Timeline of The Long Dark

The following is the official Timeline of events that take place in The Long Dark. Due to a lack of concrete dates provided in the world of The Long Dark, this list is compiled in order of known chronological events followed by what occurs in game. Information provided during the Missions and Side Missions Episode 1 and Episode 2 is based on the current Redux timeline, not the Predux timeline, though some details are presumed to still be true, unless explicitly stated in the Redux (any references from the Predux timeline will be labeled as such).

Information recorded here is based off of:

• The events of Wintermute and their Notes, Collectibles, and Load Screen messages.
• Survival Mode's Tales from the Far Territory storyline, as well as Notes, Collectibles, and Buffer Memories found in the world.
• Challenges and limited time Events are considered non-canon "what if" scenarios, and are not listed here.

History & Timeline

Known Past Events

The following is a list of events confirmed to have happened, but the exact dates are unknown. As such, anything listed below may be out of order chronological.

Wintermute

• It is unknown what year Wintermute begins, but it is theorized to occur sometime around 2012-2020s. Grey Mother mentions the collapse occurred 10 years before the present. (Unconfirmed. Predux information)
  • Some time in the past, Mathis, and Heller were imprisoned on the Mainland in Montreal, Canada. Mathis had a plan months in the making to escape from the prison and busts out at the right time. The get away driver is 2 minutes late to pick the gang up. Heller escapes but the Mathis stays and beats the get away driver for being late, taking 5 guards to pull Mathis off him. Heller would later be apprehended and both men would be sent to Great Bear Island's Blackrock Prison via the prison bus.
  • 1 week before the First Flare, Father Thomas mentions a massive blizzard rolling through Pleasant Valley, blocking the roads out of the region. The roads remained blocked for a whole week until the Flare hits. (It is actually revealed in the mission Forest Talkers (side mission) that the Forest Talkers caused the landslide)
  • 1 week after the First Flare, the backup power at Blackrock Prison gave out and prisoners broke out of their cells, executing prison staff and taking Franklin hostage.
    • Jace's testimony conflicts with this information, as she claims that the prisoners broke out immediately after the First Flare hit, as it was only a few hours that she happened upon the Prison before she heard gunshots from the Convicts executing prison staff.
  • 10 years before the First Flare, Mathis is sent to prison for 10 years for murder. He serves 7 years of his sentence then is released on parole. Franklin was his prison warden back on the Mainland during this time.
  • 20 years before the First Flare, 2 convicts escape Blackrock Prison. They came back 3 days later half dead, begging to be let back in, being unable to survive on the Island during the middle of summer.
  • The Pleasant Valley Farmstead was created 60-70 years before the present.
  • Jeremiah believes that Great Bear Island has been exploited by Mainland interests for the past 100 years or so. (Predux Reference )
  • 100 years before the timeline of the games, G.W. Jahnn would found the Blackrock Federal Penitentiary on Great Bear Island. Some of the prison's building material is used from stone mined from the Last Prospect mine.
    • Old dynamite was kept in a storage shed at the Prison, with detonators kept in the Last Prospect mine. This was because there was no safe way to transport it back to the Mainland at the time.
    • Mules were essential to all mining activity on Great Bear, and no mine demanded their labour more than Blackrock's. Pulling the ore-laden carts would have been impossible without the sturdy beasts, even as the animals themselves founds the harsh climate on the Island intolerable.
  • 150 years before the events of Wintermute, Spence creates Old Spence Family Homestead with his wife and children as he settles the land in Forlorn Muskeg, as well as building Bunkhouses for the hired hands. A Bear reportedly attacks the Homestead and Spence's wife falls ill, having nightmares regarding the bear. Spence believes that the bear is an evil spirit that is killing his wife, and takes his hired hands attempt to slay it. The beast is unaffected by bullets, and terrifies the locals. Spence forges a Bear Spear and sets out alone to kill the bear, and the wife's fever finally breaks. Men go out looking for Spence and find him half dead in the snow, with his final words being "spear stole the bear's soul. My wife is free now", Spence is buried but the bear carcass is never found. This resulted in the legend of the Bear Spear and the Demon Bear.
    • Years after the Spence family faded away, the Bear Spear would be bought by a wealthy land baron from the Homestead and hung in the Hunting Lodge.
    • Jeremiah doesn't believe the legend was real, thinking it is probably just a story the land baron made up after he bought the Bear Spear to make it less mundane.
• Jackrabbit Remote Transport was founded by Jack Mackenzie, and he eventually passes the business along to his son Will Mackenzie.
• The Suzuki Radio Telescope, a government facility, is built on the Island to study the stars due to the Island's lack of light pollution and unique geolocation. The facility is shielded from EMP damage.
  • Jace and Atwood come to the Island to study Astrophysics at this facility.
• The settlements of Port Mary and Perseverance Mills are created on the North coast of the Island. (A town called Rupert's Landing is mentioned by Jeremiah and Mystery Lake & Area)
• Will Mackenzie and Astrid Greenwood marry, have a son, and separate after their son dies. Will Mackenzie continues to work at Jackrabbit Hangar, while Astrid Greenwood works for Seraphim Sleep Research Centre. Both keep their wedding bands, despite the divorce.
  • Jane Yang contacts Astrid years later, pleading her to bring a cure to Perseverance Mills after a disease surfaces and overtakes her home. This sets the plot of Wintermute into motion after Astrid steals the cure and makes her way to Jackrabbit Remote Transport.
• Five men, all serving life sentences at Blackrock Penitentiary, reportedly escaped from Blackrock Prison. Of the five, one returned on his own, one was found dead by pursuing officers, and the last three remained missing.
  • The first man to attempt escape from Blackrock, Bill Cutty is a something of a local legend. No trace of him was ever found. Word of his possible success only reached the prison by way of the cryptic letters received by his former cellmates.
• The Archdiocese's decided to withdraw Father Francis McGill from St. Christopher's Church in Milton. His services continue via Skype.
• Wolves attack Molly's Husband after his Hunting Rifle explodes. Molly's Husband pleads for his wife to help him, but she allows the wolves to kill him. Molly then stores her husband's body in their farmhouse cellar and covers it up. It is unknown whether it was sabotage or a cartridge misfire that caused the Hunting Rifle to explode. Though unconfirmed, it is believed that this event occurred after the First Flare, due to the freshness of the body.
• Unusually cold weather is predicated for the coming winter in the year the plot of Wintermute takes place, with heavy snow and record low temperatures expected.
  • Mystery Lake is shut down early for the year because of this.

Survival Mode

• The events of Tales from the Far Territory occur at least 4 decades before Wintermute, sometime in the 1980s.
• Ash Canyon suffers a massive forest fire, most likely caused by negligent miners working in the Gold Mine.
• The Langston Mining Corporation creates the Langston Mine, a large open pit uranium mine. The workers eventually destroy the local ecosystem, using water from Unquenched Extraction to pump toxins out of the mine and into the Overladen Pond near the Pump House, poisoning the nearby streams. Toxic barrels are also dumped in several locations across the region. Many of these metal barrels eventually rupture due to weathering and age as the decades pass, creating several Chemical Hazards that effect local wildlife.
• An airstrip, Field 31, is built in Forsaken Airfield, presumably to fly workers into the Langston Mine. Transfer Pass is established to help facilitate transfers via Train Shuttle. A Weather Station is built in Sundered Pass to provide weather reports for the Far Territory.

Pre-Collapse

• 1830 -
  • Ryan Thompson is born.
• 1899 -
  • Ryan Thompson passes away at age 69, after presumably founding Thomson's Crossing. He is buried at the Crossing, with his own special walled off grave plot and the tombstone reading "Beloved Father."
• 1904 -
  • RJ Smith is born.
• 1911 -
  • The Town of Milton is established as a coal mining town, with the population going as high as the 1,000s throughout the 1900s. Milton's story would follow the boom-and-bust of the entire Island over the century.

• 1919 -
  • Thomson's Crossing is founded.

• 1928 -
  • Liam Dean is born.
• 1930s -
  • Mystery Lake remains untouched by Mankind until mountain blasting for the Trans-Island Railway Line opens the area up for settlement. Its main purpose is presumably to ship coal, uranium, and workers from the Langston Mine to Coastal Highway, as well as other resources found deeper within the Far Territory. The railways would be reused decades later by the Breyerhouse company operating in the Mystery Lake and Broken Railroad regions to ship timber to the Coastal Highway.
• Early 1950s -
  • A women recalls her husband helping build Blackrock Prison around this time.
    • It's said that Blackrock's original foundation was built on the site of an old trapping community. The trappers' cabins were destroyed to make way for the Penitentiary, a move that defined the history of the place ever since.
    • Academics sometimes visited Blackrock Penitentiary to explore its vast records archive. The unique combination of geographic and social isolation has led to various scientific studies, of its staff as well as its inmates.
      • Dr. Childs has been medical director at Blackrock for decades. It's rumoured that due to his research on Penitentiary inmates he's never been able to secure another position on the Mainland.
    • Blackrock has attracted a variety of Wardens over the years. Some were kind, some cruel, but all were men who relished the extremes of life on Great Bear Island. One of Blackrock's longest-serving officers was famous for playing a piano deep into the night. Some wardens tolerated his playing as a form of therapy for the inmates, while others saw it as a special punishment.
    • Improvised explosives have been a notorious problem for officers and staff at Blackrock. Some of the more enterprising inmates have used the devices as a kind of currency.
    • Although officially discouraged, gold panning has always been a pastime for Blackrock's staff. Locals suspected the Penitentiary banned the activity because they didn't want to lose any officers, should they strike it rich.
• 1960s -
  • Construction for the Carter Hydro Dam begins on the Carter River by Richard Carter, founder of Carter Hydro Energy. This prototype test Dam would be the first major structure created for the region of Mystery Lake. The structure would be replenished by runoff from the Lake itself, and the dam would be used to power a future mining town Richard Carter planned on building. Seismic activity on Great Bear Island proved to be a major obstacle in the construction.
  • Jessica Roy is born.
  • The dirt road between the Town of Milton and the coastline to the north would be replaced by a paved road.

• 1961 -
  • Liam Cote is born.
• 1962 -
  • The Carter Hydro Dam project is abandoned due to the region’s inaccessibility and seismic instability making it too cost-prohibitive to construct. The cost of coal also plummeted around this time, causing Carter to scrap his plans for his coal mining town that the Dam would power. The prototype Dam is abandoned.
• 1963 -
  • Emily Camp is born.
• 1966 -
  • Tyler Clark is born.
• 1967 -
  • Ryan Smith is born.
• 1969 -
  • Lilith Barker is born to her parents Grey Mother and Martin Barker.
• 1973 -
  • Liam Dean passes away at age 45, and is buried at Thompson's Crossing. His tombstone reads "Always And Forever."
• 1976 -
• After a few decades of operation, it became clear the Penitentiary needed its own source of electricity. The Warden at the time made it his personal mission to make Blackrock self-sustainable in an emergency and Blackrock Mountain Power could create the Power Plant, Old Substation, and the Steam Tunnels were created.
  • Power workers would man the Sub Station near the Penitentiary to ensure the gates and doors stay locked at Blackrock, living in a trailer up the road. A lonely job, the electricians and line workers who fill the position never last long.
  • The electrical stanchions that snake through the Region are a survival tool for Blackrock staff. If lost in a storm or whiteout blizzard, they could always follow the lines to find shelter.
• 1979 -
  • Jocelyn Cook is born.

• 1980s -
  • RJ Smith passes away in 1980 at age 76, and is buried in Thompson's Crossing. His tombstone reads "He Should Have Listened."
  • Chloe Miller is born in 1980.
  • There were multiple attempts to modernize Carter Dam and bring it back online by new CEO of Carter Hydro Energy, Robert Clarke.
  • The Great Bear Highway (AKA Highway 15) is formed, allowing people to bypass the Town of Milton, crippling the town's importance as a gateway town and contributing to its steady decline. The economy of the Island boomed at this point in history.

• 1981 -
  • Liam Cote passes away at age 20, and is buried at the Graveyard across from St. Christopher's Church. His tombstone reads "Always Adored."
  • Emily Camp passes away at age 18, and is buried at the Graveyard across from St. Christopher's Church. Her tombstone reads "Dearly Loved."
  • Goose Books publishes Small Arms Handbook.
• 25-9-1982 -
  • The events of the Tales from the Far Territory would occur in the Far Territory.
• 1983 -
  • Tyler Clark passes away at age 17, and is buried at the Graveyard across from St. Christopher's Church. His tombstone reads "An Inspiration."
• 1984 -
  • Ryan Smith passes away at age 17, and is buried at the Graveyard across from St. Christopher's Church. His tombstone reads "Into The Sunshine."
  • Goose Books publishes Medicinal Plants of Great Bear.
• 1985 -
  • Grey Mother, gives her mother's pearls to her daughter Lilith Barker for her 16th birthday. Wishing to summit the great peaks of the Island, Martin Barker urges her to follow her dream, but Grey Mother does not and wishes for their daughter to stay in Milton. Lilith eventually leaves, and falls to her death outside of Milton Park in a climbing accident, and no one comes to help her until after her death. Milton Park is shut down afterwards by the Milton & Area parks Board, and Lilith is buried in the Graveyard across from St. Christopher's Church. Her tombstone reads "Our Fallen Angel."
    • Grey Mother and Martin Barker separate, with Grey Mother living in Milton House (Grey Mother's) and Martin living on the outskirts of town at Paradise Meadows Farm. Martin keeps Lilith's pearls as a way to remember his daughter, despite Grey Mother wanting the pearls buried with Lilith, and has the pearls locked up in the Milton Credit Union.
    • Lily's Map and most of her climbing gear and clothes would be locked away in a blue chest in her room at Grey Mother's Home.
    • Grey Mother shuns most of the residents of the town as the decades pass for failing to help Lilith fast enough, holding a deep grudge against everyone in Milton. She begins to refer to the town's residents as nothing more than liars, cheats, and thieves and keeps only to herself. Eventually she would be given the name "The Grey Mother" by residents of the town, a title she would eventually adopt as her own.
  • Jessica Roy passes away at age 25, and is buried at the Graveyard across from St. Christopher's Church. Her tombstone reads "In Our Memories."

• 1986 -
  • Jocelyn Cook passes away at age 7, and is buried at Thompson's Crossing. Her tombstone reads "Your Memory Lives On."
• 1987 -
  • Several Books are published by Goose Books ©.
    • A Sewing Primer, Advanced Guns Guns Guns!, Field Dressing Your Kill, Vol. I, Frontier Shooting Guide, The Frozen Angler, Stay on Target, and Wilderness Kitchen.
• 1988 -
  • Goose Books publishes Practical Gunsmithing.
• 1990s -
  • Changes to the local climate and hydrodynamics of the Mystery Lake area, as well as external public pressure in support of the newly minted Mystery Lake Provincial Park, resulted in Carter Dam being shut down for good in the late 1990s.
    • A skeleton crew composed of Benton, Hays, Ted Wallace, Geoff Wallace, McPherson, and Vaughn would be all that was left maintaining the Dam during this time. Vaughn would misplace his Rifle before leaving.
    • A large earthquake would hit Mystery Lake, devastating the Dam and causing it to finally shut down for good.(Predux Reference)
    • The crew would notice a Trapper regularly skirting their fences to get to Winding River, and wish to contact him for the extra manpower before the Dam was shut down.
    • Forest Talkers, inhabitants of the Island, form to fight back against the development of Carter Hydro Dam. (Predux Reference)
    • A letter is sent to the skeleton crew maintaining the Dam, informing them that the Dam will be shut down due to the quakes and Forest Talkers.
    • Forest Talkers would hold the skeleton crew hostage for days until mediators successfully extract them. The Dam would be officially shut down and locked up after this event, with most site equipment and technology being left behind inside with it.
    • Earthquakes would continue to ravage the area and the Dam over the decades, turning it into a deathtrap of crumbling infastructure and exposed electrical wiring.
    • Decades into the future, Breyerhouse management would warn workers to avoid going past the Staging Area into the Dam on their breaks due to the Dam's instability.
      • Despite shutting the facility down, Forest Talkers would jump the fence and ironically begin using the Dam as a hiding place for documents and themselves.
• 12 June 1991 -
  • A traveler hides a diary page in the Loose Boards at Mindful Cabin as they travel the Far Territory.
• 18-Jun-91 -
  • The same individual buries A Page From A Journal at the Boss's Settlement as they explore the ruined Langston Mine.

The Collapse

• mid-20XX -
  • An ongoing global economic crisis, fueled by continued political and economic instability in thr US and Europe in the early 21st century, contributes to increasing volatility in the financial markets, eventually leading to the sudden catastrophic collapse of the Canadian, and in general, North American banking system. This event became known as The Collapse.
    • The Canadian Dollar would eventually collapse in value, with $1 CAD = $0.23 USD.
  • The Town of Milton's average population numbers in the 100s by the 2000s.
  • Great Bear Island is abandoned by Civilization on the Mainland due to the major economic collapse. All of the Island's major industries to the Mainland collapse almost overnight.
    • Last Resort Cannery shuts down. Bleak Inlet rots from a lack of maintenance, with the nearby Lighthouse collapsing.
    • Hibernia Processing shuts down in Desolation Point, but the Lonely Lighthouse is maintained by a single worker. The Stone Church is abandoned.
    • Cinder Hills Coal Mine, Abandoned Mine No. 3, Abandoned Mine No. 5, and Last Prospect shut down.
    • Coastal Townsite and Fishing Camp in Coastal Highway receive fewer travelers.
    • The Town of Milton is abandoned by the world and becomes a ghost town, with only old timers and stubborn holdouts remaining.
    • The Bank would repossess several buildings at Thomson's Crossing, with many of the buildings still boarded up by the events of the game.
    • Timely deliveries to the Island are no longer a feasible reality due to economic costs.
      • The Orca Gas Station in Milton would only receive deliveries once per quarter year, with the manager being allowed to source supplies from local suppliers or other means to stay in business. Milk deliveries (priced at $6.00 CAD) take 3-4 weeks to arrive. Gas prices at the store eventually reach $8.88 CAD per gallon before the pumps run dry. The owner sells Car Batteries for $160.00 CAD. Eventually the ATM and Register runs out of cash, and the whole store is closed down and left to rot, with product still on the shelves.
      • The Milton Post Office can no longer get physical mail back to the Mainland, and urges people to send email or use drones to deliver mail instead. Most physical inspections of the power grid are performed by drones. (Predux Reference )
      • The manager of the Rural Store, Dan Presnell, begins furiously emailing Better Food Vendors owner, Mr. Galveston, requesting supplies that he paid for. Many items did not appear in his shipment, and the locals of Pleasant Valley need many of these items to make life easier. His ATM is eventually taken offline, due to having no cash in it, with a truck never coming to pick it up.
  • Without any major local economic drivers of their own, the remaining communities on Great Bear became completely dependent on a supply lifeline from the Mainland -- regular shipments of basic staples designed to keep them alive: fuel, food, medical supplies, etc., in many ways, akin to WW2-era wartime rationing. In exchange for regular supply drops, the “Mainlanders” -- in some cases, at the behest of their economic overlords South of the border -- felt justified in taking whatever supplies and raw materials they needed to maintain the urban communities, including dismantling some of the heavy industrial infrastructure left on Great Bear. (Predux Reference )
    • A divide is formed among the Great Bear Islanders as they increasingly become segregated into two pseudo-political entities along ideological lines: those who gratefully embraced dependence on the Mainland and viewed the regular supply ships as a charitable gesture in apology for the Mainland’s exploitation of Great Bear’s resource riches, and those who sought ultimate independence and who considered trade and travel between the Mainland to be a necessary evil, viewing Mainlanders with a degree of mistrust.
    • This seeds a deep hatred/overall dislike for Mainlanders ever coming to the Great Bear. Many of the Island's native inhabitants, such as the Forest Talkers and Grey Mother, judge the presence of any Mainlander setting foot on their Island, automatically presuming that they are here to pillage the Island's resources and nothing else, even if they become stranded on the Island.
    • Many more open minded/desperate natives begin to leave their communities to see the Mainland civilization, hurting the already small and short staffed local communities. (Predux Reference)
  • Unhappy with their growing dependence on the Mainland for economic support, as well as the Mainlander’s continued view that Great Bear exists solely as a resource clearinghouse for their benefit, some people who chose to remain on Great Bear decided to engage in self-sufficiency. Small-scale local food production efforts, akin to the Victory Garden program of WW2 England and Canada, sprouted up all over Great Bear, with individuals and even communities taking it in their own hands to produce food and power resources. This is the case in Thomson's Crossing, with the Town of Milton having far less success.(Predux References)
    • With the onset of The Collapse, Pleasant Valley locals didn’t notice the brunt of change all that quickly. Being so accustomed to remote living already, it took several years before life shifted in any dramatic fashion, due to their subsistence farming lifestyle.
    • Many residents of Fishing Camp and Coastal Townsite rely on fishing to stay alive, rather than Mainland trading.
    • Already dependent on The Mainland, the effects of The Collapse intensified the Island's remote character. Deeply scarred by the Collapse, denizens of the Island begin stockpiling and hording supplies should another catastrophe equivalent to the Collapse ever occur in the future again.
      • Many individuals in Milton would begin creating stashes:
        • Medicine in my backyard
        • Cave Hidden Cache Note
        • Milton Hidden Cache Note
      • Martin Barker would receive an Emergency Kit from the Great Bear Earthquake Memorial Society (Emergency Kit Note is a Predux Collectible, but the lockbox still exists in front of Hobbs in the Redux version).
      • Several Mementos reveal hidden caches people left behind.
      • Hidden Caches can be found all across the Island left by locals and Forest Talkers.
        • Mystery Lake Supply Caches
        • Forest Talker Supply Caches
      • Several individuals create Prepper Caches across the Island:
        • Tom Joplin creates 3 caches (Joplin's Bunker Raid)
        • Hank finds a bunker in Mystery Lake and begins stockpiling it (Hank's Hatch). He sends a letter to his niece to come find him if SHTF in the future.
        • 1 Prepper Cache found in Forlorn Muskeg (Aurora Hatch, formerly Jeremiah's Hideout in the Predux timeline)
        • 1 Prepper Cache in Blackrock (Blackrock Rumours)
        • Several other Prepper Caches found across the Island. (unknown if canon, Survival Mode only)

Post Collapse

• (Unknown Time) -
  • In the Post-Collapse economic environment, very few travelers or resource workers have reason to visit Great Bear. What few industries remain only seem to take from the Island whenever they can. (Predux Reference)
    • The Vacant Depot shows a timetable with the date 20XX, suggesting that the Depot was still being used up until the 21 century.
  • Blackrock Penitentiary would remain opened and continue to operate after The Collapse.
    • An uneasy truce would exist between the Penitentiary staff and the local population on Great Bear, as it would continue to produce jobs and revenue for remote communities. Resentment still endures for the imposition of Blackrock on the Island by some locals however.
    • While seismic activity damaged or the destroyed many of the roads and bridges around Blackrock, the earthquakes left the Penitentiary itself largely untouched. Over the years, the extensive damage to the roads and bridges around Blackrock were seen as a bonus security feature to dissuade prisoners from escaping.
    • Rumors spread of a faction of Forest Talkers becoming active around Blackrock Mountain in recent years, due to the Penitentiary grounds serving as a constant reminder of Great Bear Island's ties to the Mainland. Forest Talkers eventually set up a supply cache in the Last Prospect mine in Blackrock, becoming experts at finding ways to make use of Blackrock Region's abandoned infrastructure.
    • Blackrock's Wardens have traditionally kept a home not far from the Penitentiary grounds. After the Collapse, arsonists set fire to the empty building. No motive was ever disclosed.
    • The remote Penitentiary never used to lack for food. Post-Collapse life on Great Bear, however, has meant lean Winter months for inmates and staff at Blackrock. Clever cooks at the prison have become known as much for their farming prowess as their kitchen skills, as they toil to keep their pantries full.
      • New officers always bunked in the Blackrock Barracks. One of their tasks was supplementing the meager food supply at the Penitentiary -- a thankless and often dangerous job.
  • Breyerhouse would remain one of the few industries continuing to harvest resources from the Island, with a focus on logging. They begin cutting forests down in Mystery Lake and Broken Railroad, shipping timber back to the coast via The Ravine and Coastal Highway through the Trans-Island Railroad Line.
    • Forest Talkers continue their eco-activism on the Island, organizing to fight the Breyerhouse logging company across Mystery Lake, Forlorn Muskeg, and Broken Railroad. They also begin annoying the locals of Pleasant Valley as their influence spread there. Their main base of operations resides at the old Hunting Lodge, just under the noses of the nearby Breyerhouse Maintenance Yard.
    • The Forest Talkers eventually steal Documents from Breyerhouse claiming that they are illegibly cutting down Old Growth forests without permits or permission.
  • Tourism to the Island would still occur despite the Post Collapse, becoming a niche way to provide revenue to Locals of the Island.
    • Earthquakes and seismic activity would continue to dissuade people from visiting the Island.
    • Mystery Lake, Ash Canyon, and Timberwolf Mountain would often be the most popular tourist destinations.
    • A company called DeepForest Experience would cause Manny Douglas to become stranded on Great Bear Island after they fail to extract him, as detailed in the Hibernia Processing Buffer Memories.
    • Will Mackenzie holds a tourism pamphlet showing the Island.
  • Earthquakes ravage the local power grid near Milton, and no one from the Mainland comes to fix it. The town is on its last legs at this point. (Predux Reference)
    • The Town of Milton steuggles to maintain an average population above the lower double digits (possibly around 10 people left). The town would become a ghost town by this point, kept alive only by stubborn holdouts.
    • Mainland Power Corp sends a recovery crew to seize Martin Barker's SOLAR BLOCK MODEL BK1, due to him refusing to pay an accumulated bill of $1256.45 CAD.
• 2010 -
  • Chloe Miller passes away at age 30, and she is buried at Thompson's Crossing.
• June 30th, 2012 -
  • The Great Bear Water Authority shuts down the Milton Water Tower due to an outbreak of E. Coli in the ground water, adding to the list of woes the town already faces.
• September, 2012 -
  • Due to global economic realities, the Milton Credit Union shuts down.
    • It is implied that at this point, the world no longer uses physical fiat currency. (Predux Reference)
• September 5th, 20XX -
  • A hiker makes their way to Timberwolf Mountain, resting in the Mountaineer's Hut.
• September 6th, 20XX -
  • The hiker at the Mountaineer's Hut awakes to a deafening sound in the night and sees fire on the Summit of Timberwolf Mountain, but cannot investigate due to bad weather.
• September 7th, 20XX -
  • The hiker from the Mountaineer's Hut sees smoke arising from the peak of Timberwolf Mountain the next morning, and attempts to climb the summit to investigate. They also find several Cargo Containers across the mountain that weren't there before.
• November XX -
  • Unknown individuals plan on secretly staying in Mystery Lake around this time, despite the park closing for the season.

The First Flare

• Thursday, November XX, 20XX -
  • A Prison Transport Bus was scheduled to arrive at Blackrock Prison with a bus full of 15 convicts.
• A single massive solar flare, known as the First Flare, occurs on the evening of Thursday, November XX, 20XX -
  • A heavy windstorm storm envelopes Great Bear Island.
  • Electronic devices across northern Canada and presumably the rest of the world (not mentioned, confirmed, or refuted by Wintermute story) stop working, leading to total blackouts and loss of communication, and possibly the collapse of most nation states.
  • Disruption of weather patterns, extremely cold temperatures, and brutal snowstorms occur frequently across many regions of Great Bear Island and presumably the rest of northern Canada. Reoccurring Auroras and Electrostatic Fog begins to plague certain areas of the world, occasionally reviving technology and computers. (Earth's magnetic polarity fields may have been damaged, explaining the sudden shifts in weather and the longer winter in the northern pole.)
  • Wildlife behavior is disrupted. Predators that once avoided humans now stalk or attack them on sight. Bears are roused from their hibernation and begin roaming the area. Wildlife that normally sleep at night (such as birds) become active when the Aurora is out at night.
    • Timberwolf packs begin stalking and attacking people across Pleasant Valley and Blackrock.
  • Loss of electricity, severe weather, and food/water shortages leads to widespread looting and violence throughout many of the affected areas. It can be inferred that law and order in cities across the planet has also presumably broken down for the time being.
  • Dozens of motorists are stranded on highways and roads after their cars stopped working. Refugees from the highway near Milton begin to make their way toward the town.
  • Multiple violent earthquakes rock various sections of Great Bear Island, ruining the Trans-Island Railway Line, Great Bear Highway, and other essential roads. Most of the Island's infrastructure is buried in landslides and avalanches. Seamless connections between regions are now made impossible, and travelers are forced to use dangerous abandoned mineshafts, caves systems, and other side passages to navigate around even the most basic obstructions. Rope climbing across steep cliffs is required to leave or enter certain isolated locations, such as Milton.
    • With the road blocked by a landslide near Spruce Falls Bridge and the tunnel near the Crashed Prison Transport Bus being collapsed, this means that the Town of Milton is entirely cut off from the world, except by mountain rope climbing, leaving Grey Mother to conclude that the Town of Milton is finished, along with herself.
    • Several landslides bury roads across the island, including: Landslide (Hushed River Valley), Landslide (Bleak Inlet), Landslide, Commuter's Lament, Unyielding Inundation, End of the Road, Road Collapse, and many others.
  • A prison bus carrying several inmates to Blackrock Federal Penitentiary crashes into a collapsed tunnel outside Milton. Some of the inmates survive, Hobbs among them, and proceed to Milton, where they hold the residents and refugees from the highways hostage in the Old Schoolhouse and then ransack the town. The Old Schoolhouse catches on fire due to sparks from the electrical wiring from the Aurora, with everyone still trapped inside.
    • Many other prisoners instead travel the road out of Milton rather than going into the town. These Convicts include Mathis, Heller, Vachon, and several others. Many make their way to Pleasant Valley in the coming days, with Mathis traveling alone as far as the Carter Hydro Dam.
    • Astrid Greenwood arrives at the town attempting to save the residents, but they are killed by a fire from a subsequent Aurora event and the Convicts scatter, with one attempting to overtake Grey Mother's home before being shot and killed. Astrid attacks one convict and stabs Hobbs with a Hunting Knife, then runs out of town as she is injured during the fight, before squeezing through the crashed prison bus before the tunnel fully collapses. She then travels along the road until she passes out at Keeper's Pass South.
    • One resident of Milton escapes the town after being attacked by a Convict and drops his belongings in Broken Railroad, then bleeds to death in Forlorn Muskeg a day later.
    • Alice becomes lost in the storm on that night and dies inside the cave system past Spruce Falls Bridge when she becomes separated from the other fleeing residents after the storm worsens.
    • Wolves begin to overtake the town shortly after, due to a lack of humans. Martin Barker is killed by a Wolf in his shed at Paradise Meadows Farm.
  • The Prisoners of Blackrock Federal Penitentiary break out of their cells and execute the prison's staff after a sudden power loss, turning the prison into their own personal fortress and using it as a base of operations to begin looting nearby locales as they see fit.
    • Franklin, the warden of the prison, is taken hostage.
    • Jace is driving through Blackrock to Perseverance Mills when her car stops functioning. She makes her way to the Prison, only to see that it is overtaken by criminals, and hides somewhere in the towers nearby.
  • Several helicopters and planes crash across various sections of the Island.
    • Pilot Will Mackenzie and Dr. Astrid Greenwood crash in the mountains outside of Milton following the total loss of power to Mackenzie's Plane. Astrid escapes and travels to the town, loosing most of her scarf along the way, while Mackenzie is stranded in a ravine with serious injuries and passes out in a nearby cave for the night.
    • A motorist named Matt loses control of his truck and drives off a bridge in Desolation Point.
    • Some hikers heading to Timberwolf Mountain become lost at Point of Disagreement after their cars crash.
  • Workers at the Maintenance Yard notice the lights in the sky, and the correlation with it disrupting their electronics. They attempt to call Breyerhouse for help on their radios and stay indoors until help arrives, before eventually dispersing into the woods to survive.
    • One Breyerhouse worker leaves the Shed and travels to Mystery Lake, now fed up with the Forest Talkers, attempting to kill them for all the eco-terrorism they have caused. A Forest Talker is wounded but defends himself at Mystery Lake.

• Friday, November XX, 20XX -
  • Will Mackenzie climbs out of the ravine near his crashed plane and makes his way to the Town of Milton. The events of Episode 1: Do Not Go Gentle occur.
    • Mackenzie eventually escapes Milton, and rescues Jeremiah from the Old Bear in Mystery Lake, spending the next few days nursing him back to health.

• Monday/Tuesday, November XX, 20XX -
  • The Sun begins becoming more active for the first time since the First Flare. Auroras regularly appear in the night sky from this point on.
  • Astrid awakes in the Pleasant Valley Farmstead after being rescued by Molly, 3-4 days after she escapes Milton.
    • North Star Charters Flight 7030 crashes near Skeeter's Ridge in Pleasant Valley the previous day from when Astrid awakens. Half of the passengers die as the plane is torn apart upon impact, but many passengers survive and make their way to Thomson's Crossing, though some become lost along the way.
    • After killing the Old Bear, Mackenzie passes out and awakens to a functioning shortwave radio Jeremiah rebuilt. He calls Perseverance Mills before the radio is destroyed during the aurora.
      • Astrid tries to call Perseverance Mills via Signal Hill during an aurora, and hears Mackenzie's voice from the previous radio broadcast, confirming that the events of Episode 2: Luminance Fugue and Episode 3: Crossroads Elegy take place almost simultaneously.

Tales from Tales from the Far Territory

• 25-9-1982 -
  • The green light is given to fund Dr. Rüdiger's Project by Jahnn Industries in the Langston Mine in the Zone of Contamination. The project will be to build Rüdiger's Machine, a device used to study the natural geological cycles of Great Bear Island, and to use this data to understand Earth's natural cataclysmic cycles so that Mankind will be ready for the next major end of the world scenario.
    • Several workers, security personnel, and supplies are flown to Field 31. They are later transported to Transfer Pass, and then shipped to the Mine.
    • A secret evac point at High Peak Plateau is built for Rüdiger if anything goes wrong in the future.
    • Shipments of resources are hauled from the coast to the inland bases. Locals of the Island starting to notice the supplies being taken inland to the operation around the Airfield and Mine, but ultimately lose interest.
    • Several planes fly in to deliver supplies for the project, with workers at Field 31 not knowing the cargo's true importance.
    • Helicopters fly across the mountains between Forsaken Airfield and Zone of Contamination to deliver materials.
    • Bunker Alpha, Bunker Beta, Bunker Gamma, and Bunker Omega are used in the early stages to house the workers in order to avoid suspicions from the locals, as well as to keep the project under wraps. Captain Redrick, 14th Wing, SAR at Field 31, begins noticing odd radio signal interference coming from across the Island coming from these bunkers, but without repairs being made to several Transmitters to link the Forsaken Airfield radio coverage in the Far Territory with Lower Great Bear, the locations of the Bunkers remain undiscovered.
• The Security Chief, Lena Vertasky, is flown in to Field 31 to oversee security in the mine. She is hired by Jahnn Industries, and is provided an ID Badge.
• Phase one of the project begins on Rüdiger's Machine after a suitable chamber to house the device is found in the mountain near the Concentrator above the Mine.
  • Several workers already working for the Langston Mining Corporation at the mine are given a new opportunity to earn bonus work as part of the project. This would require a non-disclosure agreement however, and the workers would not get paid or be able to leave until the job is finished.
  • Miner Teams 1 and 2 cooperate with the project, but are on shaky ground. Team 3 becomes volatile and refuses to work on the project (either because they wish to leave the island and go home or due to working conditions), and the Security Chief calls for additional security to be flown in immediately. The Medical Officer conducts alignment interviews with the workers and makes troubling observations for worker morale. Ultimately progress continues on the project.
• Day 38 of the project - Dr. Rüdiger and his associates arrive on the Island and have all workers in the mine sign new paperwork. A track above the Concentrator is established into the mountainside to make hauling resources to the Machine easier.
• Day 45 of the project - Work continues on the Machine as earthquakes begin destroying much of the temporary scaffolding on the project site. Most of the work on the Machine is completed by this point. There are enough generators to power a town through the winter installed in the Machine.
• Power is run to Rüdiger's Machine for the first time.
  • Team 3 is negatively affected by a sudden unknown illness that begins to rot the memories and mental faculties of all affected.
  • Eventually, a large portion of the miners are effected by this sudden illness.
  • Workers at Field 31 begin to be affected by Glimmer Fog.
• Day 64 of the project -The Project Medical Officer is flown to the Island to determine in person the cause of the sudden outbreak of the mental illness in the mines effecting the workers.
  • Patient 7 becomes the focus of some of the Project Medical Officer's Interview Transcripts.
  • A reoccurring pattern is found with the illness; every patient has an obsession with water as they attempt to recall past dreams and memories. Examples include:
    • Interview Transcript 4
    • Interview Transcript 17
    • Interview Transcript 12
    • Security Chief's Log 32
    • Faded Photograph of Enduring Waterfall found in Security Chief's Log (illegible)
    • Rüdiger's Diary 2
      • Other references to this pattern can be found in Episode 4:
        • Conspiracy Theories
        • Samual Franks Lost Worker's Note
        • Individuals affected by the illness at Perseverance Mills have been found breaking quarantine and wandering into the water.
  • Most of the workers are confined to their quarters to prevent them from wandering. Most if not all of the mining staff and security personnel is now suffering from mental degradation.
  • The Security Chief, The Foreman, and The Project Medical Officer begin to show signs of being effected by the outbreak, but not to the extent that the miners are.
    • Rudiger appears to be entirely unaffected by the illness, causing the Security Chief to believe he has a cure, and knew ahead of time that exposure to the Machine would cause this outcome to occur.
• Rüdiger's Machine is taken offline, with Dr. Rüdiger himself avoiding contact with any miners or security personnel, having self isolated.
• The Project Medical Officer concludes that exposure to the Mine is the primary cause for the illness.
  • He also concludes that the illness is not a virus or pathogen, as no physical damage to the body has been discovered.
  • The Medical Officer holds out hope that treatment will be possible for those affected by the illness once they are taken away from the work environment.
• As it becomes clear that the situation at the mine is lost, The Security Chief tries to reason with Rüdiger to cut his losses and save the workers. Instead, the Doctor destroys as much evidence related to the project as he can, then flees to Sundered Pass with all the data he acquired from the project.
  • Rüdiger presumably burns down the Boss's Settlement to cover his trail.
  • A helicopter filled with mentally damaged workers was sent back to the Mainland with Security Chief's Log 31 and the Foreman's Key, but crashed in the mountains near Old Corral. This could have been possible sabotage by Rüdiger, or could have been legitimate engine/pilot failure. The surviving miners presumably wander off and die in the wilderness.
  • The Security Chief then goes deeper into the Langston Mine, in order to destroy the Machine. It is unknown if she accomplishes her task, but eventually she perishes in the nearby control room as she loses her mind.
• The Foreman, who was secretly a mole for Jahnn Industries, was already given a secret mission to track down and bring Rüdiger in should he withhold or not produce any data from the project for the company. The Foreman then begins tracking down the Doctor for failing to provide a return on the company's investment after the failure of The Machine.
  • The Security Chief and the workers did not know of The Foreman's true role in the project.
• Dr. Rüdiger attempts to radio for a private evacuation via a transmitter at High Peak Plateau, but help ultimately never arrives. The Foreman shadows the Doctor from afar during this time, making his base in Last Lonely House as his mental status deteriorates. Rüdiger is aware that that he is being stalked, as he predicted and feared might happen with his failure at the mine, and hides in the Basement of a ruined settlement in between trips to the Peak.
  • The Foreman begins losing his belongings as his mind fails, losing various Polaroids and Technical Logs at each location he visits, including his Tactical Gloves.
• Realizing that an evac is not coming for him, Rüdiger's mental state begins to fail, as he realizes that he also has been effected by the Machine's mind destroying properties. Rüdiger ultimately decides to leave the Pass and return to Bunker Omega.
  • Rüdiger is attacked by a Cougar on his way to Bunker Omega, but survives. His gold watch is damaged during the struggle, and he is badly wounded. Eventually he successfully makes his way inside the Bunker, and hides in a hidden room.
• The Foreman tracks the doctor down, and demands the data from the project be handed over. An altercation occurs between the two, as Rüdiger attempts to shoot and kill The Foreman, but he is too slow and is instead shot himself. The doctor dies, and The Foreman makes an account to the best of his memory of what happened, before his mind fully deteriorates.
  • The Foreman leaves behind his Foreman's Technical Log 4 (with barely legible handwriting by this point), his Tactical Jacket, and the Security Chief's ID Badge in the hidden room before sealing the false wall, leaving the Bunker, and wandering off to never be seen again.
  • The data regarding the project is ultimately lost.

• 12 June 1991 -
  • A traveler hides a Faded Paper in the Loose Boards at Mindful Cabin as they travel the Far Territory.
• 18-Jun-91 -
  • The same individual buries A Page From A Journal at the Boss's Settlement as they explore the ruined Langston Mine.
• At some point, Rüdiger's Machine is reactivated (assuming that it was never fully disabled by the Security Chief). People with symptoms similar to the miners in the past begin to appear in Perseverance Mills.
  • Samuel Franks and a suspicous person around Blackrock also show symptoms as the miners affected by the device long ago.

Episode 1: Do Not Go Gentle

Memories

• Astrid Greenwood travels to Jackrabbit Hangar with a mysterious hardcase, attempting to chart a plane from her ex husband, Will Mackenzie, to the remote island of Great Bear Island.
• The First Flare occurs mid flight over Lower Great Bear, and Mackenzie's plane crashes in the remote wilderness of Lower Great Bear.

The Crash

• Astrid Greenwood survives the plane crash and makes a campfire near a small pond nearby, before making her way to the Town of Milton. She attempts to save the residents burning alive in the Old Schoolhouse before being attacked by Convicts and escaping through the tunnel out of Milton.
  • Hobbs has a Hunting Knife stabbed into his chest by Astrid and flees to Paradise Meadows Farm.
• Will Mackenzie survives the plane crash but is stranded in a ravine close to his plane for 1 night, due to injuries he sustained from the crash. Mackenzie climbs out of the ravine the next day and finds Astrid's Hardcase but not Astrid, and then follows her trail through the woods before arriving at Grey Mother's home. The women inside is reluctant to help him after her town was destroyed by Convicts the previous night, but she offers to help Mackenzie find Astrid in exchange for food and fuel.

The Grey Mother

• Mackenzie finds food and fuel to help Grey Mother survive.
  • Mackenzie finds Methuselah inside the Orca Gas Station as he searches for supplies.

• Grey Mother directs Mackenzie to the tunnel out of Milton, but Mackenzie finds that the Crashed Prison Transport Bus and an avalanche has blocked the tunnel.
  • Mackenzie finds a message inside the bus left by Astrid: PERSERVERANCE. Grey Mother surmises that this is a clue pointing to an old logging town north of Milton, Perseverance Mills, giving Mackenzie an objective to travel to.
  • Grey Mother and Mackenzie realize they are both stranded in Milton for now.

• Grey Mother then asks the pilot to retrieve her Safety Deposit Box, then to give her Pearls to Lilith Barker at her grave, finally giving Grey Mother closure and peace regarding her daughter's death. She rewards Mackenzie her daughter's old climbing gear, giving him a way to leave the town.
  • Mackenzie finds Hobbs in the farmhouse, and chooses to either kill or spare him. The convict's fate is unknown if spared.

Paradise Lost

• Mackenzie finds Methuselah for a second time outside of Milton Park, with the old man congratulating the pilot for escaping the town and passing judgment on Mackenzie for how he chose to deal with Hobbs.
• Mackenzie circumvents the blocked tunnel out of Milton by passing through the mountains into Mystery Lake encounters Jeremiah being mauled by the Old Bear. Mackenzie grabs the trapper's hunting rifle, and shoots the bear, scaring it off. Mackenzie then drags Jeremiah to his Trapper's Homestead and stabilizes his injuries for the next few days.

Episode 2: Luminance Fugue

The Wounded Trapper

• Will Mackenzie nurses Jeremiah back to health to the best of his abilities, and the trapper wakes up.
• Jeremiah urges Mackenzie to find Medical Supplies in the nearby abandoned Carter Hydro Dam, as well as find Radio Parts to fix the his shortwave radio.
  • Mackenzie encounters the Old Bear for a 2nd time outside the Carter Hydro Staging Area, but the bear wanders off after being unable to attack Mackenzie through the fence.
  • Mackenzie finds Carter Hydro Medical Supplies and Radio Parts and returns to Jeremiah.
• Mackenzie gives morphine to Jeremiah to stabilize him, with the trapper revealing that both he and Mackenzie are trapped in Mystery Lake as long as the Old Bear is still alive. Jeremiah needs to send a message to Perseverance Mills and Mackenzie informs him that he is looking for Astrid. Jeremiah confirms that the road she took out of Milton does not connect with Mystery Lake, and that they need to repair the Shortwave to message the Mills to see if she made it there.

The Best Defense

• Jeremiah then gives Mackenzie an objective to travel to Broken Railroad find the mysterious Bear Spear, as the trapper's Hunting Rifle won't be enough to kill the bear.
  • Mackenzie travels to the region and encounters the Old Bear for the 3rd time, who attacks him and knocks him out. When Mackenzie awakes, the Aurora is in the night sky again, with Methuselah nearby for a 3rd encounter.
  • Mackenzie finds the Hunting Lodge and obtains the spear, but it is Broken.
  • Mackenzie encounters a ringing phone in the lodge, but the phone call disconnects before Mackenzie can answer it.
  • Mackenzie re-forges a Spear Head and rebuilds the Bear Spear, then returns to Jeremiah, encountering the Old Bear a 4th time, but it keeps its distance.

Signal to Noise

• Jeremiah gives Mackenzie the objective to find Transponder Parts from the 3 Shortwave Radio towers in Forlorn Muskeg to further repair his ham radio and boost the signal, so he can send his message out.
  • Mackenzie encounters the Old Bear again, almost as if it is guarding several towers, but drives the bear off with the Bear Spear.
  • After finding all 3 Transponder Parts, Mackenzie returns to Mystery Lake, but is ambushed by the Old Bear. He is attacked and rendered unconscious, then dragged into the Old Bear's Den.

What One Man Can Do

• Mackenzie, unarmed, travels through the cave system to retrieve his Bear Spear, and ultimately kills the great beast. He then returns to Trapper's Homestead with the Transponder Parts, and passes out.
• Jeremiah fixes his shortwave radio as the Aurora appears in the night sky. He tunes the frequency to contact Perseverance Mills, and allows Mackenzie the honors of contacting them. A radio broadcast between an unknown party and Perseverance Mills is intercepted, with Mackenzie unable to get a word in with the two parties before the ham radio fizzles out (his words are broadcasted however). Jeremiah is distressed over the loss of his radio, and gives Mackenzie a message that he insists NEEDS to be taken to a women living near the town named Atwood. The message is WINTERMUTE.

Renewed Hope

• Jeremiah gives access codes to the control room in the Upper Carter Hydro Dam, and plots a course to Perseverance Mills for Mackenzie: Pass through the Dam, then through the Carter River, then reach a Radio Station to call Perseverance Mills again before continuing to travel north to the Mills.
  • Mackenzie encounters Methuselah for the 4th time outside the Hydro Dam.
• Mackenzie is assaulted inside the Dam, with Astrid's Hardcase being confiscated by a Convict named Mathis who demands that it be opened.
  • Mathis mentions encountering a women in the Dam and harming her, frightening Mackenzie who thinks this is Astrid.
• After interrogating Mackenzie over the contents of the Hardcase and into revealing the location of his plane, Mathis knocks Mackenzie out and drags him out of the dam through the Winding River, eventually regrouping with Vachon and Heller and traveling through Pleasant Valley and Keeper's Pass South.

Episode 3: Crossroads Elegy

Trauma

• Molly encounters Astrid Greenwood outside of the tunnel to Milton in Keeper's Pass South, and drags her back to her home to save her.
• Astrid Greenwood awakes inside of Pleasant Valley Farmstead, and is introduced to her savior, before eventually going back to sleep.
  • Astrid explains to Molly that she escaped from Milton.
  • Astrid asks if Molly has seen a man from the crash with her, but she denies seeing him.
  • Molly reveals that the lights have been out for days, with even the generator outside the house refusing to work.
• Astrid awakes after Molly returns with a food for the both of them, but leaves in frustration after Astrid asks more about her home.
  • Molly reveals that she has locked every door to the house from the outside before she leaves, trapping Astrid inside.
  • Astrid snoops around the house, finding a piece of orange fabric from a prison jumpsuit, a photo of Molly and her husband, and an exploded rifle.
• Molly later calls Astrid over the phone, saying she is trapped in her barn with wolves and giving her the location of a key to the basement. She asks Astrid to bring her some Rifle Ammunition, as well as to arm herself with a Revolver.
  • A light earthquake hits Pleasant Valley. This will be the first of many light earthquakes. Astrid finds the corpse of Molly's Husband in the basement at this time.
  • Astrid follows blizzard lines to Barn (Molly's), but only finds a dead Timberwolf with arrows stuck in it when she goes inside.
• Molly calls Astrid over the phone telling her that she got away, but Astrid reveals that she found the body in the cellar. Astrid then finds a Community Hall Flyer and heads to Thomson's Crossing to see if Mackenzie passed through there. She sees a large bonfire along the way in the middle of town, a beacon of sorts.
  • It is assumed that Molly began hunting the Convicts throughout the region after this point, as she had forgotten she had a bow stashed in the barn from last summer until she waited for Astrid to come help her, and many of the Convicts have arrows run through them.
  • Mathis presumably escaped the region into Winding River at this point.

Fallen Star

• Astrid arrives at the Community Hall, and finds several Crash Survivors from a nearby passenger plane crash. A man by the name of Father Thomas asks if she too is from the crash, but Astrid says she was from a different plan crash. Astrid then uses her skills as a doctor to tend to the wounded. Father Thomas also reveals that a monster blizzard is arriving soon in a few days, and that the Community Hall will need several supplies if the Crash Survivors are to recover.
  • Many plane survivors died from their injuries and were stored in the basement in order to preserve the bodies and keep the wolves from attacking the Hall.
  • Astrid tends to every survivor, but finds one man, Dimitri, with a diabetes wristband. She decides to journey to the plane crash to find his Insulin. Father Thomas asks Astrid to find evidence of any missing passengers, as the Crash Survivors will need closure to begin healing after the devastating events that have taken place.
  • Molly calls the Community Hall and Astrid picks up, revealing more information about her past regarding her husband, and leaving a gift near the playground.
  • Timberwolves attack Astrid for the first time, but she fends them off.
• Astrid arrives at the Crash Site (Pleasant Valley) and is astounded by the devastation before her, questioning how anyone could have survived the impact. She finds several I.D. cards of many of the dead passengers in the snow, before finding Gwen at the tail section next to Dimitri's suitcase containing her insulin.
  • A flashback occurs here, with Astrid appearing the past as Seraphim Sleep Research Centre, with a friend calling and pleading her to find a cure for an illness affecting her home in Perseverance Mills.
  • Astrid begins taking Gwen back to the Community hall after finding IDs of from the corpses she can find at the crash site, as well as a Passenger Manifest. Some passenger names are missing.
  • Astrid receives a phone call from Molly at a burned down building, with Molly revealing more about her past.
    • Astrid is aware that Molly is stalking her, as she mentions currently seeing Astrid with a survivor.
    • Molly also reveals that all phones in the region are linked via a party line, and she just has to wait for Astrid to pick up any phone in the region to talk to Astrid. The phones also work because they run on a pre-electronics system, despite all modern electronics failing.
• Astrid carries Gwen to the Community Hall, administers Insulin to Dimitri, and gives the ID cards to every survivor in the Hall, however she was unable to find 3 people's IDs on the Passenger Manifest.

Coming Storm

• Father Thomas urges Astrid to look for the 3 missing plane passengers, as they may still be out in the Valley, as well as finding any supplies to help the survivors through the coming storm.
  • Astrid does find 3 missing Crash Survivors: Ava, Wade, and Logan, and returns them to the Hall one by one. Astrid also recovers enough supplies to keep everyone alive through the Blizzard.

Aftermath

• Father Thomas gives Astrid a Map of Pleasant Valley, showing her how to leave the region to make her way to Perseverance Mills, as well as the location of Signal Hill. Astrid goes to the radio station to radio the Mills, but the equipment is unpowered. She sleeps, only to awake to the Aurora with the station powered. She attempts to get a message out but overhears the conversation between Mackenzie and the unknown 2 parties from Episode 2.
  • Astrid knows Mackenzie is alive.
  • Molly calls the Astrid for the final time, confirming that she has been the one killing the various Convicts in the region that Astrid has been finding (Blackrock). She reveals in the killing, feeling more free than she's ever felt before, and embraces her new life as a killer in this new world.
• Astrid leaves Pleasant Valley as the whiteout blizzard envelops the region, and makes her way to Cinder Hills Coal Mine. She encounters a setback after an earthquake sends her to the lower level of the mine, but she ultimately escapes into Coastal Highway.
• Astrid comes across a dead Orca pod, and remarks that nature is changing due to the First Flare and the Aurora, and then continues her journey alone to Perseverance Mills.

Episode 4: Fury, Then Silence

Prologue

• Will Mackenzie wakes up on a stretcher. His hands are tied and he is being carried by Vachon and Heller through the woods in Keeper's Pass North. Mathis is in tow, with the Hardcase. Timberwolves attack the group and Mackenzie escapes, before eventually being recaptured, knocked out again, and taken to Blackrock Prison.
  • Vachon reveals that one of the Prison Bus inmates, LECLERC, Y., was killed with an arrow shot through his chest. This was presumably Molly's work.
  • Mathis reveals that the women he met in the Dam is dead by his hands.

Blackrock Blues

• Mackenzie awakes in a cell and is greeted by Franklin, the warden of Blackrock, who reveals that after the First Flare the convicts took over the prison and executed most of the staff. They are only keeping him alive because they are attempting to release a prisoner named Donner from the solitary wing of the facility, but cannot get in and believe that the warden is hiding information from them.
  • Donnor is Mathis' son, and is even more psychotic than his father, serving a life sentence in the Prison as he cannot be returned to normal society.
  • Mathis arrives with Vachon and Heller, with Mathis beating Franklin within an inch of his life, forcing Vachon and Heller to patch him up. They need medicine found outside the Prison's walls, and Mackenzie volunteers to risk his life to find it. Since the 2 convicts know that Mackenzie won't run away without Astrid's Hardcase, they reluctantly and secretly let the pilot loose without Mathis' approval, and Mackenzie finds the Blackrock Infirmary Medication and administers it to Franklin. He then tells the warden that he met with a women on the phone that is trying to help them both.
  • Mackenzie encounters a women on the phone while searching for the medicine, actively working to thwart the convicts attempts to free Donnor. She questions what side Mackenzie is on, as he is helping the Convicts, but realizes that the pilot might be able to help her.

The Power Plant

• Mackenzie's "prison break" is discovered by Mathis, who then puts the pilot to work to repair the Steam Tunnels to route power to solitary.
  • The women on the phone reveals her name is Jace when Mackenzie arrives at the Power Plant, and orders him to sabotage the steam reactor, which he does.

The Detonators

• Mathis is now aware that there is a spy attempting to thwart his plans after the destruction of the steam reactor, and with the Steam Tunnels not powering solitary, he orders Mackenzie to find Detonators in the Last Prospect mine.
  • Mathis tortures and kills Franklin after Mackenzie leaves, with the warden leaking information about the alliance between Mackenzie and the women on the phone in an attempt to save his own life.
  • Mackenzie braves through the Last Prospect mine, and finds the Detonators. After ascending to the surface, he has another phone call with Jace, who reveals that she is a student of astrophysics that was driving to Perseverance Mills to meet her thesis professor Atwood. Mackenzie reveals that he is also seeking Atwood to deliver a message to her.
    • Jace also reveals that the Suzuki Radio Telescope is nearby the Mills, and that it is properly shielded from EMPs, meaning that anything electronic inside likely still works. She also stresses that Mathis and his Convicts cannot be allowed to get inside, as it has enough food, water, shelter, radios, working vehicles, and other resources that would allow the Convicts to rule the Island with an iron fist.
    • Jace is aware that Mackenzie needs a his Hardcase from back Mathis, and will be delivering the Detonators to him. She reveals that her plans will now need to go "nuclear" as she has an ace up her sleeve.
  • An earthquake destroys Mule Bridge and collapses part of the mine, knocking Mackenzie out. When he awakes, Mackenzie sees the Aurora out and is forced to travel down river to the mine. He arrives at the Prison, seeing it powered again.

Donner

• Mackenzie returns to the prison and delivers the Detonators, with Mathis revealing that he killed Franklin and is aware that Mackenzie was attempting to thwart his plans.
  • Mathis reveals that the only reason he kept Mackenzie alive was that he hoped that he could steal a working plane, but now desires to stay on Great Bear Island since civilization on the Mainland is likely ruined, and that Great Bear Island is the perfect isolated location to start his own kingdom in this quiet apocalypse.
  • Mathis attempts to kill Mackenzie, but is interrupted by an explosion that rocks the Prison.
• Jace activates the prison lockdown, buying Mackenzie time, and reveals that her "nuclear" plan was to cause the prison to explode, as the Convicts blew the Detonators the wrong way. This allows Mackenzie to escape.
  • Mackenzie recovers Astrid's Hardcase in the Warden's office, and has a phone call with Jace, telling him to meet her in the Power Plant.
  • Mackenzie flees through the courtyard, avoiding being shot by Convicts using powered searchlights, then flees through the now destroyed Steam Tunnels.
• Mackenzie and Jace meet at the Power Plant, and Mathis and his Convicts catch up to the two.
  • Heller reveals that Donnor has been freed from solitary, but is badly wounded and dying. This news sends Mathis into a blind rage as he attempts to kill Mackenzie and Jace.
  • Mackenzie and Jace escape through the Power Plant's river, washing ashore and freezing in the snow. They begin their journey to Atwood and Perseverance Mills.
• A post credits scene reveals that Astrid Greenwood has arrived at the port of Perseverance Mills via canoe.
  • Two men approach her canoe, believing that she is a quarantine breaker, but realize she is not from the Mills.
  • Jane Yang approaches Astrid, surprised to see Astrid alive but confused as to why she doesn't have the Hardcase.

Episode 5: The Light At The End Of All Things

• TBA

Wintermute Side Missions

Milton Supply Caches

• Mackenzie finds several notes from the residents of Milton who left behind 3 supply caches. He finds them and takes the contents for himself.

Milton Safety Deposit Box Keys

• Mackenzie finds several bank vault keys and uses them to open deposit boxes at Milton Credit Union.

Highway Robbery (mission)

• Mackenzie finds a note regarding a truck out near the highway with several supplies. He travels there and takes the contents of a trunk for himself.

Extra Supplies

• Mackenzie finds a Winter Forecast that shows the winter will get much colder, and finds extra food and fuel for Grey Mother.

The Basics of Survival

• Mackenzie finds several books teaching about survival skills, and learns how to mend clothing, safety pick medicinal plants, and snare a rabbit.

Forest Talker Supply Caches

• Mackenzie finds a Forest Talker Map Note showing 3 supply caches, and finds them.

Mystery Lake Supply Caches

• Mackenzie finds 3 notes about supply caches left by other survivors, and finds them.

Aurora Hatch

• Mackenzie finds a note in a supply cache about a special powered Prepper Cache, and loots it during the Aurora.

Hank's Hatch

• Mackenzie finds several notes about a Prepper Cache created by a man named Hank.
  • Hank sent a letter to his Niece Angela (and by extension her mother) to come find him and his Prepper Cache if things ever went wrong. Mackenzie finds the corpse of Angela and her mother by Unnamed Pond and outside Hank's hatch.
  • Hank had been attacked by a wolf and locked his hatch, fearing the clawing from outside was more wolves. It was instead Angela, who froze to death outside (she was carrying Antiseptic and Bandages and could have kept Hank alive). Hank ultimately passed away from his wounds inside his bunker.

Lake Gunshots

• 2 Forest Talkers at the Logging Camp travel to Mystery Lake to go fishing for food, but both are attacked. One perishes on the ice but the other escapes into a nearby cabin. Mackenzie arrives and offers to help the wounded Forest Talker, finding his Forest Talker Supplies and Forest Talker Documents. The fate of the man is unknown after this.
  • The Forest Talkers were likely attacked by a Breyerhouse worker finally taking revenge on the eco-terrorists, evidenced by the Crumpled Note (2). If Mackenzie takes the man's ammo, he will be attacked after leaving the cabin the next day and perish.

Survival School

• Mackenzie finds more books teaching about survival skills, and learns how to kill a stage, how to ice fish, and how to cull wolves.

Episode 3: Crossroads Elegy

Church Artifact

• An unknown individual steals a Church Artifact from Thomson's Crossing Church, looking to sell it for cash out of desperation following The Collapse. It would remain stashed in the abandoned basement of Skeeter's Ridge for decades until Astrid finds and returns it to the Crossing's church.

Blackrock (mission)

• Astrid finds the remains of a Blackrock Prison Guard and follows a trail of dead convicts, until finding a Convict cache.

Forest Talkers (side mission)

• Astrid finds several notes showing the thoughts of the Forest Talkers and Locals of Pleasant Valley.

Tall Tales

• Astrid finds 4 different books written by T. A. Gurnsey, a local of Pleasant Valley, regarding sightings of supernatural/wonderous phenomena around the Valley.
  • Local Legends - The Big One
    • Astrid travels to Pensive Pond and ice fishes the Big Bass (Raw).
  • Local Legends - Sasquatch
    • Astrid finds the so called "Sasquatch" inside a cave, and it was a man wearing a Wolfskin Coat.
  • Local Legends - The Lost Cave
    • Astrid travels to Misty Falls Picnic Area and finds a cave inside. Deep within, she finds the so called lost cave.
  • Local Legends - Ghost Stag
    • Astrid travels to Three Strikes Farmstead, and sees a very rare albino Ghost Stag.

Molly's Gift

• Astrid finds Molly's gift containing several Marine Flares to fend off Timberwolf attacks.

Joplin's Bunker Raid

• Astrid finds a Prepper Cache from a local named Tom Joplin, and raids 3 of them, taking the resources and giving them to the Crash Survivors at the Community Hall. Tom Joplin is nowhere to be found.

Episode 4: Fury, Then Silence

Blackrock Lockers

• Mackenzie finds several lockers at the prison guard barracks and finds the keys to open them.

Blackrock Rumours

• Mackenzie finds several notes from Blackrock Prison administration, and follows the clues left behind.
• Blackrock Memo - Late Employee
  • Mackenzie finds Murphy who had been panning for gold, and froze to death. He takes the man's Lock Box Key and finds a Gold Nugget in his lockbox.
• Blackrock Memo - Highly Aggressive Wolf
  • Mackenzie tracks down the aggressive wolf, and finds the remains of the dead animal researcher, killed by the very wolf he was trying to save.
• Blackrock Memo - Suspicious Person
  • Mackenzie finds a hidden Prepper Cache in the region, stocked with supplies, but does not find the mysterious man that it belongs to.

Convict Caches

• Mackenzie finds several Hidden Caches left behind by Convicts in the region, and loots them.

Dark Star

• Mackenzie finds 4 Archival Reports detailing the early days of the Blackrock region.

Lost Power Workers

• Mackenzie finds 2 dead Journeyman Electricians that had been working at the Old Substation.
  • One worker, Linda Burnley, had shot herself with a Revolver, likely after finding out about the Convicts taking over Blackrock Prison, and chose to go out on her own terms.
  • The other worker, Samual Franks, is found at the bottom of the ravine near Blackrock Prison. His corpse holds a backpack and Lost Worker's Note, and reveals that his mind had been going downhill before the First Flare, and that he had wandered off an frozen to death.

A Riddle Among the Shadows

• Mackenzie finds several Forest Talker notes in the Last Prospect mine, and uses the codes to unlock a special Forest Talker supply cache at the entrance to the mine.

Episode 5: The Light At The End Of All Things

TBA

Survival Mode

• A plane crash survivor begins traveling across Great Bear Island after their plane is brought down by a mysterious geomagnetic storm. They struggle to survive; looting, crafting, and foraging as the days pass. They encounter no other survivors on the island.
  • All major NPCs from Wintermute are missing in the world at this point in time. Only frozen corpses remain.
  • Blackrock Prison, Mule Bridge, the entrance to Last Prospect, and the Steam Tunnels lie in ruins, suggesting that this world takes place after Episode 4.
• They uncover the secrets of the past that occurred in the Far Territory, as part of the Tales missions.
  • Rüdiger's Machine does not fully destroy the mind of the survivor when they come into contact with Glimmer Fog for prolonged periods of time, instead only giving them temporary Insomnia. This confirms that The Security Chief did damage the machine just enough so that it does not destroy the minds of anyone unfortunate enough to come into the Far Territory.
  • The Machine also begins storing energy from the Aurora at night and expends energy during the day, producing Glimmer Fog in the Far Territory once more.
• Eventually after surviving alone for an indeterminate amount of time, possibly for hundreds of day (or perhaps years), the plane crash survivor fades away into The Long Dark.

Buffer Memories

These events are found on various computers, and occur before the First Flare, but at unknown times.

• Camp Office - Someone writes reports regarding wildlife activity around Mystery Lake and sends them to an unknown party.
• Milton Credit Union - Anika Longmire, Female, 41, writes about her life in Milton.
• Milton Post Office - Chris writes a series of diary entries regarding life in the post office.
• Orca Gas Station - Peter Good writes about inventory in the gas station. Contacts the owner of Rural Store Dan Presnell.
• Chasm Cave - Robbie, a survivor from the Timberwolf Mountain Plane Crash, writes a diary from before and after the crash, but ultimately dies in the cave.
• Carter Hydro Dam - Several emails from the workers of the Carter Dam regarding its maintenance before it was abandoned in the 1990s.
  • Jeremiah is mentioned in two emails.
  • Vaughn is the owner of Vaughn's Rifle.
• Fishing Camp/Rabbit Grove - A local fishermen's diary regarding fishing and the state of his ship/equipment.
• Quonset Garage - Barbara Quincy, Garage Owner, Female, 62, recounts her experiences as the gas station owner.
  • Barbara is the owner of Barb's Rifle.
• Lonely Lighthouse - Name Unknown, Lighthouse Keeper, Male, 41. Recounts maintaining the lighthouse. A a traveler from the Coastal Townsite flees to the lighthouse due to the realities of The Collapse.
• Hibernia Processing - Manny Douglas becomes stranded on Great Bear Island after DeepForest Experience inserts him on the Island and does not extract him.
• Maintenance Shed - Emails by Jerry Baltimore, Male, 29, recounts how Forest Talkers continue to harass Breyerhouse employees and destroy their equipment
• Maintenance Yard - A Breyerhouse medic responds to a Wolf attack on a worker out in The Ravine.
• Shortwave Tower - Partner Specialist 81926 performs maintenance on the Shortwave Tower in the Muskeg as per a contract, despite the danger of the remote area.
  • He was contracted by workers of the Last Resort Cannery to fix the Echo One Radio Tower.
  • He eventually is chased into The Ravine and later the mountains above Bleak Inlet by hostile wildlife. (Communication Report)
  • He eventually runs out of food and makes it to the Cannery, creating the obstacle course that leads to the Workshop. They eventually make it inside and lock the door, though a wolf is locked inside with them. (The Technician's Notebook)
• Signal Hill - Sarah Easton, Female, 29 writes a journal as she comments on working in the radio tower, as well as events occurring in Pleasant Valley.
• Rural Crossroads - Dan Presnell, Shopkeeper, Male, 57 sends emails to Mainland suppler Mr. Galveston requesting more complete shipments of food staples that the Pleasant Valley community is dependent on. He also emails about their ATM being discontinued and Tom Joplin.