Silent Expanse

"Explore the desolated area that once belonged to the Wynn province. Now completely controlled by the realm of Dern, this land of lost civilisations and forgotten mines are infested by the most vile creatures darkness can offer."

- Official Wynncraft Website

The Silent Expanse, also commonly called the Road to Dern, is a new region released in the 1.19 Silent Expanse Update. A large area that was once a part of Wynn Province before being overtaken by darkness, the Expanse is located in the far south-east corner of Wynn; it is implied to serve as a passage between Wynn and the distant "dark lands", in the Realm of Dern.

The Silent Expanse is designed for players of level 100+, and is first introduced in A Journey Beyond. Although the original entrance into the region is long sealed, during and after the quest the Expanse can be entered through a new passage, located between the Abandoned Mines and the Corrupted Village. Much of the Expanse is dominated by warped terrain and dangerous monsters, or the now-desolate ruins of the ancient civilization that once lived there; the only point of light left standing is Lutho, a town founded by the Wynnic miners who once discovered the region, perpetually under siege by the forces of Dern.

Although some ideas for the region arose in the very earliest days of Wynncraft, the Silent Expanse was first teased in the Noisy Silence sneak peek on September 14, 2019, before being revealed with the rest of the update in the 1.19 Reveal Trailer on October 27. It was fully released following a HERO Beta on December 8, 2019.

Major Sub-regions

 * Abandoned Mines  — Though separate from the better-known Abandoned Mines on the Black Road, these huge caverns were similarly the site of various mining expeditions by the people of Wynn, prior to the unearthing of the Nether Portal. The miners discovered vast veins of emerald, ancient ruins, and even more mysterious artifacts of power– but when they realized what lay beyond, they sacrificed themselves to seal the mines, and all of the Silent Expanse, for the protection of the Province.
 * Ruined Olmic City — South of the caverns lies a sprawling, ruined city nestled in the mountains, long abandoned by The Olmic civilization that once made it and the rest of the Expanse their home. Today, with the Olm long since driven to extinction (or to other lands), the city is almost completely empty, save for shadowy observers and a lone beast that wanders its silent streets. Most notable among the monolithic stone structures of the city is an imposing Cathedral, and the lost altar buried beneath it.
 * Eyeball Forest — The earth in this sparse forest is tainted, and its bizarre, warped plant life even moreso (it's aptly named, for the trees here do indeed have eyes). It is here that the monsters of Darkness emerge in full force, although in some cases the alien biology has allowed more peaceful creatures to grow. At its northern edge, the town of Lutho (and its obelisk), founded by the lost Wynnic miners that uncovered the Expanse, forms the border between the forest and the Toxic Wastes.
 * Toxic Wastes — Here, the relatively tame life of the Eyeball Forest gives way to jagged hills of shifting slime and pools of monstrosities. It isn't always clear where twisted tunnels through the earth give way to the guts of a living landscape. The entire waste is a dangerous, hostile region, reeking too strong of acidity to be tolerated for long by any but those of the strongest constitution.
 * Void Valley — The influence of Darkness warps more than just the landscape, bodies and minds; in the Silent Expanse, it has all but shattered the divisions between realms and the Void. In this valley, overgrown with luminescent plant life creeping across its black rock, these divisions are weaker than anywhere. "Void Holes" teleport not only between each other, but between places even further beyond, and many of the creatures here are similarly untethered from the physical realm.
 * Eldritch Outlook — On the edge of the deepest reaches of the Expanse stands the Eldritch Outlook, its construction colourful and bizarre and its pinnacle towering above any other structure in the known world. Like most details about it, including the engine of its non-euclidean halls, its origin is unknown to all. One fact is known, however: from the pinnacle watches an all-seeing monster of Dern like no other, surveying all of Wynn and the lands beyond. And if one wishes to end their journey and find whatever may lie on the other side, they must conquer not only the Eldritch Outlook, but the beast atop its summit.
 * Path to Darkness — An area similar to the Sky Islands in Gavel, the Path to Dern is blocked by the Eldritch Outlook, and only opens to those who defeat the all-seeing creature. Nothing else resides here except a strange being and an immense well of gravity. Beyond this area is presumably Dern itself.

Content
The Expanse is designed for players of level 100-105. It is accessed through the collapsed gateway near the Corrupted Village, It will be comprised of several discrete sub-areas, although much of its terrain is gray and black and bordered by jagged mountains of obsidian and coloured glass, similar to the Gateway Realm. The region also contains a new batch of Secret Discoveries, Crafting Materials for level 103-105 recipes, a new endgame Dungeon entitled the Eldritch Outlook with an associated two-part questline, three additional quests, and a new town, Lutho.

More information about the 1.19 update can be found on Wynncraft's Official Website, or in the full changelog, here.

Trivia

 * The text carved into the white monolith seen in the reveal trailer (and visible in several other released images) reads "free" in Wynnic script.
 * Prior to its release, the area occupied by the Silent Expanse was covered by a black box on the map, with more Wynnic text reading "coming soon".
 * Like Dern itself, the Expanse is heavily associated (through imagery and lore) with The Eye.