“Nothing, I heard nothing. But on the carpet there were small footprints, all pointing at me, and the dust was still floating, you know?”
Almost no creature in Level 0 makes noise. What they do is leave traces: footprints in the carpet and a small cloud of dust that takes time to settle. An attentive wanderer learns to read them before seeing anything. This entry covers what can be recognized. Sound is in How Creatures Sound and the list of creatures is in the Field Guide.
Footprints and dust
Each creature leaves footprints and a small cloud of dust in its wake, and the size of the footprint depends on who leaves it.
| Creature | Footprint size | Dust motes |
|---|---|---|
| Child | more than half an adult footprint (0.55) | 2 |
| Adult Faceling | standard size | 3 |
| Watcher | somewhat larger (1.10) | 3 |
| Prowler, Grille and Stalker | a quarter larger (1.25) | 4 |
| Skinstealer | mirrored relative to a person’s | none |
Footprints form even if the creature is out of your sight, as long as it is 16 meters or less from you. They are the same for everyone, so whoever runs into them later will see them where they were.
How to read them
- Small, crowded footprints belong to Children. If they head your way, the Children are close.
- A small cloud with no footsteps usually means something passed seconds ago.
- Mirrored footprints, no dust, belong to the Skinstealer. No person leaves traces like that.
The trace forms on the fly. There are no footprints from what happened before you arrived, and nothing keeps what occurred while you were in another part of Level 0. It pays to watch the floor as you walk.
What is said
Some claim to have seen more signs:
- Dust falling from the drop ceiling, and motes hanging still in the air that stir when something approaches.
- A silhouette cut out against an opening that flickers and is lost.
- Within eight meters of a creature, the image turns grainy and the edges darken a little. Some blame fear, others something else.
- Marks on the floor and walls, always the same in the same place, for everyone who passes through.
In every story, what frightens is something small, a footprint or a mote of dust in the air.