Discovery Cove Guide

Submission Rules and Requirements

Discovery Cove has specific rules to ensure fair participation and maintain quality standards.

Daily Submission Limits

You can submit three Discovery Cove art or literature pieces per day. This daily limit ensures all participants have equal opportunities regardless of their drawing speed.

Spirits themselves, however, can only be involved in one Cove submission a day. Spirits with 50+ stamina can increase this limit to two submissions per day.

An exception can be made with comic panels, which will be explained below.

Location Restrictions

You can only create art or literature depicting areas your spirit has already discovered. All spirits start with access to three basic areas: the Beach, the Shallows, and the Bushes. Your first cove submission will unlock the three backgrounds for said spirit to freely use on their import.

Additional locations must be discovered through exploration before they can be featured. A spirits available locations to explore will be listed in their inventory under backgrounds.

Art Standards

Each submission must be original artwork or literature that follows standard community guidelines. Resubmissions of previous work, overly similar pieces, traced art, and stolen content are not permitted.

Every submission must include at minimum a simple background depicting the location being explored. Seasonal variations are sometimes required, and should match the current in-game season. For example, forest areas must be shown with snow during winter months, while locations like the tundra maintain their appearance year-round.

An exception can be made with comic panels, which will be explained below.

Literature Standards

Written submissions must contain at least 500 words with detailed environmental descriptions and the spirit's reactions to their surroundings. Literature submissions undergo strict review for quality and detail.

Exploration Theme Requirement

Your spirit must actively be exploring within the artwork. This includes activities like examining objects, observing the environment, walking through areas, interacting with wildlife, or discovering items.

If there are more than one spirit in the submission, they can be interacting with each other.

Spirit Limit Per Submission

A maximum of three spirits can appear in each submission. At least one spirit must show more than 50% visibility, while additional spirits need only show 25% or more. Any spirits beyond the three-spirit limit will not be eligible for Discovery Cove rewards and will just be rolled for general art. If spirits past this limit are not decided on by the player upon submission, and admin will choose one themselves.

Rewards and Items

Discovery Cove exploration primarily yields crafting materials as loot, though other valuable items are possible rewards. Items are organized by rarity levels, with rarer items having lower discovery chances. Spirits with a higher luck stat have improved odds of finding uncommon and rare materials. Different items can be found in different locations.

Boosts and Modifiers

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Locations

Besides items, exploration can also unlock new areas to visit and explore. Each newly discovered location also grants a background for your spirit's import to use, allowing you to showcase your exploration achievements.

The following diagram shows what locations can lead to where at a glance, so you can decide the best course of action for discovering certain locations. It also has percentage chances for each location, with the line thickness also indicating at a glance the most common locations to discover.
Feel free to open it in a new tab to view at full size.

Location System and Exploration

Every spirit begins with access to three starting locations: the Beach, the Shallows, and the Bushes. Each area offers unique exploration opportunities and potential discoveries. As shown above, Discovery Cove features various location types with different connection patterns. Some areas lead to a single new location, while others branch into multiple paths. Certain locations serve as dead ends, offering rewards but no further exploration opportunities.

Location Discovery Mechanics

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Location-Specific Information

Ares Cart

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Atlantis

Discovered by Exploring: Depths
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Water and city or ruins
Optional: Air bubbles, glowing, magic, light or darkness
Not Allowed: Above water

Beach

Discovered by Exploring: None, it's a starting location
Affected by Seasons: Yes, depending on shore features
Requires: Sand and waterline
Optional: Grass, rocks, trees, sea-life (crabs, seagulls, etc) and debris, the actual ocean
Not Allowed: Spirits may not be in the water unless they're just at the waterline, bushes cannot be too close to the waterline, trees not allowed except in distance. Cannot be a cliffside beach.

Seasonal Information
     Spring: Standard. Foliage, if any, should look new/young.
     Summer: Standard.
     Autumn: Foliage, if any, should be brown/dying. Should not have snow/ice.
     Winter: Foliage, if any, should mostly if not all be dead. Patchy ice in the water is optional; cannot be big solid sheets of ice. Patches of snow and/or frost further inland allowed.

Boat

Discovered by Exploring: Deep Water or Remote Island
Affected by Seasons: Optional; depends if land is visible in the distance. If land is visible, apply seasonal rules for the Beach.
Requires: Non-shipwrecked boat
Optional: Shore and water, can be below deck, on deck, or beside ship, people.
Not Allowed: N/A

Bushes

Discovered by Exploring: None, it's a starting location
Affected by Seasons: Yes
Requires: Bushes
Optional: Trees(must be few though or in distance), sand, grass, rocks, flowers
Not Allowed: Too many trees

Seasonal Information
     Spring: Foliage should look new/young. Flowers should be budding.
     Summer: Foliage should be thick and lush. Berries, if present, can be plentiful.
     Autumn: Foliage should be reds/golds/oranges or brown/dying. Should not have snow/ice.
     Winter: Foliage should mostly, if not all, be dead. Snow should cover bushes, can be in patches on the ground or full coverage. Icicles, frost, etc should coat most surfaces.

Castle

Discovered by Exploring: Town
Affected by Seasons: Yes if outside, no if inside
Requires: Large, fancy, rich detail and colors and large open areas.
Optional: Being outside or inside the castle, town in distance, people
Not Allowed: Outside castle gates or in a moat

Seasonal Information (if outside)
    Spring: Foliage should look new/young. Flowers should be budding.
     Summer: Foliage should be thick and lush. Berries, if present, can be plentiful.
     Autumn: Foliage should be reds/golds/oranges or brown/dying. Dead leaves can be lightly scattered or in raked piles. Should not have snow/ice. If using evergreens, they should stay green.
     Winter: Foliage should mostly, if not all, be dead. Snow should cover most foliage and surfaces, can be in patches on the ground or full coverage. Icicles, frost, etc should coat most surfaces. If using evergreens, they should stay green. Water, if shown, should be frozen. A fountain, if present, should be empty.

Cave

Discovered by Exploring: Volcano, Peaks, Ruins, Lava Cave, Ice Cave, Forest, Mines, Dwarven Cavern, Labyrinth, or Mountains
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Stone, rocks, must be dark and underground, or at the mouth of the cave.
Optional: Stalactites and stalagmites. Depending on desired setting used from adjacent Cove locations, may have hints of heat haze, lava, or ice and/or snow farther from the characters.
Not Allowed: Too dark to make out the characters easily, too many details from other Cove locations.

Chasm

Discovered by Exploring: Desert or Forest
Affected by Seasons: Optional
Requires: At least one cliff-face, and either sand and/or grass somewhere. Must be obviously very deep. 
Optional: Fog at the base, slightly obscuring things. Spirits can be on top or inside, climbing up or down the walls, or at the base.
Not Allowed: Streams, river, etc.

Seasonal Information
    Spring: Standard
     Summer: Standard
     Autumn: Might be dead leaves on the ground.
     Winter: There can be some snow covering the ground or rocky outcrops.

Cliff

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Coral Reef

Discovered by Exploring: Remote Island or Rocky Shoal
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Lots of colors, coral
Optional: Rocks, sea grass or seaweed, fish, waterline or water surface
Not Allowed: Very large fish (large sharks etc; small sharks fine)

Deep Water

Discovered by Exploring: Shallows
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Ocean water
Optional: Shore in distance, Spirit in air or under the water, sea life (fish, kelp, seaweed, turtles, porpoises etc), icebergs
Not Allowed: Spirit too high in air or too deep under the water, shore too close in image, coral

Depths

Discovered by Exploring: Deep Water
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Spirit deep under water
Optional: Darkness, sea floor, sand, rocks, sealife
Not Allowed: Waterline, water surface

Desert

Discovered by Exploring: Beach or Bushes
Affected by Seasons: Optional
Requires: Sand
Optional: Cacti and rocks, forest or mountains can be in the distance
Not Allowed: Water (Unless is mirage in distance), pits or chasms

Seasonal Information
    Spring: Standard
     Summer: Can have blooming desert flowers
     Autumn: Standard
     Winter: Cacti and other desert plants can be shriveled/dormant

Dwarven Cavern

Discovered by Exploring: Cave, Ruins, or Mines
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Underground, rocks, colors
Optional: Glowing, gemstones, tools
Not Allowed: Minecarts or shafts

Fairy Forest

Discovered by Exploring: Swamp
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Mushrooms, trees,lots of plant-life and glowey effects
Optional: Fog, overgrowth, water
Not Allowed: Anything to do with hot or cold temperatures

Farm

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Floating Island

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Forest

Discovered by Exploring: Bushes, Plains, River, Swamp, or Taiga
Affected by Seasons: Yes
Requires: Trees, dense
Optional: Bushes (must be fewer than trees), small river or stream (or larger in distance).
Not Allowed: Lake, not even in distance, or the character in a clearing with few trees around them to avoid it looking like the Grotto location

Seasonal Information
    Spring: Foliage should look new/young. Flowers should be budding.
     Summer: Foliage should be thick and lush. Berries, if present, can be plentiful.
     Autumn: Foliage should be reds/golds/oranges or brown/dying. Should not have snow/ice. If using evergreens, they should stay green.
     Winter: Foliage should mostly, if not all, be dead. Snow should cover trees, can be in patches on the ground if trees are super dense, or full coverage. Icicles, frost, etc should coat most surfaces. If using evergreens, they should stay green. Water, if shown, should be frozen.

Garden

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Graveyard

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Grotto

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Hedge Maze

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High Skies

Discovered by Exploring: Skies or Peaks, Must be a tally or Kiji with Wings or Wingless Flight
Affected by Seasons: Optional
Requires: Clouds
Optional: Land, must be far below
Not Allowed: N/A

Seasonal Information
     Spring: Can have more rain
     Summer: Standard
     Autumn: Standard
     Winter: Can have snowflakes

Hot Springs

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Hut

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Ice Cave

Discovered by Exploring: Mountains or Peaks
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Ice and rocks underground
Optional: Snow
Not Allowed: N/A

Labyrinth

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Lake

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Lava Cave

Discovered by Exploring: Volcano
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Dark or charred rocks underground
Optional: Lava, regular rocks
Not Allowed: Water

Lava Lake

Discovered by Exploring: Volcano
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Lava. Characters should be at the "shoreline" or on top of a rock/otherwise above the lake. Lava lake should clearly be deep and not just hints of it here and there.
Optional: Charred, dark rocks around the outside of the lake. Smoke and steam.
Not Allowed: Any water.

Mines

Discovered by Exploring: Cave, Ice Cave, Lava Cave, Ruins, Mountains, Volcano, or Dwarven Cavern
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Rocks and stones and some kind of mining gear, rails, and/or cart(s). Must clearly be in a mine cave or at the entrance of it.
Optional: Cave support structures, ore, gems, lanterns.
Not Allowed: Too dark to clearly see characters. Features of adjacent Cove locations.

Mountains

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Oasis

Discovered by Exploring: Desert
Affected by Seasons: Optional
Requires: Surround by sand, at least one tropical tree, water
Optional: Grass and more trees, desert flowers, rocks, cacti
Not Allowed: Bushes or large plant-life, non-tropical trees

Seasonal Information
     Spring: Standard
     Summer: Should not have as much water
     Autumn: Foliage can be shriveled/dormant, but not dead. Should not have snow/ice.
     Winter: Foliage should not be dead, but can be shriveled/dormant. There can be frost covering some surfaces, but there should not be any snow.

Peaks

Discovered by Exploring: Mountains or High Skies
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Snow
Optional: Rocks, clouds, incline
Not Allowed: Trees, ground cover other than rocks or snow

Plains

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Remote Island

Discovered by Exploring: Deep Water or Rocky Shoal
Affected by Seasons: Yes
Requires: Sand, bushes, grass, and/or water. Trees must be few.
Optional: Rocky shoal in the distant background.
Not Allowed: Can't be too far on the beach, must be more inland.

Seasonal Information
     Spring: Standard. Foliage should look new/young.
     Summer: Standard.
     Autumn: Foliage should be brown/dying. Should not have snow/ice.
     Winter: Foliage should mostly if not all be dead. Patchy ice in the water is optional; cannot be big solid sheets of ice. Patches of snow and/or frost allowed.

River

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Rocky Shoal

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Ruins

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Sea Trench

Discovered by Exploring: Depths
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Must have sand and be deep underwater. Spirit must be underwater. Must show some kind of large hole or opening/crack in the ground.
Optional: Ocean life, such as fish, seaweed, kelp, coral, etc. Characters can be above or within the trench.
Not Allowed: No caves. Can not be so dark that we can't easily see the characters.

Shallows

Discovered by Exploring: None, it's a starting location
Affected by Seasons: Optional
Requires: Water surrounding the spirit, minimal coastline
Optional: Ocean, land, small rocks, sealife
Not Allowed: Spirit at coastline or on land, Spirit high in air/not close to water surface, large rocks in water

Seasonal Information
     Spring: Standard. If foliage is visible inland, should look new/young.
     Summer: Standard.
     Autumn: If foliage is visible inland, should be brown/dying. Should not have snow/ice.
     Winter: If foliage is visible inland, should mostly if not all be dead. Patchy ice in the water is optional; cannot be big solid sheets of ice. Patches of snow and/or frost further inland allowed.

Shipwreck

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Skies

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Special Shops

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Spirit Festival

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Swamp

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Taiga

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Tomb

Discovered by Exploring: Ruins
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Stone walls, and either statues or detail on the walls
Optional: Torch lighting, casket
Not Allowed: No ceiling, too ruined or decrepit.

Town

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Tundra

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Underwater Cave

Discovered by Exploring: Depths
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Water, and must show a cave in some way. Characters must be underwater if outside the cave, but may be above water inside the cave, like in an air pocket.
Optional: Underwater plant life such as seaweed, or coral.
Not Allowed: Putting the mouth of the cave above water.

Underwater Volcano

Discovered by Exploring: Depths
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Underwater, something that can be interpreted as either lava, smog being spewed, or a volcano
Optional: Sea floor, sealife, bubbling vents
Not Allowed: Waterline, water surface, caves

Unicorn Cove

Discovered by Exploring: Forest
Affected by Seasons: No
Requires: Few trees, lots of green grass, healthy and peaceful vibe
Optional: Lots of trees encompasing the glen, a stream, many flowers
Not Allowed: Anything dead, anything related to high or low temperatures.

Volcano

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Waterfall

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Frequently Asked Questions

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