Shrine of Xxarteck guide

Guide is the extended reference for Shrine of Xxarteck.

The stone tower standing on the Farm, sealed since before you arrived. Getting in is the whole of the task The Stone Tower, and what waits at the top is Emissary of Xxarteck.

The doors

Six doors stand between you and everything in the tower, and they ask for two different things. The 3 sealed doors want the act of farming: a score falls by one for every crop harvested and every animal collected from, and when it reaches nothing the door opens. The 3 holes want the harvest itself — any crop, or farm goods such as eggs, milk and cheese — valued at half its price — the number a shop would pay for it.

Each sealed door shows how strong its seal still is: up to 25 notches drawn on the stone, one for every 4% left, and the percentage itself when you examine it. A notch stands for 8, 30 or 60 points of farming, depending on the door.

A seal falls to collecting from an animal and harvesting a crop, one point apiece at least. Nothing counts towards the farm door until the task has sent you to examine the markings. The sealed scores only ever fall, so progress cannot be lost — and every armed door falls at once, so that work is done once rather than 3 times. The holes are separate from each other and from the seals: each keeps its own tally.

The floors

Six floors, one room each, and four treasure chambers behind doors on 2f and 3f.

Shrine of Xxarteck 1f

Entered through the sealed door on the Farm (200 from farming, see the doors).

• The hole takes any crop, and also Small Egg, Large Egg, Small Milk, Large Milk, Cheese, Mayonnaise, Fingerfruit, Void Plum, Tentacle, Spiralberry, Cloudberry, Small Goat Milk, Large Goat Milk, Goat Cheese and Duskmelon Slice, up to nine at a time, each counted at half its price. A total of 2000 opens Shrine of Xxarteck 2f; the hole keeps its own tally. It takes nothing until you have done “Ask Prof. Dayton about the strange markings inside the tower” in The Stone Tower.
• Quality counts: each quality is priced on its own, so Silver, Gold and Void fill a hole about 1⅓, 1⅔ and 2 times as fast as Regular. A Regular Pumpkin adds 90 and a Void one 180. Tentacle climbs steeper: its Void is two and a half times its Regular.
• A side door leads into Harvest Chambers.
• A chest holds 2× Cleansing Balm.

Shrine of Xxarteck 2f

• A fight against Xxarteck Cultist starts as you arrive — 4 phases on one health bar (200 → 300 → 350 → 450 HP). You can flee, but it starts again from the beginning when you return. Win it once and it is gone for good, and it drops nothing.
• The west hole takes the same goods, up to nine at a time, each counted at half its price. A total of 2000 opens Treasure Chamber 1; the hole keeps its own tally.
• The east hole takes the same goods, up to nine at a time, each counted at half its price. A total of 2000 opens Treasure Chamber 2; the hole keeps its own tally.

Shrine of Xxarteck 3f

• The west sealed door opens Treasure Chamber 3 after 750 from farming (25 notches of 30). It is armed the first time you enter this floor, and farming counts it down from then on.
• The east sealed door opens Treasure Chamber 4 after 1500 from farming (25 notches of 60). It is armed the first time you enter this floor, and farming counts it down from then on.
• The way up to Shrine of Xxarteck 4f is sealed until seven stone vessels are fed the crop each one asks for. Their inscriptions can be read only while you carry Translation Notes, which Prof. Dayton gives you for “Ask Prof. Dayton about the strange writing in the tower” in The Stone Tower. Each vessel takes one crop, any quality; a wrong crop is used up and does nothing.

Vessel	Inscription	Answer
West	“Usually faceless”	Pumpkin
North-west	“Many hide inside”	Bean or Peas
North-east	“Like clouds on the ground”	Cauliflower
East	“Clusters of sadness”	Gloom Hops
South-east	“A thousand little dots”	Strawberry
South-west	“Makes the heart beat faster”	Coffee Bean
Centre	“Better with age”	Grapes

Shrine of Xxarteck 4f

• Arriving strips every Blessing you have from a Blessing Potion — Greed, Daring, Panic, Brutalism, Zealotry, Stubbornness and Skepticism, at every level (“A piercing sense of dread cuts through you.”). It happens once a trip, on whichever of 4f and 5f you reach first; dying, warping out or going back through the farm sets it up again.
• A fight against Xxarteck Monolith starts when you step onto the way through, which it spans 4 tiles wide — 1600 HP. You can flee, but it starts again from the beginning when you return. Win it once and it is gone for good, and it drops nothing.

Shrine of Xxarteck 5f

• Arriving strips your Blessings here too, if 4f has not already done it this trip.
• A sealed door blocks the way up. It opens with the Ancient Iron Key, which the Gallery Attendant at the Art Gallery gives you, once you have done “Ask Prof. Dayton about the giant keyhole” in The Stone Tower, in the full game only. The key is used up.

Shrine of Xxarteck 6f

• A fight against Emissary of Xxarteck starts as you arrive — 6 phases on one health bar (650 → 750 → 1100 → 1300 → 1600 → 2000 HP). You can flee, but it starts again from the beginning when you return. Win it once and it is gone for good, and it drops nothing.
• Winning completes the climb. Then tell Prof. Dayton that you've slain the Emissary of Xxarteck to finish The Stone Tower and receive Totem of Community.

Treasure chambers

Each chamber has five chests, and each chest opens once.

Maps

• 

  1f
• 

  2f
• 

  3f
• 

  4f
• 

  5f
• 

  6f
• 

  Treasure chambers (all four share this layout)

See also

• Shrine of Xxarteck
• Locations