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Level 578: "The Viking Village" is the 579th level of the Backrooms. It appears as a small Viking village located in central northern America.
Description
The Viking Village
A photo taken of a lone viking hut near the center of the level.
Level 578 takes the appearance of a viking village, with approximately 57 documented buildings, all of which are furnished, and are constructed with a stone-like material which is much stronger than normal stone, and straw roofs which are also much stronger than it's regular counterpart. All of the furniture looks to be pulled straight from a Viking village, such as chairs that are simply two flat and smoothened planks intersecting each other, and tables that are simply one smooth plank of wood being held up with four rough logs, all of similar radius to that of the average adult man's arm. While still somewhat common but much less frequent than the tables and chairs, beds or even shelves can appear in the houses, the beds simply being a rectangle of planks, with ropes tied together in a grid-like pattern in the middle, and the shelves being constructed of two vertical planks, and 3 to 5 horizontal planks to hold items. The houses themselves are always a perfect circle, with their widths tending to range from a mere 5 feet1, up to 12 feet. The houses can occasionally contain supplies as well, ranging from common items like Almond Water to more rare items, such as Firesalt or Liquid Silence, these items are usually laid out on the bed and/or table, or found on the shelves if the home in question happens to have one. Despite being well furnished, no houses have been documented to have windows. On a recent expedition of the level, a house was found that had a window, it was placed opposite the door. This being simple hole in the wall, with a colorful wool blanket next to it on a small table. It is assumed this blanket is used as a sort of curtain.
The Outer Area
The outer area of the level is a large grassy plain, in which the terrain is almost completely smooth, making traversing the level easy. The grass within the level is tall, averaging at around one and a half feet in height, the grass is a bright green, similar to how grass would look during spring in The Frontrooms, this grass plain stretches on beyond how far the eye can see, but the level is theoretically finite, as it's contained by extremely steep mountains on the edges, in an almost perfect box shape. While attempts have been made to climb or hike over these mountains, none have been successful, as none of the hikers returned. During one of the hikers trips, they were speaking with an M.E.G. operative over walkie talkie, the hiker was heard falling for an extended period of time, before, according to them, winding up in The Void. Along with the tall grass, flowers and trees can be found, most if not all of which are species found within the United States of America in The Frontrooms, such as Red Maple trees and Sugar Maple trees, which are commonly found scattered around the outdoors of the level, along with flowers of all varities, but most commonly Black-Eyed Susans, Blue Vervains, and Fall Sneezeweeds. A few areas within the plains that are within close proximity to village homes are what appear to be small farms, usually growing potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and sometimes on rare occasions watermelons. These plants are grown with Almond Water, which effects the foods in some varying manners. Sometimes it makes the fruits and vegetables bigger and sweeter, while other times doing the exact contrary, making them smaller and bitter. Most times however, the fruits and veggies are unaffected. Coming out of the center of the northern most mountain wall is an Almond Water fall, specifically grey bottle Almond Water. This waterfall is 5ft in length, 20ft in height, where the waterfall hits the ground it just stops, no splashing or erosion or even puddles or ponds. Despite the odd functions of this waterfall it's completely safe to drink from, and seems to be an endless supply. However; this Almond Water tastes bland compared to that of regular grey bottle Almond Water. Currently, it is unknown where the Almond Water is coming from. On a recent expedition of the level, it was found that the liquid seems to just appear in front of the wall, and has a pouring effect on it due to gravity.
The Lake
A large lake can be found near the North Easternmost corner of the level. The over size of the lake is hypothesized to be about only 60 miles³. This lake is the only part of the level where the terrain isn't completely flat, and it's grass and dirt, being a divit downwards, as if someone had simply dug a hole, filled with sand, then water. The water is completely empty however, no vegetation or anything else discovered within the water. The exception to this being a large circular hole in one of the stone, mountain-like walls under the surface, swimming into this hole will cause the wanderer to emerge on Level 27, making this exit a useful one. As for the liquid the lake is filled with, testing has been performed by the M.E.G. on the water, and the results say it is simply salt water from The Frontrooms.
Environment
The Day-Night cycle in this level is short, a full cycle only taking approximately 17 hours. 9 hours spent in a night state, 7 hours spent in a day state, and 30 minutes for both sunrise and sunset. The temperature in the level usually doesn't rise or drop by a massive margin, and isn't usually effected by the weather events within the level. The median for the day period is around 65°F, and 50°F during the night. Whilst the sunset or sunrise is taking place, the temperature will shift to either cool down or heat up depending on the shift from day to night or night to day, this shift being about 1°F every two minutes, either up or down depending on the time.
Psychological effects
While the level is calm and relaxing in appearance, the level does come with some negative side effects if remained within for an extended period of time. Below are the specifics.
2 hours: The wanderer will begin to feel sensations of light paranoia, minimal enough to be easily ignored while still being noticeable.
3 hours: The sensations of paranoia will increase, causing the wanderer to feel the equivalent of a minor panic attack.
4 hours: Paranoia continues to rise, along with the sensation of being stared at from something across the level which isn't there.
5 hours: The sensations while intensify a minor amount, along with a light ringing in the wanderers ears2.
6 hours: The wanderer will begin to have an intense panic attack, along with feeling the overwhelming urge and need to escape the level.
7 hours: Wanderers who managed to fight the urge to leave the level will continue to feel all prior mentioned effects, along with the sensation that a looming figure is standing right behind them, wanderers who've turned to look have seen nothing but continued to feel the sensations.
8 hours: All sensations fade at once, leaving the wanderer in a temporary state of mental shock and disarray. After this wanderers will begin to feel calm and relaxed, and an urge to remain within the level.
12 hours: The wanderer will begin to again feel all sensations from hour 7, but nearly twice as intense and twice as fast, leading most to have heart attacks, or go into a state of shock and end up passing away3.
Entities
There are no entities in level 578.
Bases, Outposts and Communities
Due to the nature of the level, no stable outposts or bases have been formed.
Discovery
Level 578 was discovered on the 12th of September in 2021 by an M.E.G. operative who spotted a Viking hut on Level 10, and decided to sleep within it, quickly waking up within Level 578.
Entrances And Exits
Entrances
Finding and falling asleep in a Viking hut on Level 10 will cause one to wake up within a Viking hut within Level 578.
Finding a door made of hay and stone in the second floor of Level 222 will take one's self here.
Finding a Viking hut crudely drawn on the walls of Level 409 and tearing through it will cause the wanderer to appear in Level 578 via falling out of the mountain sides near the ground4.
Rarely, one of the houses on Level 995 can spawn with a door made of straw and stone. Entering said house will take the wanderer to Level 578
Deep within Level -6, a small hole in the caves can be found with sunlight or moonlight shining down into it, crawling up into the light will cause the wanderer to emerge from the ground in Level 578, with no trace of Level -6 from where the wanderer emerges
Along "The Beach" of Level α, a half-submerged Viking hut can be found. Upon entering, the door will close. The door will then open, revealing Level 578 after all the water has been drained.
Exits
Finding an office door attached to the side of a Viking hut may lead to Level 4
Swimming through the hole in the border under the water of The Lake will lead to you emerging in Level 27
Occasionally, going unconscious in The Lake will cause the wanderer to awaken in Level 711
Finding an intact radio within one of the huts and interacting with it will cause one to no-clip to Level 714
No-clipping will often cause wanderers to end up in The Mountain Village, or rarely Roads To Ruins
Managing to survive longer than 12 hours will be no-clipped to Level 0
Finding and jumping down the pit of blue sand in the center point of the level will cause the wanderer to no-clip to Level A-1
Finding a cave in the mountain walls will lead to any cave level.