The World Map in Where Winds Meet starts as a mostly black canvas, with only your opening region visible. To reveal the rest of Jianghu, you are not filling in fog of war by walking around; you are collecting regional maps from a specific class of NPC: Wayfarers.
Each Wayfarer hands over a map fragment for their region after a short conversation or task. Once you have it, the game populates that area's map with terrain, roads, quest markers, and fast travel points, making long-distance exploration much more manageable.
How Wayfarers unlock the map
Wayfarers are wandering travelers devoted to exploration. Mechanically, they act as map vendors for entire regions:
- Each major region (in Qinghe and Kaifeng) has a dedicated Wayfarer.
- Talking to that NPC and exhausting their dialogue grants a World Map piece for that region.
- When the piece is added, the blacked-out portion of the map for that area reveals, complete with key icons such as quests and Boundary Stones.
Wayfarers are marked on the map with a small campfire-style icon once you have some guidance to their general location. If you are unsure where a particular one is, the region selection screen offers a hint text that can be toggled to highlight the correct area on the map (“ask the corresponding Wayfarer for information”).
Single-player requirement and basic interaction
Map unlocking is tied to Solo mode. The interaction prompt for obtaining map fragments does not function properly in multiplayer sessions.
| Requirement | What to do |
|---|---|
| Mode | Switch to Solo mode before talking to a Wayfarer. The toggle is in the top‑right of the screen near your character portrait. |
| Finding the icon | Open the map with M (PC) and look for a stylized fire/bonfire icon indicating a Wayfarer. |
| Dialogue | Interact and run through all available dialogue options. The wording varies (“What happened here?”, etc.), but ends with the Wayfarer handing you a map or fragment. |
| Result | The previously black region is now fully drawn, with terrain and points of interest revealed. |
If a fireplace/Wayfarer icon is not immediately visible for a locked region, use the region’s map prompt from the World Map menu. Selecting the line that mentions “ask the corresponding Wayfarer for information” will highlight where you need to travel to find them.
All known Wayfarer locations in Qinghe
Qinghe is the starting province and introduces the system through three Wayfarers. They are positioned along the early story path, but you can revisit them later if you skipped the interaction.
| Region | Wayfarer description | Approximate location cues | What you unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verdant Wilds | The first Wayfarer you are likely to meet, tied to the prologue. | Near Bamboo Abode and close to your starting village area. Encountered during the early prologue questline. | Verdant Wilds regional map. Also teaches a “secret code” useful when speaking with other Wayfarers later. |
| Moonveil Mountains | A Wayfarer resting on a rock over the river route. | On the path to Heaven's Pier in Chapter 1, seated on a rock along the winding bridge above the river. | The second portion of the Moonveil Mountains map, filling in terrain around Heaven's Pier and adjacent routes. |
| Sundara Land | A mountain‑top traveler enjoying the view beside a campfire. | Near the Halo Peak Courier Post in Sundara Land, up on a ridge. Reachable by climbing/air‑stepping up the mountain slopes. | A map fragment for Sundara Land, revealing this mountainous region and its roads. |
These three unlock almost all of Qinghe’s macro‑level geography. After picking up their map pieces, Qinghe’s World Map becomes detailed enough to plan long routes, spot side activities, and target Boundary Stones for fast travel unlocks.
All known Wayfarer locations in Kaifeng
Kaifeng introduces city‑scale navigation and large agricultural plains. Its Wayfarers sit at chokepoints where players naturally pass on the way to the capital or key estates.
| Region | Wayfarer description | Approximate location cues | What you unlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granary of Plenty | A traveler resting among grain stores in the plains. | Along the Plainfield route to the Imperial Capital City, by the main path from the harbor toward the city. Surrounded by granaries and sacks of grain. | The Granary of Plenty map, which covers the agricultural belt leading into the capital and its approach roads. |
| Kaifeng City | An observer watching the crowds from atop the walls. | Outside rather than deep inside the city: enter through the South Gate, then take the stairs on the right up to the walls. The Wayfarer stands on the ramparts. | The Imperial City (Kaifeng City) map, including streets, plazas, and major city landmarks. |
| Jadewood Court | A Wayfarer at a pulley outpost overlooking the court. | Past the Imperial Garden and near the Martial Temple, by the rope‑pulley station that drops down toward Jadewood Court and the South Imperial Garden. | The Jadewood Court regional map, opening up the court’s layout and its connections to nearby gardens. |
| Roaring Sands | A ridge‑top wanderer in drier terrain. | East of Willowshade Village, perched on a ridge in the Roaring Sands area, similar to other ridge‑side Wayfarer positions. | Roaring Sands map coverage, revealing this eastern expanse and its travel routes. |
Together, these four Wayfarers cover the second province’s key hubs: the port approach, the capital city itself, nearby courts, and the eastern Roaring Sands. Unlocking them early helps when bouncing between urban storylines and outlying side content.
Using Wayfarer maps to find fast travel and objectives
Wayfarer maps do more than remove the black overlay. Once a region is unlocked:
- Fast travel Boundary Stones become visible on the World Map, so you can prioritize trips to activate them.
- Main and side quest objective markers appear more reliably, making it easier to route an efficient path instead of riding blind.
- Terrain features like rivers, cliffs, and ridges are clearly drawn, which matters in a game built around vertical movement and gliding.
In practice, this means you should treat meeting each region’s Wayfarer as an early priority. Grabbing their map piece once, even if you plan to leave quickly, pays off every time you need to return.
What to do if your map is still black
If most regions remain black after some playtime, a few checks usually resolve it:
| Issue | Check | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Still in multiplayer | Look at the mode indicator at the top of the screen. | Switch to Solo mode, then revisit the region’s Wayfarer and repeat the conversation. |
| Cannot find the icon | Open the World Map, hover over the locked region’s name. | Click the prompt that references asking the Wayfarer; the game will ping the correct spot on the map. |
| Skipped dialogue | Remember if you walked away mid‑conversation. | Talk to the same Wayfarer again and exhaust every dialogue option until you receive a map or map fragment. |
Once each province’s set of Wayfarers has been visited in Solo mode and their dialogue completed, the World Map for currently available regions should be fully drawn, with future areas remaining locked until they open in updates or later chapters.
With all known Wayfarers tracked down in Qinghe and Kaifeng, the martial world of Jianghu stops being a black void and becomes a legible atlas of roads, rivers, and rooftop paths. From there, exploration is less about guessing which way to ride and more about choosing where to aim next.
