Stilt Village

The Stilt Village is a fourth level biome.

This is the main settlement of the island. Here, the villagers would live a simple life. They would dine of the salty sea, casting the bait and nets, hoping to catch something eatable. Then, everyone started dying from the Malaise. At first, they quietly mourned their family, and wondered what higher power had they bothered to deserve this... But then, the ground opened up like a mouth; Not to swallow, but to spit out the undead, undead to drag them back into the mouth. The stilt village is a former shell of itself, and the crows are as numerous as the fish once were. Indeed, only the buildings, the insane scratchings, and the dead bodies of the villagers lay here as a reminder of what this once was. Now, no fish swims near the coast. The blood has made its way into the water, contaminating it, and providing a hazard for their life. Among the buildings and the nets, it is even more endangering. The fishermen now fish for live blood, finding the blood floating in the water too salty to drink.

Access and exit
In the base game, the Stilt Village can only be accessed from the Black Bridge. With the Bad Seed DLC, the player can also access the level from the Nest.

There are two exits, each requiring at least one Village Key: an exit to the Forgotten Sepulcher and the Undying Shores accessed through the gate-labeled entrance, and an exit to the Clock Tower at the end of the biome.

Village Keys
The Stilt Village contains two Village Keys, each located behind a key-labeled entrance. At least one key is required to reach one of the exits.

A central tower in the biome has a locked door which can be opened with a Village Key, leading to the second half of the biome. However this locked door can be bypassed without using a key by following a hidden route (see "Exclusive Blueprints" section below).

Crowned Key
When you meet the Fisherman at the Toxic Sewers after receiving his letter, he will tell you to visit Michel's house in Stilt Village. Once you do, you will find a door that leads to a side area containing an Elite Armored Shrimp. When killed, it drops the Crowned Key. After killing it, go further into the room to find a, which forces itself into one of your skill slots, causing the previous item to be dropped on the ground.

The Crowned Key is used to unlock the door used to access the docks leading to Infested Shipwreck, located in the exits leading towards High Peak Castle and Derelict Distillery (this path is not available if you went through Guardian's Haven). Once both the door and the Leghugger are unlocked, this room will no longer be available.

Scrolls
The Stilt Village contains 4 scrolls total: 3 Power Scrolls and 1 Dual-stat scroll, which cannot spawn in areas requiring the use of runes to access. On (3+ BSC) there is a bonus Power scroll. When 3 Boss Stem Cells are active, this biome has 1 guaranteed Scroll Fragments, and when 4/5 Boss Stem Cells are active, this biome has 2 guaranteed Scroll Fragments.

Enemy tier and gear level scaling
In the table below, you will find the gear level and enemy tier of the Stilt Village based on difficulty.

Main level

 * 1 Treasure chest found behind a chest-labeled door
 * 1 Treasure chest at the top of one of the buildings
 * 10% chance for an additional [Cursed chest|cursed chest]].
 * 1 Chained Items altar found behind a chest-labeled door
 * A Food shop located in one of the coin-labeled doors
 * A Weapon or skill shop located in one of the coin-labeled doors

Boss Stem Cells rewards

 * 1 BSC: Treasure Chest
 * 2 BSC: Treasure Chest
 * 3 BSC: Treasure Chest

Secret area
The hidden blueprint for the is at the end of the biome. It typically requires both the and  to access, unless you have the lightspeed ability which can be used to access this area as well

To reach the blueprint, acquire the first Village Key but do not use it to open the locked door in the tower at center of the biome. Instead skip the locked door by climbing onto a series of platforms before the tower and running through a small passage lined with traps. The isn't required to climb the wall and make the jump into the trap room. Note that RNG may cause the platforms to be inaccessible so this method may not always work.

After passing the center tower, acquire the second Village Key and use it to open the door to the Clock Tower elevator and exit at the end of the biome. Ride the elevator about 1/3 the way up, then jump off towards the right to access an alcove above the spike-lined wall. Use the to break through the floor and access the secret area. The blueprint is held behind a second locked door in this area, which opens with the Village Key you saved from earlier.

Enemy blueprints
The blueprints for the, and the  mutation can be looted from Pirate Captains.

Enemies
The table below lists which enemies are present in the Stilt Village on each difficulty level and which blueprints each may drop. When applicable, the minimum difficulty level for blueprint acquisition is specified.

Alchemist grimoires
In set up a laboratory dedicated to curing volunteers of the malaise, The Alchemist reports that the essence of bupleurum seems to relieve symptoms:


 * "The treatment administered to the latest volunteers seems to be producing results. They are still coughing but they are vomiting much less."
 * "Or less blood, in any case."
 * "Am I on the right track?"

Additionally, the beheaded questions the stain on the nearby bed, wondering if it's urinal or bile colour, or both:


 * "This stain here..."
 * "Is that more of a urine or a bile color?"
 * "Probably a mixture of the two."

Next to the bed is a flask:


 * Concentrated essence of bupleurum

Furthermore, the beheaded remarks the bookshelf has be pillaged of anything interesting:


 * "Most of the interesting books and products seem to have been pillage already."


 * "I don't think there's any point in looking the prisoner's quarters for books."
 * "Although that's probably an unfair stereotype..."
 * "But just between us, these guys weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. "

In another laboratory set up by the Alchemist. The beheaded remarks on the quality of the equipment:


 * "It's top-notch equipment..."
 * "I wonder what it's doing here."
 * "I'm almost sure it's harmless to swallow one these things."

Additionally, the beheaded finds a pile letters from citizens to the alchemist, illegible:


 * "A pile of letters, damaged by the damp conditions."
 * "Illegible..."

However, another letter can be found, readable:


 * "This letter is less damaged than the others."
 * "...can use... our bodies for... your experiments. …beg you... save us..."
 * "The rest is illegible."
 * "I'm not sure i want to understand what I've just read."

Malaise
A room with a woman who hung herself can be encountered:


 * "A women who opted for the fast method."
 * "Strange, she doesn't seem to be infected."

Her lasts words are on a note:


 * "The Malaise won't get us. I'll protect you... I'll protect you."

The bodies of two people with slit throats can be found in the bed nearby.


 * "Throats slit."

The scrawling on the wall of a house begs people to save their souls other than naming the Malaise.


 * "A citizen left a message here."
 * "The malaise, the plague, the gloom, the green poison... You're wasting your time putting names on this curse!"
 * "SAVE YOUR SOULS INSTEAD!"

King statues
in the Stilt Village, a statue depicts the King with his Hand. The Beheaded remarks that the Hand of the King's statue is a little too big:


 * "Another statue of the king, accompanied by a guard... And a very big one, at that. A little too big, maybe?"

The same statue can be found with the exception of vandalization from the citizens:


 * "A statue of the king, vandalized by his citizens."
 * "There's a bunch of things scrawled on here."
 * "More complaints, I'll bet..."
 * "THE KING IS LYING! DEATH TO THE KING! DEATH TO THE KING!"
 * "There you go. I knew it"

Rotten fish cargo
Upon finding, The beheaded questions whether citizens were eating the rotten cargo:


 * "Hmm, did people really eat that?"
 * "No wonder they were all vomiting!"
 * "No wonder they were all vomiting!"

Next to the cargo, are stores of more rotten fish. The beheaded, again, questions if they were to be eaten, or destroyed. He also notices new life forms in the fish, caused by the heat:


 * "Hard to say whether it was left here to be eaten or destroyed."
 * "The heat caused new life forms to take up residence in the fish."
 * "It's revolting."
 * "Oh, lovely."

A large piece of food drops.

King orders
A order from the king to the citizens can be found:


 * "Several identical messages, all stamped with the king's seal."
 * "Citizens! Anyone behaving strangely or manifesting signs of illness must be reported to the local patrol promptly and without exception."
 * "There's something written under one of the signs:"
 * "Anyone: that means EVERYONE!"

The same order can be found with the exception of vandalization from the citizens. On a vandalised king's flag, a message from a citizen can be found:


 * "The king's banner was vandalized."
 * "The king is kidnapping and burning our children!"
 * "WAKE UP!"

Crystal room
In this room, the beheaded discovers a table and remarks on the contents of plate on it:


 * "A... Table"
 * "Nothing else, and I don't really want to try what's left on the plate."

To the left or right of the room, entered via a secret passage, the beheaded encounters a box of crystals:


 * "Some of the villagers surely managed to get crystals to sell..."
 * "They won't need it anymore, anyway."

Trivia

 * The Stilt Village was formerly named Fog Fjord, but the name was changed in the Baguette Update.