So. I, like many others on here have slowly begun to slip into madness thanks to this apparent secret that ConcernedApe has recently spoken about.
I myself have a theory that I would like to share in hopes of getting more people on the hunt. Please be aware the following contains mild spoilers of special plants and a lost book for those who don't want to know, stop reading here. (Just being extra thoughtful invade, but most is easily accsessible info and well known stuff)
So!!! Onto my theory.
It all started long ago... Roughly about 200 hours ago to be precise. While playing through the game, the church of Yoba barely caught my attention. Until... I got married outside. I believed the church was there to serve as a place for the ceremony, and when that didn't happen, I was confused as hell! Why would he just plonk it in there? A few others have mentioned Ape's attention to the story and details, so why was this church so unnecessary? Then I investigated and saw that the alter could be functioned with, and I began to wonder what could work, so I looked at other Yoba references. One being the ring, but... The other being the book called "Highlights from the Book of Yoba" a lost book found while hoeing.
It reads: Before time there was only the endless golden light. The light called out to itself...'Yoba'. Yoba wanted more. Yoba swirled the golden light into a vortex. Yoba swirled and swirled until a hole formed in the eye of the vortex. From this hold sprung a seed. Yoba smoothed the golden light. Yoba smoothed and smoothed, and the light became soil. Into this soil, Yoba planted the seed. The seed sprouted, and behold! A vine sprung skyward, twisting and probing, casting a writhing shadow onto the golden void. After 11 days, the vine bore fruit. Yoba, with knowing wisdom, peeled the tough skin off the fruit and saw that the world was inside. And so hat is how the world came to be.
There are so many clues. 1. The biggest part of my theory: The fruit. At first I looked at crops that grow in 11 days. Tomato and hope. Neither sounding like the answer, however I tried them both and nothing. Then... I really read the passage. A seed sprouted, the vine grew "skywards", twisting a probing. This sounds exactly like the way the ancient fruit grows. https://imgur.com/a/sTopH Image taken from the official wiki.
Then, I realised the passage says "after 11 days, the vine bore fruit" So, AFTER the vine is grown, 11 days later, it will bear fruit. Looking at the wiki I noticed the grow time on the vine was disappointingly 12 days, however I still believed in a glimmer of hope, that the wiki included the final day (ready for picking) but the book of Yoba did not.
My husband also plays, and I sent him to the alter with one of his fruit. It did not work. He crafted a ring of Yoba and tried again. Nothing.
I'm thinking thinks like, 2 rings, triggering the invincible shield, anything like that, but those are things we haven't tried yet. That said, I seriously believe I may be close to something????
The vortex. The passage also mentions a vortex and golden light. My instincts say the solar essence and void essence. But also, it could be a reference of a special place to plant the seed. Solar essence fertiliser? Sheesh I have no idea.
We have tried giving both to Yoba, but again, nothing.
The final pieces. The two special plants in this game are the ancient fruit, and sweet gem berry. Both are difficult to get (ancient being harder) but the sweet gem berry unlocks the statue in the forest.... But the ancient fruit???? It feels useless. It's not even worth as much as the sweet gem! It also begins as an artefact. An ANCIENT fruit.... Perhaps from the start of time???
I know you can receive the message of "the alter of yoba" when you click on it, but the hand lights up like those interactive boxes around the town. There are 3 of those that I know of, and all 3 reacted with special items. I'm left to think this is the same. If not the alter, what then? Where?
Is there even a use for that damn fruit? Who is Yoba and why was he included??? I need to know, because I'm one more sleepless night away from pinning images to the wall and connecting them with red lines.