Level 984 - "Masdalieful Island"

Info

SURVIVAL DIFFICULTY:

Class Masdaliefic

Moderately Safe
Very Stable
Potential Threat of 5A+ Entity

"If anyone's out there, come find us. We need help. The Masdalieful… it's here."

- Radio transmission of unknown origin from Level 984 on 26 Mar. 2014, translated from Morse code.

Level 984 is the 985th level of the backrooms.

Image of the shore of Masdalieful Island (taken 18 Sept. 2020 by Mark Freeman)

Description

Geography & Climate

Level 984 is an expanse of forest on an island roughly 3600km² connected to a shore which stretches roughly 50 meters from the forest in every direction. The landscape is relatively flat, composed of mostly dirt, sand, and rock, and only rising to about 5 meters above sea level at its highest point. Tidal behaviours are not present and the water never changes elevation. Every single tree on the island is dead, and no leaves can be found. Most of the trees have been torn up or uprooted. The island's weather is always in an overcast state, though time does appear to pass. No seasonal changes have been observed. Object's saturation in this level is extremely low for unknown reasons, and, in fact, any wanderer who encounters this level will be the most colourful thing there. The shore of the island connects to a vast body of water. There appears to be the faint outlines of some kind of land far away, though there is no confirmation on what it is. The water is completely devoid of anomalous properties, although it is not recommended to drink unless filtered. The water is mildly polluted by small bits of plastic and other garbage. There is a breeze on the island, blowing at a constant 20 kilometers per hour, and the island's climate is very mild, with outdoor temperatures averaging 17 degrees Celsius.

Structures & POIs

Located on the island are several small wooden shacks of nonlinear structure, all of which have missing parts such as doors, windows, or even entire walls. Inside of these shacks, you can find all sorts of foods listed in Object 56 (though Object 56 itself is nowhere to be found on the level), medical supplies, and even tools such as crowbars and hatchets. In the direct center of the island is a record player, and you can find several vinyls inside of some of the small shacks about the island. It is not recommended to play the vinyls, as the sound of some of them has been described as the following:

"Like screeches from hell. All yelling at me. Telling me to die. Telling me to face my truths…"

"Sirens… Sirens… from hell…"

Those who hear it are said to become extremely paranoid, violent, and possibly even go insane a few days after hearing the noises.

However, some of the vinyls are both playable and enjoyable, and have even been recognised. Several vinyls from the 1920's and 1930's have been found, though the vast majority of them are damaged.

Masdalieful Island's Journals

Inside of some shacks, there are also journals with several entries each. Within them is writing in a language completely foreign to any known language known as "Yщaj". Only a few journal entries were written in English. One peculiar thing that some journal entries have in common, however, is that the word "Maxdaщyeθuщ", which we now know to be Masdalieful, is present in the majority of them. It is strongly believed that this island was once home to what can only be described as a full-fledged island civilization, and an entity or disaster (though it is more likely an entity), commonly referred to as the Masdalieful, came through and destroyed it all. All of the journals have a date written on them in D/M/Y format, with the oldest of these journal entries being from 27 Nov. 1993 and the newest being from 27 Mar. 2014.

If you are to find yourself on Level 984, it is likely that you will come across at least one other wanderer, but be wary of them, lest they be affected by the island's vinyls.

Recovered Vinyls - VOLUME WARNING!!!

Vinyl 1 - yxá

Vinyl 2 - Russ Morgan and His Orchestra - Goodnight, My Beautiful

Vinyl 3 - "maxdaщek ǂekta navexkt" - We now know this vinyl is actually taken from The Caretaker's "Everywhere at the End of Time", more specifically from 14:23 in H1 - Stage 4 Post Awareness Confusions. This part has been dubbed "Hell Sirens" by the Everywhere at the End of Time community.

Bases, Outposts and Communities

There are no bases, outposts or communities on this level, though there is an extremely high chance that there was one in the past. Anyone living here lives in solitude.

Recovered Data

Image of a creature (Presumably taken 26 Mar. 2014)

The following journal entries are the only known entries on the island that were written in English. It is suspected that there are more, but they have not yet been found.

Entry #3 is where Level 984 gets its nickname from. The name also further supports the idea that the Masdalieful is an entity, rather than a disaster or event.

The photo to the right is the only known photo of Masdalieful Island before the alleged civilization disappeared. The image appears to be taken from the perspective of a human running through the forest, while a black form with white eyes seems to be pursuing them. This image further confirms that the Masdalieful is an entity, though it is still debated due to how the alleged civilization seemed to revere it, almost as a Godlike figure.

The photo was found on 17 Jun. 2016, and is the first instance of recovered data from after the alleged civilization disappeared.

10 Jan. 2002 - It snowed today! I got to see Jahen again. He seemed so… paranoid. Apparently he went over to the temple to listen to music last night. I've heard rumors about going there alone. People aren't the same when they come back… I bet that cranky old lady who lives up there just gets sick of the racket and yells at whoever's up there. I'll go check on him tomorrow. It's late.

Mark Freeman Logs

These logs were found in the ruins of a destroyed wooden structure on the outskirts of the forest on 3 Nov. 2020.

Day 1: I'm Mark Freeman. It looks like I'll be staying here a while. There's good food and drink, and plenty of shelter. Place seems to be completely devoid of entities, and just life in general, too. I wonder why this island isn't colonized? It's just me here. The only thing of note here is a record player. I won't risk playing the music, though. God knows what could happen.

Entrances And Exits

Entrances

Level 984 can be entered through one of the paths in Level 415. This is the only known entrance.

Exits

Exiting this level is not difficult, but it may be difficult to survive doing so. There are two known exits. At the center of the island, visible from the record player, is a very typical looking shack for the island. Within it is a vinyl labeled "Light of Masdalieful". Upon playing it, you will be lulled to sleep by what is described by every single wanderer who has heard the song with the exact quote:

"The most beautiful sound of all."

Subsequently, you will be transported directly to Level 813.

The other way to exit this level is to swim the waters surrounding the island. Once you have swam far enough away from the island, you will find yourself swimming inside of Level 88's "Muted Lake."

‡ Licensing / Citation

level

Backrooms Sandbox 2

Sandbox: Reloaded