Today at 20:00 CEST the second round of Jackal began – a time-limited server on one of the alien moons orbiting Wurm. Everyone starts from scratch there: no items and no skills (only affinities carry over), but skills start at 5 and grow three times faster. The whole community works together to win the land back from Jackal influence – destroying its beacons and building our own, and new villages can only be founded on Freedom ground. Fighting and beacons earn Jackal points, later exchanged for rewards back on Wurm. The round is set to last at least three months (preview on the forum).
The Jackal Lodestone already stands in The Fortress – it is the way to the other side. I’m heading through in a moment.
I'm through. On the other side a starter town surrounded by a palisade, full of people in identical linen clothes and barefoot – we all start from scratch.
The main road through the town. On the right, the portal I came through.
The town centre – a hut, a well and a crowd of newcomers. Some creatures are already roaming the slope beyond the palisade.
A tent and a wooden watchtower by the gate.
The portal with its green pillar of light – visible from afar.
In the town I talked with the Wanderer and got the first quest, "Starting From Scratch". Then I went outside the palisade.
Another new mob – a venerable isopod, a huge armoured woodlouse. A regular bear next to it for scale. My inventory is completely empty.
I left Freedom Outpost North (that's the name of the starter town) and headed out to look for resources. Every few minutes someone founds a new settlement. On the slope I botanize with bare hands – I get purple flowers and an onion, and once something I'm not even skilled enough to identify, so I toss it away.
New vegetation – trees with reddish bark and red-orange leaves, and bare grey rock below.
Up close these trees have marbled red-grey bark. I haven't seen anything like it on Wurm.
Further botanizing brings garlic, onions, a tomato, plus pea pods and green grapes, which I damage a bit right away with my zero skill. Without a saw or sickle I break a branch off a tulip tree – damaged too, but it's some kind of tool to start with.
Step outside Freedom ground onto land under Jackal influence and everything turns red – the sky, the forest, the grass. The green pillar of the portal is still visible in the valley.
