The Cleansing of Fårö
Five rifts have torn open on the island beyond the strait. Christianity and the Æsir will both try to close them, and only one will be remembered for it.
Fårö has been out of reach since season one. The strait has never been crossed and the parish has never been opened, so the island has sat on the northern edge of the map as a place you could see and never reach.
That changes now. Something on Fårö has gone wrong, and the island has to be healed. Thus the Cleansing of Fårö, the first community event of Imperia Borealis.
The island is cursed
Color is draining out of the ground and mist pools in the hollows. In five places, the veil between the underworld and our world has been torn.
Around each rift the air glows, and spirits of the underworld try to claim the overworld for themselves.
While the rifts are open, nothing takes root on Fårö: no estate, no claim, no harvest. Close them, and the parish is cleansed and open for settlement.
Your faith is your faction
Both faiths claim they can heal Fårö, but they don't agree on how, and they won't take turns.
The Cleansing is a tug of war between Christianity and the Æsir. The religion your estate already follows is the side you fight for. If you haven't chosen a faith yet, you can't take part until you do.
Christianity
ClergyConsecrate the rifts and seal them under the Church. The Bishop of Visby has been waiting a long time for a reason to go north.
The Æsir
Spirit-WalkersWalk into a rift and close it from the inside, the way it was done before there were churches on this island.
A tug of war between the two religious factions of Gotland.
For the Cleansing of Fårö, your religion becomes your faction. You compete together with every other player of the same religion against the opposing faction, whatever political or diplomatic deals you may have.
Pilgrims
Armies don't fight this contest. It is a spiritual battle, and only pilgrims can take part.
Train pilgrims in your estate and send them to any open rift. Every pilgrim who arrives weakens the rift a little and scores points for their faith. Pilgrims carry no weapons and fight no battles against the foes of this world.
- Each arriving pilgrim weakens the rift and adds to their faith’s influence there.
- When enough influence has built up, the rift closes.
- The faith with the most points at that rift takes the event points for it.
- When the last rift closes, the faith with the most event points wins the Cleansing.
That means a faith can lose one rift badly and still win the overall event. It also means nobody is locked out: a pilgrim sent on the final day still counts.
The five rifts
Each rift has its own name, and together they are the Helgrindar (a single one is a Helgrind). That is the name you will see in game when you send your pilgrims.
Getting there
Fårö is an island, so your pilgrims have to cross the strait. There are two ways.
Sail them over
Your own ships carry bigger loads than a raft, have no cooldown, and sail from your own port, so there is no march to Bunge. A faith with a merchant fleet behind it can move pilgrims across the strait faster than one without.
- Capacity
- Your ship’s cargo
- Cooldown
- None
Take the raft across the strait
Rafts run from Bunge port to Fårö port for players without a fleet. Your pilgrims lash one together from lumber. It is slow and carries few, but anyone can use it.
- Capacity
- 3 pilgrims
- Crossing
- 7 minutes
- Cooldown
- 10 minutes
- Cost
- 50 lumber
Ships are worth building for their own sake, and during the Cleansing they are the most effective way to reach Fårö. Players who pool hulls and run continuous crossings will deliver far more pilgrims than everyone else.
Equip the faithful
Pilgrims equip gear the same way troops do, but from their own set of equipment.
Limited-time event gear is crafted in your own estate while the Cleansing runs.
Worth more
Some gear raises a pilgrim’s spiritual potency, so each arrival adds more influence.
Inspire
A well-equipped pilgrim inspires the rest of the faith, which adds to your own spiritual capital.
Travel faster
Every faith wants to be the one that cleanses Fårö. Gear for fast travel gets your pilgrims there sooner, so they don’t miss out.
The gear is event-only. You can craft it only while the Cleansing runs.
What you carry home
Any player who has picked a religion and taken part at least once is eligible for the event rewards.
There are two reward tracks. The outcome of the faction war decides what your faith receives. Your individual contribution is rewarded as well, whatever the outcome.
A tracker shows your individual rewards during the event and how many more points you need for the next tier. You can check the current standings at any time.
The winning faith
- An exclusive, permanent monument to the Cleansing, buildable in your estate. It can only be earned by winning this event and will never return.
- An exclusive title on your profile, seen by every player who visits your estate.
The other faith
- A different title, and not a consolation copy. It is its own mark: you crossed the strait, did your part, and the island remembers.
When it begins
The Cleansing of Fårö opens on Friday 2 October at 22:00 CEST. We will announce it in game, on the world map and in the bulletin. Choose a faith and raise a ship before the first rift opens.
Imperia Borealis is free to play. Join the Discord to talk tactics with the rest of your faith.