With Wovern slaughtered, you proceed back to the Winding Cliff Path, this time choosing the sloped path down towards a small beach and inlet. The beach is eerily still as you arrive, and you can loot a few Gold Nuggets from the sand. However, there are deadly creatures lurking under the sand, just waiting to strike. These are the Beachlurkers, giant spider-squid hybrids that attack viciously with their spear-like tentacles, which can also grab you and, pull you in for a terrifying execution where the Beachlurker will bite off your head with the cavernous mouths on their undervalued. Killing them will always get you a Remnant of a Beachlurker.
From here, and after killing the three stealthy Beachlurkers, you advance into a hollow cavern, which quickly opens up into an enormous subterranean labyrinth. Reaching a flagpole at the overlook of a cliff, you are greeted with your first look at a new area.
- Smuggler's Grotto -
Think the opening view over Shulva from DaS2, and you've got the vast size of this cavern. Old rigging hangs from the algae-coated walls. Giant barnacles cling to the ground at intervals. The path forwards winds in and out of the wall, like a labyrinth, and a murky steam hangs low at the ground throughout much of the level, spewing from small craters on the walls. Wooden gangplanks lie strewn about, some leading across chasms to reach far off items and paths. The level will take you roughly 1-2 hours to comb, as there are many diverging paths.
Travelling down the initial path, you'll encounter your first enemies, the Wet Kin. These oversized limpits fight like the bloodsuckers in Bloodborne, able to leapt high into the air and come crashing down on you. They can also prise themselves up with a long, tonsil-like limb which they then use to slap you silly. They die in only a few hits dealt to this weakspot, although hitting their ashen-grey shells deals no damage whatsoever. Occasionally they will drop Bottled Residue, a consumable you can use to apply Divination damage to your weapon.
The main difficulty on this initial path is the risk of being knocked off the ledge by the force of the Wet Kin, and they can quickly overhwhelm you in numbers, so its best to proceed slowly. At the bottom of this path you discover a skeleton clutching a half-broken vial, which you can investigate to receive the following ominous message: "Evacuate all surrounding areas. A mysterious affliction has claimed all of the men in this cave." As you click off the warning, the skeleton's head suddenly falls from its shoulders, and a cloud of brown mist explodes from its exposed neck, which you can now see is coated with fungus. If you stand idly by and toke in the toxic spores, you will receive this game's equivalent of curse, as your character lets out a muffled scream and fungal pods erupt from their body. This is your introduction to The Buried, a deadly condition that will (literally) plague you throughout this area.
The path now splits, with one fork disappearing down into the unknown depths of the cave, and the other down a dark passageway.
The following items have so far been lootable; make sure you grab them all before proceeding.
2 x Dead Jellyfish
3 x Dayle Rum
2 x Molotov Cocktail
3 x Firefly Napalm
Fisherman's Blunt: Mace-like weapon constructed from a metal post wrapped in a fishing net, with shards of poisonous starfish sticking out, adding a small poison damage effect. Description reads: "Brute-force weapon built by smugglers to protect their hauls from competitors. This weapon will not save you in combat with any enemy with significant prowess, but it can be used to plough through smaller foes with the ease expected of a hammer. Special charged R2 attack sends out a minor poison wave across the ground.
Seawater-Clogged Pistol: As the name implies, this gun is broken asf, meaning that trying to fire it will cause it to explode in your hand, dealing damage to yourself. However, Samuel can repair the weapon, restoring it to its former glory(?) as a Smuggler's Pistol. Description of the seawater variant reads: "Rusted old pistol damaged by a rough tide. Evidently this firearm has seen its fair share of bloodshed, so it almost seems fitting in how it turns on its owner." Restored variant reads: "Pistol used by smugglers to fend off competitors. Whilst nothing particularly special, this weapon's storied history makes it a fitting weapon for an adventurer."
The left fork ends in a sudden drop into a cavern filled with fungal pods. As you will no doubt be readying an "OH SHITTTTTT!", you realise that moving slowly does not set off the pods. Doing so will, unfortunately, kill you in a matter of seconds, so clearly caution is the name of the game. Sadly for you, there are a few Wet Kin in the room, so you'd better get ready to tank their hits. If necessary, you can break the fungal pods, but doing so will result in them spraying a large AOE over the ground, so be aware of that. You can loot a Smuggler's Hat from this cavern, which has a novelty stuffed parrot on its brim. The description reads: "Treasured hat worn by a smuggler. No doubt his enemies feared him, not only for his steel but for the fiercesome avian that he kept stashed in his hat." The hat has no special properties, but it looks goofy as all shit.
Eventually you find a hole in the cave wall, leading you out of the Danger Zone(TM) out onto a gentle sloping plateau. There are a few Afflicted Smugglers out here, which are new enemies that resemble standard pirates with pistols and swords/axes, except their whole heads are taken over by fungal pods, Last of Us-style. They mostly use their weapons to attack you - albeit with terrible aim due to their lack of a face - although they have a special attack where they rip a small fungal blob off their own head and throw it at you like a smoke grenade. When they die, they fall to their knees, their heads exploding into a toxic gas.
After fighting through several waves of Afflicted Smugglers, you can find a small lagoon filled with a group of Undead Sea Lions which look and act as silly as they sound. They are all missing one eye, and attack by sliding on their bellies at you, spinning around to bat you with their tails, and biting you. They are hilariously-outmatched on their own, but as a group are deceptively lethal. Once you down them you can loot an Adventurer's Rapiers from the lagoon, a set of paired rapiers with extra-long blades which can perform a special flurrying-slash attack. Their description reads: "Set of finely-crafted rapiers wielded by the nefarious pirate-slayer Duke Henry of Azwell. Henry carved up the smugglers that left his fellow nobles quivering in terror, earning him a bloody and proud name."
Unfortunately, looting his weapons seems to have made him angry, for you will then be 'BOARDED' by a vengeful spirit of the Duke, in the first of this game's NPC-invasions. Henry is, as you may have inferred from his weapons' description, a bloodthirsty and confident fighter, and he will clean you up unless you take your time and watch carefully for openings. When he hits half health, he will have his helmet knocked off by a hit, revealing he has been infected by the fungus, which now has a slow build-up when in range of Henry. If/when you slay him, he'll drop his armour set and 14'000 doubloons. His set is pretty neat, being an aristocratic cloak attached to a set of carved silver metal armour with special gold gauntlets. The helmet is especially cool, with a silver head and golden wings on the side.
Their description reads: "Helmet/Armour/Gauntlets/Trousers of the famous pirate-slayer Duke Henry of Azwell. As a child, Henry watched his parents murdered by Freegalian raiders, and swore upon that day to take a bloody vengeance upon all of pirate kind. With a set of noble armour crafted by Azwell's finest smith, at the age of twenty he set out on a proud adventure, cut short when he ventured into the pestilence-rotted caverns near Grassun Harbour."
In a small side tunnel, you can find a NPC called Brett Shiver-Heart, a Tidal Mage. He is cowering behind a rock as a group of Afflicted Smugglers surround him. Killing them will grant you dialogue with him, although he doesn't seem too grateful for your assistance.
"Oh... Show me up, will you? I had everything under control, you scallywag. I was moment sway from unleashing a devastating divination! Ah... Confound it all, where is my staff?"
"Well, I suppose you did help me. So, here, take this."
He gives you a single Salt Pouch. What a guy.
"What? Are you expecting more from me? Good gracious, what a fiend you are. Fine. I will grant you the most powerful gift of all... knowledge! Let me share with you my findings on Tidal Divinations."
When he says 'share', he actually means 'sell', and he's a stingy one, so prepare yourself to spend all your shit.
He sells the following Tidal Divinations:
Ripple: Weaker version of whirlpool previously available as a Foreigner starter class. (5'000 doubloons)
Whirlpool: Sends out a projectile vortex which will damage an enemy more the longer it remains in contact with them. (8'000 doubloons)
Steam Geyser: Summons a geyser made of hot water in the direction of casting. (10'000 doubloons)
Song of the Sea: Releases a short-range wave of energy that travels through the air in a pirouetting manner. (10'000 doubloons)
Enhanced Blade: Casts an arcane effect on your weapon, lasting sixty seconds. (12'000 doubloons)
Enhanced Firearm: Casts an arcane effect on your bullets, granting a wider impact. (6'000 doubloons)
Inner Ocean: Powers up defence and movement speed (requiring less stamina for every move) for thirty seconds. (18'000 doubloons)
He also sells a Rickety Sea Staff, a wooden catalyst affixed with a large hermit crab shell at the tip which lights up blue when casting a spell, for 3'000 doubloons.
He has a bit more dialogue, if you even want to talk to this dude anymore: "Are you a marauder? A mercenary? A misguided imperial apologist? Hah, what does it matter? You're all the same. Cutthroat killers, with no regard for those around you. Why, if it wasn't for your kind, we would have peace throughout Dayle."
"Me? I am an apprentice of the great arch-mage, Mercutio. He hand-picked me from my class, tasking me with the destruction of all of the heretic Mattas' filthy New Age zealots. That despicable man has surrounded himself with an impenetrable glacier, a few miles deep into the mountainside. Coward. And so the bloodletting continues."
If you are in the Followers of the New Age covenant, he will have differing dialogue: "You're one of them, aren't you? The new age zealots. Your filth will be exterminated from this earth, from one corner to the other. (Flat-earther alert!)"
He will just repeat this dialogue after, and despite swearing to kill your kind, will make no attempt to fight you unless you attack first, in which case he will cower on the ground in a unique animation, screaming for mercy. Killing him will net you 300 (!) doubloons, showing that even in death, Brett is one tight asshole. After the exchange here, he will move to the docks in Grassun Harbour, becoming a stationary Divinations merchant for the rest of the game.
The left fork has pretty much reached a dead end, so you must now proceed back to take the right fork. You will have to fight several more clusters of Wet Kin and Afflicted Smugglers, as well as a colony of bats, which carry the Pestilence affliction. In a small alcove you can find 6 x Ginger-Infused Pouches, whih can counterract the effects of the fungal affliction (ginger was good for fungus, who knew?).
This path leads deeper into the cave, eventually ending up in a smuggler's den filled with loot. You can find:
10 x Gold Nugget
7 x Bags of Salt
2 x Ethereal Brew
6 x Shrunken Heads, a gruesome consumable which you can use to temporarily generate an orbiting mystical pulse which, if timed correctly, can block hits. Their description reads: "Shrunken head of a long-deceased member of the Tikyulha Clan of Alscratio Island. The clan members volunteer to have their bodies experimented on and divvied up for the good of their fellow people. These heads are said to be passed down through generations, with the intention of providing protection for descendants."
Imperial Flail - Flail-class weapon comprised of a small pole attached with a chain to a heavy metal ball. Description: "Flail used by Imperial Slayers, the king Podrice's most brutal division of warriors. This weapon does not simply break spirit, but bones. It is said that every man gifted with this weapon must use to flay their own lover to death as a sign of loyalty."
Once you've claimed all of this booty, you can proceed to the last section of the area. Its a long, narrow chamber which you must cross over using narrow wooden bridges, or else risk falling into an abyss filled to the brim with fungal pods. You'll have to kill a load of Wet Kin and Afflicted Smugglers to proceed, and just in case you thought things were too cosy, there are drooping fungal pods that will spray you from the ceiling if you stray underneath them. Being exposed that quickly will almost certainly lead to death. You can grab a Bloodied Rope Hook, another flail-weapon, from a corpse near the end of the room. More brute force than finesse, this flail can inflict heavy bleed, as you might expect from a giant fishing hook. Description: "Improvised flail weapon used by smugglers to fend off their competitors. Whilst this weapon was not lovingly-crafted, it retains a brutal efficiency that is admirable, if terrifying."
With the area complete, you step towards the gap in the cave wall, ready to escape this hellish nightm- FUCKING CUTSCENE!
That's right, its boss time, and though you didn't realise it, you've already passed them. As your character turns to look for the source of a crumbling, squelching sound, you see a malformed, fungus-infected hand rise from the abyss at the opposite end of the room, followed by another. As you watch, a dreadful fungus creature comrpised of the limbs and heads of several dead men rises from the deep, unleashing a grotesque belly roar, and half-running half-rolling across the bridges towards you.
Its time to fight the Afflicted Mass.
Just battling this thing will make you feel unclean. It has three massive fleshy arms protruding from its front and a giant inflated head with a bulging green lump coming out of its back. The front three limbs strike at you in a similar way to Ludwig in Bloodborne's first phase, whilst the rear head spews the infectious spores at you if you try and circle behind it. Striking its limbs enough times will sever them, but this isn't as advantageous as it may initially appear, as the boss can regrow its limbs after a period of 1-2 minutes. However, if you use a flame weapon or a Firefly Napalm item, you can cauterize the severed limbs, preventing their regrowth and making the fight a lot easier, although using fire weapons will make the boss start to release the spores in a small radius around its body.
At half health, the creature will become frenzied, attacking much more quickly and ripping off its own limbs to beat you with. Cauterizing the limbs still works here, however you'll have less of an opening. The beast can also release a huge cloud of spores from its body at mid-range, and will dive in and out of the fungus on the cavern floor to stealth slam you.
You can summon an NPC called Smuggler Piocco outside the boss fog on subsequent attempts. He wears the generic pirate set with a bandana, and uses the Dayle Harpoon as his weapon. He will give you a free Ginger-Infused Pouch every time you summon him, doing a cute little gesture at you with his hooked hand to signify his comradeship.
When the Afflicted Mass finally perishes, you will be rewarded with 21'000 doubloons, the Afflicted Ink, and a special item called the Impervium Cap. Appearing like a beekeeper's/fencer's mask, the cap has a wire meshing, and hugely-decreases the rate at which the poisonous spores can affect you. This item will be mostly-useful in PvP, as the Afflicted Ink grants you access to the Cloud of Extermination, a Tidal Hex which allows its caster to expel a huge cloud of the deadly spores from their own body, at the cost of a small chunk of their HP (Requires 30 Inner Soul Darkness). You will also be able to purchase the Reaper's Finger, a gruesome-looking dagger which can afflict poison with several strikes (or a single backstab), from Charmer Tobias. He also has new, charming dialogue on offer.
"You... survived that unsightly grotto? Well, aren't you something special? The men that once used those caverns for illicit purposes all perished, or so they say, when they unearthed an ancient curse. Mattas would have approved - if only he hadn't succumbed to his blinding insanity! *dodgy NPC laugh*"
The Afflicted Ink can be etched upon your body to grant 100 resistance to all afflictions in the game, as well as poison, bleed and curse.
You can now proceed onwards through the caverns, eventually stepping through an ice-coated crevasse in the wall and into a new area.