SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:
Class 2
- Safe
- Partially Secured
- Average Number of Entities
Map illustrating a Polish Island.
The Polish Island is part of an enigmatic level — The Archipelago. For the sake of accuracy, the island will be called a level to avoid any repetition or various misunderstandings.
Description:
This level is a flying island surrounded by mist above a blue, strange void, measuring about 20 km². The island features forests, meadows, mountains, lakes, rivers, desert, marshes and places developed by the local people.
The temperature of the level varies and depends on the areas on the island. Precipitation most often in the form of rain occurs in wooded areas, meadows and marshes. There is no day and night cycle on the island making the horizon clear as day. Despite the bright skies, no celestial body can be observed on the horizon.
The fauna and flora on the island appear to be the same as in Frontrooms, and most are similar to parts of the Polish Commonwealth. In the forests, rivers, lakes, etc., you can find corresponding species of animals and plants from just such places in Frontrooms.
There are three rivers on the level. The first one called "Vistula" has its source in the north of the level. Coming out, appearing from the fog surrounding the island. This river has three mouths, one leading south and two forming other rivers — the "Oder" leading south-west and the "Notec" leading east of the island — all mouths of water, leading to the fog surrounding the island and disappearing there. Any marine animals that come into contact with this mist are also subject to disappearance. The rivers at some level have wooden bridges built by local wanderers; at the time of writing this article, there are 7 bridges on the island.
The level has 3 lakes. "Church Lake" is the largest of these, it is located to the north and is surrounded by the Agricultural Areas, Middle Island Church and the "Vistula". The second largest lake is "East Lake", this occurs in the north-east of the level. The third lake and the smallest lake on the island is 'Settlement Lake' which is in the north of the level and is surrounded by Agricultural Areas and the "Vistula".
(1) Dead Zone - Power Station
This area occurs in the north-west of the island, near Church Lake. This Dead Zone is a mixed forest with abundant dense fog. The flora of this forest is darker than usual, making plant species appear faded. In the middle of the forest is an abandoned coal-fired power station, where most things have been destroyed and/or partially burnt. The zone is marked dead because the Northern Eagle Beast prowls the area, killing wanderers and animals passing through.1 This area restricts explorers from getting to the bridge leading to Russian Island.
(2) New Warsaw
The town is located in the north-eastern middle of the island, near the Vistula River and Church Lake. It has around 3,000 inhabitants who have built their homes and other buildings here. Industry and services play the largest role in the labour market here, making most of the people here work for their own livelihood as well as that of the town. The main seat here is the 99th Forpost of the Polish Committee of Explorers, where meetings of the island's rulers are held, as well as debates concerning the city itself. Also to be found here are the two monasteries of the Blue Candle. The main purpose of this town at the beginning, was to build up around the entrance to the level, as all wanderers who enter the island appear in the place guarded by the soldiers of New Warsaw.
(3) New Poznan
This town is located on the western part of the level, near the bridge leading to International Island. It has a population of around 1,500, who, like those in New Warsaw, have also built here. The economic sectors here interact with each other and allow the local population to create new businesses. The headquarters of Nowa Poznan is the 27th Forpost of the Polish Discovery Committee, which is their second forpost on the level. Discussions on the development of New Poznan are most frequently held at this facility.
(4) Mountains and Caves
The site is located in the south of the island, next to the Vistula and the Excavation Desert. Some of the mountain peaks reach a maximum of 1,400m above sea level and their caves can be deep, tight and collapsed. The temperature here is the lowest recorded on the entire level. Various types of minerals can be found in the caves, however, these are protected and mined by the Bloody Cross fanatics settled there. It is advisable to avoid mountainous areas, given the nature of this group.
(5) Agricultural Areas
This area is in the north of the level and is surrounded by Church Lake and Settlement Lake. The number of people living there is around 500. The local residents farm the land on which they grow a variety of fruit, vegetables and other plants, sourced from the Frontrooms. The most common crops are potatoes, tomatoes, apples, pears, carrots, raspberries or cherries. Also some farms, are involved in the rearing of animals such as chickens, cows, pigs, sheep, etc., also coming from the previously mentioned Frontrooms. The farmers here collaborate with all the towns, making the agricultural business here a constant presence and playing a powerful role on the island.
(6) Middle Island Church
This building is located in the centre of the island, next to Church Lake. Catholic masses and festivals are held in this church. The building is one of the newest constructions at this level, as all the towns and settlements contributed to its construction. The church is cared for by 13 people who celebrate the previously mentioned events.
(7) Excavation Desert
The sandy area can be found in the southern centre of the level, next to the Vistula and the Oder. In appearance it resembles the Bledowska Desert of the Frontrooms. An archaeological camp has been set up on its Association of Interdimensional Archaeologists and members of this group, are engaged in carrying out research work. Interestingly, archaeologists have already discovered several skeletons resembling a dragon, a mermaid, a basilisk and a mighty eagle.
(8) Dead Zone - Swamps
The site is located in the south-east of the level and in the Notec area. The area is inhabited by dangerous Polish entities,2 making it advisable not to enter this zone. Most of the swamp is wooded and dark, making it difficult to navigate. Importantly, the entities that inhabit the area never go beyond the Dead Zone.
(9) Collective Town
A small town created by the Collective of Polish Backrooms Scientists, it is located in the northeast, next to the East Lake. The town has a population of around 500, whose job is to help with the collective's research as well as daily life. The group itself keeps hikers safe and cooperates with nearby farming settlements.
Bridges
The Polish Island is connected by 3 bridges leading to: Italian Island, International Island and Russian Island. All of them hover over a strange blue void and their ends are covered in fog:
- The bridge leading to Italian Island is located in the south-west of the level and measures about 13 km.This structure is made of compacted concrete, in a shape that resembles a kind of parallelogram. Also, the bridge has steel railway rails that allow you to get to the Italian Island in a shorter time.
- The bridge leading to the International Island can be found to the west of the level. It is made entirely of steel and, like the previous bridge, has railway rails. It thus allows extended trade between Polish Island and other islands. The bridge measures approximately 9 km.
- The bridge leading to Russian Island is located on the north-western part of the level, just behind the Dead Zone - Power Station. By location, it is the least visited bridge on the level and also causes trade problems with Russian Island. The structure itself is made of old timber and measures about 15 km. Importantly, the bridge sometimes collapses on its own as well as repairing itself, the reason for this is unknown.
The railway rails from the bridges leading to Italian Island and International Island, are still being developed and extended today. The aim of this project, is to build a railway station in New Poznan.
Artwork depicting the Northern Eagle Beast.
Entities:
The Northern Eagle Beast inhabits the Dead Zone - Power Plant, and can most often be found in the building of an abandoned coal-fired power station.
It is a humanoid creature with an eagle skull instead of a head, a lean body and, instead of hands and feet, bony claws. It is dressed in a folk costume - the Lubuskian costume - which distinguishes this entity, in the area in which it is located. It uses its claws as weapons and very often carries two sickles with it. This creature is dangerous and is advised to be avoided at all costs. When the beast spots any human or animal in its territory, it will attack, shouting in an eagle-like voice. All attempts to get along with the beast have failed, and most people who have been spotted by the beast have been killed and eaten after a fairly quick period of time. The beast lures people using the voice of the people it has eaten, however, most often the voices produced by the beast resemble a seplenia and screams. To avoid a confrontation with this creature in the Dead Zone, listen for human whimpers and screams and avoid the abandoned power station. The Northern Eagle Beast has never yet been reported to have left the zone.
In the Dead Zone - Swamp, you can encounter all sorts of dangerous Polish entities like: Entity PL-2 — "Deadcrows", Entity PL-3 — "Vanishers", red and purple varieties of Entity PL-5 - "Electric Fireflies" and Entity PL-7 - "Animasks".
It is rare on the level to find safe Polish entities that reside outside the Dead Zones, examples of such are the green, blue and orange varieties of Electric Fireflies that can sometimes be found on the island's rivers and lakes.
Bases, Outposts and Communities:
99th Forpost Polish Explorers Committee - N. Warsaw
- It is located in New Warsaw;
- Between 20 and 25 Committee staff are stationed there, as well as other groups and wanderers;
- Its tasks are to keep Polish society at peace on the level, to research the island and to protect the population. Also their task is to guard the capital and protect its economy;
- The Forpost is often referred to as the heart of the Polish Island.
27th Forpost of the Polish Explorers Committee - N. Poznan
- It is located in New Poznan;
- It holds between 10 and 15 Committee members, as well as other groups or wanderers;
- The tasks of this forpost are to cooperate with other towns, to explore the island and to protect the explorers. As in the previously mentioned forpost, they are also concerned with the economic protection of their place and the protection of the wanderers.
Camp of the Association of Backrooms Archaeologists - Desert
- It is located in the Excavation Desert;
- It is covered by about seven archaeologists;
- Aims to carry out research work in the desert area and discover skeletons buried deep beneath the area.
Bloody Cross - Church No. 9 of St Matthew's Church
- It is located in one of the caves, in the mountains;
- This church has about 17 members, but this number is constantly increasing and decreasing,
- The church is governed by Matthew;
- The church is not inclined to trade and is bad-tempered, but when someone offers it religious things and things related to entities, it will be inclined to trade;
- Members are advised to avoid, however, at this level, they are more friendly than is customary for members of this group.
Outpost of the Polish Scientists' Collective Backrooms (Town Hall)
- The staff of the Outpost includes more than 30 specialist doctors, 11 security guards and 11 members of the Collective's Rapid Response Unit;
- The mission of the facility is to help all those who need it, to protect the Collective Town, to cooperate with other towns and to carry out level studies;
- The facility is located in the centre of the Collective Town, which was built on the pillars of the outpost.
Two chapels of the Blue Candle
- The first building is located in the north of the Collective and the second in the south.
- Members of the group, form meetings there from time to time.
- The southern chapel is general and celebrates most sacred matters, while the northern chapel specifically venerates statues of entities and celebrates less sacraments due to its specific specialisation.
Church of the Coming of the Messiah
- It is located south of the Marshes and east of the Mountains and Caves.
- The number of people residing there is unknown, but it is estimated that there are approximately 3 priests and over 20 followers of the Church of the Sons of Arawn.
- The aims of this church are unknown, the discovery of any information about it is hampered by the deadly nature of this religious organisation.
- It is heavily guarded by a group of followers.
Entrances And Exits:
Entrances
Importantly, every entrance to the Polish Island leads to the centre of New Warsaw, which is guarded by the soldiers there. The troops there are ready to welcome new wanderers and to help them on their journey.
- Finding a door in one of the trees on Level PL-8 and going through it, leads to the Polish Island;
- The dark caves on Level PL-29 can lead you to this level;
- A random no-clip on Level PL-69 will cause you to appear here;
- Falling asleep in the bathroom of Apartment 6 on Level PL-88 will cause you to wake up on the level;
- Entering the floor of Level PL-98 will lead wanderers to this level.
By skipping levels, it is possible to get to the Polish Island via bridges from other islands, thus clusters. You can get here from the Italian Island, the International Island and the Russian Island.
Exits
As mentioned earlier, the Polish Island has 3 bridges that lead to others such as the Italian Island, the International Island and the Russian Island.
Additional Documentation
Russian Note
One day, when the population on the Polish Island was slowly growing, after the first discovery of the bridge leading to the Russian Island, the Polish explorers met the local population on the bridge.
This community appeared to speak Russian, however, among the Polish explorers, there were none who spoke the local language. After an unsuccessful conversation with the strangers, a member of the local population gave a note to the Polish explorers, after which the wanderers disappeared into the fog.
Daniel Ivanienkov Record
I have been assigned to decipher this note, because I myself know how to speak Cyrillic and am a Ukrainian, I have to say something about it.
To date we have not deciphered anything! It is, of course, written in Cyrillic, however, this also causes problems. We have been solving it for 5 fu###ng years now. I apologise for the vocabulary, but this is the status of our situation. To make matters worse, all attempts to read this cipher, by all sorts of methods cause headaches and rarely hallucinations. I don't know where these come from, but it doesn't make the job any easier. Of course, I tried to decipher this note with people from the Russian branch, but they could not decipher it either. I don't know if I or anyone else will ever manage to decipher it. It is sick, mysterious and terribly interesting. Of course I fear for my sanity in deciphering it, it is quite intriguing. Thank you for listening and have a good day.
Cooperation of Posts
Every community on the level contributes to its development, so that, as a rule, everyone cooperates, trades and is involved in different fields:
- Polish Explorers Committee — deal with the administrative part of the island and the organisation of the Polish Island organs.
- Association of Interdimensional Archaeologists — this group studies the level and helps other communities to understand the local flora and fauna.
- Bloody Cross — in part, the members there are involved in mining various types of minerals for the exchange of other items.
- Collective of Polish Backrooms Scientists — are concerned with level exploration and the protection of much of the community on the island.
- Blue Candle and the Church of the Middle of the Island — help people to support themselves on the island and create, participate in many level events.
- People living in the Agricultural Areas — are involved in harvesting and growing crops and raising animals. The community there has the most influence on the island's population because of their ownership of these farms.
