Corrupt Time Warp Cave Appreciation

I am currently going through every cave in the game so that I can add information and update stats on the wiki, and this cave stands out with how interesting it is. A lot of caves tend to be very gameplay oriented with nothing more to them than just thematic elements through a long tunnel, but this cave has more of a story-telling side to it.


You enter the cave to find a small purple crystal through a large door of a long-collapsed structure, only to be warped to some unknown location that is in pristine condition and somehow familiar, with a couple of stone statues along the wall. At the end of the hallway is a large, sealed door, in front of which lies the same purple crystal from before.

Touching it warps you again, this time into what appears to be a more dilapidated version of the previous room. If it wasn't obvious by the name of the cave (which didn't always used to be plastered over the entrance), now it starts to become clear that the crystal has some power over time. More specifically, this is the hallway an unknowable number of years later than the previous pristine version, and the stone statues, now overgrown with moss and vines, have awoken and become enemies that hinder you. Two things remain consistent; the crystal is found at the back, and the door at the end is still sealed.

Once again you find yourself in the same hallway, but now the corruption has crept into the stony chamber, which also helps to date the timeline as sometime AP. The room's condition is noticeably worse, with more gaps in the floor and another collapsed wall. The crystal and door once again wait patiently at the end of the hallway.

Warping one last time, corruption has now completely overrun the hallway. Large corrupted spikes now serve to obstruct the path and contribute to the decay of the structure. Even the stone statues, previously only overgrown, have become infected with corruption to become more dangerous and powerful. However, the small crystal is no longer found at the end of the hallway. In fact, a corrupted spike has breached the sealed doorway, opening up a long-forgotten treasure room with precious resources, as well as a massive purple crystal mounted on the wall. This crystal finally sends you back to the present, right in front of the cave.


I love how this cave has so much more to it than almost every other cave in the game. I'm not sure who was responsible for creating it, but they did such a great job with this one, and I'm surprised there aren't more caves that try stuff like this. It really gives life to a part of the game that most people probably just run through on their first playthrough, then later again only for completion, but stuff like this is why I love Wynncraft and keep returning to it; cool stuff is just everywhere in this world.

One thing I wasn't sure about: Is the small crystal supposed to be a small shard of the large one? The first time you see it is inside the room that the large one is found, although nearly unrecognizable except for the fact that the door has the same shape. I can only assume that the small crystal travels in time alongside you, since it always has the same leaning position and rubble at the base, but the small crystal is gone once the large crystal is finally accessible. They both share the same design elements, a purple crystal with glass and a beacon in the center, so I feel like they must both be the same crystal, and the small one must be "searching" to return to the large crystal or something along those lines. Let me know what you think.

 

yes yes