Dark Shrine of Selfishness
| Dark Shrine of Selfishness | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Location |
The Dark Shrine of Selfishness is the cruellest thing a farmer can do in Stardew Valley. Laying a Prismatic Shard on the altar in the Witch's Hut turns the farmer's children into doves, and the doves fly off for good. Nothing undoes it, and the game does not pretend otherwise: a cursed Ancient Doll takes up residence in front of the altar afterwards and attacks on sight, and a voice on the farmhouse telephone eventually says what it thinks of the decision. Players tend to find the shrine while looking for the other two altars, read what it does, and back away. For the few who go through with it, the game has written two small pieces of horror as a reply.
Area
The altar is the third of three inside the Witch's Hut, out in the Witch's Swamp. Opening the hut takes the Wizard's whole errand: the Rusty Key from a long run of Museum donations, Krobus's say-so for the Mutant Bug Lair, a fight down to the chest holding the Dark Talisman, and a jar of Void Mayonnaise for the Goblin Henchman standing at the door. Fishing in the swamp water next to the goblin is the most reliable way to find the mayonnaise.
Once inside, the hut stays open, and the red rune on its floor leads straight down to the Wizard's Tower basement for later visits. After this particular shrine has been used, those later visits come with company, because the doll waits by the altar.
Notes
A Prismatic Shard is the price, which is the game making a point. Shards go into the Galaxy Sword, the Sewing Machine's rarest outputs, the Crystalarium and Qi's harder orders, so the shrine asks for one of the scarcest items in the valley in exchange for taking something away.
The first reply arrives through the television. Watching it on Fall 26 on the Standard Farm and picking the "???" channel shows an Ancient Doll on the screen with a line that leaves no doubt about what has happened:
"You've brought this upon yourself... now I'm free... Hee hee hee!"
The doll then drops out of the set. From then on a cursed Ancient Doll hovers in front of the Dark Shrine of Selfishness and flies at the farmer. Killing it makes it turn into a bird's shadow and fly away, but leaving the hut and walking back in brings it straight back. On the Four-Corners Farm the doll arrives differently, hooked on a fishing line rather than falling out of the television.
The doll is not only atmosphere. Each kill counts towards the Adventurer's Guild bounty on bats and towards Clint's Cave Patrol Special Order, so a respawning target inside a safe room is genuinely useful to a farmer grinding either one.
The second reply needs a Telephone on the farm. At some point after the shrine has been used, picking up the receiver gives static, and then something underneath it:
"You place the receiver to your ear, and are met with a roiling, abrasive static. But wait... beneath it all, you can make out something else... an otherworldly voice... 'Y-O-U H-A-V-E F-O-R-S-A-K-E-N U-S'"
Children come from the second Farmhouse upgrade, which adds the crib, and the crib can be removed at the Carpenter's Shop for nothing if the farmer simply wants to stop at one child or none. That renovation is the gentler option, and it is reversible, which this altar is not.
All Locations
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
