Journals are long-forgotten books scattered across Alaria, detailing lore of events from before the beginning of the game.
Each of the thirteen Journals contains one entry written by anonymous people living in Alaria during the spread of The Withering. Many journal entries discuss The Withering's destructive blight and their opinions about it, though other entries simply document life in Alaria prior to the calamity.
While Journals can appear open or closed, they can be read in either state. The Journals described here are distinct from the Old Notebooks found in Alchemist's Abandoned Workspaces.
Journal Locations and Entries
| District/Region | Location | Name | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meadow Quarters | In front of the small stone fence in the northwest of Meadow Quarters. | Old Journal | "Mancy's kids are adorable; they laugh and play all day long until they fall asleep from exhaustion! And the stories they tel! Only yesterday Ada was telling me about her friends in the thickets. They're furry and small and zip-zip-zip-they jump about without even moving!" |
| Meadow Quarters | Behind the Festival Plaza on a wooden platform. | Aged Diary | "A terrible sickness has enveloped the land. Nothing we do seems to halt its progress... It burrows under walls, grows faster than any tool may cut it, and simply being near it saps one's energy. Worst of all, it feeds upon our Myora. I fear Alchemy is powerless to stop it." |
| Meadow Quarters | Go a short distance south on the dirt path behind the Festival Plaza. It is on a rock on a wooden platform. | Old Journal | "I've lived here my whole life. From this home, I've watched my children grow into adults and have children of their own. This land gave birth to me. It's a part of me. And I'm a part of it, too. And that's why I cannot leave. I will always be a part of this land." |
| Meadow Quarters | Turn east from the previous Journal spot and go on the grass path between some trees and short cliffs. It is on a wooden platform at the end of the path, next to a brown chest. | Brittle Notebook | "The Withering. That's what they're calling it. It's as good a name as any, I guess. There's... meaning in a name. And this Withering is our ruin." |
| Meadow Quarters | On dock at Astrof's Lookout. | Crumbling Logbook | "It's nigh been a year now, but the final evacuation is nearly complete. Most everyone had made their way to the northern point for pick up. However, most areas are now completely cut off, so for the few stragglers caught behind the Withering, I've had to rely on signal beacons to evacuate them. I don't know what else we can do. The Council is dissolved, we've lost all leadership... I'll try and get word out to the fourth fleet to continue the search. But surely, nobody is left." |
| Plains District | Directly east of the Plains District Nature Center on a rock next to the cliff face. | Brittle Notebook | “Dear Brother, I have secured work as a Glyph Steward on the 4th level of the Eastern Spire. My daily duties are to catalog and study new Alchemical Glyphs. The work is fulfilling - the saturation of Myora is unbelievable, and new ways of harnessing it are discovered daily! The city is grand and the wonders here are too abundant to mention. It’s strange, though, that the people are so distant. The mood here feels… almost mournful?” |
| Forest Region | End of dock at Barnaby's Fishing Spot. | Moldy Notes | "That clot of decay in the west. This so-called "Withering" as some feel inclined to call it. Like it's some big issue. What am I supposed to do, act concerned about some far-off problem? The Council does nothing but debate and blame each other! It's wrecked some fringe land, so what? It'ls be gone in a month, mark my words." |
| Plains District | Outside of Vault of Arriving. | Crumbling Notebook | "They're out there again! Shouting and raving to anybody that'll pity them to listen. Those Tree-Tenders really get on my nerves. "Return to the source" and "Stop bleeding the Tree." What nonsense! We are masters of this world! Do they really want to return us to scrabbling around in the dirt?" |
| Island Locale | Northeast Bridge of Island Locale. | Moldy Notes | "The West Spire has fallen. We were told it would happen - it's been uninhabitable for months now. The Withering had all but blotted it out of view. But still, I didn't want to believe it. The West Spire is - no, was my parents' home. It had a beautiful view. I'll miss that plaza garden." |
| Valley Province | Find the southeast bridge of Island Locale that connects it to Valley Province. Go on the Valley Province side and head west along the river. Journal is on a wooden platform. | Aged Diary | "We need to leave. The Withering is here. I'm just... so angry! The people who live in the Spires shrug it off, like it's not even happening! The Council does nothing but debate and blame each other! Even our friends, our family, they hide from what's happening. Lying to themselves that it won't come for them, too. I'm just so angry... because... only a month ago, I was like that, too. I didn't think it'd reach us here. I pities our neighbors as their land was swallowed... I thought how lucky we were to have narrowly avoided it..." |
| Valley Province | At the bottom of the cliff directly under the Yodel Appreciation Society cave. | Old Journal | "...all at once I've come across the entrance to that accursed place. The old texts suggest an "entryway to unseen abyssal horrors"... I admit they might be more than idle legend. |
| Valley Province | In Yodel Appreciation Society cave near the end of the path. | Old Journal | "I can hear it now... a far-off cacophony grating at my mind. With each step I descend, it grows louder and more oppressive. Its corrupting presence burrows into me." |
| Valley Province | In Yodel Appreciation Society cave at the end of the path. | Old Journal | "NO! It shrieks and rasps and burrows into me, eating away at my mind! Words are not able to convey the cosmic horrors to which I have borne witness. Even now, the maddening dine threatens my sanity. I fear I am losing myself... ...and yet I am drawn toward this doom." |
Gallery
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An open journal, its pages covered in unintelligible writing and drawings
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A closed journal, who knows what secrets lie within?!
