Lantern Peddler (early access)

Some days, something else is out there: a tall, stooped figure on stilt legs, a crate pack on its back and a caged lantern where its head should be. It mutters in clicks and chimes. It won't hurt you.

It wants Green Gems.

The Choir

On some days (30% by default) one of the "crew" isn't - in the facility or out on the moon, where it makes its way to the ship (once it has lost someone, it roams the moon instead). From a distance it's just an employee in a company suit, wandering about - the scanner even shows a crewmate's name, from as far away as any real crewmate. It's silent from afar; walk within about 20 m and you'll start to hear it quietly humming a hymn. Get within about 13 m and it notices you: it falls silent, its helmet cracks open like an eggshell, and a long neck grows up out of the wreckage, splitting into three smooth, pale, almost-human heads - something the Company experimented on: a neat stitched scar over the scalp, rusty nails hammered in, dried blood under the eyes and mouth - that turn together to stare - then it chases you, always exactly as fast as you are moving. The longer the chase, the more the hymn sours into dissonance and the faces drift out of step. When the dissonance peaks, your head bursts.

• Lose it: break line of sight for about 5 seconds.
• Fight it: hit or shoot its side heads (the middle one can't be hurt). Each one chokes silent for 12 s, softens the song and slows its chase by 20%. Silence both and it folds up, stunned, for 8 s.
• Calm it: whenever the Choir turns up, a brass Pitch Pipe turns up too, lying somewhere nearby. Raise it to your lips and blow ([LMB]): the Choir hunting you hears the true note wherever it is, and so does any other Choir within 40 m - it drops the chase, the dissonance drains away, its heads sink back in and it won't notice anyone for 25 s. Three breaths, then it's spent. (Hitting it breaks the calm.)
• Standing still won't save you: it still walks up to you, and up close the song climbs three times as fast.
• Host: type /choir in chat to summon it (testing).

How it works

• The Peddler is either out on the moon from the moment you land, or not there at all that day (45% of days by default). He roams outside by default (configurable: inside or either). When you get close he stops, turns to you and holds out a hand.
• Green Gems spawn on every moon with loot, in any modpack: about 4% of the loot and always at least 2. On days he's out they're about 15% of the loot, and at least 8.
• Look at him and press E to open Peddler's Wares, a cozy blocky trade window. Drag gems from your pockets into his hand, one at a time; they pile up on his outstretched hand in the world too. Then click Trade on what you want and he takes the price out of his hand. Whatever you don't spend comes back when you close the window (or press Take back). E or Esc closes it.
• Gems are worth a little at the Company too, so decide whether to sell them or spend them.
• His lantern burns brighter the more gems you carry (each player sees their own).
• Monsters hunt him like a player. He has 150 health and fights back with his lantern. Hurt him yourself (shovel, gun...) and he takes damage and backs off for a few seconds, handing back any gems in his hand, but he stays. Hurt him enough and he falls. He's scared of ghosts: the moment the Ghost Girl, Herobrine or Football turns up anywhere on the moon, he packs up and leaves, dropping a Peddler's Note where he stood (pick it up and press LMB to read it).
• If he falls, his body drops and his lantern helm rolls off, dark. At the same moment a Kindling Torch flickers to life somewhere inside the facility. To bring him back:
  1. Find the torch (it lights your way too).
  2. Hold his helm with the torch in your pockets and press LMB: the flame catches inside it.
  3. Carry his body (heavy, two-handed) onto the ship and set it down.
  4. Stand next to him with the lit helm and press LMB: the helm goes back on, embers rise, and he stands up again with a thank-you gift.

The wares

Every Peddler carries 4 special trades and 2 ordinary items, with limited stock, plus Fresh Wares (1 gem, always there): he repacks and shows a new set of trades.

Ordinary items come from a list in the config (stun grenades, flashlights, shovels, TZP, zap guns, jetpacks, even a shotgun; M1911 and M1911 Mag from Skyhopper's Guns are included).

If a trade can't happen (no drop pods on the Company moon, for example), your gems stay in his hand. If he's hurt or flees, he gives back everything in his hand first.

Summoning him

The host can type /peddler in chat to summon a Peddler right in front of them (turn it off in the config with Summon Chat Command).

Config

• Peddler: spawn chance, where he roams, special trades and plain items per Peddler, offer list (Item name:price), which ghosts scare him off, volume.
• Special Trades: price of each special (0 = never offered, including Fresh Wares), bell radius/duration, dowser range, hourglass length/bonus, gem seed grow time, flask length, credits per pouch.
• Green Gem: share of the loot and minimum gems per moon, on normal days and on Peddler days.
• Combat: whether monsters fight him, his health, how hard his lantern hits.

Everyone in the lobby needs the mod. The host spawns the Peddler and makes the trades happen.

Credits

Made by Skyhopper. The Peddler, the items and the icons are made by the mod; the Peddler's voice is Skyhopper's, processed. No outside assets.

Custom Choir voice

The Choir's singing comes from the choir*.wav files that install alongside the mod (in a ChoirVoice folder, or loose next to the mod - both work): choir0.wav (calm, in unison) up to choir5.wav (full dissonance), plus choir_choke.wav (a head silenced) and choir_fold.wav (stunned). Replace any of them with your own recordings (any .wav - 16/24-bit or float, mono or stereo, 4 s loops work best) and restart the game. Delete the folder to go back to the built-in synthesized choir.

0.3.1 (early access)

• Fixed the Choir not using the voice recordings: mod managers flatten the ChoirVoice folder when installing, so the mod now finds the choir*.wav files either in that folder or right next to it.
• Same features as 0.3.0. Everyone in a lobby must be on 0.3.1 - mixing versions makes lobby-checker mods (like LethalError) refuse the join with a mod mismatch.

0.3.0 (early access)

• NEW: The Choir. From a distance it's just one of the crew: an employee in a company suit, wandering the halls and wearing a crewmate's name on the scanner (it scans as a person from up to 80 m). It stays silent from afar; only once you're within about 20 m do you hear it softly humming a hymn. Get close and it notices you: its helmet (the real one, visor, bolts and all, whatever suit it's wearing) bulges, cracks into four jagged pieces and peels open like a shell, a long neck pushes up out of it, and three pale, experimented-on heads (stitched scars, rusty nails, dried blood) grow out one after another on their own branches, unfolding and opening their mouths to sing. (Its true form, if the disguise is turned off: a too-tall choir singer in a black cassock and white surplice, hands folded, gliding through the facility - except its one long neck divides into three identical smooth, eyeless faces, singing a sweet hymn in perfect unison. When it sees you it goes silent, all three faces turn together to stare, and then it comes - always exactly as fast as you are. The longer it chases you, the more the hymn sours and the three faces drift out of step, tilting to angles no neck should allow; when the dissonance peaks, your head bursts. Break line of sight to lose it, or hit/shoot its heads: the middle head can't be hurt, but each side head you hit chokes silent for a while and slows its chase by 20%; silence both side heads and it folds up, stunned. Lights stutter around it while it hunts. 30% of days, either inside the facility or out on the moon - where it walks straight to the ship like crew coming home - until it loses someone, after which it roams the moon (all configurable). Host can type /choir to summon it for testing.
• NEW: the Choir now hums in a real (if mangled) human voice. Its sounds load from the ChoirVoice folder, so you can drop in your own recordings - see the README.
• NEW: Pitch Pipe. Always turns up near the Choir. Blow the true note and the Choir hunting you (plus any within 40 m) calms down for 25 s (drops the chase, dissonance drains, heads sink back in). Three breaths. All configurable.
• Fixed gems getting stuck in a player's hand after handing them to the Peddler (players who weren't the host). The host now takes the gem out of their pocket and removes it for everyone, instead of two conflicting requests racing each other. Same fix for the torch, the helm and used-up wares.
• The Peddler now shows up more often: 45% chance per day (was 35%).
• Green Gems no longer glow from your pockets: the glow only shows when a gem is in your hand (or lying on the ground).

0.2.0 (early access)

• Back to a 0.x version: the mod is still being worked on.
• Green Gems now spawn on every moon with loot, whatever else is in the modpack: they get a fixed share of the loot (4%, 15% on Peddler days) and at least 2 are always placed inside (8 on Peddler days), even if another mod rewrites the loot table.
• The Peddler can now turn up on every moon, vanilla or modded: his daily roll no longer depends on the moon's loot step, and if a moon has no usable AI nodes he's placed at the main entrance or beside the ship instead. That includes the Company and other no-loot moons (config: Spawn On Moons Without Loot).
• He's scared of ghosts: when the Ghost Girl, Herobrine or Football spawns, he packs up and leaves a Peddler's Note behind (readable with LMB). The list of ghosts is in the config.
• Removed the Artificial Gem from the store.
• Stillness Bell now freezes creatures for 10 seconds.
• Hostile creatures now hunt the Peddler like a player. He has 150 health and swings his lantern back at them.
• When the Peddler falls, his body drops, his lantern helm rolls off dark, and a Kindling Torch appears somewhere inside the facility. Light the helm with the torch, carry his body onto the ship, and set the lit helm back on him: embers rise and he stands again with a thank-you gift.
• Players who hit or shoot him now hurt him; he backs off for a few seconds instead of packing up and vanishing.
• Held items now sit in your actual hand at their grip. Lanterns (and his helm) hang from the handle and swing as you walk, turn and look around; the Rift Charm dangles from its cord; everything else leans a little with your movement.
• Softer light: the Peddler's Lantern is about a third as bright, with dimmer glass, so it lights your way without flooding the room.
• All of his wares remodelled in a Lethal Company style: rounded, weathered and grimy instead of blocky (a red hurricane lantern with wire guards, a cast hand bell, a forked dowsing rod, a brass pocket compass, a copper hip flask, an enamel stew bowl and more), plus a new Kindling Torch.
• Fine detail on every item: rivets, seams, screws, bindings, stitching, knurled caps, dial ticks; and surface relief on the metals, wood and leather (scratches, hammered dents, chipped paint showing bare metal, grain), with shine that varies across each surface.
• The Peddler's mutters, greetings, happy-trade and no-sale sounds are now a real voice: a deep, ringing beep-boop chatter.
• A very faint crackle from his lantern when you're standing close to him.
• Opening his shop now rings a little shop bell or gives a friendly boop, taking turns.
• Fixed players who joined late, or after a repack, seeing a different trade list from the host (they could buy the wrong thing).

0.1.x (test builds)

• The Lantern Peddler, Green Gems, the Peddler's Wares trade window (drag gems into his hand), 21 special trades, Fresh Wares, /peddler summon command.