Enjoy From Embers 1.2.0 — Wilds & Omens

1.2.0 — Wilds & Omens

The forest was here before the first fire. It will be here after the last.

The woods around your settlement have grown deeper. Hunters return with new stories — of pale stags glimpsed at twilight, of bears the size of carts, of small green things that move in numbers. Some prey runs faster than your arrows can fly. Some quarry doesn't run at all.

Track every species you've taken, and the woods will repay your knowledge.

New Creatures

Seven new wildlife species now roam the world, scaling with your era:

• Young Deer — quick, skittish, plentiful. The early hunter's bread and butter.

• Gray Deer — hardier, deeper in the wood. Larger settlements draw them out.

• White Deer — pale as moonlight, twice as elusive. Killing one brings fortune… or a curse.

• Black Bear — smaller than its brown cousin, just as willing to fight back.

• Polar Bear — a mountain of fur and muscle. The hunters who bring one down don't stop talking about it for seasons.

• Elder Bear — ancient and immense, wreathed in forest moss. The old ones say it's been here since before the first fire.

• Spirit Deer — translucent and swift as thought. Hunters swear its hooves don't touch the ground.

Three new night threats now stalk the dark:

• Kobold Footpad — alone, a nuisance. In numbers, a catastrophe. They come in numbers.

• Goblin Archer — small, sharp-eyed, patient. You don't see the arrow — you hear the thud.

• Gnoll Warrior — they hunt in packs and they're faster than they look. Gnolls don't negotiate.

New ambient wildlife: Blood Bats and Dread Bats now circle your torchlight on darker nights.

Five New Encounters

• Bear Den Discovered — workers near the quarry report a den dug into the hillside. Send hunters, set traps, or leave it be.

• The White Stag — a once-in-a-lifetime omen at the forest's edge. Hunt it for the prize, or revere it for fortune.

• Swarm of Bats — autumn dusks bring shrieking clouds to your rooftops. Burn wood, hunt them, or endure.

• Tracks in the Snow — something massive crossed your borders in the night. Pursue, fortify, or follow.

• The Great Hunt — when the autumn forests teem with game, the elders speak of calling the entire settlement to the chase.

The Bestiary

A full creature codex is now part of your settlement's records. Each species you've taken is logged with hunter's flavor — what it is, what it does, and why your people fear or favor it.

Hunt every species at least once and you'll unlock Master Naturalist: a permanent +5% to all hunting yields, plus an extra +5% food drop from every kill thereafter.

Hunters earn bonus skill experience for taking down dangerous, retaliating, or rare quarry — the harder the kill, the faster they grow.

New Achievements & Titles

• Bear Slayer! — your first bear kill

• Big Game Hunter! — five bear kills

• Rare Quarry! — your first rare-tier kill

• Diverse Hunter! — five different species taken

• Master Naturalist! — every species in the bestiary completed

A new Kingdom-tier settlement title — Bearhide Lodge — joins your honors when your hunters bring down five bears.

Wave Logs Read Better Now

Night-wave alerts now name what's coming. "A wave of creatures approaches" is gone — expect "3 wolves and 2 skeletons" in your activity log instead.

Balance & Tuning

• Kobolds now appear from the tribal era — filling out the early threat pool around your first wolves.

• Gnoll threat pressure on low-defense settlements reduced — they no longer compound with bandit and skeleton waves into a death spiral.

• Fortify the Walls (Tracks in the Snow event) now costs a meaningful 20 stone, in line with other late-game mood-buying choices.

• Bat Swarms fire less often, and hunting them down for food is now a more competitive option.

• Omen beasts (Elder Bear, Spirit Deer) and rare wildlife rebalanced for cleaner reward tiers.

Codex Flavor

Every creature entry — old and new — now carries a short hunter's note beneath its stats. Your codex isn't just a stat sheet anymore. It's the closest thing your people have to a written history of the wilds.

Smoke on the horizon. The hunters are home.