality applies: Attacking one Swamper turns all nearby individuals hostile instantly. Harvesting: Swamper arms are prized by scavengers. When consumed raw, the flesh provides exceptional hydration due to high water retention. Cooked over a fire, the meat is surprisingly palatable - some claim it tastes like charred catfish with a faintly sweet aftertaste. Strangely, only one arm is harvestable per Swamper.

10. #10Banditsselective

    Keys: Plague Doctor, Plague Doctors, Bandits, Bandit

    The Zaslavie Exclusion Zone breeds opportunists, and Bandits are its most visible predators. Hostile on sight, they establish camps in resource-rich areas and prey on lone scavengers and the unprepared. Bandit groups are loosely organized but fiercely territorial - cross into their turf without caution and you won't leave alive. Though often times there are lone bandits too.

    Appearance & Equipment: Most bandits wear mismatched scavenged clothing: tattered tracksuits, faded sports jerseys, threadbare jackets, and balaclavas to conceal their faces. Poorly equipped and underfunded, the rank-and-file rely primarily on melee weapons - pipes, machetes, sharpened rebar, and whatever else the Zone provides. The exception are the Plague Doctors - a distinct and unsettling variety of bandit. They wear crude, all-black radiation suits modified to resemble plague doctor robes, paired with elongated beak-style gas masks. Silent and unnerving, they favour mobility over brute force and are typically armed with TT-33 or PM pistols.

    Behavior: Bandits work together, establishing camps and surrounding areas near potential resources. They shout constantly - threats, taunts, and streams of profanity that echo through the Zone. All bandits speak exclusively in Russian, making any form of negotiation a non-starter for those who do not know Russian.

11. #11Ratwolvesselective

    Keys: Ratwolves, Ratwolf

    Few things in the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone inspire dread quite like the distant howl of a Ratwolf. The mutant offspring of rats and wolves, Ratwolves are towering, humanoid predators built like a werewolf from a nightmare - brown-furred, broad-shouldered, and standing at a height a bit taller than most humans. Their most striking feature is their head: unmistakably rat-like, with twitching snouts, yellowed fangs, and small dark eyes that catch light in the dark.

    Behavior: Ratwolves are solitary creatures and rarely encountered, which is the only mercy the Zone offers regarding them. They do not pack, they do not cooperate - but a single Ratwolf is more than enough. Fast, aggressive, and extraordinarily durable, they hit hard and close distance quickly. Their howls carry far across the Zone, serving as both a territorial warning and an involuntary alarm for any scavenger unfortunate enough to be nearby.

    Combat: A Ratwolf will absorb punishment that would drop lesser mutants without breaking stride. Melee is inadvisable. Slow-firing weapons will frustrate more than harm. Sustained automatic fire to the head is the most reliable takedown method - even a Ratwolf cannot shrug off 15+ rounds of 5.45x39mm to the skull or body.

    Harvesting: Ratwolf pelts are among the most prized materials a scavenger can bring back to Sirzez. Exceptionally thick and dense, they provide outstanding radiation resistance and warmth in the Zone's punishing conditions. The trade-off is bulk - wearing a Ratwolf pelt means sacrificing any vest or rig underneath. It simply won't fit. For some, that's a worthwhile exchange.

12. #12The Twinsselective

    Keys: The Twins, Twins

    Among the Zone's many horrors, The Twins stand apart. A massive, pale-skinned humanoid mutant with a conjoined twin fused to its back, The Twins are hairless, nude, and built with unnatural bulk - clawed hands, heavy muscle, and a pallor that makes them look like something dredged up from deep underground. They are deeply unsettling to look at, and worse to hear.

    Behavior: The Twins are typically found sitting alone - on soccer fields, in abandoned campgrounds, or hunched inside derelict sheds. They weep. Loudly, miserably, and without apparent reason. Left alone, they are no threat. Get too close, and that changes instantly.

    Combat: The Twins attack without hesitation and without mercy, closing distance with alarming speed for something their size. They fight with their claws and raw brute strength, and once they've locked onto a target they will not stop until either they or their victim is dead. There is no de-escalation, no fleeing, no waiting them out. Despite their bulk, The Twins are not invincible. Sustained automatic fire puts them down reliably - roughly half a magazine of 5.45x39mm from an AK-74 is enough to finish the job. They are tough, but not the kind of tough that requires creative solutions.

    Hunting: The Twins carry nothing of material value. However, the Hunter has marked them as a trophy target - proof of a kill worth bragging about, for those willing to earn it.

13. #13Ghoulselective

    Keys: Ghouls

    The underground bunkers of the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone are not empty. Among the things that have made them home are Ghouls - tall, lanky, white-skinned humanoids that haunt the dark corridors and collapsed chambers below the Zone's surface. They make noise constantly: wet gurgling, hollow moaning, and other sounds that defy easy description. These sounds carry through thick concrete walls with ease, ensuring survivors know something is down there long before they see it, and instilling paranoia. They usually wait in standing contortionist poses, but will straighten up when on the hunt. They have hollow black eyes, and a grinning hollow and wide open mouth.

    Behavior & Combat: Ghouls are deceptively patient. Upon detecting a target, they will walk toward them at first - slow, deliberate, almost casual. Within seconds that changes. They break into a full sprint with no warning, covering ground faster than their gangly frames suggest possible. Their goal is not to strike. It is to latch on, and once they're in melee range, you're already dead. A Ghoul that reaches its target will latch onto them, initially blinding them before wrapping its full body around the victim in a suffocating grip. Whether it kills through strangulation, crushing, or something else entirely is unclear - what is clear is that once a Ghoul has latched on, it cannot be removed and it cannot be killed. Death follows, guaranteed. Afterwards the Ghoul remains fused to the corpse, motionless, before eventually vanishing entirely. They are durable enough to absorb punishment but fold quickly under sustained automatic fire. The priority is always to put them down before they close the gap. If they reach you, the fight is already over.

    Ghouls, like Screamers, are not found in the Zone and are exclusive to Underground Bunkers.

14. #14Screamersselective

    Keys: Screamers, Screamer

    Fleshy, insectoid, and deeply wrong-looking, Screamers are bipedal creatures found lurking in the underground bunkers of the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone - alone, or alongside Ghouls and Zombies. They have no eyes. They don't need them.

    Behavior: Screamers are completely blind but possess acute hearing that more than compensates. They listen for whistles, gunshots, and the sound of movement - any noise is enough to fix their attention on a target. In the tight, echo-prone corridors of the bunkers, staying quiet is harder than it sounds.

    The Scream: Once a Screamer has located its target, it intends to rush over to it and scream. The effect is immediate and catastrophic - the target is driven into a near-death state, their body and mind pushed to the edge of total collapse by the sound alone. The only way to prevent this is to kill the Screamer before it finishes. A few well-placed rounds from an automatic weapon will put it down fast as they are not that durable unlike Ghouls. Hesitate, and the scream completes. Silence is the best strategy going in. Speed is the only strategy once they've found you.

    Screamers, like Ghouls, are not found in the Zone and are exclusive to Underground Bunkers.

15. #15Zombiesselective

    Keys: Zombie, Zombie Soldier, Zombie Soldiers, Zombies

    The Zaslavie Exclusion Zone has claimed many lives over the years, and not all of them stay dead. Zombies are the shambling remnants of soldiers who died in the Zone long ago, still dressed in the rotting military uniforms and degraded armor of whatever nation once sent them here. They wander alone or in small groups of two to three, haunting communist-era apartment blocks, abandoned military outposts, and the dark corridors of underground bunkers.

    Behavior: Zombies move slowly and without coordination, drifting aimlessly until something draws their attention. Once they have a target, they travel to that target's last known location and enter a search pattern - methodically patrolling the new area rather than returning to wherever they came from. They do not give up and they do not go back. Whatever route they were on before is forgotten entirely.

    Combat: Despite their unsettling persistence, Zombies are among the more straightforward threats in the Zone. A well-placed shot to the face drops them reliably - one to two rounds from a high-powered rifle or shotgun is typically all it takes. Wasting ammunition on body shots is inadvisable given the state of their decomposed frames.

16. #16Crayfishselective

    Keys: Crayfish

    Mutated descendants of their freshwater namesake, Crayfish are giant eight-legged crustaceans most commonly encountered in swampy biomes. Under normal conditions they're largely passive — curious rather than aggressive, known to investigate loud noises like gunshots before losing interest and moving on.

    That changes fast. Threaten one directly, or let the rain start falling, and they turn. Much like Swampers, something about wet weather flips a switch in them. Getting close is its own problem. Proximity to a Crayfish drains sanity at an unsettling rate, whether it's something they emit or just what they are, nobody's figured out.

    Their chitin plating makes them stubbornly resistant to most damage, so don't expect a few rounds to put one down. A sustained mag-dump from something in the AK family tends to be the most reliable answer. Their caviar is, by all accounts, revolting. It is also, somehow, remarkably good for your mental health.

17. #17Anomaliesselective

    Keys: Floating Convoys, Orb Field, Urchin Field, Anomalies, Flower Fields, Orb Fields, Urchin Fields, Floating Helicopters, Urchin, Orb, Holy Ghost, Teleportation Orb, Skyzone, Orbs, Radiation Twister, Skyzones, Holy Ghosts, Radiation Twisters, Frozen Massacre Site, Anomaly

    ANOMALIES OF THE ZASLAVIE EXCLUSION ZONE The extreme radiation permeating the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone has given rise to a range of strange phenomena, from drifting entities to locales frozen outside of normal time and space. What follows is a working catalogue of known anomalies.

    ENTITY-TYPE ANOMALIES These anomalies manifest as visible presences and tend to cluster together in fields. Artifacts occasionally spawn within their pockets, detectable only with a Busel Detector. Finding one is, in practice, a deadly game of hot and cold. Holy Ghost Fields: Incorporeal, tornado-like beings of luminous yellow gas. Their presence is announced by an ethereal whine before they ever come into view. Within limited range they will pursue targets, enveloping them and rapidly draining sanity. They are also known to turn nearby animals and creatures hostile. Orbs: Dense clusters of black orbs rimmed with white light, pulsating and dancing within a set area. Navigating an orb field is manageable with the right equipment and situational awareness, but it is easy to become overwhelmed without both. Contact with an orb as it expands causes damage. Urchins: Announced by a droning noise that rises and falls in pitch, urchins are floating objects resembling red sea urchins. Harmless at a distance, they rapidly expand when approached, dealing damage until the target retreats. Individual hits are not severe, but urchins cluster in large, dense groups. Skyzones: Identifiable by rising black and white ash and swirling dust, skyzones function like spring traps. Stepping into one launches the victim into the air, likely causing leg damage on landing. This repeats until the victim clears the zone. Shrapnel Fields: Magnetic anomalies with visible metal debris slowly orbiting within a set area. Their gradual drift makes it possible to weave through them, but also makes their radius difficult to predict. Stepping within range causes the field to fire metal shards outward with the force and noise of a gunshot. These are among the more lethal anomalies in the Zone. Radiation Twisters: Small, deceptively unassuming gusts of wind carrying lethal levels of radiation. No artifacts spawn within them. Avoid unless equipped with reliable anti-radiation gear.

    LOCALE-TYPE ANOMALIES These anomalies are less entities and more places, areas of the Zone where reality has bent in ways that are either exploitable or deeply unsettling. Flower Fields: One of the few anomalies that poses no direct threat. White flowers stretch across a field with a trail of red running through the centre. Other creatures refuse to enter their boundaries. Villages found within are well stocked, though their occupants died long ago. Teleportation Orbs: Large orbs that can appear almost anywhere, tucked into ruined buildings, beneath bridges, or high above city structures. Stepping through one might lead to a stash, a maze, or an awkward spot with worthwhile loot. There is no reliable way to know until you're already through. Floating Helicopters: Zones where helicopters hang suspended in mid-air. The gear scattered around them draws bandits, making these areas as dangerous socially as they are anomalously. Floating Convoys: Lines of military vehicles and containers drifting above the ground, typically guarded by zombies. The containers often hold worthwhile supplies for those willing to clear them out. Frozen Massacre Sites: The most disturbing anomalies in the Zone. These are fragments of the past made physically real, scenes of soldiers executing civilians, including women and children, suspended at the moment of their occurrence. Traffic jams of evacuees, gulags mid-atrocity, moments that hint at what happened just before Zaslavie became what it is. Despite being projections, they are physically tangible. Vehicles and buildings within them can be looted.

18. #18Izdushkaselective

    Keys: Chata Tunga, Izdushka, chicken house, house chicken

    Izdushka (also known as Chata Tunga) appear as small wooden cabins and remain completely stationary under normal conditions. Despite their harmless appearance, they are living entities with a unique defensive behavior.

    When someone approaches the entrance, the Izdushka will suddenly grow chicken or raptor-like legs, lifting itself off the ground and rotating away from the approacher before settling back down. This behavior is intended to prevent direct access through the front entrance.

    Although they do not attack and are completely passive, their movement can unintentionally kill someone, by crushing them as they settle down. One can get inside by distracting the Izdushka, and timing their entrance with help of a friend, or someone can craftily slip inside just as an Izdushka sits down.

    Inside the cabin is typically anti-radiation medicine for whatever reason. They are impervious to all damage.

19. #19Emissionsselective

    Keys: Shining, Emission, Shinings

    SHININGS AND EMISSIONS Shinings: A single day survived within the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone is known as a Shining. The term is used casually among those who live long enough to count them. "I have been here for 25 Shinings" is the kind of thing you might hear from someone who has. Nobody, however, can say with any certainty how many Shinings have passed in the Zone overall.

    Emissions: What marks the end of one Shining and the beginning of the next. An Emission is, in essence, a detonation across the Zaslavie Exclusion Zone, ostensibly carried out to manage and reset Anomalies. The Zone does not emerge looking freshly bombed. Instead, everything shifts. Buildings, biomes, Anomalies, landmarks, the landscape itself, all of it moves. What was east of you yesterday may not exist in the same form today. Emissions are also why fresh supplies keep appearing across the Zone. Scrap, ammunition, food, weapons and artifacts all respawn and relocate, as Emissions appear to displace time as much as they displace space.

    Not everything changes. Personal bunkers and SIRZES are unaffected by Emissions and remain fixed regardless of how many have passed.

    Logging Shinings: Shinings are not officially recorded anywhere. They are a personal count. Unless {{user}} chooses to share how many Shinings they have survived, that number belongs to them alone. NPCs and {{char}} have no way of knowing otherwise.

20. #20Artifacts and the Detectorselective

    Keys: Soap, Rubik's Cube, Detector, Artifact, Dosimeter, Toy Truck, Busel Detector, Jewelery Box, "Busel" Detector, GP-5 Filter, Iron, Nevalyashka, Star, Artifacts, Calculator, Clocks, Volchok

    ARTIFACTS Artifacts are ordinary objects warped by the Zone into something far from ordinary. Most carry beneficial properties, some come with a cost. They do not appear on their own. Finding one requires a "Busel" Detector, a handheld device with a small glass panel and a needle gauge behind it. The closer you get to an artifact, the faster the needle swings right and the louder and more frequent the clicking becomes. Step within grabbing distance and the artifact materialises. Artifacts spawn exclusively within entity-type anomaly fields: Orbs, Urchins, Holy Ghost Fields, Skyzones, and Shrapnel Fields. Locale-type anomalies such as Floating Helicopters, Floating Convoys, and Flower Fields do not produce artifacts.

    A note on artifact effects: the numerical values listed are not to be taken literally within the roleplay. They exist as a rough guide to an artifact's general influence, how much it helps, how much it hurts, and where. Use them as a sense of scale and direction rather than hard numbers. Similarly, where flavour text contradicts the listed effects, go by the effects. Treat the flavour text as atmosphere, not instruction.

    KNOWN ARTIFACTS Nevalyashka: A small doll said to activate the body's hidden reserves. One of the more desirable finds in the Zone, it carries no negative side effects. (Health +30, Radiation -40)

    Soap: A literal bar of soap. It binds radionuclides in the gastrointestinal tract and slows hunger and thirst, though it creates a false sense of satiety and disrupts intestinal microflora. Despite the unpleasant mechanism, there appear to be no real negative consequences. (Hunger +10, Thirst +10, Radiation -5)

    Iron: An old, rusted clothing iron. Said to stimulate tissue regeneration, though the body demands more resources to sustain the process. (Health +10, Hunger +6, Radiation +3)

    GP-5 Filter: Draws radiation through the skin and out of the body, leaving chemical burns in its wake that are slow to heal. A painful trade. (Health -5, Radiation -15)

    Rubik's Cube: Reportedly activates cognitive function by suppressing hunger signals, redirecting the body's energy away from physical recovery toward mental processes. (Health -5, Thirst +10) Toy Truck: Blocks pain receptors and draws on the body's reserves for a surge of endurance, at the cost of micro-tears forming in muscle tissue. (Health -5, Stamina +15, Radiation +5)

    Star: A red star with a gold border, part of the Zaslavie flag. Said to trigger a short-term release of endorphins and adrenaline. Take the flavour text as flavour text. (Hunger +20)

    Calculator: Enhances neuromuscular conductivity for a burst of endurance, but accelerates glycogen breakdown. Expect a sharp, wolfish hunger once the effect fades. (Stamina +15, Hunger -5, Radiation +8)

    Jewellery Box: Stimulates the nervous system, producing a surge of energy and dulling hunger temporarily. One of the better stamina artifacts available. (Hunger +20, Stamina +40, Thirst +20) Dosimeter: Absorbs ionizing radiation and clears it from the body cleanly. Simple, reliable, no drawbacks. (Health +5, Radiation -25)

    Volchok: A spinning red and gold top. Speeds up metabolism for a burst of energy and tissue repair, but burns through muscle resources fast without adequate nutrition to back it up. (Health +15, Stamina +10)

    Clocks: Visually resembles a magazine or booklet. Increases muscle productivity by synchronising biorhythms, though extended use causes noticeable tremors in the limbs. (Stamina +20, Radiation +5)

21. #21Underground Bunkerselective

    Keys: Underground Bunker

    Relics of Zaslavie's military past, these sprawling subterranean complexes sit beneath the Zone without quite being part of it. Accessing one is its own challenge, and for those without a personal bunker anchored to an anomaly, finding a way in may prove harder than anything waiting inside. The rewards match the risk. Military equipment is abundant, but so is everything trying to kill you. Zombie soldiers, Screamers, and Ghouls occupy the corridors in force.

    Radiation reaches lethal levels in certain areas. Active landmines remain exactly where they were left. And the architecture itself works against you, winding corridors, repeating rooms that are similar enough to disorient, sudden drops, blocked passages, maintenance shafts, and flooded sections all combine to make navigation genuinely punishing. Without a perfect memory of the route taken, or some form of trail marker such as glowsticks, it is easy to become hopelessly turned around.

    Emissions do not spare underground bunkers. When the warning comes, {{user}} and any companions need to clear out and reach the Personal Bunker before the detonation hits. What waits on the other side is uncertain. The bunker may reappear, reshuffled and different, or the entrance may open back out into the outdoors entirely.

22. #22Personal Bunker/Anomaly Bunkerselective

    Keys: Anomaly Bunker, Personal Bunker

    Not every scavenger in the Zone has one, and those who do consider themselves fortunate. The Personal Bunker is an anomaly as much as it is a structure, behaving less like a building and more like a living thing with opinions. Whether {{user}} has one is entirely their choice.

    It starts modest, a cramped underground space dominated by a large furnace, with little else beyond a tray of flashlights, some gasoline, and a generator to run it all. Over time it can be expanded, fitted with containers, furnishings, crafting utilities, and whatever else {{user}} sees fit to bring in.

    Outside, under open sky, is the courtyard. To the left sits a broken down helicopter. Ahead is the bunker exit, the threshold between safety and whatever the current Shining has made of the Zone. To the right, damaged buildings offer enough structure to build farmland from. An old tin shed stands nearby.

    The exit door does more than lead outside. For those who own the bunker, it also serves as a teleportation point to and from SIRZES.

    The bunker itself is safe from Emissions, though the courtyard is not. Being out in the open air when one hits is just as dangerous as being anywhere else in the Zone.

    The bunker spawns on the Eastern side of the Zone. Each Shining, its exit most commonly opens out into the Zone's current outdoor iteration. Occasionally, however, the Zone places the exit inside one of the old Zaslavie underground bunkers instead.

    The anomaly that underlies the Personal Bunker is particular about who it lets in. {{user}} cannot simply invite anyone. Only those the bunker itself perceives to be acting in {{user}}'s genuine best interests are permitted entry. It cannot be talked around or deceived on this point.

Showing 22 of 22

1 file

• .jsonjson_lorebookrebuilt

  47.5 KBfirst seen Apr 29, 2026f5140640d1066cd1

  Download