Heartstone Update 1.7.0: The Gort Update

Apr 30, 2026

Good Morning, Middletown!

You are listening to 102.5 Middletown Classic Rock on a beautiful spring day here in the city! My name is Grace Winters, and as I line up some tracks for your workday, I was asked by some stranger in the rain to stand in and write a devlog for the largest room update in Heartstone Caverns to date— whatever that means!

Come on down and explore the city of Gort, converse with the townsfolk, uncover what lies beneath the city, and continue the third part of the main story arc.

You can now travel past the monastery, type ‘examine lift’ or ‘use lift’ in the Great Lift Entrance room, and go down into the city for an extraordinary cutscene! But that is just the start of the awe! In the city, you will find the ending of Kaitlyn the Enchantress’ questline– the third and final arc of her trilogy in-game. Talk to her after the ending of her second quest to get the lead. (THIS ONE IS SPECIAL!!!!)

For the main quest, venture down to the military command building and talk to the general for guidance at completing your goal.

The city of Gort was made to impress, and some say it is the last true bastion of society in Western Elordia. By talking to NPCs in the Military District, or venturing into Old Town to visit pubs, the soul and story of the city will make itself clear.

The feeling of this city is centered around the fact it is one of the few if only places where technology has advanced in Valeria. While the old world is still up there clinging to what little remains, for centuries the Dwarves have been figuring out things like mass production, metal smithing, and even are now starting to get down the power to harness electrical currents through copper wires. So players may see this and go “why do they need magic?” but that’s the point to find!

Gort is now seeing the effects of lack of magic on the rest of the world. And there becomes a point where they can’t just keep living without trade. They do need trade for meat and crops that need good sun (tomatoes, peppers, corn). And they’ve sat back for centuries while their inaction has led to the sources they rely on falling. Magic isn’t powerful enough to create food or consistently harness stable sunlight for hours on end.

The leaders of Gort came to a consensus that if the Heartstone Crystal is indeed factual, releasing it would benefit the world and therefore Gort’s own economy. That is why the scouting party was sent out to the Crystal Caverns.

Gort is not a perfect city as players will find, but it is the only actual city in Western Elordia that isn’t falling apart by the seams. There is still something for these people to fight for, since they never lost hope on each other. The towns on the surface mainly have.

The content included in this update has been dreamt of for a long while. Since the outline was written back in August 2025, these scenes and ideas were committed to being in the game. Before Kaitlyn existed as a character, the scene you are greeted with upon entering Gort was planned exactly as written. And they are in the game!

What is here are things that the World Serpent almost never believed could work. They are proud of the work and want you to know how excited they are to get to share this. The story explodes in the third act, quite literally at parts, and real love went into every story beat and feature.

It was said in the last announcement that some side content had to be scoped down and cut. That was mainly in the city of Gort. But the more it was thought about, and the stories that wanted to be told were looked at, some of that content is now back on the menu. It is a few side quests in Gort that will deliver with update 1.8.0.

(As a side note, the exact ending of the game's final story update has been moved to coincide with the upcoming Anniversary update. It was going to push with this update, according to the last announcement post, but more time is needed since New Game+ was just thought of as a feature. We have the time, so the decision was made to make the next update truly special.)

One of the sidequests, involving the Footgoal Stadium in Gort, is something the World Serpent believes sums up the themes of the game into a small moment. The Heartstone Caverns is a ‘hope-core’ or ‘hope-punk’ fantasy world and that side quest will make it clear (if not already).

I think, perhaps, there is also a reason I am involved in all this. My friend was not clear on that yet, but he said it would all become clear on ‘The Anniversary.’ But we all trust a stranger, right?

The World Serpent will be back on June 13th, 2026, to pop the pink champagne on ice and celebrate a year of life being free to play by the public.

But for now, get out the horns and remember– play that boogie, play that slide. It’s guaranteed to keep you alive. Here is some Ringo to start your day with on 102.5 Middletown Classic Rock:

Peace and Love to all (except Jonathan Parks and his golden VTOL-Airship Ballroom),
– Grace Winters 🩵❄️