The Cloister

Lore & Background

The monks of Eclipsia have long regarded the Perpetual—the vast, ancient structure embedded in the planet's sun—as a divine presence, a source of meaning in a universe they perceive as cold and indifferent. The Cloister was raised as their house of worship, a place where the harshness of Eclipsia's surface could be walled away and replaced with the rhythm of chant, tending, and contemplation. Over time, the compound became the spiritual anchor of the entire planet; the monks' devotion is not mere superstition but a deeply held philosophy that the Perpetual's light is the last thread connecting their world to purpose.

The compound's architecture reflects this duality. Thick, sun-bleached walls and shaded arcades protect the interior from the relentless radiation, while the gardens within are cultivated with a care that seems almost defiant against the barren rock and dust outside. The monks move through these spaces with a quiet, ritualized purpose, and visitors are expected to observe a degree of reverence. The Cloister is not a fortress, yet it is not welcoming either; it is a threshold, and what happens beyond it—regarding the Perpetual's true nature and the sun's fate—will reshape the player's understanding of Eclipsia entirely.

In the broader context of The Outer Worlds, the Cloister embodies the game's recurring theme of faith versus pragmatism, of communities that build meaning in the face of cosmic indifference. It is a place where the player's choices carry moral weight, where the monks' certainty collides with the player's outsider perspective, and where the line between devotion and delusion becomes dangerously thin.

In Their Own Story

The dust had not settled by the time I reached the Cloister's outer gate. Eclipsia's sun hung low and swollen, a bruised coin pressed against the sky, and the heat off the rocks behind me was a living thing, pressing against my back. But the moment I stepped through the archway, the temperature dropped. Shaded walkways. The smell of irrigated soil. A monk in a long, sun-faded robe paused in his tending of a row of pale, broad-leafed plants and looked at me with eyes that held no surprise, only a tired, patient expectation.

"You carry the smell of the outside," he said, not unkindly. "Sit. Rest your hands. The garden does not care what you have seen in the dark." He turned back to his work. I sat on a sun-warmed stone bench, watched the leaves shiver in a breeze that seemed to come from nowhere, and for the first time since leaving the ship, I did not reach for my weapon.

The Perpetual blazed above, patient and immense, and the Cloister hummed beneath it like a held breath.

Reader's Guide

The Cloister's visual identity is defined by contrast: the sun-bleached, sand-colored stone of its outer walls and the deep, cool greens of its interior gardens. Arcaded walkways, shaded courtyards, and carefully tended plant beds create a sense of deliberate calm that stands in sharp relief to the barren, radiation-scorched terrain of Eclipsia. The architecture is functional and austere—thick walls, low ceilings, minimal ornamentation—giving the compound a grounded, almost monastic simplicity.

Major points of interest include the main prayer hall (where key story dialogue and quest triggers occur), the central garden courtyard (a safe, non-combat zone that also contains collectible items and side-quest notes), the monks' dormitory wing (accessible later in the quest chain, containing locked caches and lore documents), and the outer perimeter watch area, where the player can observe the Perpetual and the dying sun. A small scriptorium or study area holds additional background material on the order's history.

The monks control the compound exclusively. They are not hostile on first approach but are firm in their expectations of decorum. Combat inside the Cloister is possible but will escalate the situation significantly. There are no major environmental hazards within the compound itself, but the exterior of Eclipsia is punishing—radiation, extreme heat, and limited safe travel points make the Cloister a critical respite. Traversal is straightforward: the compound is largely linear, with a few branching paths through the garden wings. Watch for hidden alcoves behind planter beds and the upper gallery of the main hall for optional loot.

Did You Know?

• The Cloister's interior gardens are a deliberate design choice that contrasts the barren, radiation-heavy exterior of Eclipsia, reinforcing the theme of faith as a bulwark against a hostile cosmos.
• The monks' devotion to the Perpetual is portrayed with genuine sympathy in the game's writing, making the player's potential conflict with them a moral dilemma rather than a simple combat encounter.
• The Cloister serves as one of the few safe, non-combat zones on Eclipsia, functioning as a narrative and mechanical respite from the planet's otherwise punishing environment.
• The compound's architecture—thick walls, shaded arcades, low ceilings—reflects a practical need to shield inhabitants from Eclipsia's extreme solar radiation, blending survival engineering with spiritual purpose.