Hey everyone, Cyanide here again!
Styx isn’t around right now, he’s busy recording… well, let’s just say “top-secret stuff” (the answer is at the end of this blog 🤫).
We’ve shown you the Empire’s towering arrogance in The Wall, and the wounded wilderness of Turquoise Dawn. Now it’s time to go deeper. Older. Somewhere sacred, shattered… and rotting from the inside out.
Welcome to the Akenash Ruins, the final breath of a once-mighty tower suspended by dying magic. Players of Master of Shadows may remember this place as the cradle of Amber, and the spark that lit the entire continent on fire. Well… it’s not what it used to be.
This is a place where history has curdled. Amber has dried up. The World Tree is dying. And everyone left inside. Goblin, elf, or roach is either desperate, deranged, or both.
View game pageA floating relic, barely alive
Akenash used to be a miracle of architecture and diplomacy, towering over a lake of pure Amber, powered by the World Tree’s essence, guarded by Elves, and home to the Empire’s most unethical geniuses.
Then Styx stole the Heart. Then the Green Plague. Then everything went to hell.
Now? The tower hangs in pieces, suspended in the void. Its core is a throbbing Quartz shard that poisons what’s left of the Tree. Machinery still hums, but the Amber’s gone. Only scars remain.
And yet… people cling to it. Survivors. Goblins. Roaches and more.
No safety in the heights, no mercy underground
Akenash is split across multiple fractured layers, each in worse shape than the last.
Collapsed walls and debris have created new traversal routes. Some are clever. Most are unstable. All of them are dangerous.
At the heart, the World Tree still stands, but barely. Its Amber veins are dried. Its branches are brittle. Strange organisms cling to its rotting husk, feeding on the corrupted Quartz like parasites. The terrain here is post-apocalyptic: dead roots, fallen leaves, crumbling bark, and a stink that makes even Styx gag.
And up top, the ruins of luxury rot in silence. The Barimen estate is now a haunted maze of shattered glass and unstable halls. Roaches rule this place, multiplying in the damp dark.
Somewhere within, a secret chamber still ticks, traps active, vaults sealed. The Elven embassy is wrecked. The grand library is ash.
Creatures clinging to madness
Akenash isn’t guarded. It’s infested.
What remains of this place isn’t a military presence, it’s a fractured ecosystem of desperate survivors, and creatures twisted by exposure to corrupted magic. Every faction here is holding on by a thread, driven more by instinct and obsession than tactics.
The worst? The Roaches. These aren’t your average skittering pests. They adapted to the darkness, multiplying like fungus, and deeply territorial.
Then there are the Feral Elves, survivors of the fall. Once scholars and guardians of the World Tree, now reduced to silent, predatory husks. Their minds have shattered under the combined pressure of trauma, spiritual collapse, and Quartz corruption.
Goblins also prowl the lower ruins. Many are fractured echoes of Styx’s lineage. Their behavior is erratic: sabotage, ambush, self-detonation… They're unpredictable, and that makes them dangerous.
Oh, and don’t forget the Dark Elves, scavengers in exile, fueled by obsession. And the Inquisition, still poking around for Quartz, as if they haven’t ruined enough.
And… maybe there’s something else down there.
A tower on the edge of death
Akenash is no fortress anymore. It’s a grave.
But graveyards are full of treasure. Full of stories. And sometimes… full of second chances.
The Tree is dying. The Amber’s gone. The factions trapped inside are tearing each other apart. But if anyone can sneak through the madness, unearth the last secrets, and maybe, maybe, stop what’s coming?
It’s Styx.
(Probably)
Don’t forget to wishlist Styx: Blades of Greed! It really helps the team, boosts visibility, and makes sure you don’t miss anything leading up to launch. Every wishlist counts, thanks for the support! 🙏
View game pageOh, and by the way, that wraps up our little tour of the environments series. Next time? No more sightseeing. It’s gameplay time! See you (very) soon! 👀
– The Cyanide Team
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