Howling Cliffs

"Enjoying the bracing air? We're quite close to Hallownest's borders and those desolate plains that surround it..."

- Cornifer

The Howling Cliffs is a sparsely populated region in the northwest of Hallownest, separating the kingdom from a vast and unknown wasteland.

Description
A steep cliff bordering the wasteland outside the Pale King's domain, inhabited by small crawling and flying enemies. The ground is littered with husks and corpses of bugs.

In the northeast, near the chasm leading to King's Pass, Mato's Hut is located. The Cyclone Slash Nail Art can be learned there.

The Stag Nest is located in the northwest part of the area. It is only accessible via Stagways or by Nail-bouncing on a nearby Vengefly.

On the cliffside next to Cornifer, a dark cavern can be accessed. At its end is Joni's Repose where the Joni's Blessing Charm can be obtained.

Below Cornifer there are two breakable walls leading to a Lore Tablet and a passage where the Nightmare Lantern can be found.

In the southwest, there is a chest that the Knight can jump into, which leads to a chamber with two Elder Baldurs. Defeating the one on the right leads to a room with the Baldur Shell Charm.

Lore
The Pale King granted wild bugs sentience through his beacon. The ones who chose to leave the kingdom lost their memories. Most bugs living in the wastelands outside Hallownest are unintelligent as sapience would seemingly be a weakness in their environment.

How to access
There are three ways of accessing the Howling Cliffs, all of which require the Mantis Claw. A secret passage leading to the northeast part of the area can be found to the left of the game's starting point in King's Pass, and a connection to the southern part of the area is located in the northern part of Greenpath. Though the Baldur Shell Charm can be acquired without the Mantis Claw, the rest of the area would be inaccessible. The Howling Cliffs can also be accessed from the Stag Nest after every other Stag Station is unlocked.

Sub-area: Joni's Repose
A grotto filled with blue butterflies east of where Cornifer is located. After some platforming, the spirit of Joni can be found near an altar. It is here that the Joni's Blessing Charm can be obtained.

The platforming leading up to Joni's Repose is pitch black and can be illuminated with the Lumafly Lantern.

Sub-area: Stag Nest
The birthplace of The Last Stag, and all other Stags in Hallownest, reachable only through unlocking every other available Stag Station. Littered with Stag corpses, but also one freshly hatched egg, signalling the hope for Stags to live on.

Special rooms
Nightmare Lantern Chamber This room serves two purposes, both revolving around the Grimm Troupe. This room allows for summoning the Grimm Troupe into Dirtmouth and accessing the content pack. This room also serves the second purpose of being able to banish the Grimm Troupe from Hallownest and complete the content pack's alternative ending.

Trivia

 * This is the area the Knight is seen traversing through in the opening cutscene. The ledge with a lamppost that the Knight jumps from at the end of the cutscene can be found in the northeast part of the Howling Cliffs.
 * It is possible to reach Stag Nest by having the Monarch Wings and luring 1-2 Vengeflies to Nail-bounce on to reach the ledge.
 * The northeast part of the Howling Cliffs connects to King's Pass when jumping off the ledge, but using Crystal Heart instead skips King's Pass and makes the Knight end up directly in Dirtmouth.
 * Due to a glitch with the physics, if the map is pulled out while being pushed by the wind, the Knight is pushed faster.